by Kresley Cole
My body vine budded, as if to comfort me.
She looked delighted by the tiny show of my powers. "We'll bring this game to an end sooner than I thought. My Empress is a bold killer--and a sly manipulator. Victory will be yours."
Don't get sick, don't get sick. "Aric has saved my life repeatedly, risking his own. So has Lark. I'm alive right now because she directed him how to find me."
"I know! It's astonishing how you've got them working for you." Totally missed the point. "Oh, listen to me. There's plenty of time for us to strategize. For now, you need to get back to full strength."
"I am tired." Eventually I would change Gran's mind and make her see things my way, but in the meantime, I planned to sneak down and meet with my allies.
"Rest up. I'll see you first thing in the morning." She patted my hand again. "I couldn't be prouder of you, Evie," she said, but she wasn't looking at my face; she was tracing those icons.
19
"You can never turn your back on my grandmother," I told Aric and Lark as soon as his study door closed behind us. Just getting from one wing of the castle to another had made my legs sing with pain.
Aric sat behind his desk, Lark and I settling into the chairs in front of it. She had a sleeping ferret wrapped around her neck, a living stole. With keen eyes, Lark surveyed the area; had she never been here?
Probably not. This was Death's private space. He was particular about his sanctuaries and boundaries, and I was the only one he'd allowed inside.
What would Lark think of his personal study? Behind his desk was a row of soaring Gothic windows. On one wall, he had a collection of ancient swords displayed. Bookshelves that stretched from floor to ceiling contained his library of priceless editions.
Over centuries, he'd protected those treasured books--because he'd had nothing else to treasure.
This was where I'd first started falling in love with him. We'd sat together on the couch in front of the fire, and as I'd read his favorite books, he'd gazed over at me with satisfaction brimming in his expression.
Now I couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling.
He steepled his fingers. As usual he wore all dark clothing, and his power-over-everything-I-survey vibe was firmly in place. "What do you think the Tarasova is capable of?"
"She expects me to kill both of you. I want to explain to her my feelings about this game--unfiltered--but I'm worried her health will get worse."
"Paul thinks she suffered a stroke," Aric said. "When I found her, she wasn't well. She was on the last of her stores and weakened overall."
"Thank you for rescuing her." I'd bet he regretted that gesture now. "Do you think I could hurt her more when I give her the news?"
Lark said, "It's A.F., Eves. We're all gonna eat it soon enough. But let's say she lives another thirty years; are you gonna listen to her talking about murder the whole time?"
Good point. And what if Gran discovered the way I truly felt, then took matters into her own hands? "I will have to change her mind about everything, but until then, I can't promise what she would and wouldn't do. I won't risk either of you. Stay on your guard."
Aric gave me a tight nod. What was going on in that brilliant mind of his?
During my recovery, he must've gotten me used to his nearness and warmth; my gaze dipped to his chest, and I imagined resting my head there, my ear over his heart. His strong arms would clasp me against him.
I dragged my eyes away, turning to Lark.
"I'll be on guard, surrounding myself with fur." She petted the ferret. The creature woke, yawned, then conked out again. "So now that the Empress is back in the office, you got any grand plans on how to take out Richter and his alliance?"
"The Sun Card was my big plan. He empowered me." Hadn't I heard that both Sol and Zara had survived the crash? They must have; neither Lark or Death wore new icons. "I figured if we all joined forces, we could challenge the Emperor. But then Sol sicced his Bagmen on me." The memory of that made my head start to ache.
"Why did you trust him?" Aric asked.
Lark said, "Didn't you learn your lesson when I dicked you over?"
I narrowed my eyes at them. "I did learn--and I didn't trust him." I told them about Sol's attachment to those two Baggers and how I'd threatened them. I ended with: "He called my bluff."
Aric no longer steepled his fingers. I'd wager that under the desk he was clenching his fists. His tell. Though his face was often emotionless, his hands said a lot. "I will bring you his head, Empress."
