Dead of Winter

by Kresley Cole

  "Humans. Jack collects them. I like their soup."

  "Do they know what we are?"

  "Jack lets them think we're gods. They call this Fort Arcana, established Year 1 A.F."

  "What about keeping ourselves secret? You told me Arcana and non-Arcana mix poorly. You told me humans burn what they fear."

  A glimmer of something unsettling crossed Matthew's features. "There aren't enough humans left to consider."

  I'd have to think about that later. "Matthew, I need to get to--"

  "The watchtower!" He stepped onto a narrow board path that ran through the muddy camp like a freeway. A plankway. Off he went.

  "The what?" My legs were so tired, I could barely balance as I tried to keep up.

  Cyclops padded along beside me, his frizzy black fur shimmying. His scarred snout was just to the right of my head, his filthy whiskers almost brushing my cheek. His enormous paws sloshed mud up my pants.

  Was that a finger stuck in the knotted scruff under his chin?

  I trailed Matthew to the far side of the fort. "Did you send me a vision of my mother? Or did I dream?"

  Over his shoulder, he said, "Our enemies laugh. Smite and mad. Fall and struck."

  That was his answer? Sometimes I wanted to grab him and shake him.

  "We're here." Along the back wall stood a three-story structure, clad in metal sheeting. Matthew climbed a ladder to the top.

  I followed, leaving the wolf to prowl below. At every rung, I wheezed and winced. "Can we . . . please talk about . . . a rescue for Jack?"

  At the top level, Matthew tilted up a license plate, revealing a small slot. "Empress." He motioned for me to peer out.

  "Okay, what am I looking at? Oh, wow." We were high up on a blustery vantage with a sheer drop-off. A river that looked as broad as the Mississippi coursed below. An amazing sight. Before the rains, there'd been no bodies of water like this.

  "The placement of this fort is genius." That minefield moat bordered three sides of the wall, while this steep bluff and river protected the fourth.

  "Jack," he said simply. "Fort Arcana grew from you. The mission . . ."

  When he couldn't find me at Death's, Jack had targeted the Lovers for me--and for him. He'd had his own vendetta against the Milovnicis.

  I gazed across the water at an opposing bluff. Fires dotted the area. Tents stretched for what seemed like miles. A few rock ridges jutted upward, offering protection from attack.

  "Is that the Army of the Southeast?" It was huge. I tried to imagine where Jack was being kept. To be this close to him . . .

  "Half of the Azey. Azey South. Azey North's not too far away."

  Which meant Violet wasn't too far away either. How to get to Jack before she did? "I don't suppose this wind ever dies down?" I could launch spores from here, putting all the soldiers to sleep. Then I'd take a boat across, stroll into their camp, and drag Jack out.

  "The winds go all night. Which is all day."

  There went that idea--

  Shots erupted from across the river, lots of them at one time. My stomach dropped as the sounds echoed over the water. I whirled around to Matthew. "Not him?"

  "No. Daily execution." How the Milovnicis kept the rank and file in line.

  I sagged with such relief, I almost felt guilty. Then I wondered how those shots had affected Jack.

  "He believes no help is coming," Matthew whispered. "Knows he can't escape. Thinks his friends are dead."

  The idea of Jack alone, with no hope, gutted me. "Is he . . . is he scared?"

  "Certain he'll die. Surprised by how unfrightened he is."

  "You can tell? You always had trouble reading him."

  Nod. "Three months' practice."

  "But you can't read his future?"

  Matthew's brows drew together. "Never wanted this to happen."

  "Can you tell him we're coming for him?"

  Without a word, Matthew crossed to the ladder and climbed down. I clumsily followed. Back on the ground, he said, "Your alliance is injured."

  Did he mean that my allies were benched, or that my alliance was shaky? "Are you taking me to Finn and Selena?" I hadn't seen them in months.

  "Across the courtyard to the barracks." Matthew started away again, heading in a different direction, balancing on the boards.

  With Cyclops at my side, I tromped along the mud-caked planks through a central area, like a quad (courtyard might be a stretch).

  When Matthew stopped in front of a tent, I bade the wolf stay outside. He snuffled indignantly, plunking down in the mud.

  Taking a deep breath, I tugged down my poncho hood and entered, Matthew behind me.

