Riders

by Veronica Rossi

  Then there was just … shouting.

  CHAPTER 35

  I took in the scene as I ran down the ramp.

  About twenty meters away, Shadow ran in tight circles, trying to find a way past the people, trucks, and other obstacles that framed her in. Every single person in the vicinity had stopped what they were doing to watch her. Two cargo handlers stared in shock, ignoring the shipping boxes that tumbled from a conveyor belt to the asphalt. A woman jumped out of a van and fumbled for the radio at her belt. Closer, a bald man dropped to his knees and made the sign of the cross.

  Daryn grabbed my arm. “Gideon, look!”

  About fifty meters away, two Italian customs officers burst out of a car, both carrying rifles. Sebastian saw them too, and made a break for Shadow.

  “Hold on!” I caught a handful of his shirt. “She’s your horse, Sebastian. You panic, everyone panics.” I pressed the rope into his hand. “Get out there and get her under control.”

  Sebastian gaped at me. “I can’t use this on her!”

  “Do it, Sebastian.”

  “Gideon, this won’t work!”

  Marcus looked from me to Sebastian, swore, and then tore away at a sprint.

  It was the worst possible thing he could’ve done. Until then, Shadow had done what Daryn had hoped—created a diversion. The second Marcus ran, we were on everyone’s radar, too.

  “Stai fermo!” yelled the two officers. They unshouldered their rifles and split targets—one on Shadow, one on Marcus.

  “Go!” Daryn said. “You get Marcus. I’ll help Bas.”

  It was the right call. I’d already made a snap decision to follow Marcus, sensing the greater potential for problems there. I ran after him, holding up my hands so the officers could see them. “It’s okay! It’s okay!” I yelled. “He just got scared!”

  “Fermati!” they shouted. “Stop!”

  But Marcus kept running toward the terminal, so I did too. The rifle squeezed off three quick rounds—pop, pop, pop—and Marcus tumbled to the ground. All I could do was turn it up another notch.

  Shots fired again just as I reached him. He was already getting up, but I slammed into him, putting him in an instant sprint. We made for the nearest cover, a van, throwing ourselves behind it. I pulled him against the vehicle.

  “I hate you,” I said, panting for breath. Blood rolled off my fingers. Mine or his? Marcus clutched his shoulder. His shoulder was bleeding. His blood.

  He grimaced, in obvious pain. “Man, shut up.”

  The van was unlocked and the keys were in the ignition—first good break yet. I slid the rear door open and pushed him inside. “Put some pressure on it. Maybe you won’t die.”

  When I rounded the van again, Sebastian and Shadow were nowhere to be seen. They’d disappeared. Daryn hunkered beneath the cargo plane’s ramp, but everyone else had disappeared, too. Gunfire did that. But then I looked again, and saw two dark shapes on the tarmac. The customs officers. Facedown on the ground, with bone-colored blades sticking out of their backs.

  No.

  Daryn saw me, popped from behind the ramp, and came tearing over the same stretch Marcus and I had just crossed.

  “No! Daryn, no!” I yelled.

  The Kindred were here.

  Samrael walked up to the officer’s prone bodies casually. Four other Kindred flanked him. Pyro, the younger one, with skittish energy. Ronwae, with the red hair. Malaphar, the weasel-looking one in his oversized suit. And a demon I hadn’t seen yet. A female in her thirties. Tall, with dreadlocks and a muscular build.

  Samrael reached down and pulled one of the blades free. Then he straightened, looking from me to Daryn.

  Daryn was halfway. Hauling. But it felt like she’d never reach me. Instinct took over and I shot toward her. I had no weapon, no way to give her cover. I did the only thing I could, putting myself between her and the Kindred.

  Somehow we reached the van alive. We rounded it and I swung the passenger door open.

  She jumped inside. “Let’s go, let’s go!” she yelled.

  In the back of the van, Marcus sagged against a stack of boxes, holding his shoulder.

  I shook my head. “Bas.”

  “Gideon! We have to go!”

  But I was already moving, dropping low and peering around the front of the van.

