Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109540 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109540 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
So we talked. And as my arm injury continued its journey to healing, so did Aric and I.
2
The Hunter
I slammed on the brakes of Kentarch’s truck. “I’m goan back.”
Even Gabe’s endless patience sounded strained as he said, “Once again, no, you are not.”
He’d been manning the spotlight, illuminating a snowy road filled with corpses. As we’d descended from Death’s mountain, snow had come down in heaps, slowing us to ten miles an hour. At this rate, reaching DC would take weeks.
We’d tangled with a few pileups, using this huge Beast of a truck to winch cars out of the way. And all the while, I hesitated to put more distance between me and Evie. “How could I leave her?”
“Because you love her—and you trust Domīnija.” Gabe turned to face me in the seat. Though he’d pinned his black wings against his back, they were still massive in the cab, had grown along with his muscles. “You know what has to be done, and now we must make sacrifices.”
“Was I right to trust Death?” My instincts told me to, but this game kept throwing me.
“Yes. Aric Domīnija is not the villain I once thought him. In our dealings, he has been fair and forthright.” Like Gabriel himself. “Well, at least he was before the Hanged Man influenced him.” Again, like Gabriel. The Archangel tilted his head at me, hawklike. “You somehow managed to keep driving after you found that flower under the visor.”
I gripped the steering wheel. “Honeysuckle.” Evie had left a branch of it for me, wrapped with the red ribbon—the ribbon that signified she’d chosen me. Yet I’d tucked my porte-bonheur in my pocket and driven forward once more. “I kept goan because we’re on a mission.”
“And that has not changed, friend. If we can find Patrick and Kentarch, I do believe the game will put us in the Emperor’s path.”
Which would actually be a good thing. Tonight, when Evie had gone inside to warm herself, Domīnija and I had talked. He’d come up with a plan to defeat Richter, one inspired by my borrowing his armor—one Evie could never know about until after the fact.
As Death had given me the high points, I’d thought, This is crazy enough to work.
Richter could be killed, without us ever raising a weapon against him. But Domīnija’s plan depended on at least a single one-way trip. Maybe two.
Still, we could save the entire earth. So why was I gazing in the rearview mirror for Evie? Elle me hante.
If, for some reason, we didn’t cross paths with Richter out on the road, we would head to Louisiana to set up a bolt-hole with all the supplies we’d gotten from the castle—everything from military communications equipment to sunlamps to explosives.
Maybe I’d finally start a settlement called Acadiana. But I would never be home again without Evie. Only restlessness and misery existed for me away from her. I glanced down at the satellite phone on the console, willing myself not to pick it up.
Some comms and the Beast’s high-tech GPS still worked for now, but we figured the satellites would start falling out of the sky in time.
What if Evie wasn’t a phone call away? Another glance in the rearview.
Gabe patted my shoulder. “I feel as if we’re running out of time to find Patrick and your friend Kentarch. They need us—and we certainly need them.” I’d told Gabe about the plan; he knew everything hinged on the Chariot.
With that in mind, I exhaled a gust of breath and continued on.
A few miles down the road, I saw Gabe absently trace the World’s icon on his hand, earned by default. We hadn’t had time to talk about the deaths of Tess, Selena, and Finn yet. Gabe had been friends with Finn and Tess—and in love with the Archer.
“Tess was a nice girl,” I said. “I’m sorry we lost her.”
He glanced up and swallowed. “Though unprepared to push her powers, she took the risk anyway.”
“Selfless, then? Like Selena.”
In the light of the truck’s electronics, I saw raw grief flare in his eyes. “Like Selena.”
“The Archer gave her life to save mine.” And then Matthew had rescued me—a civvy—from those slavers. Why, coo-yôn?
“Because of Selena, you and the Empress were able to defeat the Hanged Man.”
“Not before he got Finn.”
“Not before,” Gabe murmured sadly.
I wanted to say more about our friends, but none of the old platitudes applied.
They had a good life. The three had been teenagers.
Time will heal all wounds. During an apocalypse?
They’re in a better place. That one must be true.
After a laden beat, Gabe changed the subject. “Tell me how Patrick fared in Jubilee and out on the road.”
“Always thinking about freeing you. Joules works best when you’re around.”
“I still cannot believe I would ever try to harm my best friend.”
“You two are solid. He understood this game makes shitty things happen.”