Arcana Rising (The Arcana Chronicles Book 5)

by Kresley Cole

  Evie wasn’t here. Gutted, me. I squinted, saw snow coming down.

  Did it snow wherever she was? Could she be thinking about me? I would do anything to see her again.

  Just once.

  “Your future refuses to behave.” Coo-yôn yanked off the jacket he’d sourced for me. Up was down. Then he stepped back. And released me—

  I toppled over, falling out of my seat onto the ground. Was the sosie dumping me on the side of the road? ’Cause I was about to die? “Now, let’s just talk . . . ’bout this, coo-yôn.”

  He caught hold of my good ankle, then dragged me farther away from the truck. He’d hauled me into . . . a bank of snow.

  _______________

  The Empress

  Jack and I had marveled at the snow. I spun in circles as flakes fell, dizziness overwhelming me.

  I’d known this was going to send me spiraling. Gasping for breath, I collapsed, tears streaking down my face.

  Lark’s animals fell silent. The river’s current stilled. The better to hear my sobs. I missed Jack so much; I missed Aric so much. I cried for them both.

  The skies opened up with an intense shower of snow, till it’d painted the ground white.

  “Isn’t it amazing?” I’d told Jack that last day. “Everything looks clean.”

  What I should have said: “You’re about to die, and there’s nothing I can do about it. And in a few short weeks, I’ll be so messed up that I’ll decide to live for more than revenge.”

  To tighten my tourniquet, even now. To delay a grief that could bury me. To rise and walk.

  I’d thought the sight of snow—and all the emotions it brought—would make me less likely to be with Aric.

  Just the opposite; because I could see my future so clearly. If he died before I did, some symbol—like snow—would mark the end of his existence. Later I would experience that waypoint (because everything was connected) and wish to God I’d taken a different path.

  Death was inevitable. Why make him wait any longer? In a perfect world, I would’ve taken more time to grieve Jack and get my mind straight.

  This world was as far from perfect as it could get.

  I decided then that I would map my own journey and mark my own waypoints. The snow would symbolize both the end of one story and the beginning of another.

  A new slate. But not a blank one. The red ribbon would be a cherished remembrance, but I wouldn’t keep it with me at all times.

  I lay in the snow and lifted my hand to the sky. Flakes landed on my damp face. Each one was a cool kiss good-bye.

  _______________

  The Hunter

  Lying in that bank of snow, I gazed up at the falling flakes. They drifted over my face. Soft, soft. Like Evie’s lips. With effort, I lifted my scarred hand to the sky. I closed my eyes and pretended my Evangeline was caring for me.

  J’ai savouré. I savored each cold kiss. . . .

  34

  The Empress

  Day 451 A.F.

  “You still have only two icons?” Gran murmured as I sat beside her bed.

  Over the last week, the snow had melted as if it’d never been—while I remained changed. I’d made a decision that affected my future, and then I’d made preparations.

  Soon, I would rise.

  “Why haven’t you taken another marking?” she said, her faint voice slurring. “Because your powers are suffering?”

  They continued weakening. I had a theory about that, but I pushed it from my mind. “Hey, I brought some pictures with me.” I collected my laptop, then sat beside her on the bed. Though I wanted to learn more from her, I refused to listen when she talked about killing my friends. So I grasped for other subjects.

  I opened up the family albums. As I scrolled through them, her eyes appeared dazed, as if she wasn’t seeing the images. Yet then she stared at a large picture of my father.

  I said, “I wish I could remember him.”

  “David used to carry you around the farm on his shoulders,” she said. “He read to you every night and took you to the river to skip stones. He drove you around to pet every baby animal born in a ten-mile radius. Lambs, kittens, puppies.” She drew a labored breath. “He brought you to the crops and the gardens. Even then, you would pet the bark of an oak and kiss a rose bloom. If the cane was sighing that day, you’d fall asleep in his arms.”

