The Dark Calling

  The idea of even more distance between me and Aric made my chest ache, but my MacGuffin awaited. What would I find? Probably something I'd been meant to discover since the beginning.

  Glancing from the road to the GPS map, Kentarch said, "If our way is clear, we should make it in less than a week."

  "That long?" The man I loved was under the sway of an Arcana killer who betrayed for kicks.

  "Yes, we must be vigilant against threats."

  "Whoa, hold up on our route," Joules said. "We suspected that one of Richter's lairs is between these mountains and the coast. And if Circe is under the influence, she could use the ocean to swamp us."

  I turned to Kentarch. "Not if the Chariot can teleport us out of the way."

  He nodded. "I will need time to recuperate."

  Impatience hammered at me. "Paul's influence will probably keep spreading. And Aric and the others will be sitting ducks against Richter if we're not all united."

  Joules asked, "Won't Richter just get brainwashed too?"

  "He might know what that yellow haze is and avoid it entirely. Plus, he and Zara don't have to get close; they can strike the castle from afar. We need to get moving on this."

  Kentarch shrugged his broad shoulders. "Without food, I tire very easily."

  "You and me both." Joules investigated a camo pouch. "You got any scraps in this truck?"

  "Nothing. I haven't eaten in days. With luck, we will meet other travelers. My hearing is acute, so I will know of anyone's approach in advance."

  "To roll them?" To steal whatever supplies were keeping them alive?

  "That's right, Empress," Joules said. "Some of us haven't been living in that warm and holy castle. Out here, it's dog eat dog. Survival of the fittest."

  "Don't lecture me, choirboy. After Richter's massacre, I was out on the road alone--with one freaking arm--rolling folks." Of course, I'd reasoned that my robbing the innocent hadn't counted, because I'd intended to go back in time and change the future. My thefts would never have occurred. The best-laid plans and all that . . . .

  Kentarch said, "I prefer not to harm others, but I will do anything to reunite with Issa."

  I had to sigh. "You really love her."

  His voice dropped an octave. "Unreservedly."

  Without reservations. Aric had loved me, but he'd clearly had reservations.

  "I feel as if time is running out." Kentarch gripped the steering wheel harder. "The pressure to find her has been immense."

  Sooner or later, would Kentarch ditch us for Paul's alliance?

  As if reading my mind, Joules said, "If you returned to the castle, they could still help you. Brainwashed or not, Lark or Gabriel could pick up your wife's scent."

  I shot Joules a look. Stop putting ideas into his head! I hastily told Kentarch, "If you joined them, Paul wouldn't allow you or anyone else to leave his sphere in order to look for her. He'd probably make you believe that he saw her dead body or that she no longer wanted you."

  Kentarch said, "All my life I've strived for absolute mastery over myself and my fate. Again and again, I've wrenched victory from certain defeat." Woe to the bloody vanquished. "The idea of surrendering my free will to another man, especially a craven murderer, strikes me as a descent into hell."

  "Then we're on the same page," I said. "Understand me: there's no scenario where Paul helps you above himself."

  Joules's stomach growled loudly. "I'm dying here." He elbowed me. "You can make fruit. How about something for the road?"

  "I'd expend as many calories as it would provide. If not more. And I don't have a lot of reserves."

  He eyed me. "How come you're skinny? You're pregnant, and you've had all the food in the world."

  I shrugged. Ah, now the pain in my shoulder returned. "Can't keep it down."

  "So what happens when we kill the Hanged Man? Gabe and I are still screwed. Death will never let us live in his lair. I say we gank Paul and the Reaper, then take over the whole place."

  "Really, Joules?"

  "How're you goin' to get back together with Death after what he did?"

  "Because I've felt how consuming Arcana mind control can be. The Hierophant nearly made me eat part of a man I'd just met. I can't even explain how strong the pull was. Paul's influence turned Aric's card."

  Voicing my worst fear, Joules said, "I canna help but think the Reaper was reverting to form."

  According to Paul, that was exactly what'd happened. The look in Aric's eyes . . . the way he'd crushed his ring . . . Could hatred that strong be manufactured by another?

  If not, then Aric's rage had always been there, simmering. The factory setting. Had he been conscious of it?

  Even if I saved him, what kind of future would we have if a part of him harbored such animosity?