"I . . . Sol's not like Fortune," I rushed to say. There must be something good in a guy who'd loved as deeply as he had. But then, Vincent had also considered himself in love with his sister, an absorbed twin. Still, I tried to reason with Aric and Lark. "He's not vicious like Zara is."
Aric raised a brow. "He had contagious zombies dine on your blood."
Lark added, "Hey, what's vicious about that?"
"I told Sol I was immune. And I could argue that he saved my life through that attack." A stretch, but . . . "Zara could easily have taken my head; she didn't because I was contained. In any case, why wouldn't Sol have attacked me? I took him prisoner, threatening the 'lives' of his loved ones. I behaved like a lunatic and gave no sign that I'd be his ally. I told him I was taking him to Death and outlined his imprisonment here." It didn't have to be this way . . . Sol's words to me just before he'd taken me down. "Naturally, he fought back. And he used the tools he had at hand."
Lark rolled her eyes. "She wants to be friends with another one!"
"It's not that! I'm just saying I gave him no reason to choose our alliance over his own. In his mind, I'm probably as bad as Richter."
Looking back, I could tell Sol had been shocked by my description of the Emperor's massacre--and then by the evidence when he'd followed me into the mountains outside Fort Arcana. But he'd already been in deep with the Emperor and Fortune. Maybe the Sun believed it was too late to do anything about his alliance.
Or I could be projecting my instincts and feelings onto him.
"I repeat: he had zombies dine on you." Aric's arm muscles flexed under his thin sweater. Yep. Clenched fists. "Perhaps those bites have affected your thinking?"
Lark snorted. "You can't be this big of a dumbass."
I was confused on a number of things. I was half-crazy. But these two had a lot of nerve giving me flack about this. "Of the last four Arcana who have abducted me, each one gave me a reason for his actions. Arthur wanted to experiment on me. Guthrie tried to turn me into a cannibal. Vincent planned to sever parts of my body and watch them grow back. Death wanted to cut off my head for vengeance, threatening the 'creature' every day that he would do so."
Aric's brow furrowed.
I gazed from him to Lark. "When I asked Sol why he was hurting me, do you know what he said? 'Already in an alliance.'" I rubbed my temples. My head was now pounding. "For no other reason, we should keep him alive because he juiced my abilities like nothing before."
In a measured tone, Aric said, "That is something to consider."
"Yeah. Sure, Eves."
I hadn't changed their minds whatsoever. So I changed the subject. "How did Sol and Zara live through that crash anyway?"
Aric rose, heading to his bar service for a bottle of vodka and a shot glass. "Fortune possesses the divine power of luck." He poured a shot, then decided to bring it and the bottle back to his desk. "When fully empowered, she can overcome insurmountable odds."
He didn't offer me a glass? We'd also shot vodka in this study, talking into the night.
Lark said, "Like she'll always get a lucky bounce?"
He took his seat again. "In that crash, any number of scenarios might have played out. She could've been thrown from the helicopter, landing perfectly on the remains of a tree, cradled between two limbs. Or she could've plummeted into a pond deep enough to break her fall. All I know is that she walked out of that canyon, likely unscathed."
Lark frowned. "I thought she was associated wit
h fate. Her Arcana name's Our Lady of Fate."
"As she desired it to be," he said. "But it's a very liberal translation."
I'd thought these Arcana things were set in stone. Now the goalposts were moving.
He downed that shot, then poured another. "She appears to control fate, but she doesn't have any influence over what happens to her. Her power is passive. She doesn't read the future and consciously affect it--not like the Fool does." Aric's gaze grew distant. "Ages ago, Fortune was known more accurately as Lady Luck. The Fool was known as the Hand of Fate. She despised him for that and envied his power."
I'd once called Matthew the hand of fate. He could see a thousand years into the future, but he'd also been able to guide me through a hail of bullets. "But how would Sol have survived?"
"Fortune's allies often benefit from her luck--unless she takes it from them. She's also a luck thief. That's her active power."
I murmured, "She can steal it through touch." As Death stole life. She'd been about to touch me before she'd been interrupted. "When Matthew said fate had marked me, he meant destiny in general? Not Zara?"