  I imagined it all: the sugarcane, the farm, the majestic oaks, the lazy river that always had fish jumping. My roots were there, but I knew I would never go back. Jack’s dream had been to return and rebuild Haven. A dream we’d shared. I would feel like a traitor going home without him. Plus, it’d be too painful. Everything would remind me of the love I’d lost.

  “David’s death was so needless,” she said. “Don’t know what he was doing near that cane crusher.”

  I snapped my gaze to her. “What do you mean? He disappeared on a fishing trip in the Basin.”

  She frowned at me. “He did. Of course.”

  Chills crept up my spine. Was she lying? Why would she, unless . . .

  No, no. I shook my head hard. She had the same kind of mental fog I had, understandable if she’d had strokes.

  With all the double crosses of the game, I was paranoid. She’d loved my mom. Mom had loved my dad. Gran would never hurt him.

  “Love of her life, gone forever,” Gran muttered. “Nearly broke your mother. Now you are broken. You’re getting weaker. If you don’t win this game, then my life has meant nothing. Karen’s sacrifice for you will mean nothing. Nothing!” For the hundredth time, she said, “Take out the little Strength Card. The low-hanging fruit.”

  My well of patience spat up sand, dry as a bone. I slammed my laptop closed and shot to my feet. “I will never agree with you about the other Arcana here. We should avoid discussing them.”

  I searched for another subject, realizing there were none. Every conversation led back to the murder of Aric and my friends.

  As if I hadn’t spoken, she said, “Weaker, weaker. Take the icons while you still can. Even Death’s. Seduce him out of his armor, then strike. Use your poison kiss!”

  I lost it. “I am not killing Aric. I will never hurt him!”

  At last, she seemed to have heard me. Comprehension lit her eyes for the first time in forever. “Dear God . . . you . . . you . . . love that monster.” Her face grew red and blotchy. “You don’t deny it? You will rue it!” She went into a coughing fit. “I-I spent eight years in an institution, caged, trapped—for you! But you refuse to hear me. To see.”

  I backed away from her. Maybe she’d done even more than those eight years. My grandmother might be a murderer for the Arcana cause. And now her player was refusing to conform.

  An angry vein pulsed in her temple. “You want Death so badly, he’ll end your life. He will take your head; I swear it. And if you’ve truly fallen in love with him, then you deserve it!”

  As I stared at her in disbelief, Paul strode into the room.

  In a firm tone, he told me, “Evie, you need to take a break. Now. I will stay with her till morning.”

  I staggered on my feet. I needed Aric. I needed us to be the way we were. Hadn’t I always been on this path to him? Our story had been building for two thousand years. I might as well try to hold back the waves of the ocean.

  Jack wouldn’t begrudge me this, not at the end of the world.

  And this time, I wouldn’t be going to Aric with nothing new to offer.

  I told Gran, “I-I’ll be back soon.” In a daze, I headed toward Aric’s study. Animals tromped past me in the halls—a black tomcat, a rabbit, and a goat. In the living room, a bear cub and a lion cub sparred, shredding the carpet.

  Aric’s well-ordered sanctuary had been overrun. He was going to be furious.

  I opened up his study. Not there. But I felt a pang to see that he’d left the poppy growing in his desk. I gave it a little juice to perk it up, then headed to the training yard. No sign of him. Then to the stable.

  Thanatos wa
s gone.

  I hurried down to the river. “Circe! Where’d Aric go?”

  “Hmm.”

  “Not now with that shit, Priestess!”

  “The last I saw of him,” she answered in a snippy tone, “his eyes were alight with anguish.”

  I sprinted back up the steep drive. I found Lark in her room—which now had wall-to-wall fur, feathers, and scales. I stepped on something’s paw and earned a hiss.

  As usual, Lark’s eyes glowed red as she searched.

  “Where’s Aric?”

  She shook herself out of her trance. “Away.”

  My glyphs flared. “What?” He was out there alone? With the Emperor on the loose? What if Aric never returned? If Richter found him . . .

