At the cuff.
“You’re not answering. Am I invading your personal space?” Cordero says, except it’s not her voice anymore. There’s gravel in it, and it’s getting slightly deeper.
“Sorry, Gideon. It seems like I’ve made you uncomfortable.” She rises and sits on the edge of the desk, right in front of me. “You’ve been extremely helpful so far, so I’m going to bend the rules a little and tell you something I probably shouldn’t. You’ve been worried about Daryn, I’m sure. Dare. I do like it when you call her that. But you don’t need to be worried anymore.” Her smile is mocking. “She’s here. Daryn is right outside with some of my colleagues. Isn’t that great news?”
Breathe, Blake. Breathe.
Cordero smirks. “You’ve gone so quiet on me, Gideon, just as we’re reaching the final showdown. Well, I’m assuming it’s the final showdown. Maybe it isn’t. I haven’t heard the full story yet, have I? Let’s finish up. I’m sure you’re eager to see Daryn. Keep cooperating, and you’ll see that she’s doing fine.” Cordero pauses, giving me a hellish smile. “And still in one piece.”
CHAPTER 52
In a lot of ways, the night the Kindred showed up was like any other.
The five of us were inside the hut, crammed around the tiny fireplace as we tried to stay warm. Our new hobby was betting on horse races and, not surprisingly, Jode was becoming a rich man. Our betting currency—Norwegian chocolate bars—sat in front of him like a miniature stack of gold bullion.
“Never bet against me,” he said, his mouth lifting in a cocky smile. “You’ll only regret it.”
“Can’t we have other kinds of competitions?” I asked. In elemental form, no one was faster than Lucent. In horse form, Shadow and Ruin ran pretty even. Riot and I were the only ones who never won and it was starting to get old. “Tests of strength, for example.”
Bas smiled. “How about which horse can plow the fastest? That’d be fun. Riot would definitely win that.”
“Or which horse has the finest high-step,” Jode offered.
“Or is the most conspicuous,” Daryn said.
“Weighs the most,” Marcus said.
They were having fun messing with me, but I could feel the tension beneath the surface.
Earlier that day, Daryn had told us she felt one of her headaches coming on. We were all wondering if this was going to be it. If we’d finally learn where we needed to take the key.
As the night wore on, despite our efforts to keep things light, it started to feel like we were on Daryn watch. Then as it grew even later, like we’d gotten our hopes up for nothing.
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.