In synchronization, we pull out of the garage and onto the Strip. We roll north and then turn right onto a side street. There, just half a block down, we pull into a gas station.
Jaxon parks at the pump closest to the doors, I park on the other side of the pump. We both climb off and pull our helmets off.
“I’ve got cash,” Jaxon says. His mood is still dark and angry. He should be, so I let him have his feelings. “I’ll pay for both. Be back in a minute. I need to pee.”
I simply nod and lean against my bike to wait.
The second he disappears through the door, a white sedan pulls up right next to me. I stand straight, when the window of the driver’s door rolls down.
My insides chill and begin to rearrange when I see who it is.
It’s two women. One with black skin, her hair braided into a complicated design and then piled on top of her head. The driver has brown skin, her nose is pierced, and her eyes are fierce.
I would know them anywhere.
They’re Las Vegas’ resident ultralights.
“We’re not here looking for trouble,” the one with the pierced nose says as she holds a hand up, trying to calm me down. My bones are already trying to rearrange. “We just came to talk.”
“About?” I ask. All of my insides are twisting and turning in a constant wave. I’ll explode into a darkling at any moment.
“We’ve never actually met,” the driver says. From her tone, it’s obvious she’s trying to keep me calm. “At least not since your friends kidnapped us and tested us.” Her eyes are a little sharp about that. But it’s true. Renwick nabbed her, Philomena grabbed the other, two years ago and six years ago, and tested them at the gate. “My name is Divya. And this is Venus.”
I nod. I’m not going to introduce myself.
“That man of yours,” Divya says with a nod toward the gas station. “It’s obvious he’s something you’ve been looking for, or you would have let him go. The Kindred have been in touch with us almost nonstop for the past month. They want him. And they’ll do whatever it takes to get him.”
I straighten and look back at the gas station. “Do they know anything about him?”
“The Kindred always tell stories about something you all are protecting, that it’s the reason why you keep kidnapping every one of us for a few days.” I look back at Venus. “They seem pretty determined to take him away from you.”
The Kindred have been on a relentless mission to kill every single darkling. But it’s been so long since their organization came into being, I have to wonder how many exact details have been retained. Do they really know the whole story of the gate? The war? They don’t know where the gate is, or we would have a very different problem. So, I don’t think they really, truly know Jaxon’s importance.
All of these other ultralights certainly don’t. Most of them aren’t even aware that there are other beings like themselves in this verse.
“Why are you telling me this?” I ask, furrowing my eyebrows at them.
Divya shrugs. “Because the Kindred are a walking nightmare. They’re zealots who make us look bad. I know they’ve killed a lot of your kind. We’ve watched you for long enough now to know you aren’t doing anything bad. I might want to kill you with everything in me, but I know you don’t deserve it. So, this man must be pretty important.”
“He is,” I say with a nod.
She nods as well. “Keep him safe, then. Be extra careful. Because they’re coming for him. And they’ll do whatever it takes to get him.”
Dread dips in my stomach. They wanted Jaxon before. But there has been all this dramatic time since then. They know something is up. This is about to get even more complicated.
“Thank you for the warning,” I say, hoping they can tell how much I mean it. “Your kindness won’t be forgotten.”
Divya nods, her eyes studying me. I wonder how much she knows. Does she know what I really look like, what I’m capable of? Her every instinct is telling her to get rid of me, because I don’t belong in her verse. But she’s controlling the urge based on experience and logic.
“Stay safe,” she says. And then she rolls up her window and pulls back out onto the road.
As they roll away, I spot Sybil and Azrael parked just across the street. They’re both standing outside the vehicle, poised on the balls of their feet, ready to rip apart into action at the slightest wrong movement.
I raise a hand up to them, signaling to stay put where they are.
“All done,” Jaxon’s voice comes from behind me. I turn to watch him walking out, stuffing change into his pocket.
“Let’s gas up so we can get out of here,” I say.
Urgency is flooding through my veins now. I can feel the danger we are in, as if it’s inching closer and closer to us every second.
Because it is.
Three minutes later, the bikes are fully fueled. We both pull our helmets on once more. I ignore the two catcalls I get in the process, though Jaxon’s head whips around and he glares death at them.
That should make me smile. I kind of like him being all possessive and ready to fight for me.
But now is not the time.
So, we both climb onto our bikes. We roar the engines to life and pull back out onto the road.
It’s dark, and it gets so much darker the farther we get from the city. It’s still boiling hot. We still have at least another month until it starts to get comfortable. But the darkness is comforting. Everyone else in this verse gets nervous in the dark. Not the darklings. I can see so much better now. I feel more alive, more aware.
Side by side, Jaxon and I ride out into the desert, flanked by two other darklings.
Why does it all have to fall apart at the same time? What Jaxon’s mother has done will have repercussions. Scarlett is in danger. Jaxon won’t take this lightly. He’ll do something about it.
His mother has to be exorcised, and I’m not so sure he can do it when it comes down to it.
And now the Kindred are looking for us, yet again.
I let out a calming breath and try to tell myself to take it one thing at a time.
Right now, we simply need to get back to the compound, where there is safety in numbers, and the Kindred will never be able to find us.
Forty minutes later, we turn off the main road onto the dirt one. Soon after that, we carry on over the bumpy desert ground. And ten minutes later, we pull into the protective visual cover of the red rocks.
I look over at Jaxon as he takes his helmet off. But instead of setting it on his bike, he throws it with incredible force at the rocks. They crack. And so does his helmet. With an angry, frustrated yell, his body bursts into flames.
He breathes hard, his nostrils flaring. Once more, he looks like a ticking bomb that might go off at any second.
I step forward, ready to try and calm him down. But Jaxon steps out of my reach just in time. He walks to the entrance of the tunnel. He does this motion, like he thrusts his palms parallel to the ground, and I watch as light arcs beneath him. He lifts into the air, and then glides down through it, into the tunnel.
Well, this is new.
I glance back at Sybil, and then shift mid-step.
Jaxon’s light ahead of me is blinding as I clamber through the sandstone down into the tunnel. I shift back when I reach level ground, and I watch as Jaxon stalks down the passageway, still fully engulfed in flames and light.