"I would believe so."
Adjusting the creature around her nape, Lark tugged a folded-up piece of paper out of her jeans pocket. "I'll update my new list of Arcana." She stood, then flattened the page on Aric's desk.
I crossed my legs, leaning down to massage one aching calf. "I thought you kept a laminated one on the fridge."
She snagged one of Aric's pens, making some notes. "I don't flaunt the list anymore. Not after a decent Arcana died. I might not have gelled with Selena, but I respected her."
Selena and I had just gotten to be good friends. I recalled the Moon raising her beautiful face to the drizzle as she'd talked about my ceasefire plan for the game: "Jesus, Evie, what if it catches on? What if we could all live in peace? Use these powers for good?"
What if fate had marked me because I'd been trying to foil the game? Had I lost Jack as punishment?
Matthew had once told me: Fate demands her due. In other words, the game demanded blood. . . .
Lark made a last note. "Think I've got it. You two wanna look over?"
Shaking myself from my thoughts, I rose and hopped up on the edge of Aric's desk, daring him to say something. The three of us began to read the list:
The Cursed Twenty-Two
0. The Fool, Gamekeeper of Old (Matthew)
I. The Magician, Master of Illusions (Finneas)
II. The High Priestess, Ruler of the Deep (Circe)
Aric tapped the page beside Circe's name. "Just the Priestess. Also known as the Water Witch."
Lark wrote "Hand of Fate" next to Matthew's, then edited Circe's. "Considering Poseida of the deep, or whatever, has been parked outside the castle for weeks, I think we should discuss this witch. What're her weaknesses, boss?"
I added, "If she remains in the abyss, how could she ever be defeated?"
Aric looked amused. "Give up my ally's vulnerabilities?"
My? I drew my head back. So did Lark.
I said, "If we are your allies and she's one too, doesn't that make all of us allies?"
His tone was flat as he answered, "No, it does not."
I parted my lips to argue, but I didn't trust my muddled mind yet. I bit my tongue, and we read on.
III. The Empress, Our Lady of Thorns (Evie)
IV. The Emperor, Stone Overlord (Richter)
"How did you defeat the Emperor two games ago?" I asked Aric.
"His rage is his strength, but also his weakness. He expends his power too readily and too extremely. I used another card to bait him--until the Emperor was depleted. After that, he was a mere mortal."
So how to bait him? Coming for you, Richter . . .
V. The Hierophant, He of the Dark Rites (Guthrie)
VI. The Lovers, Duke & Duchess Most Perverse (Vincent & Violet)
VII. The Chariot, Wicked Champion (Kentarch)
I glanced up. "Who's Kentarch?"
Aric said, "My other ancient ally."
And I was Death's ancient enemy. "What's his power?"
"Teleportation and intangibility." To Lark, he said, "In games past, he was better known as the Centurion."
She scribbled again.
"Why isn't he here?" I asked. "Will he help us?"
Aric shrugged. "He searches for his wife. I doubt he will do much of anything else until he locates her."
But we could use him! "You can't talk him into fighting for you? Call on your friendship?"
"He and I aren't friends." Aric seemed to grow more distant by the second. "Our interests have been aligned."
I bit back my frustration, planning to keep working this angle.
VIII. Strength, Mistress of Fauna (Lark)
IX. The Hermit, Master of Alchemy (Arthur)
X. Fortune, Lady of Fate Luck (Zara)
XI. Justice, She Who Harrows (Spite)
XII. The Hanged Man, Our Lord Uncanny (??)
"The Justice Card was known as the Fury," Aric said. "Her title, She Who Harrows, is the same."
Lark updated the list. "What were Spite's powers?"
"She was a fanged demoness with batlike wings and the ability to spit acid. Strangely, her acid wouldn't rise when we faced off."
"A Bagman might have bitten her," I said. "Sol talked about a card whose powers were neutralized."
"By the way, boss"--Lark's eyes grew tinged with animal red--"I officially called Fortune's kill. Zara and her stupid choppers are mine."