  I inhaled for calm. "Aric is a good man." When free of Paul. "I hope one day you can see that. But no matter what, we're going to need every Arcana we can round up to fight Richter."

  Kentarch said, "She's right about the Emperor. Besides, I will protect the Reaper as long as I'm able. He helped me after the Flash hit."

  "Fine." Joules grumbled. "But I vow to you, Empress--once Richter's gone, all bets are off with Death."

  I'd have to handle this later. Kick the can down the road. Jack used to say that. With each mile, was I getting closer to him or farther away? Of course, he might be dead.

  "What's all this gear?" Joules pointed to the dash.

  "Equipment I've sourced since Issa and I first came to this continent and found this truck."

  Joules reached for a sort of joystick control, fiddling with it. A roof-mounted spotlight beamed over our surroundings. "Get the hell out!" He was like a kid with a toy, shooting that beam all around. "What is this? A thousand lumens?"

  "It's three thousand lumens. And it is critical equipment."

  "I'll use it critically."

  Kentarch seemed obsessive about his chariot, so I was surprised Joules didn't get his mouthy mouth popped.

  "Folks must try to boost this rig all the time."

  Kentarch said, "I have an ignition sequence that must be entered to start the engine." I'd noticed a row of tiny rocker switches under the steering wheel. "Also a hidden lever locks the axles, making it impossible to move. So if either of you thought to overwhelm me and take the truck, you wouldn't get very far."

  I frowned. "Overwhelm you?"

  "It's difficult to imagine someone like you killing." You haven't met the red witch. "But your icons remind me."

  "I acted in self-defense in both cases. This guy"--I pointed out the Hermit's lantern icon--"liked to kidnap girls for sadistic experiments. I found the remains of a previous subject congealing in the chains he'd made her wear. This guy"--I tapped the Hierophant's two-finger icon--"was the leader of a horde of cannibal miners. He kept victims in his belowground 'pantry,' carving on them bit by bit while they were still alive to keep the 'meat' fresh." I met Kentarch's gaze with my chin up. "How you like me now?"

  "It makes me wonder what I did to merit your wrath. Right after the Flash, Death told me to beware of you, that you'd killed me before."

  "I did. But I'm different now." As long as I could keep a leash on the red witch. That no longer seemed much of a concern--she hadn't so much as stirred when I'd been on the wolves' meal plan. "Aric just hadn't realized it yet."

  Kentarch looked unconvinced.

  Joules asked him, "How'd you and the Reaper hook up?"

  "He sent me a sat phone before the Flash. After the apocalypse, I contacted him. He answered many questions about my abilities and invited us to this country."

  Joules spotlighted a bridge. Then a burned-out car. "You teleported over?"

  "Yes. The plains in Africa had little protection from the Flash. I knew our only shot at survival was to find the mysterious Death. But I'd been to the United States just once, for a tech seminar in Washington, DC."

  I said, "And you can only teleport to places you've been."

  "Precisely
. I can ghost anytime--"

  "Ghost?" Each Arcana seemed to have his or her own lingo. The glowing markings on my skin were glyphs. Vines and trees were my soldiers.

  "Make myself and other objects intangible, walking through walls and such."

  Joules said, "Or exploding bears. Too grand, that was."

  Kentarch shrugged modestly. "But teleportation must have an endpoint. Though we had no idea what we would find on a different continent, I gathered as much strength as I could, then we took a leap of faith."

  Joules murmured, "Jumping off into nothing."

  I added, "With no wings." The Tower and I shared a look. Both imagining Gabriel's leap?

  Kentarch nodded. "We materialized to Washington. Barely. Long distances and great weights are equally difficult to teleport or ghost." So what had ghosting this ginormous truck done to him tonight? "Once we arrived, finding enough fuel and water for the trip from DC to the mountains proved nearly impossible. Then I got separated from Issa. She must have been taken from me."

  Joules said, "Seems to me that no one could take a damned thing from you."

  Kentarch merely stared out at the road. Lost in memories?

  I nudged him. "What happened?"

