“I know this place,” he said loudly, and we slowed to a jolting trot.
“Rail yard?” I guessed, seeing a deep gully cut across the landscape. It was flat here, but across it were the dips and slumps of broken buildings.
Trent pointed to a substantial road spanning the ravine. “I don’t like how close the surface demons are. Let’s get across before we take a reading.”
“I’ll find a good path for you,” Bis said, and Red snorted when he flew ahead, hovering over the broken bridge before dropping down to check out the underside.
Tulpa went first; if the ground gave way under him, the older horse would react better than Red. The excitable mare was becoming more and more agitated, testing Trent’s implacable cool as our hooves echoed and we skirted the gaping holes. If we were to be ambushed, it would be here. I breathed easier when we finally made it across, but I couldn’t shake the feeling we were being surrounded.
“This looks good. Bis?” I said, just wanting to get a reading and move on.
The gargoyle stood on a pile of rock, wings held tight to his body as he tried not to scare Red. “It might take a while. You wouldn’t believe the cops on the other side,” he said, and then he sort of sidestepped into nothing. Wow, the kid is really getting good.
I wanted to get down from Tulpa but didn’t dare. I glanced at Trent. “Thanks for doing this with me.”
Trent looked up from the meter. “I wasn’t about to leave you alone with Landon.” A wry smile showed in the dusky light. “I know you better than that.”
Tulpa had sidled up close, and Red seemed to appreciate it. “I hope you can get home through the blockades,” I said. “But with your pull, it probably won’t be hard.”
“Shouldn’t be, but things change.” Eyes squinting, Trent kept looking at the moon, estimating the remaining light, maybe. Red nickered when a sliding rock clinked not four hundred yards away, and my expression blanked when a tall surface demon slowly pulled himself up from behind a boulder to look down at us. The gritty wind pulled at his tattered clothing, making it seem as if it were his aura fluttering, ragged and torn.
“He’s a bold one,” Trent said, his voice just as calm as before, and I knew the surface demon heard him when he hissed. We had to leave. Science day was over.
Trent turned in the saddle. His expression was grim when he spun back to me. “I don’t think we’re going to get any more readings. Where’s the nearest line to get out of here?”
My pulse pounded. We weren’t in any immediate danger, but the horses were. “Ahhh, the university?” I said, wincing as I realized the surface demon had vanished. “Or Eden Park.” Neither of them were good choices, the first too far away, and the second up an impassable hill. “Oh!” I said suddenly, and Tulpa snorted, stomping his foot at nothing I could see. “There’s one just across the river. I keep forgetting the river is empty here. We can just run across it.”
Red whinnied. Tulpa’s ears went back, neck arched and tail up like a war horse. Trent pulled Red up short, and she spun, barely under control. “There!” Trent shouted, and Red danced sideways as a huge slump of building slid into the empty tributary we’d just crossed.
Surface demons scrabbled out, howling and brandishing rocks like the long dead. Red kept backing up, rising up on her haunches as Trent yelled at her. Tulpa finally broke his cool, and I struggled to bring him around to face the demons as I pulled heavily on the nearest line.
Squealing, Red dropped to her front feet, taking the bit between her teeth when the reins went slack—and then she bolted.
“Trent!” I shouted, giving Tulpa his head as she ran, almost going down as her feet skidded in the scree. Her eyes were wild with fear as she found her balance and rose, Trent still on her. A surface demon howled, and Red lunged to escape, taking a tiny opening and clattering onto a wide boulevard. My heart pounded as I followed. The shadows of the buildings seemed to hold a hundred eyes as we thundered past.
“Rachel?” Trent shouted as we caught up, but Red was totally out of control. Leaning, I reached for her bridle, and the horse lunged ahead. She had been teased, tormented, and frustrated by Trent’s dubious training techniques. If there was a trick, she knew it.
“I have to let her run it out!” he cried, and I dropped back. Out of control or not, we were headed for the river.
She is a damn fast horse, I thought as Tulpa began to slowly lose ground.
And then a soft boom turned into a building slowly crumbling down before us.
“Look out!” Trent shouted, managing to get Red slowed enough that Tulpa barely took the lead. Out of her stupid horse mind in fear, Red followed him, making a hoof-sliding turn to the left behind us. Trent looked pissed as he struggled to bring Red under control as we galloped down the ruin of Cincinnati’s streets, the way remarkably clear. Unusually clear. Not good.
“We’re being forced somewhere!” I yelled, and Trent’s jaw tightened. “We have to get across the river!” I called out, my heart pounding at the sudden silhouette standing atop a building, watching us. “Trent—”
Howling and waving a stick long as a broom handle, a surface demon rose up right in front of us. Tulpa screamed in anger, and I fought to keep him from charging. Red squealed in terror, the stupid mare spinning in useless circles. Surface demons were dropping from the surrounding buildings like spiders.
“Tulpa! Stand!” I shouted, and the old stallion screamed at me again, but finally halted, lungs heaving and sweating as I gathered a wad of energy and forced it into my hand. The surface demons circled us, all of them reaching for Red. “You will not touch her!” I exclaimed, and with a huge pull on the line, I shouted, “Detrudo!”
The curse exploded from me in a visible wave, blowing the surface demons back like leaves and sending them head over heels into the shadows. Red screamed in terror, rearing up and teetering backward. Trent gave her her head so she wouldn’t fall, and with that bare hint of control, she dropped to four feet, lowered her head, and bucked him right off.
“Trent!” I screamed, and Tulpa lurched to him as Trent sat on the ground, struggling for air as Red’s horsy ass quickly vanished into the dark and down the open path between the buildings. Hooting, the surface demons flashed into a flailing motion after her. In five seconds flat we were alone, the sound of Red’s hooves and the howling demons fading.