The Serpent

by Sarah Fine

  “You’re going to try to get his cards back, aren’t you?” her mom asked softly.

  Ernie drew her deck and pulled the Revelation card. “Yup. See you in a second.” She also pulled her Strength card. She needed it now. The cards might not be responding at the moment, but she had to be ready. The moment Legs stopped attacking Duncan, he would be free to deal.

  The Dealers had been backed into the corners of the room, fighting their own animals. Akela had climbed up to the rafters of the building, but her wolf spider was climbing up to her level in its own roundabout way. She screamed at it to listen to her. It didn’t.

  Rupert and Ruslan were wrestling with their beasts, rolling over, kicking, and punching—and yelping when their animals bit them.

  Ernie skirted along the edge of the room toward Duncan and Legs. The snake had reared back so she was almost eye to eye with Duncan, who looked like he wanted to kill her. “Legs,” Ernie whispered, squeezing her cards. “If you have a spare brain cell . . . I have to find Gabe’s cards.”

  The snake paused, mouth open to strike. Ernie’s hope surged, but her cards stayed cold. Duncan pointed at Ernie. “Her,” he yelled. “Attack her, you reptile bitch!”

  “That insult doesn’t even make sense, you idiot,” Ernie shouted. She was still squeezing her cards, still hoping. But Legs was ignoring her. The diamondback had eyes only for Duncan. Her rattling tail swung around and encircled his legs. Then she slithered back abruptly, yanking his feet out from under him. Duncan slammed to the ground just before she wrenched his legs up in the air. He let out a grunt.

  Cards fell from his pocket and scattered across the floor.

  And so did the serpent tile. It skittered across the concrete toward the other side of the room—and ended up under Ruslan’s boot heel as he backtracked to avoid the rabid lizard that was trying to eat him. Despite all the noise in that shed, Ernie heard the thing crunch beneath Ruslan’s weight. Legs’ entire body shuddered, and she began to shrink.

  Ernie dove for the cards on the floor. She could already see the bird carrying the world—these cards were Gabe’s. She began gathering them as quickly as she could. Her deck surged with warmth, and she looked over to see Legs back to her normal size, Duncan holding her by the tail. Ernie stood up and flung out a card—Mercy. Duncan dropped the diamondback, which began to slither toward Ernie, who held her arm out. But Duncan slashed a card of his own through the air, and Ernie hit the wall of the shed with a shuddering bang before falling to her knees. Her thoughts were filled with broken glass and agony, but she kept gathering Gabe’s cards until there were none left to find. She pressed her Strength card to her chest and shot to her feet.

  The rune tile relic she’d used against everyone had been reduced to glowing red cinders. The animals had resumed their normal size and returned to their Dealers, who were trying to comfort them. Rupert was crying as he embraced his hyena. Its huge ears were trembling as it let out a series of miserable, high-pitched barks. Rupert turned his gaze on Ernie with hatred and rage, but he wasn’t reaching for his cards. Not yet, anyway.

  As Duncan scooped Legs from the ground and held her close to him, Ernie made a break for it. She sprinted for the door of the shed, hurtling over Akela, who had her wolf spider cupped to her chest. Ernie knew she had only seconds to get out of there before all the Dealers came after her, eager for her blood and pain in exchange for what she’d just done.

  The thing was, she felt pretty bad about it herself, because of her bond with Legs. But the guilt faded as she saw Gabe and her mother standing under a little copse of trees. Because Caera had been shut out of the shed by that invisible shield Duncan had put up, she hadn’t been affected by the relic. The falcon fluttered down eagerly, swirled in the air, and disappeared onto Gabe’s arm. His chest swelled as he took a deep breath, as if he were surfacing after long hours underwater. Then, as if he sensed his cards, he turned to see Ernie running toward him, her arms pumping, her feet stumbling. Her body was about to give out, but she had to—

  Something hard hit her from behind and threw her into the dirt. She had time only to see a flash of scales and inhale a rank, gagworthy smell before a set of jaws clamped over her arm. The Komodo dragon wrenched her backward as she flailed and desperately tried to keep hold of Gabe’s cards despite the fact that her hand was rapidly growing numb. She twisted, trying to get some leverage, a foothold, anything. But then Gabe was right there. He snatched the cards from her hand and let one fly into the air. He caught it and waved it at the enormous lizard, which released Ernie and heaved over onto its side.

