Riders (16 page)

“I don’t know exactly,” Daryn said. “But this is where we’ll find Death.”

I stared at her for a second, kind of amazed that that didn’t faze me as much as it should’ve. Then I noticed a light buzzing sensation from the cuff, similar to what I felt from Sebastian, but faint, and deeper in tone. I turned to the backseat to see if he felt it, too. He was asleep in a jackknife position, his head on my duffel.

“How do you know he’s here?” I asked. “Death?”

“Because I know,” Daryn said.

That wasn’t enough for me and she could tell. “I saw him here. At the gas station, I had … visions of this.” She winced. “I
hate
that word.”

“Wait.
Visions?
That happened at the gas station?” I thought back. She could only mean the time she spent in the women’s room. “Daryn, did you—” I was suddenly seeing these horrible images of her curled up in a metal stall with her eyes rolled to the back of her head. “Do you
pass out
?”

“If you’re asking whether I can’t see anything else while I have them, yes. Yes, okay? I get headaches beforehand. That’s how I know they’re coming. Then I fade out and I can’t see anything else. Stop looking at me like that, Gideon. And take the anger down, too. I locked the bathroom door from the inside. I was fine. Can we please focus on what’s important?”

She kept talking like I’d said yes. She had no idea how hard I was trying not to lose my mind. She’d been in that bathroom alone, totally defenseless. Did she think the Kindred would be stopped by a
locked door
?

“He was in that car right here,” she was saying, shaking her head. “But I don’t know. Sometimes what I see isn’t perfect. Well, actually it is. I’m the one who has to catch up. Figure out the clues and trust that—”

“Trust that what? Trust that what, Daryn? Talk to me.”

She looked out the windshield.

“Right. You want to write in your notebook for a while and pretend I’m not here?”

“No. I want to get this done.”

“Weird. I want this to go on forever.” I bit down, making myself shut up. This was going in a bad direction. Why was I so wound up? Was it being in the open, at night, with no concealment and a pack of murderous psychopaths coming after us? No. That wasn’t it.

It was
Death.
I’d never had a good experience with death. My dad’s still haunted me. And I had died and come back to life as War, so. Not a big fan, but it couldn’t matter. Time to suck it up and go meet him, face-to-face.

“Was he alone in your vision-download?” I asked.

“Yes. Should I wake Bastian?”

“No. I’ve got it.” Sebastian had negative combat instincts based on what I’d seen at the studio.

I climbed out of the Jeep. The air felt thick and hot with moisture. Charged with electricity. Thunder rumbled, close. The storm was heading our way.

“
We’ve
got it,” Daryn said, jogging up beside me. “I’m coming with you.”

The anger I’d pushed down a second ago came right back up. “Do you have any comprehension of danger?”

“Me? I wasn’t the one who confronted Samrael at a party.”

“But you did march into a high-rise in LA with no regard for whether he’d be there, which he was.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“That’s what I’m
saying
. We should assume the Kindred are
everywhere
.” I had to readjust. Switch tactics. “I’ll make you a deal. If you come with me, then I want to be there when you have the visions. You tell me as soon as you feel the headaches and I’m right there. From here on out.”

In the moonlight, I saw tears pool in her eyes. Once again, I had no idea where I’d gone wrong. Not a clue.

“I’ve been on my own a long time, Gideon.”

“Okay. I get that. But now you’re not. I told you I was going to help.”

She didn’t say anything, and I was done. She kept too much from me. She didn’t trust me. It felt like she was working against me. “Whatever, Martin.”

I grabbed a tire iron from the back of my Jeep. It felt solid and heavy in my hand. Sebastian’s scales would’ve been about a hundred percent better but he was still out and I wanted him to stay that way. I hesitated a moment, my eyes drifting to my cuff. Sebastian had said we all had weapons. What was mine? I should’ve asked him earlier. How the hell had I missed that? But too late now. It wasn’t like I knew how to access the weapon anyway, whatever it was.

As I came around the Jeep, Daryn planted herself right in my path. She stared up at me, her expression all determination. “I’ll take the deal. I’ll tell you before the next time.”

