Our son slipped free into my gloved hands. He was . . .
Perfect.
His face scrunched up, and his cheeks turned red. His strong cry was as welcome as dawn.
“He’s crying,” she said between breaths. “That’s good, right?”
“Good. Yes.” I gazed down at this little being. And to my surprise, he gazed directly up at me with eyes that were the color of my own. “Greetings, son,” I said, my heart thunderstruck. “Evie, he’s so beautiful.”
Yet then I perceived a different sensation of heat. Through a new slice in my sleeve, his tiny foot had grazed my lacerated skin.
My lethal skin.
Gods, no! One touch was all it took. Even knowing it was too late, I switched the babe’s position, earning another fierce cry.
Too late. Always too late.
Evie weakly raised her head. “What’s happening, Aric? You’ve gone pale as a ghost.”
“Didn’t know . . . my sleeve.” Words choked in my throat. “Touched . . . I touched him.”
She shot up in bed and reached for the baby. “What?”
I handed him to her. “There’s nothing I can do. Nothing . . .” As I waited for the telltale forks of black to spread over his skin, all of my many victims flashed before my eyes. Their pain.
When our baby perished, I would join him.
Evie snatched up a towel to wipe him off, scanning his skin. “I don’t see anything.” She cradled him in her arms. “Aric, it would have happened by now.”
I didn’t dare breathe. One moment passed. Another. Could he be safe?
Her eyes went soft as she beheld the squawking babe. “He doesn’t look like a Bagger. I was so worried. I didn’t want to tell you how worried I was.”
The boy’s cries quieted as he nuzzled one of her breasts.
In all my years of killing, no victim had ever touched my skin then wanted to eat. Eyes gone wet, I said, “He’s hungry.”
She gave an exhausted laugh, cradling him to her, instinctively guiding him. “Who wouldn’t be after an adventure like that?” When he latched on, she said, “Wow. That’s it, little guy. Your first breakfast.”
Relief drained my body till I felt boneless. “I can touch our son.”
She gave me a tremulous smile as he began to nurse in earnest. “I knew it.”
Yet then a horrible thought occurred. Because he’s like me.
23
The Hunter
In a daze, I stumbled out of the jail, light one arrow and likely plague-stricken. I pulled down my bandanna and inhaled deep of the frosty air.
If half of what Kos had told me was true, my view of the game, the apocalypse, and everything else had just been torpedoed.
I imagined what Domīnija would say if I related what I’d learned. He’d probably point out that Kos had been delirious. At best.
At worst, she’d been leading me into a trap. He would tell me that following the coordinates was folly. Even so, I itched to discover what she’d promised.
Joules marched across the green toward me, Gabe right behind him, gaze alert to any dangers. “What the hell, Cajun? Do you want to die in the worst possible way known to man?”
I shrugged. “I gathered intel before she passed. Understood the risk. You should back away now.”
“Oh no, see, Kentarch said we were both exposed. Said we have to quarantine for two bloody weeks in this Devil-worshippin’ madhouse!”
I asked Gabe, “What are you doing here?”
“If Patrick quarantines, so do I. Plus, I will help clean the fort and sanitize it.”
Two weeks before I could get on with the mission. If I live.
“Oi, did you learn anything worth your life?”
This could get tricky. I needed to sit with Kos’s bombshell a bit. Turning from them, I said over my shoulder, “Need to find a map.”
Joules followed me. “What you need to do is to call the Reaper back. He’s been burning up the truck’s sat phone.”
Evie must be worried sick. I exhaled a guilty breath and reached in my pocket for my porte-bonheur. “I’ll smooth that over.”
“Little more than that, boyo. Seems you’re a godfather.”
The Empress
I shot awake in a panic. “Where is Tee?”
Aric turned from the window with a sleeping bundle in his arms. “Warm and safe.”
“I can’t believe I drifted off.” I dimly remembered Aric cutting the cord and cleaning all the blood away, then redressing me. “The Empress is supposed to be the literal poster woman for pregnancy.”
“You haven’t had a full night’s sleep in weeks.”
I took a mental inventory of my body: healed and regenerated. Then I recalled all the events of the night. “You were hurt! And Jack?”
“I’m fine, and Jack called a short while ago. He’s quarantining at the fort and wants to speak to you when you’re ready.”
“Did he give you any reason for that stunt?” The rose stalks in the room slithered with my anger.
“He said he had a good reason, but he wouldn’t enlighten me, not yet. He promised to call you at five.”
I glanced at the bedside clock. An hour from now. I’d deal with him then. In the meantime, Tee seized my attention once more. I held out my hands, and Aric handed over the swaddled baby.
Tee was dozing. He had tufts of blond hair, and his cheeks and lips were rosy. No trace of a Bagger.
I glanced up when winds gusted, rattling the castle’s shutters. “Circe thought his birth might bring about the renewal of the world.” She’d hoped the arrival of the first second-generation Arcana would usher in dawn breaking and a new beginning. Maybe I’d hoped too. Had Aric?
I feared those things would only return with the end of all but the last Arcana. Was Tee now damned to be among that number?
Aric canted his head. “I suppose that was never his purpose.”
“Does he have one?” Aside from protecting me from Paul?
“As yet to be revealed.” Aric sat beside me on the bed. “Lark came by while you were asleep. She dubbed him the Unclean One Junior and said he was kind of cute for a blob.”
I had to smile at that.
“When she removed herself from the study earlier, I was very impressed and I let her know that. Which seemed to please her to a great degree.”
“I’m glad you told her. She values your opinion more than anyone’s.” I’d bet she was thrilled.
“I don’t mind if she has Arcana instincts as long as she can control them around you and the babe. I now believe she will.”
“Oh, I see what’s going on. You figured out you couldn’t forgive me for past games and not forgive Lark as well?”
“My card is known for change and growth.” We shared a grin. “And yours is known for regeneration and abundance.”
The earth mother. “And wrath,” I said, pointing to the bandage peeking out from his sleeve.
“Of all the scenarios that might have happened tonight, a scratch on the arm is welcome.” Wolves could have eaten us; cannibals could have eaten Jack and Joules. Tee could have died from Aric’s touch. So, yeah, we’d take the win. “I intend to mend fences with Lark and do whatever I can to help her through her current troubles.”