The Soul Seekers: Horizon (28 page)

“I’m sure you’ve heard about Chay and Leftfoot, right?” He pauses, waiting for me to respond, but when I continue to glare, he goes on. “Don’t look so sad,
they were practically elderly. It’s not like they had loads of time left. I did them a favor by sparing them the humiliation of dementia and adult diapers that inevitably comes with old
age.”

“Why are you trying to sell it?” I study him carefully, noting how he’s taking credit for acts committed by Leandro and Dace, never mind his need to explain. The old Cade
delighted in mocking and taunting—he practically lived for the chance. Never once did he try to justify his acts, or soften the blow.

“I’m not trying to sell it!” His fists curl at his sides as his eyes narrow on mine. “You just happened to look saddened by the news, and—”

“And that bothers you?” I take a step toward him, chancing a quick look at Raven, ensuring he’s more or less okay, before I return to Cade. “My sadness makes you feel the
need to defend your actions?”

His features sharpen, his face darkens, but that’s as far as he gets. As far as he’s capable of getting. And we both know it.

“I thought I made myself clear. You’re not the one running the show here, Seeker. That would be
me
. And just so you know, your friends aren’t faring so well either.
Believe me—” He grabs the dome of Raven’s cage and dangles it so precariously Raven lets out a long, gurgling croak as his purple eyes roll back in his head, and his claws clutch
the perch in a fight to stay upright. His distress so palpable I’m about to intervene, when Cade lowers it to the ground and says, “Your little bird here is getting off easy. As for
your friends, well, Lita was a lot better off when she was with me. But now, thanks to you, Seeker, Lita’s all on her own. Though it’s not like I didn’t warn her. Just like I
predicted, Axel didn’t waste a second to ditch her once the three worlds opened wide. Didn’t think twice about trading her in for the glowing girls back home. And to think all he left
her with was an eagle feather, as though that could possibly help. My guess is she became demon bait not long after. But don’t look so glum. You’ll be happy to know that Xotichl and
Auden are alive and well, and, as it turns out, Coyote’s to control for all of eternity. Seems they fell for the oldest trick in the book. It was almost too easy. Amazing what people will
sacrifice for a taste of popularity. Of course, Lita knows a thing or two about that. Or, should I say,
did
. Lita
did
know. Lita’s not present tense anymore.”

I keep my face neutral. He’s trying to get a rise out of me, and I won’t take the bait. I’m just hoping his failure to mention Jennika is because she managed to slip under his
radar, and not because he’s saving the juiciest bit for later.

“Let’s face it, you failed, Seeker, in every conceivable way. You failed your friends, your ancestors, your Raven.” He nudges the cage with his foot, moving it closer to
Coyote, who thumps his tail in approval. “You’ve failed everyone. But most of all, you’ve failed yourself. And now, I’m afraid you’ve lasted way past your expiration
date. You’re beginning to smell a bit . . .
fowl,
as they say.” He laughs heartily at his joke as I make a point of rolling my eyes. “Anyway, enough of that. It’s
time for me to finish what I started. Which means it’s time for you to reunite with your ancestors.”

The gap that separates me from the next gorge easily spans six feet, if not more. Still, I’m pretty sure I can nail the leap if it should come to that.

But only if it comes to that.

“So how do you plan to do it?” I ask, stalling for time as I get a better grip on my blowgun, remembering how he loves a good monologue.

“What? And wreck the surprise?” He kneels beside Raven’s cage, giving firm instructions to Coyote to wait for the signal, before returning to me. “What happened to your
mask?” He places his hands on his hips and frowns as though he just now noticed it was missing. “I always imagined you wearing it when I snuff the light from your eyes and Coyote
devours your spirit animal.”

“Guess you’ll both have to improvise. Besides, I don’t see you wearing your moon and sun.”

“I have no need for symbols when it’s about to be done.”

“Is it?” I take a step toward him. “Is that what you think?”

“That’s what I
know
. Shadow is about to eclipse Sun, which means you, Seeker, will fall. I’ve rescinded the offer to rule alongside me. Turns out, you’re not up
for the task. And, for the record, I saw right through your façade. Your clumsy attempts at flirting and feigning interest in me were painful at best.”

“Really? How about when I clocked you and sent you spinning on your ass—how’d you feel then?”

“Nice try, Seeker. Trying to distract me from the task. You’re outmatched. The game was never yours to control. Don’t believe me? Take a good look around. The prophecy is in
motion and there’s no way to stop it. Oh, and just so you know, I won’t miss you when you go.”

“No, I don’t suspect you will. But not for the reason you think.”

He quirks a brow, cocks his head to the side.

“I’m not going anywhere, Cade.”

“You’re funny.”

 “I’m a lot of things. As you’re about to see.”

I raise Dace’s blowgun. The one he insisted I use on him, and aim straight for his brother. Confident the beast will spare Dace’s life like it did on New Year’s Eve.

“You’re not going to use that relic against me?” Cade smirks, not taking me the least bit seriously. Unfortunately for him, it’s a mistake he won’t live long enough
to regret.

I close an eye, center my aim, and shoot.

Watching the dart soar straight for its target. The moment I’ve been imagining about to come to fruition.

Until Cade ducks, the dart breezes over his head, and the next thing I know, the top of Cade’s head is barreling into my gut.

My feet fly up from beneath me, my back smacks hard on the slab, and my head quickly follows. The blow so unexpected it knocks the breath out of me.

I squint into the space, struggling to see past the constellation of tiny white stars blurring my vision. Just barely able to make out the sight of Cade looming over me, fist raised high, ready
to strike.

“Say goodbye, Seeker.” He grins, about to nail the same spot his father had a go at, when his eyes meet mine and, once again, I catch a glimmer of my own reflection staring back.