  She looked up to see that Gabe was in frantic battle with Ruslan, who had apparently recovered from his own earlier battle with his Komodo. Gabe disappeared for a moment but then reappeared an instant later, his hair windblown. He blocked the flying farm equipment Ruslan had sent his way, then wielded a card that bent the guy over into a terrible twisted position. “Do you fold?”

  “Bastard,” cried Rupert, emerging from the shed, both arms bleeding from multiple bite marks, with his hyena at his side.

  Gabe cursed. He held his hand out, and Ernie took it and let him pull her from the ground. “Mara!”

  “Here,” Ernie’s mother said from behind them.

  “Grab hold, both of you,” Gabe said, panting and swaying as he made play after play to try to keep the two enemy Dealers at a distance. Then he played one card that kicked up a tornado of dirt and debris around them, and dealt three more that made the world disappear.

  When they rematerialized at the shop, the other Dealers were out the door in a moment, eyes wide. “She actually did it,” Virginia said, looking utterly dumbstruck, making Ernie realize that the Chicken Dealer hadn’t had much faith in her after all.

  “She definitely did it,” Tarlae and Minh said, grinning. Trey gave Ernie a long, slow clap. And Alvarez seemed to be trying to keep his expression nonchalant and unimpressed—but it looked like it required a bit of effort.

  “Take Mara,” Gabe said to Minh. “Get her to a safe, comfortable place. Heal her, feed her, shield her. Will you do that?”

  Minh nodded. “I’ll be back soon.” He walked forward and offered Ernie’s mother his hand.

  Mara turned to Ernie, eyes brimming with tears. “Please be safe,” she said in a choked voice. “That Duncan . . .” She shook her head, probably living through all the memories of what she’d been through in the last few days.

  “Mom, I’m in this, and I have to finish it. But I’ll see you again, okay? I’m not Dad.”

  Their eyes met. “You know what he was,” she whispered.

  “You do, too,” Ernie said, her mother’s words having confirmed something she’d suspected. “You could have told me.”

  “But I couldn’t bear to tell you that it was all my fault.”

  Ernie opened her mouth to ask what that meant, but Minh took her mother by the arm. “We really should go now,” he said.

  Mara Terwilliger nodded, and now she wasn’t meeting Ernie’s eyes. She took Minh’s hand, and both of them vanished.

  Gabe turned to the rest of them. “We’ll be back soon as well.”

  “You’re going to your haven,” guessed Virginia.

  Gabe gave her a sharp look, and so did the other Dealers.

  “And when you return,” said Tarlae, “what’s the plan?”

  “I have to fight Duncan,” said Ernie, leaning on Gabe gratefully as his arm wrapped around her waist at just the right moment. “It’s time for this to end.”

  “Maybe we should leave you to it. Every time we fight together, we step on each other’s toes,” said Virginia, shooting Trey a look.

  “You guys have no idea what it means to be a team, do you?” snapped Ernie. “Even when you’re out to achieve your own goal, a team can help you get there.”

  “Oh, and you’re an expert, little half Dealer?” asked Alvarez.

  “On being part of a team? Actually, yeah,” said Ernie. “I’ve achieved some of the things I’m most pro
ud of—grueling, exhausting, difficult things—because I knew I could count on my team. If I can’t count on you, I don’t want you here. Go!”

  No one moved, and no one spoke. Ernie nodded. “Good. Let’s try this again, shall we? While Gabe and I are gone, use that time productively. Talk to each other. Figure out what each of you is best at and where you need help.”

  Alvarez looked skeptical again. “You think I’m going to tell another Dealer my weak spot?”

  “I think it might be a good idea,” said Virginia.

  “Means we have to trust each other,” Trey said. “That’s gonna be tough.”

  Ernie groaned and laid her head on Gabe’s chest. His heartbeat was fast and frantic, and she realized he was probably close to collapsing, even though he looked steady and strong. “Dudes. Just do your best, okay? We’ve got the fight of our lives ahead of us, and it won’t take our enemy long to regroup.”