I nodded. My focus had already moved onto finding Death. “Is it safe to assume you don’t have any experience approaching an enemy force in the dark?”

“He’s not the enemy.”

“He is
Death
and the Kindred could be out there waiting for us, so we’re damn well going to proceed with caution. I’ll make the initial contact since—”

“I think I should.”

“Negative.”

“I’m less threatening.”

“Exactly.” I got a quick mental snapshot of her shaking fingers touching the chain after she’d stepped out of the gas station restroom. “But way to act fearless, Martin. You and Sebastian should swap tips, share some tradecraft.”

Nice, Blake. Nice one.
But no taking it back now, and I’d hit my argument quota for the night. My head needed to be on the mission. “Keep behind me. Stay to my right so I don’t hit you on the backswing if I have to use this.” I lifted the tire iron. “Got it?”

Her eyes flashed with anger. “I think I can handle that.”

“Good.” I stood there for a second longer, telling myself to keep a clear head. Our safety depended on it. Then I adjusted my grip on the tire iron. “All right. Let’s do this.”

“Ten-four,” she said.

C
HAPTER
24

As I approached the sedan with Daryn a few steps behind me, my pulse pounded a steady beat. I’d been taught to use all my senses to assess an environment for danger. I did that now, tuning in to the rustle of tumbleweeds, the occasional car passing on the highway, the scurrying movements of small desert life. The Kindred could be staked out in the darkness, just waiting for the right moment to strike.

My weapon was foreign, and my backup and objective, but stalking like this felt right. It was the trade I’d signed up for.

The thrumming from my cuff was still present. I tried to adjust to this new source of input. It had to be Death’s energy I was sensing. If I could tune in and let it guide me, it might work as a homing beacon.

Lightning flashed, illuminating the area around me and giving me hints of what was out there. Flat land. Brush. A larger rock formation to the south. I’d have killed for some night-vision optics.

As we drew to within thirty meters I quickly reviewed my objectives. Neutralize any threat presented by Death. Get him on the team. Clear out of there. With a glance at Daryn, I closed the last stretch at a brisk pace as she followed close behind me.

The car was a silver Ford Mustang, covered in dirt. Illinois plates. Tinted windows. No sign of movement inside.

I motioned for Daryn to stay behind the car, then I tested the driver’s-side door. I found it unlocked and swung it open.

No one inside.

My heart rate settled back a notch. I continued to assess.

Worn black leather seats. Fast-food wrappers on the floor. Keys still in the ignition. I turned them once. Nothing. The car had either run out of gas or broken down.

I checked the glove compartment. No registration. No papers, but I found a hand towel. A bloody one. The blood was old—the towel stank and was stiff—and there was a lot of it. It’d been soaked once.

I closed the glove compartment. Daryn was right there.

“Did—” She paused, glancing at the sky as thunder rumbled. “Did you find anything?”

I made a split-second decision to keep the towel to myself for now and shook my head. “Stay right here.”

I wanted to find his tracks, so keeping hers contained was critical. I walked around the car. Sure enough there were fresh footsteps heading into the desert. I followed them a little further, confirming my guess. He had ditched the car and made for the rock outcrop I’d seen in the distance.

A normal person in distress would have walked along the freeway waiting for help. But he was Death, so. Not a normal person.

I had a hunch the car was stolen. I had a hunch he was running from something and possibly hurt. The danger factor was skyrocketing.

I looked at Daryn, reconsidering having her with me. It had seemed like the right choice so far. We were on the road. The Jeep was in sight. That had given me a certain level of confidence. But taking her into open desert at night toward a guy who drove around with bloody towels? That wasn’t something I wanted to do.

“Head back and wake Sebastian up,” I said, walking over to her. “Park the Jeep so the headlights face the desert. I’m going to take another quick look around here. Meet you back there in five minutes.”

She nodded. “Okay. Be safe.”

I watched her until she reached the Jeep, then I headed into the desert. I had no intention of checking the Mustang again, or of meeting up with her and Sebastian until I had Death. She wasn’t going to like it when she realized I’d been less than honest with her, but my priority was keeping her safe. Angry, safe Daryn was better than Daryn in the hands of Samrael any day of the week.