That’s twice now. And the thing is, Cade’s eyes never used to reflect.

While they used to glow red when he was in full-blown demon mode, they never mirrored. They could only absorb like the abyss that they are.

It’s what enabled him to control people by changing their perception—he absorbed their energy until they were his to control.

He’s just about to make contact, when I jump to my feet and catch him by the wrist. “You sure you want to do that?” I twist his arm until he grimaces. “Cos it kind of
seems like you don’t.”

“Keep dreaming,” he grunts. Though his tone, like his face, is full of bravado, there’s something off about him. Something more than just the strangeness of his gaze.

For one thing, if he was serious, he would’ve pushed me away and punched me already. My grip’s not that tight.

But instead, his fingers flex uncertainly. As though he’s purposely leaning into me, only pretending to try to free himself from my hold, while secretly enjoying the contact of his skin on
my flesh.

Just like his brother, he’s reluctant to make good on his threat.

Until Leandro’s voice rumbles from across the divide.

“Enough, Cade! What’re you waiting for? A goodbye kiss?” Leandro’s voice booms from across the canyon. “Kill her already. If you have any hope of
redeeming yourself, do it now! You’ve failed at every single thing you’ve set out to do. Kill the Seeker, Cade, or I’ll come over there and do it for you!”

Cade wrenches free of my grip. Looking between Leandro and me with a conflicted gaze, his body involuntarily twitches and shakes, while his creepy Coyote snarls and yelps beside Raven, who
clings to the backside of his cage.

“I didn’t fail!” Cade screams. His face, like his voice, is choked with rage. “I’m the reason you’re here! I’m the one who opened the portals!
Me—
not Dace!”

He slaps a hand over my throat, tries to squeeze his fingers around it, but doesn’t get very far before he lets go and approaches the ledge.

“The role you played was minor at best,” Leandro yells. “Now go ahead and do it. Kill the girl, and be done with it!”

Leandro continues to berate him, as Cade paces precariously close to the edge. Twitching and mumbling to himself as I scramble to my feet, retrieve my gun, and take aim.

Just about to shoot when Cade whirls on me and says, “Dammit, Seeker, put that thing down! Do
not
make me choose!”

Choose?

I hold my breath in my cheeks, delaying the shot. So caught off guard by the words, I’m not sure how to react.

Did he really mean choose between Leandro and me?

“Clock’s ticking, Cade—do it already!” his father shouts, as Cade seems to visibly crumple before me. His shoulders sagging, his head bent, gaze downcast. He digs his
knuckles into his eyes. Pinches hard at his cheeks. All the while mumbling a string of unintelligible words under his breath. Making him appear deranged and distorted, like a person gone completely
unhinged.

“What the hell have you done to me?” His eyes are shadowed and bloodshot as he glares at me accusingly.

And suddenly, with that one simple question, it all falls into place.

The reflection in his eyes.

His reluctance to kill me.

It all makes sense.

And it proves Dace was right! There’s only one force more powerful than evil—love.

Cade is a perfect example of that.

He’s changed by love. It’s the love in his heart that won’t allow him to kill me.

“I haven’t done anything. You brought this on yourself,” I say, reminded of something Phyre said the day we discovered her in possession of Dace’s soul. When she saw the
piece of darkness in Dace, and wondered if Cade contained a piece of his light.

At the time, I was too worried about saving Dace’s soul to pay much notice to her philosophical musings, but now I realize her suspicions were right.

“When you fed off the love Dace and I shared by using it to strengthen yourself, what you failed to understand is that darkness cannot exist in the same space as light. The love you
ingested obliterated your darkness, it changed you from the inside.”

A look of pure horror crosses his face, but little does he know, that’s only part of the story. What I fail to voice is my suspicion that when Dace made the soul jump into Cade to steal a
chunk of his darkness, he left behind a piece of his light.

Just like the dream, their connection is no longer relegated to the mystical, it’s veered into the physical.

Part light, part dark.

The yin and the yang.

Connected.

Bound.

Each containing a piece of the other.

Leandro continues to rage from across the gorge, which only serves to confuse Cade more.

“Don’t listen to him.” I raise my voice in an effort to drown out Leandro’s. “There’s nothing wrong with you. In fact, it’s pretty miraculous if you
think about it. You’re getting a second chance to do the right thing and redeem yourself. Don’t fight it, Cade. Don’t fight me . . .” I lower the blowgun to my side and
approach him slowly. He’s so unstable there’s no telling how he’ll react.

“Back off, Seeker!” He swerves out of my reach and looks across the canyon with a face full of longing. “And stop looking at me!”

I do as he says. Holding perfectly still until he relaxes enough for me to chance another step toward him. “Cade, don’t you recognize what’s happening here?” I gesture to
the surrounding landscape. “This is just like the dream. I know you had it too. It’s where you came up with the idea for the dress.”

He rakes an agitated hand through his hair. Shuffles his feet uncertainly.

“And look, I’m even wearing the ring.” I lift my hand, urging him to see. Watching his features grow blunted, his eyes glazing at the sight of it. “But it’s not as
bad as you think. You’re not in love with me. You’ve just never experienced such a strong emotion before, and you’re so overwhelmed by its power, you’re projecting it onto
me. You once claimed that true magick exists only in the darkest of men. And maybe you’re right. But the thing is, you’re no longer that guy. If you allow your light to shine,
you’ll be capable of the kind of miracles that’ll make your magick now look like the work of a third-rate birthday-party magician.”

His shoulders soften. His pacing slows. And I breathe a little easier knowing I’ve managed to reach him.

Until Leandro hurls another long stream of insults, and Cade rushes toward me, fully intending to harm—only the light now illuminated inside him won’t allow him to strike.

Won’t allow him to do the only thing required to make his father proud.

It’s Leandro he loves.