The Dark Calling

by Cole, Kresley

  In front of the crackling fire, we three ate in silence. As soon as the warm food hit my stomach, exhaustion set in again. Nagging doubts about tomorrow surfaced. Would I be strong enough to do what needed to be done?

  Aric studied my face, reading me so easily. “You should rest a couple of days before this battle. Discretion is the better part of valor.”

  “I’ll be on edge until Paul’s dead.” I rubbed my nape. “And we’re closer to the sphere than I’d like to be. I bet you can see it from atop the satellite dish.”

  “You would be able to, yes. But we’ve dozens of miles between us and it.”

  Jack asked me, “You got a plan for tomorrow?”

  “Sure. Smash and grab.”

  Aric pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “I’m kidding.” Not at all. “Tell us the lay of the land, Aric. What do I need to know?”

  “Lark normally sleeps during what passes for day, so an early incursion would be advisable. As soon as you cross the boundary, the Archangel will likely trail you in. If we are lucky, he’ll escort you to Paul, instead of exacting his own revenge for past games.”

  Jack shook his head. “Too big a risk.”

  “Sievā, if Jack accompanied you with his rifle—”

  “He stays. I can’t watch him die again. And I can’t watch him put a bullet in our friends to protect me.” I asked Jack, “Would you shoot Lark if I was in trouble?”

  He exhaled, but said, “Sans doute.” Without a doubt.

  “Then I go alone. Once I’m inside, I’ll knock everyone out with spores, then strangle Paul with the noose while he’s asleep.” I sounded confident, though spores could be tricky.

  Aric said, “Over the last year, you’ve asked things of me that I didn’t feel capable of. Taking off your cilice. Trusting you not to strike against me. Letting you go. But now you’re asking me to endorse your plan to challenge a trio of Arcana—when you’re more than four months pregnant with our son. And no matter what happens at the castle, I will not be able to assist you.”

  “I know it’s a big ask. But you’ll just have to trust me.” Softening my tone, I pointed out, “You didn’t trust me about Paul, and look what happened.”

  “If you tell me you feel one hundred percent confident that you can prevail tomorrow, then I will believe you.”

  “I feel one hundred percent confident that we have no choice. If you come up with a better plan, I’ll listen. But otherwise, my mind is made up . . . .”

  After dinner, Jack started gearing up for the cold. “Goan to check out that sphere.” He seemed as uncomfortable around it as I was.

  “If I fall asleep, will you make sure it doesn’t sneak too close tonight?”

  He grabbed his bow. “On it. In the meantime, maybe the Reaper can talk some sense into you.” They shared a look before Jack left.

  I rose and went to the window. As I watched him head out into the wintry landscape, I thought of the little bug-out bag Jack had painstakingly put together for Tee. Damn it, he should’ve been the first to feel a kick. Instead, he’d witnessed a moment between me and Aric.

  In the letter Jack had left for me before the massacre, he’d written: You and Death have something that I don’t understand, and I’ve got to start trying to get over you. To pull your thorn from my skin.

  Seeing hints of the shaky tie between me and Aric emerging again must be killing him.

  He probably sensed my gaze, but he didn’t glance back. Was Jack even now trying to pull my thorn from his skin?

  Did it pain him? Was he bleeding inside? He didn’t understand; we could be separated, but I’d never release my hold on him. Only fair, since I would never get over him.

  Like me, Jack Deveaux would bleed for life.

  “How are you feeling?” Aric asked hesitantly. He must be recalling how badly our conversation had gone in the cave.

  I turned to him, not yet ready to be alone with him. That earlier moment between us had slipped up on me so totally, but now I was on edge. “I’m okay, I guess.”

  “You don’t have to do this tomorrow.”

  “Agree to disagree.” I didn’t want to hurt him anymore, but I couldn’t just magically forget all I’d been through. It would take time. “I probably need to rest.” I grabbed my bag and headed to the back room.

  At the doorway, he said, “I would like to watch over you as you sleep.”

