Riders (Riders, #1)(92)

Jode was telling us about the whales he’d seen that morning when Daryn shifted closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder. Jode stumbled over his words, but he recovered quickly and kept going.

After a few seconds, Daryn closed her eyes.

Jode trailed off, abandoning the whales. “Gideon, do you think…?”

Marcus and Bas both looked like they’d stopped breathing.

“I don’t know.” I wanted to take her out of there. Or make the guys leave. Not because I didn’t trust them—I did. But Daryn had asked me the last time not to let them see.

Why hadn’t I thought about this sooner?

I put my arm around her. It wasn’t a solution. But it felt better.

Then we sat and listened to the snap of the fire and the whistle of the wind as it blew through all the cracks in the hut.

Daryn’s eyes fluttered open in just seconds.

“Where’d you see the whales, Jode?” she asked. “I missed it.”

No comment about delivering the key.

She’d only nodded off.

We all looked at each other like, Shit. We need to chill out.

Bas let out a long, stressed-out sigh. “I’m getting some more firewood.” He hopped up and headed outside.

“The whales,” Jode said. He narrowed his eyes. “Ah, yes. I saw the whales—three of them, there were three—near an inlet west of Gjende.”

We talked about that for a while. The whales. Then Gjende, which was beyond my reach with Riot. Travel over land was slow and laborious in these mountains. But folded in with Lucent, in elemental form, Jode was almost invisible by day, like Shadow and Bas were at night. They could travel far. It gave them a lot more range than Marcus and me. Flying mini-clouds of ash were pretty noticeable, and fire? Riot and I didn’t leave the immediate area very often.

After the false alarm, I was starting to settle down when Daryn’s hand slipped into mine and squeezed. I looked at her, but she was staring at our linked hands.

She’d gone white. Then her eyes lifted to mine.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

Dread shot through me and I looked to the door. Sebastian wasn’t back yet.

“What is it?” Jode said. Marcus had frozen.

I shot to my feet and barreled through the door, out into the night.

Several fires burned across the clearing, lighting the area.

The Kindred were everywhere. Not just the seven.

Dozens.

Jode and I had guessed right. Ronwae and Bay commanded hordes.

Ronwae was the one I noticed first. In her scorpion shape, she had Riot’s heft, but she sat low to the ground on six segmented legs. Her thick shell looked redder than when I’d seen it before. Her claws were as long as my arm, and they opened and closed slowly, in anticipation. But they were nothing compared to the stinger that rose from her back, swaying back and forth.

She looked like more than enough to contend with on her own, but in the darkness behind her, around her, there were dozens of Ronwae replicas. Not exactly the same. Slightly smaller. Their armored shells not as deep red as Ronwae’s. But still incredibly real threats.

Further away, Bay stood on top of the stone where I’d huddled under a blanket with Daryn only a few nights earlier. Even from a distance, I could see the power in her shoulders and legs, her mangy pelt and sharp claws. She lifted her head to the night—her canines were so long they resembled tusks—and scented the air, small clouds issuing from her nostrils.

Like Ronwae’s scorpions, Bay’s multitudes stacked the darkness behind her, each more misshapen and gruesome than the next—a funhouse-worth of beasts.

A burst of fire erupted by the trailhead, drawing my attention. Pyro stood there, proudly showing off his fangs and the fire in his hands. Like that would intimidate me. If it weren’t for Daryn and the guys, he’d mean nothing.

I didn’t see Malaphar but Sebastian stood in the middle of the clearing, at the center of everything. He was standing at attention, eyes straight ahead. He wasn’t focusing on me.

It looked like Sebastian, but …

I didn’t think it was him.

I didn’t see Ra’om, but Samrael stepped forward from the darkness in his human form, wearing a reflective jacket and pants, like an ad for outdoor gear. He smiled, totally at home with the horror show around him.

“Gideon, it’s good to see you again.” His gaze moved past me.

Marcus and Jode had followed me out of the hut. They had drawn their weapons, scythe and bow. Daryn stood between them.

When Samrael saw her, his smile vanished and his eyes filled with hunger. Instantly, I remembered Ra’om’s image—Samrael attacking her—and rage ignited inside me. Rage that burned from my core.

“At last,” he said. “I knew I’d find you.”

Daryn came to my side. The key hung around her neck, gleaming against her dark jacket. She stood with her usual confidence, but I saw that her fingers were shaking.

“I wouldn’t be gloating if I were you,” she said. “We’ve been here for weeks.”

Samrael’s smile came back. “Yes. You were well hidden. But what’s a few weeks of delay when you’re building a kingdom?”

“You won’t get the key, Samrael. You’ll never get it.”

He tipped his head. “I don’t know about never. Why don’t we do this simply, for your sake, Daryn. For the sake of Gideon here, who’s so very fond of you.” He held out his hand. “Bring it to me.”