  Selena and Finn lay on cots. The Archer's arm was in a sling--her bow arm. An arrow stretched over her lap, and she petted the feather fletchings, the sound like riffled cards. She stared, seemingly at nothing.

  One of Finn's legs was splinted, elevated on a bug-out bag. A metal crutch leaned beside his cot.

  A fire burned in the center of the tent, vented out of the roof. More Arcana sat on benches around it: the Tower, Judgment, and the World Card, an alliance of three.

  Joules sized me up. Gabriel tilted one of his black wings in greeting. Tess Quinn waved shyly, her fingernails bitten to the quick. Matthew dropped down to sit beside her.

  "Well, if it isn't our fair Empress," Joules said in his thick Irish accent.

  Selena shot upright, her silver-blond hair tumbling over her shoulders.

  "Evie!" Finn called. "How did you get free of Death?"

  This could get tricky. "Uh, I had an opportunity to . . . steal away." Steal Death's horse and saddle, steal a new bug-out bag, steal my hi-tech all-weather gear. "It's not important. I'm here now."

  "Yet you didn't accept my offer." Joules's reddish brown hair was disheveled, his gaze cagey.

  Selena--who'd called out no greeting--said, "If you got a jump on Death to escape, then you could have brought Joules's payment."

  Aric hadn't been the only one to offer a deal to save Jack. Joules had demanded Death's severed head in exchange for a rescue. "It's not that simple," I told them. "Things aren't how we thought them."

  "Did you have a chance to kill the Reaper or not?" Whatever Joules read in my expression made him say, "You feckin' did! A shot at the Endless Knight! The one who always bloody wins!"

  Selena's lips parted. "Death dies; J.D. lives. What part of that equation are you having problems with?"

  "We can hash everything out later." I was nearly choking with worry and exhausted to the point of kicking toes-up. "For now, let's focus on--"

  "We were in an alliance to defeat Death," Selena bit out. "One you started. When Matthew told us you'd recovered your powers, we believed you'd do whatever it took to free J.D.--especially from the psychotic Lovers." Selena swiped a hand over her livid face. "Instead, you betrayed all of us. J.D. more than anyone! Do you know what they'll do to him?"

  My grandmother had told me they warped and perverted their victims, making them confuse torture and pain for pleasure. "I have an idea!" My glyphs moved over my skin, a sign of high emotion--or aggression. But I grappled for patience. "Which is why we need to stop arguing over things that can't be changed and start planning a rescue!"

  Maybe Gabriel had done a flyover for recon on the army; he'd know the lay of the land across the river. We could plot a mission.

  "Start planning?" Selena sneered. "You don't have a plan? You've got some nerve to show up here with no answers and no payment, sauntering in with your fancy new clothes, looking like you haven't missed a meal."

  Exactly the way she'd looked when I'd first met her.

  "Because of you, J.D. is suffering right now." Voice rising with each word, she said, "You should have paid the Tower!" With her supernatural speed, she leapt from the cot, lunging to attack.

  3

  Selena's good hand was in the air, poised to backhand me; instinctively my thorn claws shot out--

  "Gamekeeper's blood!" Matthew cried.

/>   Selena and I both screamed in pain, matching red lines glowing across our hands.

  Cyclops sprang inside the tent, baring his monstrous fangs at her. I used Selena's moment of shock to scramble back.

  Tess whimpered and shrank away from the beast; Gabriel flared his wings.

  "Th-that wolf was dead!" Finn sputtered from his cot. "The cannibals killed all of Lark's war wolves."

  Joules opened his palm upright; a silver baton materialized out of thin air--one of his lightning javelins. In a blur, it extended to its full length. "My bolt once fried that very beast!"

  Which was why Cyclops's fur was frizzy. "Lark's familiars are . . . hardy." I withheld the full truth: her three wolves were undying--as long as Lark lived.

  "It's protecting you?" Selena looked aghast.

  "He won't hurt anyone unless I'm in danger."

  "You're allied with Lark now?" Finn's gaze darted from me to Matthew, as if the Fool should've told them this. "Even after she sold us out?"

  Matthew rocked back and forth on the bench.

  "Lark didn't know us when she made the pact to hand us over to Death," I explained. "For all she knew, we could've been cannibals like the Hierophant's followers."

