Jack turned to me. “Evie, I can’t do this anymore! I have to know where we stand.”
Aric said, “In this, I agree.”
Both of them. Facing me. Expectantly.
For the first time they were juxtaposed with no obscuring armor. Jack had broader shoulders and thicker muscles, while Aric was leaner, tattooed, and a little taller. Both so handsome, I was spellbound just to watch them. Then they started up again.
“You think she’s goan to pick you over me? Imbécile!”
“I have no doubt in my mind.” Where was Aric’s unnerving confidence coming from? If his gift would skew my decision, then was there even a choice?
At that thought, my headache rebounded. “Maybe I won’t pick either of you! Maybe I’ll take Matthew, and we’ll go find my grandmother. By ourselves!” I rubbed my throbbing temples. “For now, can we just focus on Selena and the Lovers? I guarantee you I won’t be deciding anything about my future until I can take a second and think.”
“When we return the Archer to the outpost,” Aric said, “you’ll kindly give us your answer. The suitor you pass over will leave you alone.” He offered Jack his deadly hand. “Come, let’s shake on it.”
“Sheathe your goddamned weapons, Reaper, or I’ll pull my own again.” He asked me, “You agree to this?”
“Yes, I’ll give you my answer then. But you should know: my decision isn’t just between you two. I have other choices. And when you both act like this, my other options look better and better.”
“Noted.” Was Aric patronizing me? “Now I find myself particularly motivated to find the Archer.”
Finally, he was getting his head in the game! I turned to Jack. “Have the dissenters seen Selena? Is she safe?”
“No one in Azey North has seen her. She’s not there.”
“The Lovers lied to us.” Shocking.
“Milovníci’s in camp, with a pair of twins, but I doan know if they’re the real deal or not.” Jack absently rubbed his bandage. How badly he must want to face them, to make them pay.
“They’re not the source twins,” Aric said. “Which makes sense. If I had the Lovers’ power, I would station myself in some unreachable location and let my carnates do all the work for me.”
“How do you know for sure?” I asked.
“I’ve already heard the carnates’ staticky calls.”
“Then why did the twins tell me to go to Dolor?”
“A trap,” Jack answered. “The camp’s surrounded by snipers with dart guns, to take us alive.”
For our torture.
“I got no idea where Selena is.”
“Hmm. Luckily, I do.” Aric leaned a shoulder against the wall. “I can follow her call as long as it continues.”
Matthew had once explained that a call never stopped. When an Arcana got close enough to register it, the player could tune it out. “I thought it repeated on a loop. Wait . . . You mean, as long as she lives? You said they wouldn’t kill her outright.”
“There are other instances in which a call could go silent.” Before I could ask, he said, “I estimate she’s about two to three days north of here. I can find her, but that doesn’t mean we can reach her.”
Jack narrowed his gaze. “Why not?”
“The Lovers could be surrounded by a moat of flaming oil. They could have troops of carnates with machine guns and rocket launchers. Even I would have difficulty against rockets.”
“Then what do you suggest, Reaper?”
Aric’s smile was chilling. “A hostage of our own.”
32
DAY 377 A.F.
“It’s showtime,” Jack said.
Dolor was around the next bend. For hours we’d ridden hard to get here, giving me little chance to speak to either him or Aric. We’d followed a rail line, and had just stopped at the outskirts of an old working mine.
Flash-fried machinery—hoists, mine carts, conveyer belts—made for a ghostly junkyard.
Aric removed his helmet. “Where are your rebels?”
Jack shrugged. “In the camp.”
“I’m confused, mortal. I thought we were aligning with dissenters for an incursion. You told us we were taking this camp.”
“Ouais. We are.”
“Then we need men. We need modern weapons to combat the general’s.”
“We’re goan to ride right in.” Jack pulled his jacket collar up when a wet gust howled. “The general and the fake twins will be trussed up for us.”
Aric raised his brows at Jack’s casual assurance. “That’s your plan?” Thanatos hoofed the ground with impatience.
Yes, Jack was becoming an incredible leader, but he was describing a fantasy outcome. I worried my bottom lip. “Say something goes wrong. Maybe we should have a plan B?”
His tone grew cryptic. “That rose crown you wore would look mighty nice when we arrive.”
Aric scoffed, “You think we can intimidate them with our gifts? They’ll be too busy shooting to pay attention.”
Jack ignored him, addressing me, “He’s got no reason to have faith in my plans, but you do. You know I got a good head on my shoulders.”
I’d told him I wouldn’t underestimate him again. If he said he had a plan, and he was this confident . . .
“Call ahead to your people, then,” Aric said. “Ascertain the situation.”
“Non. No radios.”
—He tests even my eternal patience. But I make an effort to keep the peace for you.— “Let’s pretend you achieve a bloodless rebellion, all it takes is one loyal soldier to signal for reinforcements.”
“You think I haven’t considered that, Reaper? It’s under control.”
Aric gazed at me. —You’re buying this?—
I just stopped myself from nodding. I am.
—I find it hard to believe he won’t be double-crossed for that bounty.—
You have no idea how good he is at reading people and taking their measure.
“You two are talking to each other?” Jack scowled.
“Just debating your ability to read people,” Aric said, “since we’re depending on it, and nothing else.”
“You trust me, Evie?” Jack asked, his eyes saying things I couldn’t fathom.