Riders

by Veronica Rossi

  Nearby, Jode fired at one of Bay’s beasts as it tore out of the darkness, making a charge our way. Half the creature’s thick gut disappeared, incinerated. It toppled to the earth and released a final yelp of agony.

  Across the clearing Bay threw her head back and let out a roar. Her hordes immediately responded, flowing around her as they plunged through a gap in the fires, disappearing into the night. Ronwae and her multiples scurried after, and the battleground began to clear.

  Were they going after Daryn? Why would they? She didn’t have the key anymore. It was around my neck. The Kindred were drawn to its power—so they’d come after me.

  At the center of the clearing where Bas had stood with Samrael, I saw a familiar whirl of darkness. Shadow formed up. She looked right at Marcus and me as she reared, letting out a desperate braying sound; then she took off, disappearing on the trail heading down the mountain.

  Fear speared into my veins as Marcus and I mounted up and put our horses on a tear after her. Jode fell in with us, none of us saying a word.

  We were doing exactly what the Kindred wanted. The key thudded against my chest as I rode, drumming right against my heart. But it was Sebastian. We had to find him.

  We rode down the trail we’d walked a hundred times over the past few weeks. The fires receded as we left the bluff behind and descended to the river’s edge. The darkness grew thicker and I knew exactly why.

  As we reached the end of the trail, my grasp of time felt off. The ride had taken forever and it had been over in an instant. Our practice field along the river’s edge—so familiar after all our time there—was a pool of darkness. I knew the river should be dead ahead, but I couldn’t see it.

  We slowed the horses to a walk. I moved to the outside, putting Marcus between Jode and me. Our horses put off more illumination than Ruin—but it didn’t help much. I couldn’t see more than five paces in any direction. Up on the bluff, the glow of the flames was visible. A long column of smoke lifted into the sky.

  A distant sound caught my attention—one I hadn’t heard in weeks. The drone of helicopter rotors carried through the fjord. Was that a Norwegian response to the fires, or had Daryn’s message gone through? How much time had passed since I’d seen her? An hour? Two? Time felt elastic.

  “I’ve had about enough of this,” Jode said, drawing an arrow into his bow.

  He fired, starting at twelve o’clock, and then moved on, working clockwise. Turning in a circle as Marcus and I stayed clear.

  I spotted movement in the inky blackness. Alevar, flapping away in a clumsy, wounded flight. I signaled his position to Jode. He loosed another arrow.

  Hit.

  Alevar spiraled to the earth and sank out of sight.

  Two down. Five to go.

  I looked at Marcus. Bay leapt suddenly from the black void, teeth snarling, so much bigger than her monsters.

  The horses startled. Riot bolted forward. Ruin and Lucent darted right. Marcus swung the scythe and missed—it was the last thing I saw. Riot galloped, surging into the darkness. I reined him in, leaning back, but he wouldn’t slow.

  I couldn’t see anything anymore. I’d lost Marcus and Jode. I heard Riot’s hooves hit gravel, then splash into water. We’d run right into the river.

  I finally pulled him around and tried to orient myself. The sound of the helicopters was growing louder and the bluff was becoming more visible as Alevar’s darkness dispersed. I put Riot in a walk, keeping my sword at the ready as I searched for Bas or Shadow.

  I didn’t expect to see him just seconds later.

  Sebastian walked toward me through the darkness. He didn’t look like he was under Samrael’s control. He didn’t look stiff or unlike himself, either. It was him. I felt that it was him through the cuff.

  “Bas.” I dismounted and approached him, sword still at the ready. It was him, but I wasn’t taking any chances. “Tell me it’s you, Bas.”

  “It’s me. It’s me, look.” He stared into the darkness. Shadow came trotting over to him. Sebastian put his hand on her neck, and the mare settled at his touch. “See? It’s me. Alevar came out of nowhere. He smashed into me when I stepped outside, and hit me right across the head. Next thing I knew, he’d brought me—” His eyes flew open. “What’s around your neck? Oh, no. Gideon, is that—”

  “Mount up, Bas.” Now wasn’t the time to explain. “Let’s get out of here.”