  The Kindred hadn’t moved. They stood in a loose group around Samrael, whose eyes were fixed on me, his lips pulled into a smile.

  I scanned the tarmac, the giant cargo planes and service trucks. Where the hell had Bas gone?

  An invisible blow hit me over the eyes. The pain came, violent and sudden, like a door slamming over me. I crumbled against the van.

  Samrael was ruthless this time. It wasn’t the dull probe of fingers now. It was a screwdriver, prying into my skull. My mind gave with a snap. I was sucked back into the tunnel of darkness. Then an image appeared before me. I was looking at Daryn in the elevator on the way to Herald Casting. My focus moved from her blue eyes to the thick silver chain she wore around her neck.

  Is this it?

  I didn’t want him to know.

  Ahhh. So it is. Is that what you’re trying to not tell me? Let’s look a little more.

  I saw flashes. A lightning-quick scan through my memories.

  Daryn in my Jeep, curled up asleep—

  Sebastian auditioning, staring at his hands—

  The creepy winged guy in the desert—

  So you’ve met Alevar, have you? Did you feel sorry for him, Gideon? He does raise sympathy, doesn’t he? With those blind eyes and that ‘help me’ face of his. He is our weakest, but don’t get your hopes up. He’s still quite horrible. And you haven’t met Ra’om yet. Ra’om makes up for little Alevar by quite a wide margin.

  The blurring started again.

  Daryn in the airport shuttle, when we’d been locked in a stare-down—

  The bloody towel in Marcus’s car—

  Daryn at the diner outside of Los Angeles, when it’d just been us—

  Well. Would you look at that? That’s it, isn’t it? Did she tell you this is the key?

  Why was he even asking? The key was right there. Visible. The first and only time I’d seen it.

  “Gideon, please! Listen to me! Listen to me. Listen.”

  At the sound of Daryn’s voice, the real world came closer. I was on my ass, my back against the front bumper. Daryn was kneeling in front of me, her hands framing my face, staring right into my eyes. “Come back, Gideon. Come back, come back, come back. I’ll tell you three more things about me if you come back.”

  I couldn’t respond. The connection between my brain and my mouth was down.

  Daryn peered past the van, her eyes widening with fear. I imagined what she saw, Samrael closing in.

  “Gideon,” she said, desperately, “it’s a good deal. I don’t ever talk about myself, so I’d take it if I were you. Three more. Ten more. Please come back.”

  I tried but Samrael hooked in, dragging me back.

  You think you can run, but you can’t. We are always behind you. Above you. Among you. You can save us all some time by bringing me the key. It’s that easy, Gideon.

  Vaguely, I became aware that Daryn had gotten me on my feet and over to the passenger door. Strong girl. So strong.

  More than you know.

  “Get in!” she yelled, trying to push me into the passenger seat. “Marcus, help me!”

  My body was coming back to me. My mind, too. I found my feet and lifted myself into the van. Then I remembered Sebastian and stumbled back out.

  Daryn and Marcus swore as I lumbered around the van again—this time stepping out into the open. I couldn’t leave Bas behind. I didn’t do that. I didn’t do that.

  It’s the soldier’s training.

  It’s a soldier’s heart, you demon piece of shit.

  I was looking right at Samrael now. He stood thirty meters away, holding one of his pale blades at his side. Sirens wailed and flashed across the airport tarmac,
speeding toward us through the darkness.

  “What’s the matter?” I said. “Can’t take a little insult?”

  He let go of me then, fully releasing my mind with a sharp recoil, like I’d struck a nerve. Then he turned to Pyro and said, “Here is your chance at last, my kin. Burn him.”

  Immediately, Pyro flung his arms wide. White-hot fire flared in his palms. Brilliant, condensed points. I saw them for an instant before he hurled them at me.

  I dove away, tumbling onto the asphalt. An explosion cracked into the night, pushing a wave of heat past me. Hot air seared into my nostrils and deep in my throat as I drew a breath. Scrambling to my feet, I looked at the van, squinting at the brightness and heat of the flames.

  Terror shot through me. It was covered almost entirely by fire.

