Seeker (Riders #2)(92)

As we reach the big stone house and barrel into the vacuous foyer, I'm blissfully mindless. We stand inside the lamp-lit gloom, dripping and out of breath. Both of us smiling. I feel more carefree than I have in a long time.

I think he feels the same.

Then I remember that Gideon is out there in the woods.

Alone, and in danger.





CHAPTER 36

GIDEON

Finally, what I've been waiting for.

A visit with my top worst favorite enemy, Samrael.

He takes his time coming down the stairs and checks Riot's cell first.

Riot's still weak, but standing. He snorts when he sees Samrael, and the two of them have a nice little stare-down.

"Hello, Gideon," Samrael says, coming over to me. "How's your leg?"

Better. Seventy percent, I think. But like I'm telling him that.

"I'm supposed to be planning a search for you right now," he says. His eyebrows rise. "Found you."

"Where's Daryn?"

"Upstairs. She's convinced you're out there," he says, waving a hand toward the network of tunnels. "And she's worried about you, naturally. But she's fine. Unharmed." He pauses. "Is that what you want to hear?"

Of course it is. Even more, I want to believe it.



       
         
       
        

"We're off to a good start," he continues. "I think I'll have her full trust soon."

"If you hurt her-"

"I won't. I promise you. I like her, Gideon. She's a mystery to me, you know. Unlike you."

I feel myself brace. Waiting for him to get into my head.

"Besides," he continues. "Harming her would be foolish. It wouldn't get me out of here."

"You're never leaving."

"I will, Gideon. I'm ready. I've been ready. I've spent long months waiting for her to show up. The gatekeeper. My ticket out of here, as they say. I've been trapped without her-that wasn't supposed to happen. Ra'om had planned to bring her in here, knowing we needed her to come and go. But Bas's heroic actions were unexpected. Quite a few unfortunate surprises that day, don't you think? Neither one of us ended up with things the way we wanted them."

Thinking about Daryn in here for the past eight months almost makes me shudder. "Is that why you kept Bas alive? To use him as a lure? He was bait, wasn't he?"

"Yes. But I genuinely grew to like Sebastian. We became good friends."

"You think so?" I laugh. "Bas has no idea what you really are. Did he know the Harrows are yours?"

"No, and neither will Daryn. Only you know."

"Lucky me. Do you control them like Ra'om controlled you? Through torture? You were nothing but Ra'om's-"

"Careful." He finally does what I've been dreading and moves into my mind. It's a familiar feeling. Painful. Like fingers walking around my eyes, then slipping inside and prodding at my brain. He put me through this repeatedly in the fall.

"Those were good times we had, weren't they? In Rome? In California?" he asks, lining up with my thoughts. Then he withdraws from my head. Fast, like a hook releasing.

I need a few seconds to shake the edge of darkness he left behind and get full control of my own head again. "How did you keep all of this from Bas?"

"He was very ill for the first six weeks. Unconscious. Then delirious with fever. It gave me time to understand my power here. By the time he was healthy, I had arranged things the way I wanted. I had a plan. I knew having him on my side would be imperative to gaining Daryn's trust."

"You lied to him for eight months."

"I didn't enjoy it, but I had to. For a time, I thought about turning him. Bringing him to heel, so to speak. But it would've killed Sebastian. Not everyone is strong enough to hold darkness inside them." He pauses. "You could do it." 

"Is this your sales pitch again? I love this."

"Think of it, Gideon. All the guilt and remorse you struggle with, going away. Violence, even if it's for good, is still violence. How do you reconcile that? How do you live with guilt? If you joined me, that would end. You'd never need to ask those questions again. We could be brothers. Can you imagine it?"

"Sure can. It looks like hell."

"Your insolence is another thing I like about you."

"You think fighting feeds me? That violence is something I enjoy?" I shake my head. "You're evil."

"Is that what you think evil is? The desire to do harm to another? If so, then I imagine you're feeling evil right now."

I can't argue with that.

"That reminds me  …  I've wanted to talk to you about your hand. I owe you a debt for what I've done. Someday I'll repay it."