“I agree. And right now the objective is to bring the four of you together. The Kindred are dangerous. We’re already outnumbered by them. You’ll be stronger as a group. We will be. The only way we stand a chance is together.”
That actually made sense. It was the same principle I’d been learning in the Army. Ranger Battalions only worked effectively when they worked together.
“All right,” I said, but I didn’t feel all right. I had so many questions. A hundred. A thousand. I couldn’t even focus on any one for long. But the thing I wanted to know—needed to know—was if I was good.
Was I an agent of darkness? Maybe the wrong hands Daryn was talking about were actually the right hands. If all of this was true, then I was War. I had a sketchy understanding of Revelation, but I was pretty sure the horsemen had been unleashed to cleanse the earth of evils. But I felt shaky about how things like war and famine and death could be on the good side—instruments of anything good. And from the minute Daryn had told me I was War, that had become a huge, looming question in my head.
Am I good?
Bigger than that, possibly, was my confusion over why I had been chosen.
Why me?
I was just a dumb kid.
But I couldn’t ask either question. So I skipped ahead to easier ones.
“What about the three people at the party last night? They’re part of this, right? Our opposition? You called them the Kindred. They’re after this secret thing I’m supposed to protect?”
“Yes. Samrael was the taller one. Ronwae was the girl, and Malaphar was the one in the suit. And there are four more who weren’t there.”
“How’d they know you’d be there?”
“They can sense the object when they’re near it. Its power calls to them. That’s why we need to—” Daryn winced, her eyebrows drawing together. “Gideon, we need to stop now. I need to figure some things out before I tell you more. I need to bring the four of you together—that’s what’s important.”
I let out a breath, my gaze moving to the ocean beyond her. One of the surfers wiped out in style, his arms flailing, his board jamming straight into the water like a tombstone. I watched him come up and swim over to his board. He slid back on, turned toward the waves, and paddled out, ready for more.
That was how you did it.
No hesitation. No fear.
Reaching under the steering column, I pressed the tape around the wires, bringing my Jeep back to life. “Where to next, boss?”
CHAPTER 15
“Let’s stop here for a second, Gideon,” Cordero says. “I have a few questions.”
I nod. Breathe. Breathe and trudge out of the past.
The chemical taste of the drugs is still in my mouth, but not as strong as when I last noticed it. Cordero’s perfume hasn’t let up, though. It is legit breaking me down. Nose hair by nose hair.
“Okay,” I say, finally feeling back here. “Shoot.”
“You trusted her blindly?”
I have to think about that for a second. My dad would have said trust is blind. If you knew something for sure then it’d be knowing. Totally different thing.
“I’m not saying I’d bought in completely, but I was willing to go along. I knew she was my best option for figuring things out. But if you’re asking me whether I trusted her from the start? I think I did. It was just a gut feeling that she wasn’t going to lead me astray. But I also knew there was more to her. I could tell she was good at hiding things. At keeping things to herself. And I was right.”
“About which part? That you could trust her or that she kept secrets?”
“I still trust her, even though she lied to me. I’ll get to that part. And she did hide things from me, but for my own good. I’ll get to that, too.”
Cordero falls silent. I think I’ve confused her. Welcome to knowing Daryn.
I picture her the last time I saw her, in Jotunheimen. Night. The fjord burning around me. I’d been with the guys, waiting to be airlifted out. Waiting for Daryn to join us. Then I’d yelled my head off when I’d realized she’d chosen to stay behind.
Nice, Blake. Way to keep remembering this. Real helpful.
“Why did you wonder if you’re good?” Cordero is asking me.
I’ve checked out again. I need to focus. Finish this and get back to work. The Kindred are still out there. “Because I wasn’t sure.”
“Why weren’t you sure?” she asks.