  The idea sent my emotions spiraling. Memories of his attack were too fresh. “Aric, I’m not ready for that. It’s too soon.” I’d had nightmares of him for months.

  The blond tips of his eyelashes glowed in the firelight as he said, “Are you afraid of me?”

  I wanted to protect his feelings, but I also needed to be honest with him. Honesty won out. “This close to the sphere? Yes.” Maybe I did have PTSD. “Besides, I warned you about the witch.”

  “Though she isn’t partial to me, apparently she’s been looking out for our son. If need be tomorrow, let her do so once more.”

  “And if she doesn’t stop at Paul?”

  “You won’t harm Lark or Gabriel on a whim.”

  I wished I could be so certain. “Aric, I can’t predict what will happen with me. She truly might harm you.”

  “A bridge to cross another time.” Aric’s way of saying kick the can down the road. He opened his mouth to say more, closed it, then tried again. “Over these months, I’ve made so many mistakes. I should have done a score of things differently. But you know I can learn from my mistakes—if given the chance. You know it can be good between us again, love.” He was making it sound like we could pick up right where we’d left off. How could we ever find our way back there? “Even when under the Hanged Man’s control, I longed for you. I missed my wife.” He took a step closer.

  I took one back. “Should I forget everything that’s happened and resume life with you at the castle? Should we send Jack back out into the Ash? Could you doom him after he saved me and Tee?”

  He exhaled. “I have no solution for this situation. Not one we can all live with.”

  Neither did I. “Aric, will you please give me some breathing room? I need to think.”

  His eyes went dark and dim once more. “I will go. To make you more comfortable, I won’t return without the mortal.”

  “Take your time.”

  Before closing the door, he stopped and said, “I do not want you to go to the castle alone.”

  I rubbed my temples. “This is my lot.” I now had one mission: destroy Paul. If I won the day, I would reevaluate everything else then. “I’ve accepted it.”

  He held my gaze as he said, “Our son is strong. Like his mother.”

  Oh, Aric. He left me, the door clicking shut behind him.

  I released a pent-up breath, wondering when—or if—I’d feel comfortable with him again. Was it PTSD making me so antsy? Or the sphere? Pregnancy?

  My vote: all of the above.

  What was I going to do about him? Them?

  Mulling this conundrum, I used some of the cabin’s water stores to shower and get ready for bed. I climbed under the covers, sighing at the softness of the mattress and expensive sheets. Compared to the pallet I’d been sleeping on, this bed should’ve been heavenly, but it was missing Jack.

  I was missing him.

  And Death. When I detected Aric’s addictive scent on the pillow—sandalwood and pine—memories of our fateful night here overwhelmed me, until I felt like I was cheating on Jack.

  I adored his raw passion, yet I craved Aric’s seething intensity. One love fated. One love endless. Since perfect for me couldn’t be bested, how could I live without either?

  Jack, the love of my life, had told me, “Peekôn, it’ll always be Evie and Jack.”

  Aric, my soul mate, had told me, “We are forever.”

  Whom to believe?

  I’d come full circle, was right back to that night at Fort Arcana when I’d struggled to decide between them. As I’d done then, I imagined my life as a road. On
one side was Jack, on the other Aric.

  Even after everything that had happened, I’d covered only a few measly miles.

  One thing I knew about tomorrow? Nothing would ever be the same.

  48

  The Hunter

  “Where’s Evie?” I asked when Death joined me atop the satellite dish. I’d been sipping a bottle of whiskey I’d snagged in Jubilee. From this height, I could see the sphere in the distance.

  A constant reminder of the stakes.

  “She wanted some time to herself. I’ll know if any threats approach.”

  I already had my eye on the sole cabin door. I handed him the bottle. “Must be nice for her to have a real bed again.” I wasn’t stupid, me. Knew those two had probably been together in it. Jealousy prickled.