  He blinked. "Keeping her safe from Bagmen and marauders as I sourced strained the limits of my ability. Finally I took her to an empty penthouse. I cleared the building of threats, then teleported debris to block the stairwell--after all, we'd never need the steps. Once I felt she was protected in her refuge above the city, I went farther afield for supplies. Water was our most pressing concern back then. One day, I located a well. I returned to her, intending to celebrate. But she was gone."

  "Who could have gotten to her?" I asked.

  "That's what has tormented me. Who? I've questioned survivors for months but have hit a true dead end."

  "Maybe your old lady dumped you." Prickly, prickly Joules.

  "Never. And even if she had decided to leave me, how could she have? My impenetrable barricade remained in place."

  "It sounds like a magic trick," I said, reminded of Finn. My God, I was going to miss him. Even during the apocalypse, he'd retained his happy-go-lucky attitude. His words drifted through my mind: I've never been more stoked about life than I have been over the last two weeks.

  They'd literally been his last two weeks. At Fort Arcana, he'd told me he was convinced he would die young, that he'd made peace with it. He'd thought we all should . . . .

  Kentarch tapped the GPS map to zoom in on our current location; then he turned onto a new road. "There was a military force that mobilized not far outside the city. Maybe a helicopter landed on the roof and forced her away at gunpoint." More to himself, he said, "Though I blocked the roof access as well. Perhaps they rappelled." Shaking his head hard, he said, "Not knowing has all but maddened me."

  "If anyone can find her, it'll be Lark," I said, hastily adding, "once Paul is defeated and she's fully recovered. So our first step is Circe."

  As the game wanted, we were following a MacGuffin, which meant we would surely cross paths with other Arcana.

  But would we find Circe--before Richter found us?

  13

  "Stop the truck!" I cried. We were a few hours into our drive, and Joules had just spotlighted a legless Bagger eeling its way across the road up ahead. "I need to get close to it."

  Kentarch barely let off the gas. "Pardon? I always run them over."

  I quickly told him about the Sol and Empress shit show, relaying how the Sun had betrayed me but ultimately redeemed himself. And how we'd communicated through his Baggers.

  The Chariot looked disbelieving. About which part? "If he can command Bagmen, why allow them to harm humans?"

  "He can't command all of them at one time. No more than Circe can affect all bodies of water or Lark all creatures. We wouldn't blame Fauna for every animal attack."

  "But the Sun Card did control the Baggers who fed on your blood. How were you able to forgive him for that?"

  "I've also had to do things I hope can be forgiven by others, and I believe in karma." Kentarch still hadn't made up his mind about me, and that was okay--as long as he pulled over. "Look, Sol's got eyes everywhere. We can ask him to search for Issa."

  The Chariot slammed on the brakes, maneuvering the truck onto the shoulder. He jammed the gearshift into park. Off went the engine. With a knife at the ready, he exited the cab.

  The night was freezing, snow blowing inside.

  Joules opened his door and stepped down as well. Lightning flared above him in the low cloud deck.

  With all that electricity about us, I'd thought the Tower would get stronger. Even he'd admitted, "Those bolts are calling my name. I'd be unstoppable if I could eat." Still, he'd already recovered enough to produce a javelin for this foray.

  I slid across the seat toward the door, feeling less pain in my shoulder. My offensive abilities might be stifled, but my regeneration eked on. My fingertips had regained their normal color, and the bite in my hand had oozed out venom.

  I hopped down from the height of the cab. The truck was a behemoth, so big Joules had dubbed it the Beast. Would Kentarch have enough fuel to get us to the Atlantic?

  As we'd covered miles through the eternal darkness, I'd swept my gaze along the road for slaver spike strips, telling Joules and Kentarch: "The threat is real." We'd chugged along through towns with the same striped pattern of destruction that Jack and I had seen when we'd left Louisiana.

  On one street, the buildings had been incinerated by the Flash. On the next one over, they would be intact. All stripped by now, of course; zero resources left behind.

  Nearing the Bagger, I studied its appearance. It'd been a grown man--all that remained of its clothing was a ragged necktie. It moaned, grappling to reach me, milky eyes gone wide.

  Other than this zombie, we hadn't spotted any animals or a single other soul. This area seemed to be a death zone. Lowercase d.

  So why did I experience that all-too-familiar sense of being watched? I rubbed my nape. Was it another Bagger? Or had Lark's creatures caught up with us? I told the guys, "Keep an eye out for animal sentries."

