Wow. This was huge.
“But we can’t let her hold the baby. He might have the Touch of Death.”
“You think that’s how he withstood yours?” I gazed down at Tee, and all I felt was optimism. “I don’t believe he does, but I’ll go along with caution if it makes you feel better.”
“Thank you.”
Aric and I sat together, marveling at every nuance of our kid, tracing his little hands and tiny toes. I said, “He couldn’t possibly be cuter.”
“Not possibly.”
“You lost your heart, huh?”
He raised his face to stare into my eyes. Deliberately misunderstanding me, he said, “Done for.” In a wry tone, he added, “And the child’s not so bad either.”
My lips curled. All the worry, all the strife, and now Tee was here in my arms. This little guy had already secured a piece of my divided heart for himself. Protectiveness like I’d never known overwhelmed me. “Do you think he’s healthy?”
“I do, love.”
I did too. With a warm, welcome certainty, I murmured, “Aric, we’re going to be okay.”
“I shall make sure of it,” he said with steel in his tone, reminding me that the game played on, and the rules said that only one of Tee’s parents would get to live. At best—
The phone rang.
24
The Hunter
I called Evie early, needing to hear for myself that she and the baby were safe.
Gabe and Joules were holed up with me in some barracks that looked like they hadn’t been slept in for a while. After stocking up on food, heating fuel, a pack of cards, and whiskey for me, we’d started our quarantine.
Kentarch and Sol would remain parked close to the fort, keeping watch for any stragglers that might show.
We’d already turned off the Pentacles’ message offering medical care. Though I’d expected a large-scale infirmary, we’d found only a pitiful first-aid station for their private use.
Desperate folks had risked their lives to journey here for help that had never been coming.
We’d also found a garage stuffed with personal belongings that made the mountainous pile we’d found in the Hierophant’s mine look meager. The Pentacles must have preyed on thousands of people.
Evie and Domīnija answered on the first ring, and she wasted no time: “What the hell, Jack?” She sounded pissed, but strong.
Relief hit me. “I could ask the same of you—having a baby? What’s that all about?”
“We’re both fine, by the way.”
“So they told me, but I wanted to hear it from you.” A little squawk sounded in the background, and I found myself smiling. “I can’t wait to meet my godson.”
“Oh, but you have to wait—because quarantine. Most sensible individuals go the other way when faced with bonebreak fever.”
“You didn’t.” I swigged my bottle, figuring the whiskey might disinfect me. Heh.
“That reminds me: I need to mix up a batch of poison for you. You can take it as soon as your eyes turn red.”
“Nothing’s goan to happen to me. So no worrying about ole Jack.”
“We’re dying to know what you were thinking. Not literally dying—not like you might be.”
I chuckled. “I might pray for the end after two weeks in close quarters with the Tower here.”
He grumbled, “Feck off, Cajun. And put it on speaker.”
When Gabe nodded too, I did.
Evie said, “Tell us what happened.”
“Kos, that woman, was the Knight of Swords. K.O.S. She was a soldier and freedom fighter.”
“Seriously?”
“Or she said she was,” Domīnija pointed out. “She was in the grip of delirium.”
If they didn’t even believe Kos was a Minor, they’d never buy the rest. Maybe I shouldn’t either. But it’d felt right. “True, but my gut told me she was legit. She said the Swords have a hangar stockpiled with weapons and supplies.” Her actual words: Everything you’ll need to go out with a bang. But I decided to soft-pedal this a bit. “We looked up the coordinates she gave me. It’s a couple hundred miles away.” Which might as well be a couple thousand. Already, the weather geared up again, winds howling around the bastions of the fort to rattle those bones outside.
When Joules grunted at my words, I gave him a look that said, You got something better to do?
Domīnija asked, “Where’s the rest of the suit then? And what are their powers?”
“She said if two Swords grasped hands, they could temporarily neutralize a Major Arcana’s abilities. Eight of them set out to battle the Emperor, the same freedom fighters that Sol allowed to get close.” He’d confirmed at least that part of Kos’s story. “But Zara caught them by surprise on the road and Richter bombed their camp before the Swords could even muster.”
Domīnija said, “With Kos’s demise, that would make nine Swords down. What happened to the remaining five?”
“The others journeyed to this fort to unite with the Pentacles.” But not against Richter that time. No, another Arcana had moved to the top spot on their target list. “When they realized the Pentacles were deranged, a battle broke out. The Swords had the disadvantage here and were captured. One by one, they succumbed to plague.”
Would Joules, Gabe, and I?
Domīnija asked, “Did she give you any more information about the game?”
“She said Richter had to be taken down.” Among others. “I didn’t get much out of her, only had a few moments with her before she died.” As she’d seized, she’d somehow kept her frenzied gaze on me, her blood-filled eyes asking, Will you keep your promise? Though I’d hankered to ask a thousand more questions, I . . . had.
Evie said, “I don’t trust anything that came out of that woman’s mouth. What if she lied about who she was? She could’ve overheard an actual Sword talking. Even if she was the real thing, we can’t trust Minors.”
I winced to hear Evie say that. Kos had told me not to trust the Empress either: Of all the Major Arcana, the Empress is the most treacherous. Like Richter, she must not win—or the world will be lost.
Evie continued, “We’ve encountered two confirmed suits, and both were crazed. Why would the Swords be any different? If you recall, Matthew warned me about the Minors.”
The Fool had said they were uniting to come after her. That had been the plan. Kos: We came to this place because she killed the Cups.
“Amen, Empress!” Joules cried. “Been telling our boyo this, but he won’t listen. Remember when you kept warning him that something was off with the Queen of Cups, but he was half in love with Lorraine anyway?”
“Me?” I scowled at him. “You were the one singing her praises. In Jubilee, I liked the bounties, not the politics—and not the Cups.”
Evie said, “My grandmother told me the Queen of Cups and the Knight of Swords were walking nightmares.”
But your grand-mère said a lot of things that weren’t right. “I know the ones we’ve encountered before have been evil—”