Riders (Riders, #1)(61)

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 found 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.”

“It’s okay.” I’m the one who did it. I’ll suffer the consequences.

“So you left him,” she says, “and went to the Vatican. And then?”

I look up. Seriously? Did she have to say it again?

Cordero’s eyebrows climb like she doesn’t understand, but Texas and Beretta exchange a look.

“Are you with NSA?” I ask. “CIA? I can’t figure it out.”

She smiles. “Then maybe you should stop trying. I know you’re tired of this but we’re just about done, aren’t we?”

I nod. After Italy we went to Norway. Where we stayed until we lost the key. Where I thought Daryn had stayed. I picture her face just now, out in the hallway.

Why is she here?

“Let’s move on,” Cordero says. “You’d left Sebastian behind and arrived at the Vatican. What happened next?”





CHAPTER 38

It was almost eleven when I started walking the arcade. My plan was simple. One, stay alive. Two, walk the premises until the cuff alerted me to Conquest’s presence. Three, get out of there. With Conquest, still alive.

Part of me actually hoped the Kindred would show up. I was routinely getting my butt kicked by them and that had to stop. I wanted a chance to give a little payback—or a lot—but I had a sword and a fire horse, sometimes, and the ability to ramp up rage in people. My tools didn’t exactly make me feel outfitted for combat success.

Even at such a late hour, tourists were strolling around and snapping pictures. I tried to blend in as I noted the position of the guards and familiarized myself with the basic layout of the Vatican. As always, my focus improved with fresh air and movement. A charred smell still clung to me and my eyes stung, but I’d put the incident at the airport behind me.