by Kresley Cole
Abrupt--STOP.
For a moment I was relieved just to be still, until I realized all I could see was blackness. Cocooned in snow. No air.
Panic surged. Which way was out? Where was up? Head spinning, I dug frantically . . . .
A javelin pierced the cocoon beside me. Frenzied, I changed direction and dug toward that spear.
Joules hauled me out. Sprawled on my back, I sucked in greedy breaths. Air never tasted so good.
Coated in powder, Joules said, "You were digging the wrong way."
Then he'd just saved my life. My sense of direction never failed to fail.
He motioned toward my shoulder. "Sorry about stabbing you."
Blood had stained the snow, but I didn't feel the numbed injury. Cold and adrenaline were great painkillers. Making it to my knees, I surveyed our new surroundings. We must've traveled a mile down that mountain, landing in what looked like a ravine. Was this an old road?
My stomach lurched again. Oh, no, not now.
I wobbled to the side and threw up.
"Do that on your own time. We've got to move."
I vomited till my stomach was empty. Wiped my mouth. Took three tries to get to my feet.
The sound of howls spurred me. The wolves were well beyond Paul's boundary, which meant they'd never stop until they'd caught us.
Crunch, crunch. Wolves gotta eat. Now it would be my bones.
Joules and I staggered along the ravine. "Any ideas, Tower?"
"Yeah. Avoid them." He pointed in front of us. Large eyes glowed in the darkness. Scarface was blocking our exit.
In rapid succession, Joules launched three javelins. When the wolf beat a hasty retreat, Joules yanked me around in the other direction.
"Running out of juice here." He must have burned through a hundred javelins. His skin no longer sparked. "Anytime you want to throw in some vines, Empress."
"I'm tapped out from fighting the others."
"Come on, you've got to be sandbagging. You canna manage one bloody petal?"
"I'm pregnant, okay?"
He gave a mad bark of laughter. "Who's the unlucky father? Death? You're takin' the piss."
"Just shut up and run, you fucking leprechaun! Scarface will be back. And there are hundreds more . . ." I trailed off.
Up ahead, eyes glowed from another animal blockade. Maneater and company were in front of us. Scarface's growl sounded from behind us.
We were trapped.
As Maneater licked her drooling chops, Cyclops limped forward to join her. Again I spied something like confusion in his eye. The wounds I'd given him earlier still poured blood.
"We're surrounded." Joules opened his palm, but nothing appeared. He stared down at his hand in bafflement. "Tapped out? Never happened in me life."
"Where's the fecking Lord o' Lightning?"
"I've never been starving before!" He made a fist. With a yell, he opened his hand again. Nothing.
As the wolves on both sides closed in, Joules and I stared at each other.
I needed the red witch; I needed rage. All I could manage were exhaustion and resignation.
Aric would never forgive himself for this. Never. He would somehow win the game--he always won--and he'd live as penance till we could be together again.
"Any last words, Empress?"
"Look on the bright side, Joules. You're so prickly, they'll choke on you."
His lips curled into a gallows grin. "And you'll poison 'em--"
Headlights beamed into our eyes.
11
A huge truck barreled along the ravine floor. Scarface whirled around, snarling at the new threat.
IMPACT. A deafening yelp sounded as he went somersaulting through the air. Joules and I dropped to the ground, dodging his claws.
The wolf collided with Maneater and Cyclops, a gigantic wrecking ball. They tangled into a heap of limbs.
The truck window rolled down. As my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I spied a man with intense eyes, a beret, and sigh-worthy cheekbones.
Kentarch! His tableau shimmered over him, a helmeted warrior driving a horse-drawn chariot--and it was right-side up. "Get in the back," he commanded in a deep, accented voice.
Joules and I scrambled to the passenger door. I yanked on the handle. Locked.
"The far back," he enunciated.
The Tower and I shared a look, then headed for the truck bed. He was still hauling me over the tailgate when Kentarch floored it, spraying snow. Ahead, the wolves leapt to their paws and darted out of his way.
The lights mounted on the cab roof illuminated a mass of animals swarming behind us. Kentarch raced the truck like a chariot, and the ride was just as smooth--in other words, not at all. We bounced along, the large tires airborne more often than not.