  “Chill, unclean one. The boss has been leaving on and off for the last few weeks. You just never noticed.”

  Guilt twisted inside me. “Where did he go?”

  “Dunno. He always passes outside of my animal network when I’m asleep.”

  Then he did it on purpose, because he didn’t want to be tracked. Still . . . “Lark, I need Cyclops to scent his trail and lead me to him.”

  “No way, Evie!” She held up her palms, her claws curling. “He’d be freaking furious! That would seriously put me in his crosshairs.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “What makes you think I won’t do worse than he ever could?”

  She tilted her head. “Good point.”

  _______________

  The Hunter

  Somewhere east of the old Mississippi River

  Closer still . . .

  Another truck. Another highway.

  But Matthew swore we were closing in on our destination.

  Barely a week had passed since he’d broken my fever in the snow. Only yesterday I’d felt my first glimmer of hope that I would hang onto my foot and leg after all. I was using a crutch and a crude brace to walk, but I was fast on the mend.

  My vision and lungs were clearing, yet my head and my heart still suffered, ’cause I knew I was running out of time to reach my girl. Urgency clawed at me, till I thought I’d go mad.

  Did she remember that it’d always be Evie and Jack? That even death—or Death—couldn’t keep us apart? Would she remember how perfect it’d been between us?

  With her, I’d known true peace for the first time in my life. Hadn’t she?

  As coo-yôn and I covered miles, I’d craved that cellphone—with its pictures of Evie—and her taped recording. When I’d been separated from her before, I’d used her voice like a drug. Now I was a junkie needing a fix, but my pack had been stolen early on. Gone forever.

  Matthew had sourced another one for me—up was down—but it was empty. Fitting. ’Cause I was starting over with nothing.

  From behind the wheel, coo-yôn said, “You need her.”

  “Tell me something I doan know.”

  He frowned, taking me literally. “You don’t know the future. I see far. I see an unbroken line that stretches through eternity—and back on itself.”

  “Uh-huh.” Just hold on, peekôn, I’m coming.

  35

  The Empress

  Somewhere in the Ash

  As I followed Cyclops on horseback through the drizzly rain, panic was my constant companion.

  I’d been so freaked out at the castle, I’d barely taken time to stuff gear into a pack before galloping down the drive, with Cyclops leading the way.

  I had no idea how much time or distance had passed since Circe had opened her floodgates for me. Dark rolled into dark as I ascended mountain trails and traversed canyons.

  No signs of life. No Baggers. Just ash.

  To keep myself occupied—and to keep from replaying my grandmother’s words—I’d tried to sense seeds buried in the earth. Surprisingly many. At one point, I must’ve crossed an old farm; the ground had been thick with them.

  When I crested another rise overlooking a valley, Cyclops grew more animated, craning his huge head back at me more often.

  “Are we getting close?” Talking to a freaking wolf again.

  He snuffled, so I took that as a good sign.

  We followed a meandering path that descended gradually, skirting the valley, before opening into a clearing.

  I was almost upon a small cabin before I’d realized what I was seeing; the structure looked as if it’d been built right into the side of the mountain. Beside it was a stable under an overhang of rock.

  Thanatos! The massive warhorse snorted a warning to me, but didn’t really commit to it. I tied my horse beside him, then hurried to the cabin.

  The door wasn’t locked, understandable with Thanatos as sentry. I ducked my head inside, calling, “Aric?” No answer.

  What a weird place. The walls looked like . . . copper. Maps of constellations were pinned to corkboards. Some kind of electronic gadgetry covered a large workstation.

  Aric’s things were in a back room. His armor! Why was he outside unprotected? My pulse raced so fast I thought I’d pass out. He could be in danger right now!

  He could be dead.

  With a cry, I lurched from the cabin. “Take me to him!” I commanded Cyclops. The wolf started off, following a path between boulders. As I tripped after him, the rain grew more intense, drumming down on my head. Lightning flared—

  A chunk of ice the size of a soccer ball landed feet from me, and other smaller ones pattered all around. Postapocalyptic hail? Aric wore no helmet! “Let’s go, wolf!”

