The Soul Seekers: Horizon (22 page)

“I worried the raven might send the wrong message, but I’m glad you could see past all of that and glean its true meaning.” His eyes are shrewd and appraising. “It was
meant to be symbolic, as you’ve clearly figured out. Something which, I have to admit, makes me inordinately proud.”

I nod encouragingly, needing to hear more. I have no idea where he’s going with this.

“It’s the end of our old roles, Daire. It’s time we shed Coyote and Raven and move into a new day. It’s time for Richter and Santos to join. With the kind of power we
wield, the possibilities are endless. You and I could rule the world. And the thing is—I know that we’re ready. Your presence here tonight, wearing the dress and the mask that I sent,
well, clearly you feel it too.”

My smile grows tighter, but he’s so caught up in his delusional world he doesn’t seem to notice my struggle to keep this farce going.

It’s hardly the first time he’s tried to convince me to join his quest for world domination. Still, he’s never been quite so . . . earnestly poetic before.

My gaze runs the length of his crisp white tux, his bloodred bow tie and cummerbund. Funny how Dace chose to wear black and his brother white. Yin and Yang, just like Cade stated in the dream
where he slipped the blue tourmaline ring onto my finger.

“I understood immediately.” I lean toward him, hoping to foster a sense of intimacy and trust. “But what I can’t help but wonder is whether you broke Coyote’s neck
as well? You know, as a symbolic gesture to signal the end of your role.” I adopt an innocent expression as though I’m merely curious and not at all baiting him.

“I’m embarrassed to say that it didn’t even occur to me. But, now that you’ve mentioned it, it makes perfect sense.” His gaze glimmers. It actually
glimmers
. And if I peer close enough, I can catch the tiniest bit of my reflection staring back.

I blink once, twice, ensuring it really is true—that Cade’s eyes actually mirror in the way Dace’s once did.

The startling sight, combined with his willingness to kill his beloved Coyote in an effort to please me, forces me to reevaluate everything I thought I knew about him.

While it’s never been clear how a spirit animal’s death might affect its owner, considering Cade and Dace’s mystical connection, I can’t take the chance. “I
don’t think that’s necessary,” I purr, touching his arm briefly, before using the momentum of a group of people brushing past to take a tiny step back, inching closer to what I
hope is the vortex.

“It’s your call, Daire.” His voice catches on my name in a way that’s unnerving, as though it elicits untold emotion. “You’re probably surprised to hear me
say that, but how else can I convey the seriousness of my offer? Besides, you’ve pleased me immensely by wearing the dress and the mask. I never imagined you’d actually go through with
it—and I have to say, it looks even better than I dreamed.” He pushes his mask high onto his forehead, filling his eyes with the sight of me. Not seeming to notice the space slowly
increasing between us.

“I could never reject a gift of such generosity and beauty. I felt like Cinderella the moment I slipped it on and saw how perfectly it fit.” I gaze down the bodice, to the deep V,
and smile shyly, all the while risking another step back.

Cade’s gaze follows mine. His fingers twitching, his weight shifting from foot to foot. His movements as awkward and jerky as a marionette with loose strings.

“Yet, I did find it odd that you chose a red gown for a black-and-white ball.” My right foot slides back. The left one soon meets it. “I couldn’t quite make sense of
that. Care to explain?”

“Easy.” He grins, causing his eyes to flash clear and bright. “You’re not like the rest of them, Daire. Girl like you should always stand out in a crowd.” He
centers his gaze on my chest, and I have to fight every instinct not to move my arm to cover it. Though it’s not long before he catches me looking and drops his gaze to his feet, doing the
shy act again. Which is strange enough in and of itself, but when I catch sight of his fingers trembling and clenching by his sides, it’s a sure sign of the strange inner conflict that rages
inside. “The mask—the dress—I had them made especially for you.” He scrapes the sole of his shoe against the stone-tiled floor. “But you really need to toss that
ridiculous key. It’s ruining the look.” He lifts his gaze to meet mine, and I watch the glimmer fade until he’s back to being the Cade that I’m used to. The dark,
overconfident Cade. The one whose eyes absorb everything around him. “And what’s with the shoes?” He thrusts a disapproving finger toward Jennika’s designer motorcycle boots
peeking out from the hem.