  I put my gloved hand in my coat pocket, turning over my most valued possession: the phone I’d stolen from my half brother. I’d stowed it and the tape recording of Evie’s life story in my bug-out bag at the cave—merci mon Dieu. The way Domīnija and Evie were looking at each other earlier, I’d probably be needing a way to hear her voice soon. Because I’d be on the outs. “I doan suppose you talked her out of her plan?”

  “She remains determined.”

  “I’m not letting her drive off on her own. I’ll go without a weapon if I have to.”

  He drank. “She wants me to keep you out of the fray.”

  “But you woan?”

  “I might.” At my scowl, he said, “Perhaps I’d be more supportive of her plan if we could provide a decoy, distracting her foes. I could lure out some of Fauna’s animals and put them down. With luck, I could even goad Gabriel into crossing the boundary.”

  “You? That close to an unpredictable sphere? If you got caught, you’d kill Evie and me. You’re a ticking time bomb, remember?”

  “I won’t get caught. I’m too swift.”

  “Will speed make a difference? I doan think it’s possible for you to stay away from her no matter what you heard. Think about it: if Lark’s wolves tore into her, you still couldn’t pass that barrier.”

  “Remaining away would be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Battle is easy. Facing my demise is easy. Denying my need to protect her would be grueling. But I would summon the strength.” He handed me the bottle.

  I tilted it up, then asked, “In past games, has the Empress ever lost herself to the witch? Like permanently?”

  “There was no separation between the two, no name for an alter-ego. She was the red witch always. Her hair was forever red, her very eyes green.”

  And by all accounts, that was a damned bad state. So what had we dredged up in Jubilee? What might she tap into tomorrow?

  The wind gusted again, rocking the dish and sending snow blowing across the ground. I pulled my coat tighter and said, “Evie’s right about one thing. She’s got to get inside that castle.”

  “If I’d developed an alternative site, that castle wouldn’t be all-important. I thought I’d anticipated every possible contingency, but I couldn’t. No one could. And now I’ve left my wife and child so vulnerable that I actually have to consider the prospect of letting her take back that stronghold.”

  “You never played with the idea of a bolt hole?”

  “History told me I had no need. I was raised in a fortification. A strong enough sword meant all was protected. I am the strongest sword alive. So chalk up this failing to arrogance.”

  “I was raised in a place that couldn’t be defended, and I learned early that life was unpredictable. So chalk up my wariness to experience.”

  “It’s served you well, mortal.”

  Kind of what Evie had said about my pre-Flash hardships. Could all my tough luck in the past be a gift in this future? “Say she can take out Paul. What then?” Would they expect me to let them get back to their marriage? When I needed her like I needed my next breath?

  “Regrettably, the advantage is all yours, mortal.” He voiced my own thoughts: “You’re the only other male alive who knows what it’s like to covet her like this.”

  “I get that you want her back, want your family. But I bowed out before, and you nearly killed her.”

  In a strangled tone, he said, “Yes.”

  I’d told Evie that if we could trust that Domīnija wouldn’t give in to his rage again, I’d let them get back to it. Which meant I needed to do some digging. “I want to look at this from your point of view, walk a mile in your shoes.”

  He stared at the sphere. “A mile in my shoes? I wouldn’t wish that on you.”

  I could now see all too clearly what his long life had been like. I had no family left. No close friends. Everyone but Evie had died, and I’d lived on, just as this man had done for two millennia. “How much of your rage was Paul? How much was you? Make me understand what happened.”

  “How can I, when I hardly comprehend it myself?”

  “You must’ve put some of the past behind you. You two were together and happy, non?”

  “I knew she was hurting because of you, but I believed that we could overcome any obstacles. Then I got the news that she was expecting. You can’t understand my shock. For a time, I thought myself the most fortunate man alive.”

  “For a time, you were. When I hunted that lion, I saw you through the window. I wondered if you felt what you’d lost. I thought, Would I rather have everything and lose it—or never know that happiness?” Too late for me. I hadn’t had everything, but I’d tasted enough to ruin me.

  “Even then, I did feel the loss.” He eyed me. “Astute mortal. Not for the first time, I am reminded of why she fell for you.”

