This morning I’d awakened with a gasp, two questions in my mind: What would the world look like if I won the game? Had Matthew predicted hell on earth—from me . . . ?
Across the property, lights burned in the menagerie and animal calls sounded. I glanced around, fearing Lark would spot me.
She’d backed down from her T-Rexurrection, even burning its remains. Too easily? And she’d agreed to keep the wolves and other dangerous creatures out of the castle.
On the rare occasions when Lark came down from her room, she and Aric remained frosty to one another. I was stuck in the middle, keeping the peace.
At least she was doing surveillance again, running a perimeter and foraying out to locate Richter. Every time I tried to talk to her, she told me she was busy, but I sensed she was keeping something from me. Or maybe we just hadn’t gelled since I’d returned to the castle.
Whatever the case, I missed my friend.
Behind a dead patch of my old briars, I watched Aric charge a target, his sword raised, his bearing ruthless.
Beautiful man. Yearning ripped through me. . . .
When a wolf howled from a distance, I tore my gaze from Aric and hurried into the stables, focusing on my plan. What were he and Jack communicating about? Each message chime had needled my curiosity.
Would reading Aric’s messages be an invasion of privacy? Yes. But he’d spent months in my head, hearing all my private thoughts, and Jack had listened to the tape the Alchemist had made of my life’s story.
Turnabout’s a bitch.
Aric’s coat lay on a bench, the phone atop it. I snagged it and slipped out of the stables, made it back to the castle unobserved.
In our bedroom, I stared at the lock screen. Four numbers awaited my input.
I tried my birthday. Nothing. His birth year? Nada. Then I realized what number he would choose, had used it for calculations. I entered the date—
Yahtzee. I tapped the message icon and inhaled a deep breath.
What kind of box was this Pandora about to open?
The Hunter
The elevator doors finally opened; light flooded out, blinding us.
Joules hurled his javelin.
BOOM. The impact lifted us, tossing us across the room to land sprawled on the floor.
My explosives didn’t blow? Electricity flared all over the walls and ceiling, but I was safe on the wooden floor.
Had some figure dived out of the elevator right before Joules struck? As my vision cleared, I saw a glowing man sprinting for the front door. Sol!
Over his shoulder, he spied me scrambling to my feet. Did a stutter-step. “Jackson Deveaux?”
“Yeah?” How’d he know me?
“RUN!”
Didn’t have to tell me twice. Joules and I were out the door right behind him.
Between breaths, Sol said, “Tower, fire on the house! They’re in a lower level.”
“Do you one better.” I fished out my detonator and flipped off the safety.
Sol’s eyes widened. “Do it. Quick!”
I pressed the button.
Nothing.
I toggled the safety and pressed it again. Nothing. “Damn it, malfunction.”
“¡Joder! Zara’s luck.”
“Joules, use your javelins!”
He was already firing. “Malfunction this!” With superhuman speed, he lobbed several spears as we sprinted uphill in the direction of the truck. Explosions of groaning metal and breaking glass sounded behind us.
“Ouais, blast that fucker!”
Sol said, “If you’re landing a hit, then it’s already too late. They’ve escaped.”
Never slowing, Joules snapped, “Those’re your allies.”
I maneuvered between him and Sol. “Focus, Joules. Try for the copter.”
With a nod, he hurled another spear. Aimed perfectly, it rocketed over the roof—
Lightning struck, deflecting it. His next several javelins shared the same fate. “Gettin’ real tired o’ that!”
How long would it take for Zara to ready that copter to fly or for Richter to warm up?
Joules aimed for the house again. The structure crumbled, flames growing.
Yet the heat seemed to follow us as we fled. “Snow’s melting up here.” Mud sloshed up around my boots. Sweat poured down my face.
“Richter’s coming!” Sol lost a sandal, tripped, but managed to right himself. “As soon as Zara’s in the air, he will quake us. This valley will be one big lava pit. You have a car?”
“We got wheels past the hill above.” Unless Kentarch had done as I’d asked. He must have seen the flames by now.
The helicopter engine fired in the distance.
“¡Mierda!”
I told Sol, “Use your powers against them.”
Stark fear showed in his eyes. “They’re too strong! You don’t know what they are like.”
Joules huffed. “We won’t make it—”
Kentarch appeared before us. We three skidded to a stop.
Calm as ever, he said, “We need to leave.” He grabbed me, and I snagged Joules and Sol. The Chariot teleported us to the Beast and released us.
“Ay, teleportation?” Sol wobbled as he crossed to the back door. “Let’s get out of here.”
Gabriel leapt out of the truck, stretching his wings wide to block him.
Joules flanked his friend, drawing a javelin against Sol. “No way you’re comin’ with us. You attacked us in DC.”
“¡Ay, por favor! You pissed on my Bagger’s face—the one I was communing with!”
When Joules flushed red, I snapped, “Goddamn it, Tower.”
“Vámonos. We’ll figure this out once we get away.”
“We get away, fecker? This alliance is full.”
Making a sound of frustration, Sol said, “You were with Death and the Empress when Zara attacked their truck. If not for my help, you would have been trapped on a collapsed bridge. Five Arcana would all have been dead.”
“You’re playin’ both sides!”
When the copter took off behind the burning ruins of the house and the ground grew hotter, Sol glanced over his shoulder and back. “I’m going to have to insist on a ride.” His skin shimmered.
Before I could shield my eyes, Kentarch had teleported behind him, left arm tight around Sol’s neck. “Should I snap it?”
Sol dug his fingers into the Chariot’s arm, fighting for breath. “My light will . . . madden you before . . . you can kill me.”
In a disturbing voice, Kentarch grated, “I am already mad.”
To his credit, Sol didn’t shit himself. His glowing dimmed, and he gasped out, “I know their secrets!”
I told Kentarch, “We’ll take him hostage.”
The Chariot released Sol with a warning: “Never enter my truck without an invitation.”
Sol rubbed his neck. “Sí, genial. Cool. Invitation. Hostage—”
The ground quaked beneath us. The force rattled my teeth in my head; my legs crisscrossed as I fought to stay standing.
A crevice opened up near the house. Inside it, lava churned like rapids.
Joules relented. “Fine! But I’m not sittin’ next to him.”
Gabe scrambled into the truck. I shoved Sol into the back. He pitched into Gabe’s wing as Joules hopped in on the other side.