I took my time as I waded through the darkness. As I put the road behind me, everything reduced to murky shapes, but the lightning helped my navigation, giving me X-ray shots of the terrain. Mostly a good thing, but also bad.

When the earth lit up, I couldn’t process it all at once. I had to decipher the fading images in my mind. Eventually, my imagination started kicking in with its contributions.

Why did that cactus look so human?

Why had the tumbleweed looked like it had feet?

What was that dark blur across the sky?

I knew I was getting myself worked up. Not helping was the feeling in my gut that I wasn’t alone. That
I
was the one being stalked.

I drew a breath, forcing some steadiness into my veins, and pressed forward.

Flash.
Outcrop ahead on a downslope. Getting closer.

Flash.
I was drifting left. Adjust heading.

Flash.
I was looking at a creature, crouching ten feet away. Staring at me. Black as the night with white eyes and—wings? were those
wings
?—and a wrinkled face full of torment, full of pleading, and—

Darkness.

I’d frozen with the tire iron back, ready to swing. Now, surrounded by night again, I still didn’t move.

I scanned the blackness around me, ready to attack. Waiting to be attacked. Every muscle in my body brimmed with violence. Overcharged. In a whiteout of mortal fear.

A breeze swept past me, hot like a breath. It carried a foul odor that made my breath catch. Then the stench was gone. Seconds had passed since I’d seen the thing, but I waited a few more before I brought my arm down.

My heart was trying to kick down my rib cage. As I searched the desert around me again, I pictured the creature’s wide, pleading eyes. Blind eyes, I thought. They’d been like pearls. The way it had crouched made me wonder if it’d been scared of
me
—but that didn’t mean it was harmless.

Was it one of the Kindred? I knew of four. Was it the fifth? Or was that Death? But Death had to be human—that thing definitely hadn’t been—and I hadn’t sensed any change in the signal from the cuff.

I made my feet start moving again. Every time the sky lit up, I tensed, expecting to see the creature again. Sweat rolled down my back and my knuckles ached from gripping the tire iron, but I made it to the outcrop without further incident.

Approaching from a slightly elevated slope, I could see the rock formation’s general shape. It was configured like a horseshoe, with the open side opposite me. I had a feeling Death had put himself right at the center. It’d be an advantageous position for him. Hidden. And the opening would be the only place he’d need to watch to spot someone coming. So he thought.

I looked up, gauging the height of the near ridge. Thirty, forty feet—approximately three stories high. Steep grade, but I could handle it.

Reaching back, I shoved the tire iron through my belt and started climbing. I couldn’t stop picturing the creature’s emaciated body. How it’d been covered in a leathery black hide. The sharp teeth that had peeked from its withered mouth. I was pretty sure I’d seen black wings folded at its back.

Was it going to pick me right off this rock face?

Had it gone back to the Jeep?

Climb, Blake.

I channeled my concentration to the task. Rock climbing was problem-solving. Choosing the right holds, finding the right route. I worked steadily and fell into a good flow. The wind grew stronger as I neared the crest, my shirt flapping like a flag. My lungs pumped the damp storm air, my muscles craving the oxygen. Rain was coming soon.

The climb leveled off just as my hands and forearms started to burn from exertion. Pulling myself onto the smooth shelf at the summit, I shook them out. Then the hair on the back of my neck lifted as I became aware of the energy from the cuff. It felt much stronger now. Sharper, like a radio tuned to a better frequency. I was on the right track—Death was close.

Brushing my hands off on my jeans, I moved to the edge of the shelf and checked out the view I’d come to see. On this side of the formation, the rocks stepped down more gradually, in levels that dropped to a small clearing down below. I spotted a dark shape there, but I couldn’t tell if it was a person or a sleeping bag. Turning, I could see the small points of my Jeep’s headlights. Farther off, the freeway.

Gravel hissed nearby. I forced myself not to react.

Okay. Not alone. The intensifying buzz of the cuff confirmed it.

Moving slowly, I set my feet and reached back, my hand closing around the tire iron.

A shoe scraped against rock a few feet to my left. Louder. Impossible to pretend I hadn’t heard it this time.