Riders (Riders, #1)(34)

No. This was just pain. I’d felt it before. Every day. Every time I thought of my dad. I could take this.

The net released suddenly, the pressure and darkness withdrawing, and then there was the lift. The huge lift of being free of the pain, like hot rain pouring up and down my body, running through every part of me.

I pulled myself to my feet. The disks were still in my hand, but I felt dazed and slow. Up the street at Samrael’s side, Ronwae blurred in and out, like I was seeing her through heat waves. Sebastian. Samrael and his buddies. Everyone was focused on the tricked-out ATV that had just come around the corner.

The studio cop pulled to a stop and brought a microphone up to his mouth. “This set is authorized-access only.” His voice projected through speakers mounted on the roll bar. “I’m going to need to see your passes, please.”

Sebastian and I were on the opposite end of the block, leaving the Kindred boxed in the middle—the weakest position to be in during a conflict—so why did I feel like they still had the advantage?

“We’ll be on our way shortly,” Samrael replied. “We’re just finishing up a conversation.”

The studio cop climbed out of the vehicle. The guy was ripped in that gym-dweller way. Loaded with muscles that had no real-world application. He pressed his shoulders back, sensing trouble. “I’m sorry, sir. Unless you show me your ID, I’m going to have to escort you off the lot.”

“Gideon, we should leave,” Sebastian said.

But I couldn’t leave. Something was about to go down. I was sure of it.

And I was right.

Samrael made a snapping motion with his hand, a flick like he was opening a switchblade. Something appeared at his fingertips. There was nothing in his hand, and then there was something. A knife. Sebastian and I weren’t that far away. I couldn’t be imagining the long ivory-colored knife Samrael was suddenly holding.

The studio cop froze as Samrael turned back to him.

I broke into a sprint, straight toward him, dread shooting through me.

Samrael reached back and hurled the knife. It traveled through the air at shocking speed, but time broke down and I saw it in pieces. Slow. The entire thing, clear and sharp. The guard’s utter look of shock at seeing a weapon used against him. The knife’s bizarre trail of pale light, like a comet’s. And my thoughts. I had so many thoughts as that knife sailed on and on in that instant.

That man’s going to die.

By a weapon that appeared from nothing.

Because I didn’t anticipate again.

I should’ve stopped this.

The blade sank into the guard’s neck. Five, six inches disappearing at the base of his throat, right beneath his Adam’s apple. The force of the strike rocked him backward. He landed on the street, his keys jangling, his cell phone skidding across the pavement.

Sebastian ran up beside me.

We stood together, watching a furious moment of legs bucking and throat grasping and gurgling. Then nothing.

Just stillness.

My eyes went to the fat ring on the guard’s finger. Class ring? Too far to tell. Then the piece of lettuce stuck to the bottom of his shoe. From the pretend market, or was it real?

This was real. This had seemed like a joke in so many ways, but it was real.

The guard was dead.

When I looked back at Samrael, he had another pale knife in his hand. It looked like bone. A knife entirely made of bone.

“Where is she, Gideon?” he asked.

“Come on!” I yelled. Inside, I’d caught fire. “You have to deal with me now!”

Samrael launched the knife. Years behind home plate kicked in. I saw its trajectory and reacted, tackling Sebastian to the ground. The disks slipped out of my hand as we hit the asphalt. The blade flew past us and went skimming along the street like a rock skipping over a lake.

“Stay down!” I yelled to Sebastian. I scrambled for the disks and came up throwing, launching the weapon well. It traveled with the same speed as Samrael’s blade, the scales leaving a dark streak as they whirled through the air.

My aim was off. I’d gone for Samrael but the weapon sailed wide and low, toward Pyro. He lunged away, but not fast enough. The chain caught one of his shins and the disks twisted, lassoing his other leg. He hit the street, calf-roped.

Samrael looked at his fallen Kindred, clearly surprised. I was too, but I didn’t stick around. I grabbed the back of Sebastian’s shirt and hauled him up, and then behind the cab. “You okay?”

He was shaking pretty badly but he didn’t look hurt.

“My life just danced before my eyes!”

I glanced over my shoulder. Samrael was still coming. Pyro had untangled himself. Ronwae was doing that shimmering thing I’d seen a few moments ago, like seeing in 3D without the glasses.

“Call your horse, Gideon!” Sebastian grabbed my arm. “That’s our only chance!”

“Call my—what did you just say?”

“I’ll do it.” Sebastian’s eyes closed for a beat; then right in the middle of the street, the horses appeared.

First his. Then mine.

They charged right up to the Kindred and stood there like complete badasses, providing the best equine overwatch you’ve ever seen in your life. That gave me and Sebastian the window we needed to get the hell out of there.





CHAPTER 20