42

Jack, Aric, and I rode in stunned silence until we’d reached even higher ground. At every mile, I’d expected that sinister seep to catch us.

“How do you . . . fare?” Aric finally asked me with a glance at my stomach. He would have no way of gauging my pregnancy through my coat.

How did I fare? Wow, he’d stumped me.

When I didn’t answer, Jack said, “She’s healthy, all things considered. Been eating good since the lion.”

Aric swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I am pleased to hear that.”

I still couldn’t believe I was sitting next to him. Couldn’t believe what had just happened to Jubilee. “Why did Circe do that?” I asked in a deadened voice.

“She never intended to hurt you—just the opposite. Unfortunately, she lost control of her powers. It’s happened in previous games.”

“And we can never forget what’s happened in the past.”

He parted his lips to say something, then must’ve thought better of it. Smart man.

But the quiet left me too much time to think. I’d taken down all of the Cups, mainly to save Aric. He’d already been on his way here.

Would a future Empress read about my gory attack with horror? I told myself that all the Cups would’ve died in Circe’s catastrophe anyway.

“Those Minors were clairvoyants,” Jack said. “Seems they should’ve foreseen the loss of their settlement—and their lives.”

Aric shook his head. “The future is fluid. Through their own decisions, they altered their fates. Provoking two Major Arcana was . . . ill-advised.”

Once we reached what remained of the old coastal road, Aric stopped the truck. “Which direction?”

Jack shrugged. “Doan know, me. Where you wanting us to drop you off?”

In a low tone, Aric said, “I know I have no right to . . . anything, but I will do whatever it takes to protect her.”

“Merci for the assist back there, but this isn’t your party anymore. Evie and me are heading out together.” After last night, Jack must’ve taken my advice; he was demanding my future. “We made it work for a time in Jubilee. We can again.”

“You call that making it work, mortal?”

“You’re one to talk, Reaper.”

Aric exhaled. “You’re right.” To me, he said, “If you bid me to leave you, I will only follow.”

Jack scoffed. “You goan to keep up with this truck on foot?”

“You’d be surprised what I’m capable of. I ran countless leagues to get here.”

“Why run?” I asked.

“I lost Thanatos on the way.” Lost? That tank of a warhorse had survived a scalding tidal wave and the Lovers’ carnates. He’d seemed invincible.

Realization hit. Aric had run that mighty steed into the ground. How hard he must have pushed Thanatos.

As if trying to convince himself, Aric rasped, “He could have survived yet.”

A pang of sadness pierced me. Aric had shared a mystical bond with Thanatos that I could never understand. They’d ridden together for longer than I’d been alive.

“My point remains,” Aric continued. “I will be watching over you from near or afar. My success will be improved with proximity.”

Jack said, “And what about her mental health?” Fair question after my behavior with the Cups. “To do right by this kid, she needs to be under as little stress as possible. After the day she just had, she’s now sitting tense as a board.”

True. Even though I was exhausted.

“I’d rather she be tense than dead,” Aric said.

“See now”—Jack tapped his chin—“that’s not the way I heard it.”

Aric’s gauntlets creaked as he clenched his fists. If Jack’s tell was his jaw muscle, Aric’s hands gave away his emotions. “I’ve broken free of the Hanged Man’s control, which means I will never hurt her again. I can protect her, as I just got through doing.”

I finally chimed in. “Why now? After all this time.”

“The Fool appeared to me and showed me the future should I not intervene. The end of your life.”

“You left Paul’s sphere because you wanted to save me?” I hated how hopeful I sounded.

He cast me a pained look. “I left because I didn’t want . . . because I ached to take your icon myself.”

Honest as ever. “To behead me yourself.” An involuntary sob escaped my lips.

“Sievā, I am so sorry. I was in the grip of his powers.” He reached for me.

But I flinched, leaning into Jack. “Right up until you weren’t. Which is almost worse.”

He lowered his hand. “Yes.” He stared straight ahead, seeming like he was crumbling inside. And yet he admitted, “Had the Fool not intervened, I would be there still.”

“Gabriel liked being in the sphere. Do you not miss it?”

“My thoughts were not my own. Rationality disappeared, replaced by bitter rage. Once I crossed the boundary of the sphere, I comprehended everything. Everything I did to you.”

Jack said, “You didn’t answer the lady’s question.”

My gaze flicked over Aric’s weary face. “Maybe this isn’t your natural reticence. You might feel a lingering loyalty to Paul.”

Aric turned to me with his eyes ablaze. “That vile fiend is going to die bloody. I swear this to you.”

Well then, my knight was back. Aric had returned to me the day after Jack and I had slept together. Repeatedly.

“How?” Jack demanded. “You know how to kill him?”

“Not yet.”

I said, “You smugly told me there’s no way to take him out.”

“And you were correct when you pointed out that there must be.”