  With that, Gabe played his cards and pulled Ernie into the darkness with him. She was keenly aware of his body, his breathing. She wrapped her arms around his middle and held on tight. They landed on ground that was soft and green, and both of them collapsed. Her nose filled with the smell of salt and sea, and she could hear waves crashing somewhere below her. She opened her eyes to see that she was on a high bluff overlooking the ocean, next to a stone cottage with a slate roof, the only building in sight for miles in either direction.

  Gabe was lying next to her, looking barely conscious. He’d played his cards like a warrior, but he was still in terrible shape. She wasn’t strong enough to carry him to the cottage. She wasn’t sure she was strong enough to get herself to the cottage. Then Gabe’s eyes opened, and he rolled himself to his hands and knees with a groan, then said, “Can you walk?”

  She pushed herself up. It took too long and was way too painful. “I’m not sure.” She looked at him with fear she knew he could see. “I’m really not sure.”

  “You can,” he said, grimacing as he got to his feet. He hooked his hands under her armpits and hefted her up. “You said you were tough. Time to prove it.”

  With him by her side, urging her on, she at least had to try. Gritting her teeth, she took one step, then another. Gabe held her hand. Walking was agony, but bit by bit, the cottage got closer. Gabe wasn’t giving up, and neither was she.

  As soon as they made it through the cottage door, Ernie sighed. Gabe played a few cards, and a fire spurted from logs in the fireplace, giving the space a warm glow. Like Minh’s place, Gabe’s haven was simple—a bed, a table and some chairs, a basin for water. There was a shelf with a few bottles of whiskey and a few glasses. Ernie smiled and shook her head before moving with Gabe to the bed, where both of them plopped down with pained sighs.

  “Have you counted them?” Ernie asked, nodding to his deck. “I gathered all I could.”

  “You saved my life,” Gabe said, thumbing through his cards. “I can’t believe it. Fifty-three.”

  Ernie’s heart sank. “You’re missing one.”

  “I’ve been missing one for half a century, love.” He looked down at her. “I told you I was short a card.”

  She’d momentarily forgotten. “Fifty years? How come you look so good?” Then she cringed as she gazed at his face. “Well, not right now, but . . .”

  “Give me a moment.” He reached back and pulled his bloody shirt over his head. Ernie caught her breath at the various bite marks, slashes, and deep bruises that marred his body.

  “They all attacked you.”

  “They took turns,” he said, pressing his Healing card over his chest and bowing his head.

  Ernie waited, watching his wounds heal quickly, his flesh knitting back together, his bruises fading, leaving nothing but smooth skin. She glanced at his abs before looking away. He could give all the guys on her Spartan team a run for their money in that department. “I don’t get it,” she said, needing to turn her thoughts in a different direction. “If dealing without a full deck kills you, how are you still around and as powerful as you are? You fended off two Dealers all by yourself less than an hour ago, all while seriously hurt.”

  For a few long moments, Gabe didn’t answer. He seemed to be healing wounds Ernie couldn’t even see. Finally, he raised his head and stared into the fire. “Rupert and Ruslan haven’t been around long, and their plays are obvious. Blunt force and no imagination. But also, I’m missing only one card, and I was a strong Dealer, closely bonded to the spirit of my deck. It’s killing me, sure, but slowly.”

  “You were a strong Dealer?” Ernie shook her head. “I’ve seen you in action. You are strong.”

  Gabe’s shoulders slumped. “I’ve been around longer than most, long enough to know how to make up for strength with speed and cleverness, but even those will fail me at some point. I didn’t look this old when I started out, either.” He lifted his hair, revealing a few silver strands mixed in with the dark blond. He still looked like he was in his early thirties at the most, but Duncan looked more like he was in his midtwenties. She’d known Gabe was older, but maybe not by as much as she’d thought.

  “What happened?” she asked. “How did you lose it?”

  Gabe leaned forward, setting his elbows on his knees and gazing down at his cards. “For the longest time, I thought Duncan was dead, like the rest of them. I had no idea what had happened.”