  Finn peered at Cyclops. "But then she did get to know us," he said to the wolf.

  Hoping Lark was listening through her familiar?

  "And she still betrayed us. Me. For days, we were down there in the pitch dark because of her, and the water kept rising, about to drown us." He visibly shook from the memory, and a soft whine came from the wolf's chest. "When I realized she'd played me, it--laid--me--out."

  "If the Empress is allied with Lark, then she's allied with Death," Joules said. "She might be here to open the gates for them while we sleep."

  I rubbed my still burning hand. "We don't have time for this!"

  "You have no idea what we went through over these months." Selena sank down on her cot, adjusting her arm sling. "And it was all to save you from Death!"

  Finn tucked his dirty-blond hair behind his ears. "While you were getting chummy with our enemies, we took a cruise through hell."

  They made it sound like I'd waltzed over to the other side without a care. "Enough! You all went through hardships, but so have I."

  Selena cast me a bitch, please look, goading me to say more.

  "A cruise through hell is when a cloven-footed monster tells you he's about to feast on your bones--and you believe him." I let that sink in. "Lark stayed by my side to fight Ogen--even as he grew three stories tall! Because of her loyalty to me, she lies in a bed with broken bones."

  Finn winced at that. He wasn't over the girl by a long shot.

  "I'd be dead if not for her and those wolves." When I gestured at Cyclops, he lay down, sphinxlike and regal. The effect was offset by the finger he still wore in his scruff.

  "We heard when Ogen got capped." Joules used the tail of his coat to polish that lethal spear. Cryptic symbols adorned the already gleaming metal. "Didn't quite believe who did the deed."

  "It was Death. To save me and Lark."

  Excitement shone in Joules's gaze. "He eliminated one from his own alliance. He'll be weaker now. Unless you really are Ogen's replacement?"

  I pinched the bridge of my nose, accepting I'd never get through to these people about Aric. And could I truly vouch for him anyway? "Joules, will you help me rescue Jack?"

  "For all we know, you'll go get cozy with Vincent and Violet, just like you did with Death and Lark. My alliance won't touch this. We came here to do a job. Job got canceled. We leave tomorrow."

  Though Gabriel and Tess hadn't said a word, I sensed they wanted to help. But Joules was like their all-powerful labor leader.

  "If you're a mercenary, then what else can I pay you?" I studied his face, trying to gauge my opponent and gain an advantage--like perceptive Jack often did. "Come on, Joules. Everybody wants something."

  Death had desired me in his bed; Selena desired Jack. Lark longed to live past her teens. Ogen had hungered for sacrifices on an altar.

  Joules was impossible to read, like a bubbling cauldron. Tess was an open book, but I saw nothing for me to use. Mysterious Gabriel had a poker face.

  "All I want is Death's head." Because Aric had killed Joules's girlfriend (in self-defense). "Seems I might get it anyway. He'll be comin' after you. Just like the other games."

  The unstoppable Endless Knight. I shivered.

  "And we'll be waitin'." Joules rose to leave, twirling that javelin, skirting around Cyclops.

  Chewing a fingernail, Tess followed. "Sorry, guys."

  Gabriel hesitated at the tent flap. "Farewell." His gaze flicked to Selena and back so fast, I almost missed the yearning in his green eyes.

  A few months ago, I'd suspected his attraction to the stunning Archer, but his feelings had grown. How to use this?

  He exited, leaving me with Selena, Finn, and Matthew.

  In a defeated tone, Selena said, "You don't know what it did to J.D., imagining how Death was hurting you."

  "I have a good idea, since I was out of my mind worrying about him taking on the Lovers' army and other Arcana. I can just as easily blame you three for his capture!"

  "J.D. wouldn't see reason." She retrieved that arrow, petting the flights as if for comfort. "He was crazed for months; then you just abandoned him."

  Finn exhaled a long breath. "Look, Eves, I'm sorry about the rough welcome. If you come up with a rescue plan, I want to hear it. I'll help in any way I can."

  "How, Magician?" Selena scoffed. "You can't walk without a crutch. I can't draw my bow. How do we take on an army? Joules and Gabriel were our best option."

  "I'll infiltrate the camp," I said. "Finn can disguise me as a soldier before I set out." If his illusion would last that long. "He doesn't have to leave the fort. Once I'm across the river, I'll put the guards to sleep with my spores."