Jack said, “Maybe we have the means. And if we do, seems we should keep it to ourselves.”

Before we revealed anything, I needed to know: “Aric, do you miss being within that haze?”

“I am grateful to be free, but there are repercussions. It is simpler within. And this guilt I feel over my actions is . . . it’s crippling—as is jealousy. I miss . . . not contending with those emotions.” For him to admit even that, it must be pure chaos inside him.

Jack muttered, “Nothing less than you deserve.”

“Yes. I will gladly take my punishment as long as I can protect my wife and child.”

I said, “Obviously things are different now.”

“I understand that, sievā.”

Jack put his arm around my shoulders. “News flash, Domīnija. We’ve been together.”

Everything out in the open? Sure! Why not?

Aric grated, “Do you think I don’t know that?”

I had to ask, “How?”

“If possible, the mortal is even more possessive of you.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m not asking for anything other than the privilege of protecting your life. And his as well, then. I saved him twice earlier.”

“And I appreciate that,” Jack said sincerely. “God knows I do. But even if you’ve escaped Paul’s control, what if you get reversed again? Evie told me what happened in that castle. How she didn’t lose Tee is a miracle. We’d rather face the dangers out in the Ash without you than risk touching gloves with you.”

“I will not be taken in by the Hanged Man’s power. It cannot happen.”

“How can you be so certain?” I asked him. “Your hatred came from our history. Which means there’s no reason he can’t tap into that and turn you against me. It’s like you have a bomb waiting to go off inside you.”

Jack pointed out, “Kentarch said the sphere is still growing. It could engulf you.”

“I won’t get close enough to allow that.” Aric’s brows drew together. “Where did Kentarch go? We need to find him as soon as possible. I can’t believe he’s separated from his vehicle.”

My eyes watered. I hoped Kentarch didn’t teleport himself and Joules back to Jubilee. There’d be nowhere to land.

Jack scrubbed a hand over his face and explained what had happened.

As he spoke, the duality of the Chariot’s card struck me anew. Kentarch was so physically strong, yet he’d been damaged down to his soul. He was a warrior vanquished not by violence, but by love.

Aric’s expression registered his shock. “Issa was dead all along? Then Kentarch is lost.” He cursed in Latvian. “We needed him in the fight against the Emperor.”

Jack said, “He wasn’t able to help.”

Aric did a double take. “You faced Richter?”

I murmured, “And Zara. She cost Kentarch his right hand. The only reason we escaped them is because of Circe. In any case, there’s no fighting the Emperor. Bullets melted. Javelins and rock too. No weapon can reach him.”

I frowned. Right before I’d killed Lorraine, hadn’t the queen whispered something about Richter? What was it?

Jack added, “That fils de pute has Evie in his sights now, wants to make her his Empress.”

Another string of curses from Aric.

“So what’s your plan, Reaper?” Jack asked. “You always got one.”

“Since I escaped the sphere, my only plan was to reach my wife and prevent her demise. Now I do not know.” The infallible knight looked more unsure than I’d ever seen him.

Jack raised his brows. “Never thought those words would come out of your mouth.”

Aric’s I have power over all I survey vibe was shot. “We’re going to need food and fuel. I can raid the closest settlement and steal both. If they’re disorganized enough, perhaps I can infiltrate and take control, securing a safe shelter.”

“What settlement?” I asked.

“The Sick House.”

I shook my head. “It’s run by the Pentacles. Lorraine—the Queen of Cups—said the Minors were uniting in order to hasten the end of the game and bring back the earth. And that was before I took out an entire suit. Now they’re going to be gunning for me and my kid. No place could be more dangerous.”

Jack said, “Besides, how do we infiltrate without Finn?”

We all grew quiet. Outside, rain began to fall, dotting the cracked windshield of Kentarch’s chariot. Like tears.

I asked Aric, “How is Lark doing?”

“Not well. She grieves the boy she loved.”

“Did she attempt to revive him?”

“Paul persuaded her to cremate the body.”

Though I’d figured Paul would never risk the Magician’s resurrection, some part of me must not have accepted that Finn was gone.

Until now.

I kept replaying his last night when he’d given us that breathtaking illusion of the surf at Malibu. I’d never forget the excitement in his voice and his lively expression. Finn had promised to teach my kid what the sun looked like.

Rage bubbled up from a bottomless well of it. Paul had robbed the world of my friend.

Aric said, “That’s an example of the Hanged Man’s total control. He convinced Fauna, a card known for being driven, to blindly follow his dictates. When she gets free . . .”

I was confused on so many scores—Aric had returned, Jack was alive, and my heart was torn apart again—but I knew one thing for certain: Paul needed to pay. “No one will be free or safe until the Hanged Man is dead. Which is why I’m going to face him.” Now that Death wasn’t defending the castle, I might have a shot against Paul and the others. Or at least, the red witch would. “Aric, we do have the means to kill him.”