“You don’t approve?” I sneak the hem up just a bit, allowing for a better look. The scowl on his face telling me I’ve only succeeded in making it worse. “Well, on
the plus side, they’re a lot easier to run in than stilettos.”

His fists curl tighter. “And what exactly are you running from?”

“Well, normally, that would be you. But, here you are, right here before me, and I wouldn’t even consider it.” I press a hand to the outside of my thigh, ready to summon my
athame should I need it. Peering past his shoulder as Auden goes through a series of sound checks and the crowd starts to head for the dance floor. Won’t be much longer until he heaves his
last breath.

“Somehow, your words fail to convince. No matter what I do, you still see me as the enemy,” he says, so lost in the thought, he fails to notice when someone bumps into him and sends
him reeling into my space.

So much for the progress I made.

“I assure you, that’s hardly the case.” I wiggle my fingers by my side, hoping for a tingle of energy, some kind of hint that I’m on the right track, that somewhere
nearby a portal awaits.

“If only I could believe that.” He cocks his head, shoots me a suspicious look.

“Well, for starters, I’m here, wearing the dress, and talking to you.” I chance another step back, wishing Auden would just get to it already and get the plan underway.

“True.” Cade moves along with me. Either in an effort to stay close, or he’s totally onto me, it’s impossible to tell.

“And, I’m doing everything I mentioned despite the fact that you’re responsible for my grandmother’s death. That’s got to mean something.” I stand firmly
before him, the vortex now just a few feet away according to the energetic swarm playing at the back of my hands. And while I have every intention of breaching it, I need to get there long before
Cade. It’s his job to chase me.

He dismisses my words with a shrug. “I know what she meant to you, but Paloma was determined to keep us apart, and you have to admit, we wouldn’t be here now, just you and me, if I
hadn’t killed her.” His delivery so matter of fact, I know without a doubt that whatever is going on with him is far worse than I thought. The old Cade would’ve taunted me to no
end. Detailing exactly how much he enjoyed killing her. This new Cade is completely unpredictable, which makes him even more dangerous.

“I loved her,” I say, knowing I shouldn’t push it, shouldn’t veer from the script. But it’s impossible to fake my feelings where Paloma’s passing is
concerned. Besides, it’s just a matter of time before Cade Richter is history. “Not a day goes by I don’t miss her,” I add. Despite Chay’s warnings, with each spoken
word I can feel my anger mounting until it’s all I can do to keep it in check. “Yet, it’s true that Paloma never would’ve understood these . . . feelings . . . we share for
each other.” The words taste bitter on my tongue.

Cade makes a conciliatory face and reaches for my hand, and as repulsive as I find him, I need to play along for just a few seconds more.

“People die, Daire.” He huffs under his breath, his face reddens with outrage, as though angered by the lack of justice in the world—as though he doesn’t actually wear
Paloma’s blood on his hands. “It’s the circle of life. You, more than anyone should know that. Sheesh.” He drops my hand, his fists curl in outrage. The burst of anger
lasting only a moment, before he softens and says, “It hurts, I know. But I’m so glad to see you getting past it and focusing on the future you deserve.”

I cast my eyes downward, use the pause to sneak another step back.

“You’ve lost so many so quickly, it almost seems unfair. Still, there’s a reason for everything and each step leads to the next. Now that you’re on your own, with Paloma
gone, Dace having moved on, and Jennika—”

“What about Jennika?” I cut him off before he can finish. The sound of my mom’s name on his lips is enough to make me forfeit my whole plan and kill him right here.