Canvas netting covered crates in the back; Joules and I clung to the net for dear life. Sweat and blood on my face began to freeze.
Joules muttered curses as he wrestled to hold on. "He's the Chariot?"
I nodded. Aric called Kentarch the Centurion because of past games. But our cards did evolve--if we survived this wild ride, I'd never think of Kentarch as anything other than the Chariot.
"You know this bloke? Trust him?"
"I know of him. Never met him before. He allies with Aric."
"And the Reaper wants you dead."
I bit out, "Any suggestions?"
The back window whirred open. "What is happening at the castle?" Kentarch asked, sounding as calm as Aric had when chased by missiles. "I was invited there, yet a war zone greeted me."
I released my handhold and crawled toward the window. "Death and the others have been brainwashed by the Hanged Man. I'll tell you all about it. You mind if we climb inside?"
"Yes." The window closed, leaving a slender gap.
Dick! It wasn't as if I'd killed him in the past. Oh, wait.
Joules yelled, "We've got company!"
I jerked my head around. The wolves had regrouped, were tearing over the landscape. Scarface led the pack, closing in fast. He tensed like he was about to lunge for us. I cried, "Punch it!"
Kentarch gunned the engine; the wolf missed by inches, jaws slamming shut around air. SNAP.
As we sped faster, birds and bats dive-bombed the truck, splattering themselves across the windshield.
What was that up ahead? My foggy mind registered the sight: A bear had just tromped onto the narrow road through the ravine.
This was no normal bear--Lark must've fed it her blood when it was a cub. Which meant the thing had grown to be gargantuan, nearly as tall as Ogen.
She'd already had a bear. What else had she raised that she hadn't told us about?
The beast reared up on its hind legs, stretching its arms wide, claws gouging both ravine walls. No way around it. No way to reverse.
Joules opened his free hand, willing another javelin to appear. "Bloody feck, mother, bloody feck." When he came up empty, he yelled to Kentarch, "Ram it! If we can get past it, the road opens up."
"Are you crazy?" I cried. "It's way bigger than a wolf. It'll crumble this truck." Even if we survived the collision, the other beasts would just descend on us.
"I'd rather die in a crash than from fangs."
Through the crack in the window, I thought I heard Kentarch calmly say, "This will hurt."
I clutched the side of the truck, bracing for impact yet again. Sooner or later, my luck would run out. I was betting on now.
Even the birds must have sensed the impending collision--they eased off their assault, circling above the roadway.
Joules began reciting the Lord's Prayer, then broke off to do a countdown: "Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . FECK!"
But the crash I expected didn't happen. Shivers raced over me. Time seemed to slow. Suddenly we were surrounded by the bear--we were . . . inside the bear.
Its mighty heart thundered right before my eyes. Tha-thud. Tha-thud. Real or unreal? We moved past as if in slow motion.
Just as we sta
rted to clear the massive body, those shivers returned, and the truck solidified--while the tailgate was still in the bear.
It exploded from the pressure. Gore and chunks of fur spewed into the air. Blood splashed the back of the truck.
"Wh-what happened?"
"Boyo up there teleported this entire truck through the bear. And there's a sentence I never thought I'd say."
I'd seen . . . its heart. Kentarch had moved the mass of this vehicle--through the mass of that bear. No wonder Aric had been so excited to have this ally joining him.
"Are we clear of them?" I asked.
"Nothin' can catch us now."
In front of us: a desolate road. Behind us: thwarted wolves. Maneater snapped at Scarface, and a scuffle broke out between them.
Joules bellowed into the night, "Get fecked, Fauna!"
I gazed away, my attention drawn to the top of a mountain in the distance. Aric. He was astride his warhorse Thanatos, illuminated by the yellow haze.
I drew back my whipping hair. He sheathed his swords.
The bastard had already retrieved them. Way to prioritize, Reaper.
For my own survival, I was being separated from my husband, the father of my kid. My only hope was for him to leave that sphere. I somehow managed to yell, "Come and get me, Death!" While inside, I was pleading, Please, Aric, please come and get me . . . .