  Daryn and Marcus were in there.

  I ran, the need to reach them overshadowing every other thought in my mind.

  The rear door of the van slid open as I reached it, Marcus pulling it from inside. “Come on!” he yelled.

  I launched myself and crashed into a stack of boxes. Daryn hit the gas, and Marcus and I went toppling to the back as we peeled out of there.

  Burning, but alive.

  CHAPTER 36

  As we sped away from that cargo plane, I wanted to find a hangar where we could hide out and wait until Sebastian and Shadow turned up. There was no way that was going to happen, though.

  The side of the van was still on fire. It was night. We were impossible to miss.

  We had no choice but to keep going.

  I didn’t see Samrael or any of the other Kindred chasing us, but we’d picked up human law enforcement. Two Italian cop cars. Daryn lost one with her insane driving skills. We lost the other pulling onto the autostrada when it made a sudden turn that took it squirreling off the road.

  Marcus was in the back, watching the car through the rear windows. He sat down, slumping against the door. When I saw his stunned face, I knew he’d used his ability. He’d hit whoever had been behind the wheel with a massive dose of fear, causing the driver to panic and jerk the wheel.

  “Where was that three minutes ago?” I yelled.

  “I tried!”

  “You used it on the Kindred?”

  “That’s what I said, man. I tried, but it didn’t work.”

  “Shit.” I fell back against my seat.

  “You think they got Sebastian?” Marcus asked after a moment. “I didn’t see what happened to him.”

  I said nothing. I was too pissed to respond. Bas was gone. And our abilities didn’t even work on the enemy. What use were they? The only good news at the moment was that the fire on the van had almost burned out.

  “Gideon,” Daryn said. “Bas got away. It was chaos back there, but I’m almost sure he did. We’ll get Conquest, and then we’ll come back and find him.”

  I pulled my radio out of my backpack, my fingers fumbling on the device. I couldn’t believe we’d just left him. The blood roared in my ears and my face felt like it’d been torched. “Where are we going, Daryn? Where’s Conquest?”

  “Vatican City.”

  No surprise there. “It’s ten p.m. local time. Are we supposed to go there now?”

  She looked at me.

  “Daryn. Are we supposed to go now?”

  “Yes. As soon as possible.”

  “Because our buddy, Samrael, is probably headed there too, right? Why is it they’re always two steps ahead of us? What is it you aren’t saying? It’s like you’re trying to make this more difficult than it needs to be.”

  “What’s wrong with you?” Marcus said.

  I should have controlled the situation. That’s what was wrong with me. We’d lost Sebastian, Marcus had been shot, and I’d taken a mental beating again because I hadn’t organized and controlled the situation. I had the most training. I should’ve marshaled them into order. I should’ve established a rally point in case we got separated. But I hadn’t done any of that and now we were down a horseman.

  I’d grown used to getting signals from the cuff, telling me whenever Sebastian or Marcus were in the same vicinity. Now with Sebastian missing, I actually felt him missing. All I sensed was Marcus. Not good.

  I pulled up the directions to Vatican City on my radio’s GPS, handed it to Daryn, and climbed into the back. “Let me see your wound.”

  Marcus looked at me like he was doing me a favor, then pulled his sweatshirt off and yanked up his shirt.

  Death had won the lottery in terms of gunshot wounds. The round had gone through his deltoid, cutting clean through muscle tissue. I saw an entry and exit point, and it wasn’t bleeding too much anymore. I pulled the first-aid kit out of my backpack and sprayed the wound with antiseptic, then taped it up. “Keep pressure on it.”

  Marcus pulled his shirt down and settled against the back of the van again. I stared into his ungrateful eyes, debating opening the back doors and tossing him out. He was disrespectful, negative, contrary, selfish. Everything I hated.

  I moved back to the passenger seat and tried to figure out where Sebastian would have gone. The Pantheon? The Spanish Steps? Would he be at the Vatican? Or would the Kindred get to him first?

  “Gideon, you need to calm down,” Daryn said.

  I was trying. I wanted to hit something and I hadn’t yet. I felt good about that.