“Relax.” He slips the mask over his face and laughs, making a strange, muffled sound. “I was just about to say that even Jennika will one day move on. Jeez, Daire, when’d
you get so sensitive?”

But the way his head tilts, the way his voice catches, leaves me to wonder if that’s all there is to it. He’s unstable. Untrustworthy. Which makes him capable of just about
anything.

“Anyway, enough of all this. It’s time we set aside our differences. Come.” He reaches for my hand again. “You’re lucky I found you when I did. Do you know
there’s a kill order issued with your name on it?”

“Yeah. You’re the one who issued it. Remember?” I drop the façade, having reached my limits for him and his madness.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You have no idea what’s really going on here. But, if you stick with me, you just might get out alive.”

I look past Cade’s outstretched hand and glance toward the stage.

The game is over.

The plan is in motion.

And little does he know, I’ve got him right where I want him.

With the sound checks complete, Auden introduces the band, as Xotichl uses the amethyst pendulum she wears at her neck to locate the Richters. While Lita plucks two of the three feathers in her
hair and uses them to enhance herself, Auden, Xotichl, and Axel with magickal and transformative powers, saving the eagle feather—the one for sending wishes and prayers—for later. And
Axel pulls the rattle from Lita’s bag and readies it before him, waiting for Auden to launch into his song.

When he reaches the drum solo, Auden butts the head of his guitar into Paloma’s drum he’s propped up beside him, as Axel shakes the rattle. The two of them sending a mystical
vibration throughout the room, as I brace myself, praying it works.

This is it.

There is no plan B.

I close my eyes for a moment, say a little prayer of my own, and when I open them again, I turn on my heel to see that it worked.

The vortex is just a few steps behind me, and thanks to the drum and the rattle, it’s visibly illuminated in a way only my friends and I can see.

I spin on my heel, begin to sprint toward it, when Cade grabs hold of the back of my dress and I respond with a fist aimed straight for his jaw. My knuckles slamming hard into his flesh, sending
him reeling, spinning, slamming onto the floor with his mask knocked clear across the hall.

Though it’s only a matter of time before he’s on me again—or at least that’s the plan.

I need him to chase me.

But not before I put a solid distance between us.

Freeing my buckskin pouch from my hair, I loop it around my neck, gather my skirts in my hands, and charge through the vortex.

Auden steps away from the drum, and leaps from the stage. Grasping my hand tightly in his, we run alongside Lita and Axel in a race toward the vortex, while the Richters race
to catch up.

Problem is they’re not exactly alone. From the looks of things, they’re taking half the club with them.

The idea was to lure the Richters on a chase through the portal while the elders worked their magick to block off the exits. Ensuring the safety of the citizens of Enchantment, while trapping
Cade, Leandro, and the rest of them to deal with Daire’s wrath, while we serve as backup in case she should need it.

But with all of these people joining in on the chase, it’s not going as planned.

Lita shoots a worried look over her shoulder, searching for Auden and me, but a crush of people rush past, and the next thing I know, I’ve lost Auden’s grip and I’m stumbling
straight for the floor. My hands out before me, just about to connect, when someone hitches onto the back of my dress and yanks me to safety. Sparing me from what surely would’ve been a case
of death by trampling.

“Thank you.” I push my hair from my eyes and fight to catch my breath. “I think you may have just saved my life.”

“Perhaps it’s me who should be thanking you.”

I look into the face of a man with black, opaque eyes and a hideous grin. Despite the evidence before me, I tell myself it’s not what I think. I’m clearly imagining things.

“I thought you were going to Albuquerque?” I take a quick inventory of his squinty mean gaze, absurd middle-aged ponytail, and wannabe hipster double-hoop earrings. Could only be
Luther.

“Turns out I was needed here.” His grin grows as wide and empty as the look in his eyes.

“Who needed you—Auden?” My gut churns with dread as my mind searches for an easy explanation.