  I heard a shrill whinny behind me.

  Riot.

  I spun as my horse twisted into flame and shot away.

  “Riot!” I didn’t understand—until I saw the massive form of a dragon emerging from the darkness.

  Ra’om stepped forward, his claws pressing deep into the earth under his immense weight.

  I had seen him in my mind once, thanks to Samrael’s help. But I’d never seen a dragon in person before. It shook me.

  Ra’om’s red eyes were as I remembered them. As I’d seen them in my nightmares. In shadows. Penetrating. Evil. But his enormous body—scaled, serpentine, powerful—was more terrifying than I recalled. He was a thousand times my size.

  “Gideon,” Bas said behind me. “The key.”

  We definitely weren’t escaping this without losing something. The key. Our lives. Possibly all.

  Ra’om came to a stop, his long neck arcing high. Wings were folded at his back, liquid silver like the rest of him, and his thick, ridged tail settled on the grass behind him. He lowered his head, bringing it closer to my height, and opened his mouth slightly. Through his fangs, I saw the flick of a black tongue. And deeper, the orange glow of heat. A low growl rumbled from inside his throat and the glow of fire brightened.

  As I stood, I felt him piercing my mind, pushing his way into it.

  How are you, Gideon?

  His cavernous voice echoed from deep within my head.

  Samrael was right, it seems. You’ve caused us more trouble than we expected.

  I felt the presence of other Kindred. Malaphar, Ronwae, Bay. I thought of Bas, behind me. I didn’t know if he was in danger. But I couldn’t help him even if he was. I couldn’t even help myself.

  Perhaps we should recruit you. I think you would make a good addition to my Kindred. It would be so rewarding to see you and your horsemen on my side. It’s where you belong, I think. As one of us. Simply say the word, Gideon. And I can make you strong, like Samrael.

  Then there he was—Samrael—striding toward me across our practice field.

  He looked smug as he walked up to me. Ra’om’s looming presence made me feel insignificant, but Samrael looked powerful. Victorious.

  “I don’t think so, Ra’om,” he said, but he was looking me dead in the eyes. He brought his knife up and laid it under my chin, resting the cool blade on my neck. “He’ll never be as strong as me.”

  The roar of the helicopters grew louder. They were close now. And I felt Jode and Marcus approaching, sensing them through the cuff. But I knew nothing would help now. It was too late.

  Samrael drew the knife away. He hooked the point under the silver chain around my neck, lifting it up over my head. Into his hands. He smiled. “Thank you for this.”

  The dragon let out a hiss of satisfaction—a horrendous, chilling sound.

  What do you think, Gideon? I could give you power unlike anything you’ve ever known. Will you join us? Will you become our kin?

  I pushed against his hold on me—and felt him ease back, relinquishing control. My body came back under my own power. My ability to speak restored. I swallowed, clearing my throat, and looked from Samrael to Ra’om.

  “Interesting offer,” I said. “How about I kill you both instead?”

  Samrael lunged, slashing for my neck—but I’d expected it and twisted away. The blade sliced my shoulder, splitting skin and muscle. My hand opened and my sword dropped to the grass.

  I braced myself for Samrael’s next attack. Then Ra’om threw his head back and roared, spewing a cloud of fire into the air. Everything went white. I staggered, bl
inded by the sudden brightness, waiting for the knife to hit me again. To bite into my heart, my neck. But it didn’t.

  The brightness faded. Samrael wasn’t even facing me. He was turned toward Ra’om—toward where Ra’om had been. The dragon was gone.

  Not gone—changed.

  Samrael was watching the shadowed figure of a man standing in the distance. He was nothing more than a dark shape but I knew it was Ra’om, and that he and Samrael were sharing a silent exchange. The man turned and walked into the night, and Samrael looked back at me.

  “Ra’om has commanded me to spare you,” Samrael said. “He thinks it would be a waste of potential. An error, in my opinion, but it is his decision. It seems your life continues. For now. I’ll find you again, Gideon.” He gathered the long silver chain into his hand, closing his fingers over it. “Right after I find her.”

  Then he followed Ra’om, taking the rest of the Kindred with him.