  The path veered around an outcropping of rock; I rushed along it to another clearing, then stutter-stepped. A raised plateau stretched before me. Atop it was a gigantic dish, dozens of feet tall.

  Was it a telescope? Or some kind of antenna? The Flash had scorched the expanse of metal black in places.

  I raised my hand to shield my eyes against the rain. Spotted Aric. He was climbing in the base of the structure, amid the framework. That explained his lack of armor. He wasn’t even wearing a shirt as he effortlessly moved from beam to beam.

  Why was he here? Uncaring of the hail and lightning, I found a path leading up. As soon as I reached the plateau, he caught sight of me.

  He leapt down from what must have been twenty feet, then stalked toward me. His muscles flexed with tension, and the tattooed runes on his torso seemed to come alive.

  He’d told me those slashing marks were our story, to remind him never to trust me. I’d told him history didn’t have to repeat itself.

  “What in the hell are you doing here?” He seemed to grow larger with every step closer, his body thrumming with aggression. In the night, his eyes glittered with fury.

  I refused to back down, meeting him halfway. “I came to find you!”

  “Some emergency couldn’t keep?”

  No. Maybe. Yes! “What is this place?”

  “It was a sanctuary. Since mine has been spoiled.” He scowled at the wolf, and Cyclops trotted off, tail between his legs.

  “Spoiled?” I cried. Was he so fed up with me that he wanted me to move out?

  Ignoring me, he turned away, heading back under the dish.

  I struggled to keep up with his long-legged strides as he went deeper into the framework. “Do you want me to leave the castle?” I had to yell as the worsening storm pounded the metal above us.

  He twisted around, stabbing his fingers through his soaked hair. “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Then what?” I felt as if I were needling a bear. The storm only ramped up the tension between us.

  “I can’t sit there and listen to that woman poison your mind! And if I say or do anything, I’ll only be proving her mad accusations.”

  “You assume I’m letting her poison me?”

  “If she doesn’t, your chronicles will.”

  “I’ve read them. I’ve remembered so much more about you. And here I am.”

  “Why did you come?” His damp chest grew still. He was holding his breath!

  My gaze darted. How to say this? “You . . . you’re not safe out h
ere with no one to watch your back!”

  His fists clenched, the muscles in his arms bulging. “Get back on your goddamned horse and leave—me—in—peace.”

  What sounded like an explosion boomed above us. I jumped and glanced to one side as more gigantic hail plummeted from the sky. Facing him again, I promised, “I’m not going anywhere without you, Aric.”

  Confusion. “Why?”

  “Because I love you.”

  His hand shot out. His fingers made a loose cage around my throat. “Never say that to me again!”

  I swallowed, knew he could feel the movement against his grip. I whispered, “I love you.”

  With his other hand, he punched the metal, sending vibrations through the structure. “I told you something died in me the day you chose him! Let it lie.”

  I shook my head. “I can bring it back to life.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Why would you?”

  “Centuries ago, you told me that you were born for me, and I for you. You told me you’d convince me of that one day. You have.” Through his caring. And his patience and generosity. His selfless protection.

  “Damn you, Empress!” He was wavering. He moved his hand from my throat to my nape. So steady in battle, his hand now shook.

  My missions had changed once more: destroy Richter, and make Aric happy. Time was running out for both. Which meant I would force my mind from the past. From the other half of my heart. “We don’t have time for this.”

  “For what?”

  “For not being together.”

  He dropped his hand, seeming to steel himself against me. “And still your interest arises only because of our circumstances.”

  I’d told him my feelings; I’d put myself out there. I’d never expected this much hostility. “I came here—despite all the things going on in my head—to offer you my future. And you’re refusing to meet me even a tenth of the way? That’s the reality of our ‘circumstances.’”

  He was seething with something that looked a lot like . . . hate. “If Deveaux were here, you would choose him.”