Riders (Riders, #1)(102)

Only Sebastian’s cuff is left now.

She glances at me, and walks away. As she strides to Sebastian and Samrael, I tell myself it wasn’t good-bye I just saw in her eyes.

She reaches them and kneels at Bas’s side. Ronwae has backed off. There’s no need to restrain Bas anymore. Even from where I stand, I can see that he’s starting to convulse from the poison.

Daryn runs her hands over his forehead and it seems to steady him. Samrael stands close as she takes Bas’s cuff, but his eyes are on me. He knows what it does to me, seeing him so close to her.

When Daryn has Sebastian’s cuff, she stands and Samrael hands her mine.

She has them all now. All four.

“Do it,” he says. He tips his head to Sebastian. “Quickly, if you hope to help him.”

Daryn takes the four cuffs into her open palms. Each of them loosens and dissolves, transforming into dust. Into light and shadow and fire. They hover above her palms, turning in circles. But then they meld together and form a sphere. A small marbled globe, floating above her open hands.

Daryn steps back and the sphere expands, reaching her height and then larger. Twice her height. It turns in front of her, a world spinning above the trampled grass. A small universe of fire and water, ice and steel. Every element. Every star and every ocean. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

Miraculous.

It’s the only word.

Samrael comes to Daryn’s side and gazes at it with a look of triumph. “Now cede it to me,” he says.

Daryn shakes her head, and tenses. Then I hear the distant howl of wind as a point of pure darkness appears on the sphere.

Samrael is focused on it, like he’s the one feeding it, building it.

He is.

I know he’s tainting it. I know how it feels to be tainted by the Kindred.

As the darkness expands, I see that it’s a tunnel.

A porthole.

And through it, mountains appear. They’re the same jagged Wyoming peaks, but they’re cloaked in ice and it’s night there. The ground is a smooth sheet of ice and the trees are coated with frost.

The wind howls louder and pushes at my back. It scatters leaves and rustles the trees around the clearing.

It’s the pull of that place. An evil, leeching hunger. The kind I’ve seen in Ra’om’s eyes.

Daryn staggers away from the porthole, but Samrael steps closer. He stands before it, gazing at the frozen world inside. His dark clothes whip with the force of the wind. He’s mesmerized by what he sees. A refuge. A kingdom. An empire made of the same malevolent hunger that exists inside him. That feeds him.

I don’t see Sebastian until he’s running.

Running with effort. Like every step is a struggle.

But Samrael has his back turned and he’s not expecting the collision.

Sebastian slams into him and they catapult forward.

They pitch into the porthole—and are instantly sucked inside.

Vanished.

Gone.

I loose sight of them and the passage pinholes shut. The sphere unravels in a violent tumble of elements, disappearing in a swirl at Daryn’s hands.

Daryn clutches her hands close and bows her head. Her breath is ragged and her back shakes.

Spent.

She’s spent by what she’s just done.

What has she done?

“Sebastian,” Jode says with an exhale.

Then a deafening roar pulls my attention up.

Ra’om is ripping down the sky, coming right at us.





CHAPTER 58

I swing into Riot’s saddle and tear toward Daryn. It’s a short distance, but Riot struggles. His gait is lopsided and he’s grunting with every stride. Dismounting, I reach Daryn in three strides.

“Gideon,” she says, tears brimming in her eyes. “It was supposed to be me! I didn’t know Bas would do that! It was supposed to be me!”

“We’ll get him back.” Sebastian’s scales are looped around my left arm. They give me hope that he’s still alive. “We’ll get him.”

Ra’om sweeps down from the sky, strafing the cabins and trees with fire. Ronwae and her scorpions attack with no fear of death. They were moments away from attaining what they wanted. Failure has driven them mad, but I’m no different.

Vengeance beats through me like a pulse. I’m blinded by it. I know I am. All I want to see is the destruction of the Kindred who are left. All I want to do is join Jode and Marcus in demolishing Ronwae’s scorpions.

Ra’om dives on us from above. Daryn and I lunge away, and Riot bolts. The dragon’s huge talons gouge the dirt where we’d just stood. He climbs into the sky, pumping his massive wings, his long tail stretched out behind him.

“He won’t stop,” Daryn says. Her tears are gone. Now there’s only fierce determination. In her hand is a small globe, alive with colors swirling inside it. I know it’s our cuffs, formed together. Our way back to Sebastian. “I have to get this somewhere safe.”

“And you, Daryn,” I add, because now I know. It’s not only the key. It’s the keeper.

Riot comes back to us, bobbing his head. His breathing has become short and raspy. Shadow is with him and she’s distraught, her movements jerky and her eyes wild. I know she’s searching for Bas.

“I’ll take her.” Daryn grabs Shadow’s reins. She steps into the stirrup and mounts the black mare. Shadow dances anxiously, but Daryn is firm and Shadow settles under her confidence.