He raised his brows. "Good luck with that. You'll need all the luck you can get."
"What are the Hanged Man's powers?" I tried to remember more about that player.
"I don't know," Aric admitted. "I've never faced him, nor seen him mentioned in any chronicles I've read. The Star had his icon in the last game. But did the Arcane Navigator take it himself, or harvest it from another?" Aric rotated his shot glass on his desk blotter. "The Hanged Man remains a mystery. That is why he's called uncanny. In this game, all have been accounted for, but for him."
"Then he's the inactivated card?" One Arcana was dormant--until he or she killed another player. "Matthew told me to beware of that player but wouldn't reveal an identity." He'd just said, Don't ask, if you ever want to know. Merely thinking of Matthew made my anger churn. "Of course, the Fool's a cowardly liar, so I'm not banking on anything he said."
Both Aric and Lark looked surprised by my tone.
How could they be? Seething, I turned my attention back to the page.
XIII. Death, the Endless Knight (Aric)
XIV. Temperance, Collectress of Sins (Calanthe)
XV. The Devil, Foul Desecrator (Ogen)
XVI. The Tower, Lord of Lightning (Joules)
XVII. The Star, Arcane Navigator
XVIII. The Moon, Bringer of Doubt (Selena)
Just as I'd reduced Selena and Jack to epitaphs, Lark had reduced the Moon to a scratched-out name. Because of Richter, Selena had been banished to history.
XIX. The Sun, Hail the Glorious Illuminator (Sol)
XX. Judgment, the Archangel (Gabriel)
XXI. The World, This Unearthly One (Tess)
Oh, God, they hadn't heard.
"I had a scout on Tess for a while," Lark said. "She's possibly the nicest person I've ever stalked."
"Her powers will suffer this game, becoming unstable," Aric said. "She needs mass amounts of calories to wield her abilities, and there's little food out in the wastelands."
Voice thick, I said, "The World is . . . gone."
"You mean dead?" Lark's lips parted. "Did Richter get her icon? Figures it'd be him!"
I shook my head. "Her death was an accident. Joules or Gabriel must have her icon." In the case of an Arcana's accidental death, the closest player would receive it.
"What happened?" Aric asked, with what might have been sympathy in his eyes.
"I believe Tess reversed time, and her power got away from her." At Lark's frown, I explained, "Each minute
she went back in time drained her. Her corpse was wasted, the way it looked when she reversed time before. She loved to help so much. . . ."
Lark folded up her list and pocketed it. "You saw her body? Gabe and Joules just left her to rot?"
"Someone had buried her in Fort Arcana."
"What'd you do, Eves, go grave-digging?"
Aric had once told Jack, If you can't speak your deeds, then don't do them. "I . . . did. I had to know if it was Tess's grave--if reversing time was an option or not." Yet more evidence of my love for Jack.
I glanced at Aric. His eyes had turned cold as ash.
Lark made a sound of disbelief. "Damn, girl, you went to the mat, huh?"
It hadn't mattered. I hadn't been able to change fate. Did that mean I never would be able to alter the course of my life? Would I always fail--because I had zero control over my own destiny?
I was learning a lesson, painfully: maybe fate couldn't be changed.
And we were all fated to fight. Or die.
When Aric and I just stared at each other, Lark muttered a curse. "I forgot you two have . . . unresolved issues."
My need for revenge overshadowed everything. The Emperor was all I could think about now. I felt as if I hadn't taken a real breath since the massacre, hadn't truly slept between nightmares. All-business, I asked Aric, "What do you think Richter will do next?"
Aric's demeanor was equally emotionless. "In time, he and his alliance will locate us. If Fortune finds another helicopter, she could fly the Emperor here when he is at full power. If she acquires a military helicopter, she could fire on us herself, even deploying missiles. But Fauna's creatures will be our sentries, alerting us to any attack in advance."
Lark lifted her chin. "Damn straight."
Her animals would be our PEWS, a perimeter early warning system. Jack had taught me about that the day my mother had died. The day we'd burned down Haven and escaped together.