  I hated that I enjoyed his praise. But he was a wise immortal, wise even beyond his endless years.

  “Yes, I had everything, but then I forfeited all.” He clenched his fists, as if he wanted to punch himself. Or Paul?

  “How’d it start?”

  “At first, stray thoughts would enter my mind, like an idea with no genesis. Memories of her treachery from long ago would feel more visceral. I began to dwell on our past more than ever before. I know now that Paul was already testing his skills, sowing discord. After activating his full powers, he convinced me that she’d betrayed me again, lying about the baby. I thought she had mesmerized me. And being mind-controlled is as vile a curse as you can imagine.”

  “I can imagine a lot.” Under the Hierophant’s control, Evie had nearly become a cannibal.

  “In Tarot, my card reversed symbolizes the inability to change—which provides the grounds for resentment to grow. He made me burn with it, as I never have before. Had I once harbored resentment toward her? Yes. But I’d moved past it. I’d grown. It would be like you hating her now because you two had a rocky start.”

  “Rocky’s one way to put it.” I turned up the bottle, saying over a gasp, “I considered her a stuck-up bitch.” I’d had no idea what she would come to mean to me, calling her bonne á rien.

  Good for nothing—except making all my dreams come true.

  “Under Paul’s influence, you would forget all the good. He would force you to dwell only on the negative, magnifying your bitterness.” I nudged Domīnija to take the bottle, and he drank. “Even after what I’d done in a far-distant past, the loved ones I’d wronged, I nearly repeated my sins on the one I love above all.”

  “Evie told me what happened to your folks. You were close to them.”

  Gazing out at the sphere, he said, “Very. I adored my mother, and my father was my best friend. I’d planned to take a wife, and thought their new babe would grow up with my own. Instead I killed them all in the most painful manner conceivable.”

  “Wasn’t your fault.”

  “And yet . . .” He still felt the anguish, would forever. I knew this because I’d forever feel it over ma mère.

  Clearing his throat, he said, “Were you close to your mother?”

  “As much as I could be. She didn’t make it easy toward the end.” Because she’d given up hope. If I couldn’t be with Evie, would I? �
��She told me the people of our family love only once. She loved and lost. Said it felt like something was missing from her chest every second of the day.”

  “What happened to her?”

  My hand went to my rosary. The Reaper had just admitted he’d killed his family. Could I be as forthcoming? Like the man had said: If you can’t speak your deeds, then don’t do them.

  I snapped my fingers for the bottle. He handed it over, and I took a chug. “On Day Zero, I got separated from her. She was stuck in our old cabin. No protection from the Flash.”

  The Reaper’s lips parted. “She was turned.”

  I swallowed thickly. “Not a day later, she attacked Clotile, goan for my sister’s throat. Ma mère was so goddamned strong, so frenzied to drink. I . . . I struck her down. Me, raising a hand to my own mother. Chère défunte mère.”

  “You had no choice. In any case, she was dead by the time you acted. The Sun Card might think differently, but these Bagmen will never return to how they were. I can sense death, and once the thirst for blood rises up in them, they are already gone.”

  I eyed him over the rim of the bottle. “That true?”

  “Yes. Deveaux, know this: your mother died in the Flash.”

  My God, that relieved my mind. Another thing I owed Domīnija for. “Never told Evie that, no.”

  “You should. She would understand.”

  “It’s why I’ve killed so many of ’em.” I took another swig. “’Cause if I ever got turned, I’d want someone to take me out before I hurt anyone.” I handed him the bottle back, and we sat drinking until a few flurries drifted down.

  “There’s something I’m curious about,” he said. “When it first started to snow, she would grow sad. It must have something to do with you.”

  “The first time I saw snow was right before Richter attacked. She and I were talking on the two-way radio, and she could hear my excitement.”

  “First time?” This must be odd for a man who hailed from the snowy north. “And what does this mean to her?” He pulled that red ribbon from his pocket.