  And the key.

  CHAPTER 53

  This pine room feels like a box after what I’ve said. After burning fjords and hordes of demons. After Ra’om.

  I stare into Cordero’s eyes, but it’s not Cordero anymore. The face in front of me is a woman’s, but all I see is Malaphar.

  “And now we’ve come to the end, haven’t we?” Malaphar says. “You were picked up on that practice field shortly afterward, correct? You and the other riders?”

  I don’t know why he’s still pretending. I don’t think I can do it much longer.

  I’m going numb from the adrenaline running through me. I’m shaking from it.

  “Where was Daryn, Gideon? Why wasn’t she there? Did she stay with her Seeker friend, Isabel?”

  Daryn actually was there. After she’d gone to find Isabel, she’d come back to our practice field. I picture it. The two Blackhawks that had touched down. The team of US Commandos that had arrived to get us out.

  I remember the quick, furious exchange I had with one of them. With Texas—the guy in this very room. I’d asked him about Daryn. He’d had no idea who I meant and we needed to go. There was too much smoke. The Blackhawks’s rotors hadn’t even slowed. We needed to go.

  I’d looked up to the trail and seen Daryn there. Standing on the exact same spot where we’d met that day Marcus had dropped me in the river. She was just standing there, watching.

  Making no move to join us. To join me.

  Seeing that, madness had come over me.

  I’d lost the key. I’d lost her. I’d let myself down. I’d let the guys down. How many innocent people would the Kindred bleed of their goodness because of me? How much evil would spread because I’d given up that key?

  The failure had crushed me. Belligerent, Cordero called me at the start of all this. It was true. I’d lost my head. I’d fought to get to Daryn, hitting anyone who came near me. Jode. Marcus. My rage was immense. I fought until there were too many descending on me. Then Texas threw his elbow across my temple. Next thing I knew I was waking up sedated and strapped to a chair, with a hood dropped over my head and a radiator clicking behind me.

  Here.

  Texas is watching me like he’s remembering the exact same thing. He’s perfectly still, except for the hand that moves slowly, millimeter by millimeter, toward his sidearm.

  I swallow, and make myself answer the question. “Daryn would have gone wherever she could best protect the key.”

  “That’s interesting, Gideon. Because, as you know, Daryn came here. Are you saying the key’s here? Are you saying the Kindred took a false key in Jotunheimen? A decoy? Are you saying you know where the real key is? What are you saying, Gideon?”

  There’s no room for deception in this room anymore. There’s no more time to wait for help. Not from Beretta, or from Daryn, or the guys.

  “We both know where the real key is,” I say. “Don’t we, Malaphar?”

  The door swings open. Samrael enters so fast, he’s a blur.

  Texas draws his pistol, but Samrael pushes his arm aside as he stabs—once, decisively. Texas drops. The floorboards bounce like a trampoline under my feet as he falls.

  It’s over in a second.

  Samrael stands over him with a bone knife.

  Cordero—who has transformed into Malaphar—is still sitting at the edge of the desk.

  And me. I’m still sitting in this chair.

  CHAPTER 54

  I hear a terrible wheezing sound. Texas slumps against the wall. He’s bleeding from his side, struggling to breathe. His baseball cap sits in the growing pool of blood beside him.

  Sucking chest wound. Still alive.

  Samrael picks up the gun on the floor and hands it to Malaphar as he steps around the desk. He looks at me, then at the cuff around my wrist with a fever in his hellacious eyes. Reaching into his pocket, he removes the silver chain with the false key. Daryn’s necklace. “Don’t need this anymore.” He flips it toward me. It bounces off my chest and slides to the floor.

  “When did you know?” Malaphar asks me.

  My muscles shake with rage. “Does it matter?”

  A smile spreads over Malaphar’s crater-skinned face. “No. But I think it was the Lagos story. When Daryn said the key disappeared, she meant it. Do you know what day that was? Because she didn’t mention that detail, did she? It was August second, Gideon. Do you know where the key reappeared? It was in four places, actually. I know even you can figure out at least one.”

  Breathe. Just breathe.