  Ernie leaned forward, too, matching his position. Gabe looked over at her, reading the exhaustion in her drawn face. “Come here,” he said, offering his arm. In his other hand, he held his Healing card, paired with not the Ally card but the Friend-Lover. She took refuge in his arms, in his masculine scent, in the sparkling healing that flowed from his cards as soon as they touched her body.

  “He knew I was out there,” he said as he restored her, keeping her in his arms. “He knew the whole time. But me . . . I’d heard tales of the Diamondback Dealer, how vicious he was, how no one wanted to cross him, how he killed for sport and maimed for pleasure. I had just been keeping my head down, but during the conflict in Vietnam, the Forger sent me there to help Minh.”

  “Which side?”

  “On the side of the innocents. Me, at least. Minh was influencing the government in Hanoi, and others were pushing the American side. I didn’t care about any of that, but I always took assignments that might help save a few women and children.”

  “Minh told me Duncan was responsible for the massacre of civilians.”

  Gabe’s jaw clenched. “It never had to happen. But that’s how he first revealed himself to me. Like he was proud of his handiwork, proud of what he’d become.”

  Ernie could almost picture Duncan delighting in the slaughter, stepping over the bodies he’d left in his wake. “I don’t understand how the two of you came from the same place.”

  “I suppose we all come into this world with a certain kind of soul,” Gabe said. “Then life steers you forward on its currents. But when I saw him standing there, alive, blood on his hands and pride in his face . . . I knew what he had done. I knew that he’d killed our family. Burned them until cinders were all that remained. Didn’t even leave me bodies to bury.” Gabe let Ernie go.

  Reluctantly, she sat up. Her pain had faded enough that she didn’t groan with every movement. “Did he want to duel with you?”

  Gabe shook his head. “He wanted to be allies.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “He thought nothing of our mother, our sister. They had been tools to him, to be used as he pleased. He thought I might think the same way. When I corrected his misapprehension, he blamed me for their deaths.” Gabe ran a hand through his tangled hair, then retrieved a tie from his pocket and pulled it back, away from his face. “And you know, he was right.”

  “Bullshit,” said Ernie.

  He gave her a ghost of a smile. “I left them. That was my sacrifice. I left them alone with him. And I didn’t think . . . he was always jealous. Always wanted what I had. My wife, my farm. My ma and sister were full of sorrow when I lost everything
, but Duncan seemed almost happy when I came home grieving and broken. I should have known.”

  “Gabe, he might have been a jerk from the cradle, but there is absolutely no way you could predict he’d do something so heinous.” She reached up and brushed a stray lock of his hair behind his ear. “Your soul is different.”

  His look was rueful. “I tracked down the Forger after that. Took me a year. I didn’t have a Mark, so I had to draw him to me. When he finally appeared to me, I asked him for a favor: revenge. For the chance to kill my brother.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He gave me the chance. An extra card to give me an advantage.”

  Ernie instantly thought of the blank card the Forger had given her. “What card was it?”

  “Hmm? Oh. An extra Wild. And I took it and went after my brother, determined to end him. I tracked him down in Delhi, then followed him back to Ireland. I think he knew I was hunting him.”

  “Did you confront him?”

  Gabe nodded. “I dueled him into the ground. I had the Diamondback at my mercy. I had him at my feet.”

  “And?” Ernie’s heart was beating fast, as if she had been there. “Did he trick you? Did he snatch your cards?”

  “I couldn’t do it,” he whispered.

  Ernie sat back. “What?”

  He looked up at her, his blue eyes pleading for understanding. “He was my brother. For all the horrors he’d committed, he was the only family I had left. And if I hadn’t become a Dealer, he wouldn’t have been able to follow in my footsteps, so perhaps his misdeeds were, in some way, my fault.”

  “That’s why you said I’d be better off if you’d never become a Dealer,” Ernie said in a hollow voice.

  Gabe nodded. “When I looked at him there, defenseless and begging me for mercy, I was arrogant and stupid enough to believe I had set him straight, and that killing my own brother wasn’t necessary.”

  “So, what? Did you just walk away?”

  “I warned him to change his ways—yes, I know. You don’t have to tell me I’m stupid.”