“Whose shadow?” Marcus asked Bas.
“My horse,” Bastian explained. “I named her that. It seemed like she should have a name.” He glanced at me, all worried looking. “Lia has a name, so why shouldn’t my horse?”
“I think he should summon her when we land,” Daryn said.
I stood there for a second, trying to catch up. Then I said, “What the—?”
The floor shook as the wheels touched down.
We all staggered, then froze. Even Lia stopped barking. We were in Rome.
Italy.
And we still didn’t have a plan.
“Call her, Bastian,” Daryn said. “Summon her now.”
“No! Do not call her, Sebastian.”
“I don’t know what to do, Gideon! You said Daryn was in charge!” Sebastian cried. Then he closed his eyes for a second and that was it.
Shadow came up the same way she had at the studio lot—black smoke twisting and filling in the shape of a horse until she solidified and stood right there, between the pallets and the rear door. Her beauty struck me again, all hollowed-out darkness. In the murky light of the cargo hold, you could’ve missed her completely if she’d been standing still, but she wasn’t. As soon as she took form, she started dancing nervously, the dim light catching on the shift of muscle and mane, her hooves clanging on the steel floor.
I looked at Marcus. His eyes were locked on Shadow and he looked legitimately shaken. I wondered if this was his first time seeing one of the horses.
“Go to her, Bastian,” Daryn said. “You need to settle her down.”
He moved right away, approaching the mare slowly. “Hey. It’s okay. It’s me.” He put his hands out and moved closer. Gradually Shadow’s movements became less jerky. Her eyes grew softer, settling for longer stretches on Bastian, and her ears came forward as she listened to him. Finally she let out a long snuffling breath and relaxed.
“That’s it.” Bastian reached up and ran his fingers down her jaw. “Good girl, Shadow.” He turned to us, emotions flashing across his face—surprise, happiness, pride—and then he broke into a big grin. “She’s awesome, right? Okay, what do we do next?”
They looked great together—both kind of spindly and right. A matching pair. And I thought of my horse—a creature that was aggression horseonified and appeared to be made of fire—and for a second there, I almost felt sorry for myself, except I had more urgent issues to handle. The plane was taxiing but it wouldn’t be for much longer.
“Good question, Bas.” My plan had involved getting into the shipping containers. We didn’t have time for that anymore. I looked at Daryn. She’d set this thing in motion already. Time to make the most of it. “What’s next, Martin? What are we doing here?”
“I was thinking Bastian and I will take Shadow out first? We could use her as a diversion so you and Marcus can get off the plane.”
“Then what?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Bastian and I will bluff. We’ll act like we don’t understand the problem. If we act like we’re the ones who are confused, maybe they’ll think they messed up on their end. Maybe didn’t get the right paperwork or whatever. We’ll talk our way out of it.”
“Got it. So we’re going with the old we FedExed a horse plan. Classic. That one always works.”
“Did you think of any better ideas while you and Marcus were beating each other up? Besides, there’s a dog on board. And what other option do we have? We can’t just walk off this plane.”
“Daryn, twenty people parading off this plane would be better than that horse!” How was this the plan she wanted to go with? “Get rid of the horse, Sebastian. Right now.” He was our best asset—not his horse.
He pushed his hands into his shaggy hair. “I can’t, Gideon. She just calmed down. She’s starting to trust me and if I send her—”
We stumbled a few steps as the plane stopped taxiing.
I grabbed Bastian’s shoulder. “Be ready to do the pass-out thing, you got me? Everyone get your stuff packed up, then don’t do anything else unless I say so.” I pulled the rope from my backpack and tied a quick slipknot at the end.
“What’s that for?” Daryn asked.
“You know what’s more noticeable than unloading a horse off a cargo plane? Doing it without a lead.” I shoved the rope at Sebastian. “Put it over her neck.”
As soon as he moved toward Shadow, the horse let out a low grunt and shied back.
“Tie her up, Sebastian.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
I wasn’t. Each step he took toward Shadow only made the black mare more agitated—and then it was too late.