  “Clever, don’t you think?” Samrael says. “Very clever to separate it that way. Scatter the pieces across the globe and then hide them in plain sight.” He gestures with the knife in his hand, like this room is the world. “Caused us a fair amount of confusion as we tried to follow its power. We didn’t understand why it was weaker. Diffuse. Until that moment we took it—but then, you riders were all there together. A sound tactic. As was entrusting the pieces to people ignorant of what they even had. It made you immune to my capabilities. We had to do all of this. Mine you for knowledge you didn’t even know you possessed. We’ve gone to a good deal of trouble.”

  He falls silent, and there’s only the sound of Texas’s labored breathing.

  “Give it to me, Gideon,” Samrael says.

  I look at Malaphar. “It won’t come off me. I’ve told you that.”

  “Daryn is the keeper,” Samrael says. “Isn’t she? The only one who can wield its power. It’s another seal of protection. Isn’t it?”

  I shake my head. I don’t know. I don’t know and if I don’t get out of this chair Texas is going to die and so will I.

  “She is full of surprises.” Samrael’s gaze falls to the cuff again. He adjusts his grip on the knife. “Well, no matter. There are other ways of removing it.”

  He steps in, and hammers down with the blade.

  The instant fragments.

  I watch the pale blade come down. I watch it slice through my wrist and bite deep into the wood of the chair.

  I hear the wood split and I see my hand fall.

  I hear it thump as it drops to the floor.

  Time moves again, and reality returns.

  No. It doesn’t.

  What I see makes no sense. Where my hand should be there is nothing. I’ve been partially erased. And I’m bleeding. I’m bleeding like a leaky fuel pump.

  Spots explode before my eyes.

  Stay here, Blake. Stay, stay, stay.

  Samrael grabs my forearm, keeping it in place with one hand.

  With the other, he tugs on the cuff.

  I feel warmth, wetness, slipping, and the cuff comes off.

  The cuff, which is the key, which has been on me this whole time. On me and the guys—not around Daryn’s neck.

  Very clever.

  Samrael straightens. “Thank you, Gideon,” he says, giving the cuff a toss like it’s a baseball. “I’m glad we could finally work this out.”

  He turns to Malaphar and they speak, but I can’t hear what they say. The pain comes with a sound like
metal bending in my ears. It expands, a universe inside me. I stare at the knots in the pine paneling and still see my handless arm. I blink and blink and I can’t make it to go away. It’s like a scratch on a lens.

  The metallic groan recedes and I hear Samrael again.

  “Fine,” he says to Malaphar. “But you’ll have to answer to Ra’om for it.” He throws me a frustrated glance and leaves.

  Malaphar smiles at me with his pinched features and beetle black eyes and I realize what just happened. An argument over who gets to kill me. Malaphar must’ve fought hard.

  “It’s just you and me again, Gideon. It’s a shame you won’t get to meet the real Cordero. She’s here. Real nice lady. Smart. I think you’d have liked her. I think she would have liked you.”

  I don’t want to die in this chair.

  Malaphar disengages the safety and sets his aim on me.

  I look right into the barrel.

  This is the real deal, right here. Right now.

  The gun goes off.

  White noise—

  Eclipses—

  All.

  CHAPTER 55

  I’m here.

  I’m still here.

  But I’m deaf and my heart isn’t beating.

  I count to five. Ten. Twenty.

  The ringing in my ears starts at twenty-one, my heart at thirty.

  Texas leans against the wall, holding his side. Blood pours through his fingers. He holds his knife in his other hand.

  His knife. He used his bowie knife.

  Malaphar is facedown on the floor. I can’t see his neck, the front part, but deep black blood is forming a pool beneath him. It’s touching the redder blood that belongs to me and Texas.

  There’s a bullet hole and splintered paneling to my right.

  It looks bad in here. And I’m still making it worse.

  Texas pushes himself off the wall and comes over. The ringing hasn’t left my ears, but I can hear the big sucking sounds coming from him. He’s dragging in air like he’s going to dive deep underwater and the veins are bulging in his neck.

  I’m not doing great, either. It’s hard to think past the pain. It begins at my hand and has no end.