  Kentarch nodded. I'd learned the Chariot was a man of few words. Joules had filled the silence with nonstop chatter. "I'm Irish," he'd said early on, "so it's in me genes to dole out nicknames. Can I call you Kenny?"

  Kentarch had demonstrated endless patience with him. "No, you may not."

  "Sounds better than Tarch. Still, Tarch it is!"

  I'd asked, "What's my nickname?"

  "I only give nicknames to folks I like. But if I did, I'd call you tart. Tarch and the tart!" Ugh!

  Once we reached the Bagger, the putrid stench nearly overwhelmed me.

  Joules rocked from his heels to his toes, looking uneasy. "You think the Sun Card'll hear you?"

  "He probably won't be monitoring one lone Bagger, but maybe I can get his attention. I've got to try." I asked Kentarch, "Can you hold it still?"

  He placed his boot on the creature's head, forcing it to face me.

  I knelt just out of its reach, my breaths shallowing. "Sol, can you hear me? Sol?" Zero recognition sparked in those disintegrating eyes. "Come on, Sol!" Choking back my fear, I leaned in and yelled, "SOL! WE NEED HELP!" No answer but for the mindless moans of the creature.

  "Call it, Empress." Joules pulled his coat tighter. "This undead doesn't feel like gabbing, and the truck is warm."

  I stood. "Fine."

  In a pissy tone, Joules said, "Are you just goin' to leave it? Are Baggers off limits now?"

  "They're still a danger to our species. Even Sol couldn't begrudge us taking out random zombies. Will one of you do the honors?"

  At once, Kentarch let his knife fall, skewering the Bagman's brain. Its body went limp.

  Collecting the blade, Kentarch wiped it along the sole of his combat boot, then sheathed it at his thigh. "We might as well stop here for the night." Night was relative these days, but his eyes were bloodshot with fati
gue.

  Once we climbed back in the truck, Joules wadded up his threadbare scarf, making a pillow against the window. "Is somebody gonna take watch? We're deep in cannibal country."

  I should have been exhausted, but my nerves were wired. "I've got first shift."

  "Hey, Chariot, watch out for this one"--Joules pointed at me--"she's a temptress."

  I rolled my eyes at him. When we'd stopped the truck earlier to winch a car out of the road, I'd taken Joules aside to get his impression of our new companion, wondering if we could trust him. Kentarch certainly didn't trust us. He'd concealed his movements when he'd entered the ignition sequence. Insurance so we didn't kill him in his sleep?

  Joules had smirked at me. "You got me alone 'cause you want to seduce me, eh? One among your string of doomed men? Tough luck, Empress--I'm faithful to Cally's memory." Sometimes I more than slightly wanted to strangle the Tower.

  He swiftly nodded off, his soft snores competing with the sounds of his empty stomach.

  Kentarch drummed his fingers on the wheel, clearly wanting to voice a question.

  "Just say it, Chariot."

  "Do you believe the game can be stopped?"

  "I used to work toward that very goal." Until my grandmother had gotten hold of me. She'd been right about so many other things.

  She'd advised me to stash seeds all over the castle for protection, but I'd felt safe there. The plants I'd grown inside had been more for decoration, and I'd let them wither. She'd told me Death and all my friends would turn on me.

  Bingo. Guilt weighed heavily on me. Toward the end, I'd dreaded being around her. Part of me had . . . hated her. Recalling the excuses I'd made not to see her cut me deep.

  Yet all she'd wanted to do was warn me--protect me. Her only living relative. She'd wanted me to be deadly because I was immersed in a deadly game. How shocked she must've been when she realized I was in love with my age-old enemy.

  I'd told Aric we'd rewrite history. Wasn't that the same as defying fate? If fates couldn't be changed . . .

  No, I refused to believe that. If I ever accepted that, then I would lie down and never get back up.

  Kentarch quietly said, "You no longer think we can end it."

  "Maybe it's possible. But probably not before the world is beyond salvage. The gods like their games, and we're all pawns." Why me? Why had I gotten tapped for this bullshit?

  "Then we need to figure out how to fight the gods instead of each other--to take control of the deck." He leaned against the driver's side door. "What a splendid battle that would be." In time, he drifted off as well.