Page 55 of Silver & Gold

Raider flashed him a grin. “So cautious.”

Seth’s breath caught. Gods, this man was beautiful. Inhumanly beautiful?

That grin faltered at whatever showed in Seth’s face. He really was shit at concealing his emotions.

More seriously, Raider said, “We could be stuck on this side for a day or more. I think we should go.”

Stowing his compass, Seth said, “All right. Let’s rejoin the group. Ride with me?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Raindrops started to plop on their heads as they hiked down to the palanquin. Seth slid onto the padded bench on the driver’s side. Raider slid in on the other side.

As a reflex, Seth checked on his sword and chakram, which were wedged in with other gear and barrels of water in the back. One disadvantage of the vehicle was that he couldn’t wear the large weapons while sitting in it. But he had them positioned for easy access, and he also had his knife at his thigh, plus the multi tool.

Seth flipped the switch to start up the arcane engine. It hummed to life under their feet, muted by the wood paneling of the floor and the insulation of the engine housing. The palanquin was pretty damn quiet, nothing like the roaring boat they’d driven along the Burudu. The console’s sleek design had only a few well-designed levers and gauges. Seth engaged one to lift the vehicle. As the palanquin rose smoothly, Seth took hold of the steering yoke’s handles.

“You love this thing.”

At Raider’s comment, Seth looked over at him. He had a hand wrapped around a rib of the frame that held up the heavy black canopy. His eyes were warm.

Something in Seth opened at the sight of that. “I do.”

“You loved the boat too.”

“You also liked the boat,” Seth reminded him.

“I liked your aggressive driving style.”

“Figures.” Seth smiled. “The palanquin wasn’t built for that kind of speed, unfortunately.”

It lumbered down the rocky slope, jostling Seth and Raider from side to side. Their knees bumped together. Rain was starting to drum on the canopy and plink onto the palanquin’s short nose. The hard pack was getting speckled with dark spots.

As they reached the plain, the other palanquins lifted. Nasrin, with another of the Hammer on the bench beside her, drove over to meet them.

“Do we cross?” she shouted over the plunking rain.

“Lead the way!” Seth shouted back. “We’ll bring up the rear!”

Her momentary hesitation confirmed Seth’s suspicions. She didn’t quite trust him. She expected him to try to vanish. She was here to make sure he didn’t.

But then she nodded and drove past him, the metal legs of her palanquin folding and striding like a chicken’s. (After Raider had made the comparison the other day, Seth couldn’t think of them any other way.)

Seth watched the palanquins file past him, each one carrying two people. They were mostly armored members of the Hammer, but there were a few black-robed arcanists among them. Seth had been careful to meet everyone. The one that made Seth wary was Fadesh. That might have been because the arcanist had been involved in his interrogation in Zarina’s dungeon, but Seth didn’t like the way the arcanist kept to himself.

Out of habit, Seth looked for him now but didn’t spot his face. He must be the one with his black hood up.

Seth steered his palanquin into line at the back of the caravan as they angled toward the easiest slope down into the gully. It was pouring now, with rain driving into the open front of the palanquin, soaking Seth and Raider. The ground was softening.

“Shit,” Seth muttered as he maneuvered the palanquin into the gully. The formerly dry bed was rapidly filling with water as it spilled down from the north. He could now discern a rushing sound that he hadn’t previously picked out over the rain.

By the time they reached the heart of the gully, the water was almost to the floorboards. Ahead, the other palanquins were struggling to climb out of the water and up the slick bank.

As water rushed over Seth’s feet, he shifted gears, making the palanquin crouch. “Hang on!” he shouted, hoping Raider heard him, and gave it full power. The palanquin jumped from the water. Its clawed feet clutched at the rocky slope. From the corner of his eye, Seth could see that he hadn’t lost Raider, so he quickly repeated the maneuver and jumped the palanquin onto the ledge.

He looked at Raider to make sure he was okay and found that not only was Raider very much okay, he looked absolutely thrilled. His eyes were dancing with delight, and the grin on his face was everything Seth wanted to see in the world.

“Again!” Raider shouted, laughing.