“From the photos you sent, I thought he was a dead ringer for Death, but I see some of you in there too. How’s Domīnija doing with all this?”
“Enjoying fatherhood in what he believes is his limited time left.” I could all but feel another strand of hair turning red at the thought.
Earlier today, the weather had relented, so I’d bundled up Tee to play in the snow while Aric rode. He’d lifted his son into his arms atop the horse, making Tee laugh with delight, while I’d snapped photos like a pre-Flash mom.
Something new I’d learned about Aric: he was self-conscious about having his “likeness taken.” The moment had turned bittersweet for two reasons. One, Aric had stoically allowed pictures of himself because he wanted me to have mementos of him. And two, I’d realized I would need a lifetime to learn everything about my husband.
“How are you, peekôn?”
Honestly? “A little less apocalyptic now that I’m talking to you.”
“I heard you got a new houseguest. What’s it like with Circe there?”
“I feel better knowing that she’s here with us and safe. And she’s already recovering some.” As if to illustrate, a loud splash sounded from the pool room. “She’s going to work on a memory spell for the next game.” If Jack was a Minor, would he reincarnate for a future contest? No one knew. “We’ll be treated to actual witchcraft around here. She might even include me in the spell.” Progress!
“Never dull, is it?”
I had to smile. “Not for long. So how are the guys doing?” I asked, skirting around the subject of Jack’s new discovery.
“I’m learning a lot about this crew. Sol misses Spanish beaches. Gabe watched his first movie last night—The Terminator—and his wings fluttered with tension the whole time. Joules grieves his big family back in Ireland just as much as he grieves Calanthe.”
“And I know what Kentarch grieves. It hasn’t lessened at all, has it?”
“It woan.”
“No,” I softly agreed. “It won’t.”
“But life’s as good as we can expect here. Sol’s already growing grain to feed us and the livestock you guys sent. And yesterday he unfroze a nearby lake and warmed the water so much that we took a quick swim.”
“No way. That must’ve been like a dream.”
“With the Bagger King on our side, we had no worries about one snagging us from the deep. First time I took a voluntary dip since you and I played in that pool.”
I remembered him taking my hand and leading me into Selena’s temporary house. We are home, Evie Greene! “That night feels like a lifetime ago.” We both fell quiet as we went awash in memories.
In time, Jack said, “So . . .” He pointed to my hair. “New mom ’do?”
“I’m feeling the red witch more and more. Like she’s readying for a fight.”
“Back in Jubilee, you said you feared what would happen if you faced off against Richter.”
“I did—and I do—but I’m starting to fear more what will happen if she doesn’t fight him.” Maybe I had my own one-way-ticket scenario. “Yet Aric’s planning to die in this game and give me and Tee to you, like he’d planned to award you his castle. He keeps acting like it’s olden times.” Take care of my family.
“He is an olden kind of guy.”
I sighed. “He is that. Have you two talked about this more?”
Jack shrugged. “We’re at war. Soldiers fall. He’s making contingencies.”
Always with the contingencies. The Chariot had made two supply runs in the last few days, preparing us to ride out a nuclear winter—and defend ourselves—at both sites.
Upon meeting Lark, Circe, and Tee, Kentarch had been polite but restrained, and he’d been eager to return to the hangar.
Aric hadn’t invited any other Arcana here, not that Joules wanted to come. Yet Sol did. The history grad student had heard from Gabe about all the treasures Aric had amassed in his immortal life, and the Sun burned to see them.
But Aric had reminded me, “I was wearing my armor when Sol used his power against me, and still I sensed the potential devastation of his rays. At close quarters, he could take any of us down in seconds. . . .”
I told Jack, “I believe Richter’s going to come here. I got away from him once, and I escaped Zara before she stole my luck. They won’t let me out of their crosshairs again.”
“Doan disagree. And they woan need the calls to find you guys. Kentarch told me there are vines all around the castle now. Zara will spot you on a flyby sooner or later, if her luck holds. And I reckon it will.”
“I thought about retracting the vines, but with this weather, Lark can’t do a whole lot of surveillance. Sometimes those vines are our only PEWS.”
Jack’s lips curved. “More evidence you listened to me a time or two, huh?”
I returned his grin. “On occasion.” Yet then I narrowed my gaze as a thought occurred. “You and Aric are way ahead of me, aren’t you? You’re already planning for the showdown to happen here.”
“I suspect the castle’s goan to be our field of battle. I hope it is. If Sol melted the river there, Circe could be an asset. Lark’s got nine giant wolves, and you’ve got all your vines growing. Richter’s goan to step in it, if he’s not careful.”
Sadly, we still had Fortune to deal with too. The subject was exhausting, so I changed it for now. “You’ve been busy, huh? How does it feel knowing you might be a Minor?”
“I go back and forth on believing it might be true. I’m landing more on not. Matthew said that I wasn’t an Arcana, and I still feel like ole Jack Deveaux. I got no superpowers or miraculous skills, so to hell with it.” He ran his fingers through his hair. My Jack didn’t like things unsaid or unknown.
“I heard the Swords weren’t fans of mine.” Aric had told me I’d been on their hit list, just as Matthew had warned.
“They got led astray when it came to you.”
“You remember what I told you about my bottomless well of rage? I am a threat to the world. The Swords were right.”
“You are good, Evangeline, down to your soul. I will always believe that.” He was so vehement that I almost believed it too.
Almost. “Who had the Swords favored to win?”
Jack hesitated, then admitted, “Death.”
A wise choice. Maybe we should heed them. I didn’t want Aric to be burdened with more immortality, but I also didn’t want to destroy the planet.
Jack asked me, “How do you feel knowing I might be a Minor?”
I adjusted Tee in my lap and debated how to describe my fears. “I worried that you might have been drawn to me because of the game. After all, you’ve been thrown in my path repeatedly, ever since we got paired up for that history project.”
“Thrown? Ah, Evie, I’ve been seeking you out any which way I could.”
“Then how did we find each other out in the Ash?”
“We were both heading down the only cleared road, toward the sole rumor of food in the area. When so few of us are left, we’re goan to run into each other.”