  Using the GPS, I guided her through the streets to a church—a huge Gothic structure decorated with spires and angelic statues—and it hit me, finally, where I was. I’d always expected that my first time off US soil would come during my first deployment, but here I was. Italy.

  “This isn’t the Vatican,” Daryn said.

  “We’re ditching the van.”

  We grabbed our packs and swapped the van for a dumpy-looking Fiat. I broke a window, pried up the plastic under the steering wheel with my bowie knife, and twisted some wires together. Off we went. If our mission depended on lifting cars, we’d have had it made.

  Thirty minutes later, I parked on Via della Conciliazione directly across the street from Saint Peter’s Square. I knew from the travel guide that the Vatican enclave was enclosed by a stone wall, and this would be our best entry point. Just ahead of us I saw the famous obelisk at the center of the expansive paved piazza. At the far end, I could see the Basilica of Saint Peter, the row of marble sculpted saints illuminated across the top. It was an impressive place, steeped in history and art, with an air of sacredness you could feel on your skin. I focused on the security.

  A pair of Swiss Guards stood about a hundred meters away, inside the columned arcade. I’d read about their arms and combat training in the travel guide. They were extremely competent warriors who probably would never have left a man behind.

  I had to get this done so I could turn to tracking Sebastian down. My cuff was like its own horseman GPS. If I could get close enough to Bas, I could pick up his signal and find him that way. Rome was a big city. It might take me days, or even weeks. It didn’t matter. I was going to find him.

  When I felt ready, I firmed my grip on my backpack and looked at Daryn. “Anything you want to tell me that could be useful before I go? His name? Where he’s supposed to be? Or do we want to keep making this as challenging as possible?”

  “Jode. His name is Jode and we’re supposed to find him here tonight. Somewhere here. And you’re not exactly making this easy, in case you haven’t noticed.”

  “What about Sebastian? Where are we supposed to find him?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Then we shouldn’t have left him.”

  “We left because we had to! Please stop acting like you’re the only one who’s having a hard time with this.”

  I shook my head. She didn’t understand. Leaving someone behind went against everything I believed.

  Daryn let out a long sigh. “Samrael was too close to us,” she said, more calmly. “If we’d stayed there, we could’ve lost everything.”

  Could have? I thought of how Samrael had fou
nd my recollection of Daryn at the diner. She’d been wearing the chain she was wearing right now. A sacred key hung on the end, and Samrael had seen it. What if I’d already compromised us?

  The urge to tell Daryn was strong. She deserved to know—she was the one wearing the thing—but I couldn’t force the words out. Not with Marcus in the backseat. Not with how much I’d already screwed up. I was dropping the ball but that was going to change.

  “Let’s just take this one step at a time,” I said. “Marcus has to stay.” We couldn’t walk around with a guy bleeding from a gunshot wound. We were going to have to split up. “What about you?”

  “I’ll stay, too,” Daryn said.

  Right. Saw that coming. “Okay. Keep your radio on. I’ll send you a rally point location in case we need it. Otherwise just stay put. I’ll be back in two hours, no matter what.” I turned to the backseat. “Be ready to bring out the scythe, Death. And stay with her or I will personally end you. You feel me?”

  Marcus just stared me down in response.

  I got out of the Fiat but something kept me from leaving. I leaned back into the car. Daryn kept staring through the windshield. I wanted to say something to her. What? What did I want to say? Too much, and there wasn’t enough time. She didn’t seem to want to hear anything from me anyway, so.

  I shut the car door and walked away.

  CHAPTER 37

  “Stop here for a moment, Gideon.”

  “Okay.”

  As the room comes back to me, I notice the lightbulb is flickering even more now and making a soft pinging sound. Standing on its last filament, that bulb. We’re minutes away from a total blackout.

  I look from Texas to Beretta. Cordero.

  No one seems to even notice it.

  “You left Sebastian at the airport?” Cordero asks.

  My gaze falls to the flex ties keeping me in this chair. My hands are pulled into fists. I open them. Force them to relax.

  “I didn’t mean to sound judgmental. I’m sure you had no other choice.”