Dad’s sentence was interrupted when all of the cars’ headlights cut off at the exact same moment.
“Ahhh!” I winced. My eyes throbbed, and the sudden change in light left me blinded momentarily—left us all blind.
I heard a rush of movement, and seconds later the headlights of the middle car switched on—illuminating the silhouettes of at least forty individuals standing in my yard now.
I couldn’t make out any of their faces; they were just tall, stark shadows in the headlights. They all seemed to be holding something long and pointed in their hands. One of them stepped forward, and the light from the car glinted off the tip of the object he held. It was a spear, the blade made of some sort of shiny metal—silver, no doubt. He seemed to be wearing some sort of cloak or robe; I couldn’t help but think about the Grim Reaper from the haunted farm.
“Give us what we came for,” the man said in a deep, rumbling voice.
Daniel reached out and took my hand in his, threading his fingers with mine. Without saying a word, the lost boys stepped closer to us—as if closing our ranks. I could see the muscles tensing in their arms and backs, looking like they’d jump the porch railing and attack at the first command from Daniel or me. Tension radiated off their bodies. I feared what might happen if they went wolf right in my front yard.
Daniel held his hand up, telling his boys to wait. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to be more specific,” he said to the spearman, sounding too calm for the situation.
The crowd stood steady. The same spearman spoke again, “Give us what we came for.”
Was that the only thing he’d been ordered to say?
“Again, specifics would be nice.” Daniel squared his shoulders. “You wanted Gabriel, but he’s already returned to you. Wasn’t that the deal, if Gabriel returned, you’d stay away?”
“But where is Gabriel?” I whispered to Daniel. “Maybe something happened to him. Maybe he didn’t make it back.”
The spearman put his hand to his ear. He seemed to listen for a moment. Was someone talking to him through an earpiece?
He said something to the man next to him. Two other spearmen marched to one of the SUVs and yanked open the door. Something fell out of the doorway and landed in a heap on the pavement between two of the cars. I couldn’t tell what it was until I heard him groan.
“Gabriel,” I breathed out. “No.”
The heap shifted as Gabriel raised his head from the pavement. “I am sorry,” he said. “I did not leave soon enough. Daniel, I…”
“Sirhan Etlu speaks,” the chattiest of the spearmen said. “Sirhan Etlu of the Etlu Clan speaks, and all listen.…”
The lights of the smaller car turned off. I blinked several times to help my eyes adjust once more to the change in light. When I could see clearer, I noticed that the crowd—which was indeed forty people strong—wore long velvet robes draped over otherwise normal street clothes, the hoods of their cloaks obscuring most of their faces. Almost all of their robes were a deep sapphire blue color, except for the ten closest spear bearers, who stood in the very front of the crowd facing us. Their robes were emerald green. The only person in the mob who was noticeably female was a young woman who stood among the green-robed ten. Her hood was lowered, so I could see the more delicate features of her face and the teardrop-shaped earrings dangling from her ears. I couldn’t help staring at her. I’d never known another female Urbat.
Something else entirely had caught Slade’s attention. He pointed at the smaller car in the middle of the SUVs. “That’s an Aston Martin Rapide limousine.” Slade whistled in appreciation.