  "The camp's enormous," Selena said. "How will we know which tent Jack's in?"

  We? "The wolf can track his scent." Cyclops chuffed, his exhalation stoking the fire.

  Finn adjusted his splint. "In my condition, I don't know if I can cloak an enormous wolf. People are easier."

  "Besides, we can't cross the river by boat." Selena tapped the arrow against her chin. "It's controlled by the High Priestess. If we get anywhere near the water, she'll drag us down to the deep."

  Terror from the abyss! "She's here? Is she working with the Lovers?" We all glanced at Matthew for an answer, but he stared at his hand. Which meant the subject was closed for him.

  I turned back to Selena. "You keep saying we. As you told me, you can't draw a bow."

  "I guess I'll use a pistol. Or a sword. Even injured, I still have my superhuman reflexes and strength." Her modesty too!

  I vacillated, then nodded. "Okay, we'll have to figure out another way across. Is there a bridge?"

  "A few miles away," Selena said. "The one where J.D. got nabbed. The Azey patrols it heavily."

  With each of her words, my hopes sank. How to get to Jack? How to get to . . .

  An idea arose. "If we can't go across the river or around it, then we'll go above it."

  4

  "I'm getting Gabriel to take us over."

  Selena rolled her dark brown eyes. "Jesus, ditz. Pop some Adderall. They just got through saying they wouldn't get involved for anything less than Death."

  "Did they say it? I have a feeling Gabriel will help me." Because I was going to get Selena to flirt with him. Desperate times . . . "They might have this mercenary thing going, but who says he can't moonlight?"

  "He's a decent dude," Finn said. "Can't hurt to ask him one on one."

  "I'll just go talk to him." I turned to the Archer. "I'll let you know what happens, when I get a spare minute."

  Selena's reaction? Her signature the hell expression. "Fine! I'll show you where their tent is." She draped a coat over her shoulders like a cape.

  I turned to Cyclops. "You're going to stay here with Finn and M
atthew." Talking to the animal always made me feel ridiculous (though he was smarter than most beasts--and I might actually be communicating with Lark).

  In CLC, the loony bin I'd been clapped up in, patients had only been allowed to watch classic shows on cable, like Lassie. I feared any second I was going to say, "What's that, Cyclops? Timmy fell down a Prepper well?"

  Selena and I had barely exited the tent before she started criticizing me. "Talk about a long shot. Joules and Gabe are like"--she raised two twined fingers--"this. They've had a whirlwind bromance. I'm giving us a one in a billion chance. Which means you're an idiot."

  I glared. "Do you know how climbing ivy clings to brick? It pokes and pokes until it finds a weak spot to burrow into. We can do the same. Unless you've got something better to occupy your time?"

  She pursed her lips. But she must've seen I was at my limit, because she said, "I'm here, aren't I?"

  "Okay, let's talk Lovers." When Matthew had given me my memories of previous games, he'd said they would come sporadically (in order to guard my sanity--har).

  I tried to recall the Lovers from the past, but got nothing. Maybe I'd never faced them.

  All I kept seeing was an elusive memory of a picnic with my grandmother. "What have you got there, Evie?" I dimly remembered her cutting her thumb on a pecan shell, on purpose, blood welling.

  "So talk." Selena bounded like a gazelle from one plank to another, all long limbs and grace.

  I trudged behind her, as if my boots were weighted. "Death told me they hunger for pain, but I don't know why."

  "Maybe because they're hella evil, like the Hierophant and the Alchemist?"

  And Ogen? Possibly the High Priestess? What if all Arcana had the capacity for true evil? What if that was what made us Arcana? My alter ego--the red witch--could scare even me. "Tell me what you know about the Lovers' powers."

  Selena hesitated.

  "This is not the time to hold back information." I stopped in the middle of the courtyard. "We need to be working together. I'm going to give this rescue everything I have. Will you?"

  She came back to stand in front of me. "I was trained never to reveal my chroniclers' info. Matthew always says, 'Converge and conserve.' I was taught, 'Convergence, conservation, concealment.' "

  I crossed my arms over my chest, as unbending as an oak.

  At length, she said, "For J.D., I'll go against all my extensive training. Because I always have his six, always will, and unfortunately I need you to help him."