12
When I could no longer stand the cold, I knocked on the icy rear window, wincing as pain stabbed through my bare knuckles. My teeth were chattering. "C-can we come inside?"
Kentarch glanced at the rearview mirror.
"Chariot, please. I'm freezing, injured, and powerless."
"Why should I trust you?"
"Because if I had any of my abilities, I wouldn't have needed you to save our lives back there."
Joules added, "We'd both accepted that we were wolf chow. Not by choice."
Noting his camo jacket, I said, "Come on, soldier. We're what you'd call neutralized threats."
Kentarch slowed to a stop. "Try to harm me, and I'll put you inside another animal. Or a boulder."
Talk about an awful way to die. "Understood."
Joules and I hopped down from the back. Hastening to the passenger door, I climbed into the front, sliding over the wide bench, Joules right behind me. Kentarch gunned it again.
"Cheers, Chariot." Joules gazed around the roomy cab in awe. "Talk about tricked-out."
Electronics covered the dash--everything from an outdoor thermometer display to a CB box, to a small monitor with GPS coordinates plugged in. Did GPS still work? Aric had said most satellites were untouched.
Storage pouches abounded. The sun visor had sleeves for even more gear: a penlight, a couple of unrecognizable hand tools, and a picture of a gorgeous, smiling woman about Kentarch's age. A rifle was mounted to the ceiling, within his easy reach.
"You got a name for this beast?"
With a shrug, Kentarch turned up the heater. His jacket billowed, revealing a holstered pistol. He also had a pair of blades strapped to a thigh.
I raised my hands to the warmth. "Thanks." My fingertips were discolored, and that snakebite was swollen. I should've already regenerated from two tiny puncture wounds--so, definitely venomous.
Kentarch's gaze took in the icons on my hand before he faced the snowy road again. "You said the Hanged Man brainwashed Death. Who is this new player?"
According to Paul, brainwashed wasn't the right word, but I didn't have a better one right now. Once my teeth stopped chattering, I said, "The Hanged Man, a.k.a. the Traitor, is a medic who lived in the castle. Goes by Paul. We had no idea he was the inactivated card."
Joules said, "I thought that player had to drop another one to get juiced up." His face fell. "Oh, yeah. The Magician."
"Paul killed my grandmother, a Tarasova, priming his powers. Today he took out Finn. The Magician was immune to his influence, so Paul poisoned him, then blamed me."
Joules punched the passenger window. "I'm goin' to fry him."
I folded my arms over my chest. "Get in line."
Kentarch glanced at his side mirror, clocking the area. "What is that yellow haze?"
"Paul calls it his sphere of clarity. It reverses cards, changing their personalities. You can actually see their tableaux turning upside down."
Joules raked his thin fingers through his brown hair. "No wonder Gabe was such an arsehole to me."
Kentarch cursed under his breath. "I finally reached that place to recruit help, and there's none to be found."
Would he jettison us now? The Chariot had one mission, and neither the Empress nor the Tower could assist him. "But there will be help. If we free everyone in the castle, Lark can locate your wife as planned." If Issa still lived. "Fauna's animals found the Magician out in the Ash."
And now I wished they hadn't.
Joules asked Kentarch, "So you're really an ally of Death's?" Demonstrating his lack of a filter, he added, "Know that I plot his downfall most minutes of every day."
I turned to him. "Enough!" Don't give Kentarch another reason to ditch us. "If you want Gabriel back, we're all going to have to work together to defeat the Hanged Man."
"All of us, is it?" Joules gave a harsh laugh. "We're just a trio, and you're up the duff. Up the flue. Up the pole."
"Pardon?"
"You're pregnant! What are you goin' to defeat that card with? Your swollen ankles?"
I glanced at Kentarch to see if he was surprised by this news.
He shrugged. "Death told me about the baby. You're almost three months along?"
"Two and a half or so." Would this pregnancy survive snake venom, an avalanche, a spearing, and a truck ride from hell?
"I canna believe Gabe and me have been out here starving, while you got knocked up with another mouth to feed. Much less the Reaper's bastard."