“How?”

“Lorraine told us that the only weapon capable of ending him was a noose that had executed twelve murderous souls. Unfortunately, it’d been destroyed. Then I realized I could make another noose, and I happened to have an entire suit of serial killers within reach.”

Jack reached beneath his coat and untied the length of rope from his waist, tossing it on the dash. “No way, Evie. We doan know if this thing will work.”

I needed revenge against Paul. I needed to save my friends. I needed a place to give birth. “I’m facing him. And there’s no question mark at the end of that sentence.”

“Look, we doan have to decide anything right away.” Jack took my hand. “You just hold on. I got food and fuel, me. We can think things through for a spell.”

Aric said, “What food and fuel?”

“We worked salvage in Jubilee, looting wrecks. With the help of Kentarch and Joules, I set up a bug-out location, filled it up nice and good.” Narrowing his gaze, he said, “You bragged about that castle enough, but I bet you’re wishing you had a bolt hole right about now.”

Instead of arguing, Aric asked, “Can we reach this place with the fuel we have?”

“Ouais.” Seeming to make a decision, Jack said, “Head north on this road.”

Aric quickly started driving. He hid it well, but I sensed his relief.

“And then what happens when we run through those supplies?” I asked. “We’re just delaying the inevitable: my battle against Paul.”

“He is protected by Fauna, the Archangel, and his own sphere,” Aric said. “Sievā, think of the baby.”

Sick of hearing that! I whipped my head around so fast, my damp hair slapped my bruised face. “Like you thought of the baby when you threw your swords at me? You don’t get to say that to me! You don’t get a say in my existence.”

The pain in his expression . . .

“Do I?” Jack squeezed my hand. “Tee comes first, Evie. You know this. I’m all for duking it out when there’s no choice”—he cast me a significant look—“but let’s not pick a fight either.”

“Lark would rescue me if our situations were reversed. And Gabriel got trapped in the sphere because he saved my life. I won’t repay him by doing nothing. At least Aric’s not there anymore. I can handle three of them.”

“Can you not wait?” Aric asked. “What is the rush?”

“Circe believes this kid is my shield against Paul’s powers. Once I give birth, I could fall under his control.”

“And will our child be a shield against other Arcana? Gabriel is stronger than ever before. Though Fauna is suffering, her predators would still be deadly.”

“Why wouldn’t Paul want me alive? Since he lost you, another Arcana would grow his sphere, right? And he has the cilice.”

Aric admitted, “The Hanged Man did suggest we use it.”

When I shuddered, Jack asked Aric, “That came from your armor, right? Neutralized her powers?”

“Yes. I forced her to wear it.” A shadow crossed his expression. “Even if Paul wants you alive, Fauna might reach you before you ever get a chance to face him. Her hatred for you is nigh uncontrollable. If the Hanged Man’s control slipped, your body would be eviscerated.”

Jack said, “Which is why I will go in with the noose.”

I glared at him. “Not happening. I’m not losing you again.”

“Lots of confidence you got in me. I’m a good shot.”

“I don’t want Lark or Gabriel killed either. If I can manage spores, I can put them to sleep. The creatures too.” Big if, Eves.

Aric pointed out, “You didn’t manage spores when you were escaping the castle.”

“I was taken off guard then. You’re really going to remind me of that night?”

“If I must.”

Jack asked me, “You expect me to sit with the Reaper while you go take care of business?”

“I expect you to keep him away from the sphere. To remind him what’s at stake.” My head was beginning to ache, fatigue taking its toll. “And I expect Aric to watch your back while I’m gone.”

Jack folded his arms over his chest. “This solo plan ain’t cutting it. What about Circe?”

Aric said, “The Priestess will be depleted from that show of power, whether she controlled it or not.”

I added, “How would we contact her anyway? It took me weeks before she answered at the lake, and we can’t return there or risk another face-off against Richter.” I worried about Circe’s well-being, but I also didn’t see how I could help her. “Keep in mind that I only have so long before I . . . give birth.” First time I’d ever said those words.

In all the excitement, I hadn’t felt Tee flutter once. Had my run-in with the Cups been the final straw for this pregnancy?

No, I refused to believe that. “Look, I’m tired of debating something that’s as good as done.” The truck’s heater blew a constant warm blast over me. Sleep called.

“Maybe the Reaper and I doan take you to the castle.”

My glyphs began to glow. “Either help me—or get out of my way. I’ll find it myself, if I have to. Somehow.” To my utter irritation, Jack and Aric shared a look. Yes, I was directionally challenged, but screw them! “Wow. Haven’t you two learned by now never to underestimate me? Why don’t you ask the Hermit and the Hierophant and the Cups how that worked out for them? Oh—you can’t.” I stared straight ahead. “Because they’re all dead.”