Seeker (Riders #2)(19)

"Creature?" Cordero says.

Daryn looks at her. "The one that attacked me."

There's a stir of surprise around the living room but I've been waiting for this. Still, my pulse starts to race as Daryn describes it.

"It was horrible. Worse than horrible. Harrowing," she concludes.

"Any idea what it wanted?" Cordero asks.

Daryn shakes her head. "I thought it wanted to kill me. It definitely tried at first. But then it went back for my backpack. That's where the orb was-inside."

"Did the creature get to it?"

"No. I lassoed it and strung it up in one of the trees."

Pause.

Pause, pause, pause.

Jode turns his ear. "Say again?"

"I lassoed it with a lariat I had tied to Shadow's saddle and hung it from a tree."

Marcus smiles. Low and Suarez look at each other, eyebrows rising.

Then, for the first time since we came inside the cabin, Daryn looks at me.

None of my planning works. I have no idea what to say.

What she did was completely badass and dangerous and I know she's hurt and probably almost died. But none of that comes out of my mouth. Nothing does. I just cross my arms, hiding my prosthetic like a coward.

Why do I keep doing this? I'm not embarrassed about robohand. Never have been before.

Cordero keeps us on track. "You restrained it with a rope. Then what happened?"

"It told me that I'd never get Sebastian. And it told me not to even try, that there were more of them, those harrowing things. Dozens or  …  or maybe more."

I push off the wall, anger bolting through me. "It told you that?" No one's stopping me from getting Bastian back.

"Not in those exact words."

"What exactly did it say? Did it say he's alive?" My voice comes out harder than I intend, and all eyes are on me.

I look at Suarez. A vein stands out on his neck. I look at Maia. She's about to bite through her lower lip.

The signs are there. Time for me to become absent again.

I pull open the door and step outside.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Marcus joins me on the porch. "Cordero's calling it. We'll pick up in the morning. Probably a good idea for people to take a break."

"Okay. Actually, no. Not okay. Bas is in there with those things, Shadow's missing, and we're taking a break to get some sleep?"

"We're looking for Shadow. And Daryn's fried, man. You saw her."

"It took her eight months to do something, Marcus. Sebastian's been in there this whole time. Wounded. On his own. What do you think's happening to him? You think he's taking a break to get some rest? Sorry, but I'm having a hard time feeling bad that Daryn's a little tired when Sebastian could be getting tortured or worse."

I don't know why I say it. It helps no one. I'm not even sure I mean it.



       
         
       
        

"I'm not the one who's calling this off tonight," Daryn says, right behind me. She overheard it all. "Cordero wants to stop."

I straighten off the porch rail and face her. "How does it feel to not be calling the shots for once?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I don't know what it means. I'm on autopilot. I catch Jode's eye over her shoulder. He shakes his head slightly, and I know I should walk away but I don't.

"You blame me for this." Daryn steps forward and stares right into my eyes. "Just say it, Gideon."

"I'm not doing this. I've got nothing to say to you."

"Yes, you do. You blame me for leaving Bas in there. Why can't you tell me the truth?"

Unbelievable. This, from the girl who hides everything and disappears any chance she gets. "I don't give a shit about why you did what you did, Daryn. Only one thing matters and it's getting Sebastian back. That's the truth. There. Now you know."

* * *

It's three in the morning by the time we check into an inn in Jackson Hole. The team took the last available rooms. Marcus, Jode, and I will be crammed in a room with a queen and a rollaway cot. As we take the elevator up, Jode and Marcus argue about who's taking the floor.

I toss my duffel through the door. "I'll take it." I won't be getting much sleep anyway.

Jode looks at me like he's going to say something funny, but he doesn't. What's there to say?

Great to see you and Daryn back in form?

Nice to see some things never change?

Jode's phone rings. He slips it out of his pocket and smiles. "Anna," he says. He moves further into the room, his voice goofy and high like he's talking to a kitten instead of my sister.

This perfect capper on my day makes Marcus laugh.

I shake my head. "I hate you. I'm going to go destroy something."