"First of all, my baby isn't a bastard. Technically, Aric and I are married." At least before he crushed his ring and forsook me. "And secondly, I didn't do this on purpose. Paul gave me a shot, telling me it was a contraceptive. He knew how much I didn't want to have a kid. He knew Aric would. Paul was trying to drive a wedge between us."
"Death wants a tyke?" Joules asked. "Mind blown."
Kentarch said, "The Reaper believes a child between two Arcana can upend the game."
Joules grew uncharacteristically grave. "Can it?" His best friend was an Arcana; Joules wanted to play this screwed-up game as much as I did. Not at all.
I exhaled. "Look, I just work here. But maybe? Circe thinks this kid will ring in a new world. If the entire planet is Tar Ro, our playing field, then the gods might bring it back. All I know for certain is that nothing like this has ever happened. Aric has lived through three games, and he's never heard of it."
Joules grudgingly said, "It wasn't in Cally's chronicles either."
My brows rose with my interest. "You have them?" Want them.
Joules jutted his pointy chin. "I might."
"What's your plan now?" Kentarch asked.
I let the subject of chronicles drop. "I doubt Paul will ever leave the castle, so we've got to get inside to kill him." Easier said than done. Probably best to hold off telling them how invincible he was. "Which means you two will need some kind of protection against his influence."
"Gabe likes to roam," Joules said. "He might fly the coop and leave that sphere. Then my problems are over."
I shook my head. "They don't want to leave." On that mountain, Aric had been poised at the very edge, but he hadn't crossed to pursue us. "I think that's part of Paul's hold over them."
Kentarch narrowed his gaze. "Why couldn't the Hanged Man control you? Were you immune like the Magician?"
In general, some cards were unaffected by specific Arcana powers. I vividly recalled poisoning Ogen to no effect. But according to the Hanged Man, I didn't possess an innate immunity to his abilities. Though I trusted little of what he'd said, I hadn't felt as if I were a foil to him, a secret weakness. And
at first, I had been swayed a touch. "I don't think brainwashing affects me anymore, not after I shucked off the Hierophant's mind control."
Joules said, "Oh, yeah, you ganked him."
Kentarch glanced at my icons again, and I felt my cheeks heating.
Joules pointed at his scrawny chest. "Maybe I'm immune like Finn."
"There's only one way to find out. Are either of you willing to bet your life?"
That got Joules to shut up.
Kentarch checked the mirrors again. "Then how do we fight this new enemy?"
"The Priestess. Circe is a witch, so I'm hoping she can do a spell." I recalled the sight of those towering ice shards. She'd been trying to get to me--but I wasn't sure why. I took a steadying breath, deciding to believe in her. "She's probably unaffected by the Hanged Man since she's still safe in her abyss. I think she was trying to help with my escape."
Kentarch's demeanor turned contemplative. "Strange that she and I were allies throughout the games, but I have no memories of her."
"She was always loyal to you." To me as well. I just hadn't returned that loyalty until this game. "We can try to contact her. She's a friend of mine." Surely she'd know how to defeat Paul, a player I hadn't even been able to scratch.
"Friend?" Joules snorted. "We heard she attacked you outside of Fort Arcana."
"Only a little. She didn't commit to it."
Joules rolled his eyes. "Oh, well, in that case . . ."
"If anyone has any better ideas, I'm open to hearing them."
"How will we summon this witch?" Kentarch asked, making it sound like we were summoning the kraken.
Circe would get a kick out of that. I imagined us chuckling together. Then reality returned. My husband wanted to murder me, and Finn was dead. Laughter was a long way away, not even a glimmer on the horizon. "I usually just make a lot of noise and bat at the water. Doesn't often work."
Kentarch raised his brows. "I'd anticipated something more . . . formal."
"We'll have to find a body of water not trapped in ice. The larger the better. Preferably as close to the Bermuda Triangle as possible."
"I can only teleport to places I've already been, and this is as far south as I've traveled in this country. We could drive to the nearest coast."
"That would put us in the Outer Banks." Right where my grandmother had been locked up. Seemed I'd always been fated to go there--except Jack was supposed to have taken me; that had been our plan. "We'll contact Circe from the Atlantic."