The Arcana Chronicles 4: Arcana Rising

My body vine budded, as if to comfort me.

She looked delighted by the tiny show of my powers. "We'll bring this game to an end sooner than I thought. My Empress is a bold killer--and a sly manipulator. Victory will be yours."

Don't get sick, don't get sick. "Aric has saved my life repeatedly, risking his own. So has Lark. I'm alive right now because she directed him how to find me."

"I know! It's astonishing how you've got them working for you." Totally missed the point. "Oh, listen to me. There's plenty of time for us to strategize. For now, you need to get back to full strength."

"I am tired." Eventually I would change Gran's mind and make her see things my way, but in the meantime, I planned to sneak down and meet with my allies.

"Rest up. I'll see you first thing in the morning." She patted my hand again. "I couldn't be prouder of you, Evie," she said, but she wasn't looking at my face; she was tracing those icons.

19

"You can never turn your back on my grandmother," I told Aric and Lark as soon as his study door closed behind us. Just getting from one wing of the castle to another had made my legs sing with pain.

Aric sat behind his desk, Lark and I settling into the chairs in front of it. She had a sleeping ferret wrapped around her neck, a living stole. With keen eyes, Lark surveyed the area; had she never been here?

Probably not. This was Death's private space. He was particular about his sanctuaries and boundaries, and I was the only one he'd allowed inside.

What would Lark think of his personal study? Behind his desk was a row of soaring Gothic windows. On one wall, he had a collection of ancient swords displayed. Bookshelves that stretched from floor to ceiling contained his library of priceless editions.

Over centuries, he'd protected those treasured books--because he'd had nothing else to treasure.

This was where I'd first started falling in love with him. We'd sat together on the couch in front of the fire, and as I'd read his favorite books, he'd gazed over at me with satisfaction brimming in his expression.

Now I couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling.

He steepled his fingers. As usual he wore all dark clothing, and his power-over-everything-I-survey vibe was firmly in place. "What do you think the Tarasova is capable of?"

"She expects me to kill both of you. I want to explain to her my feelings about this game--unfiltered--but I'm worried her health will get worse."

"Paul thinks she suffered a stroke," Aric said. "When I found her, she wasn't well. She was on the last of her stores and weakened overall."

"Thank you for rescuing her." I'd bet he regretted that gesture now. "Do you think I could hurt her more when I give her the news?"

Lark said, "It's A.F., Eves. We're all gonna eat it soon enough. But let's say she lives another thirty years; are you gonna listen to her talking about murder the whole time?"

Good point. And what if Gran discovered the way I truly felt, then took matters into her own hands? "I will have to change her mind about everything, but until then, I can't promise what she would and wouldn't do. I won't risk either of you. Stay on your guard."

Aric gave me a tight nod. What was going on in that brilliant mind of his?

During my recovery, he must've gotten me used to his nearness and warmth; my gaze dipped to his chest, and I imagined resting my head there, my ear over his heart. His strong arms would clasp me against him.

I dragged my eyes away, turning to Lark.

"I'll be on guard, surrounding myself with fur." She petted the ferret. The creature woke, yawned, then conked out again. "So now that the Empress is back in the office, you got any grand plans on how to take out Richter and his alliance?"

"The Sun Card was my big plan. He empowered me." Hadn't I heard that both Sol and Zara had survived the crash? They must have; neither Lark or Death wore new icons. "I figured if we all joined forces, we could challenge the Emperor. But then Sol sicced his Bagmen on me." The memory of that made my head start to ache.

"Why did you trust him?" Aric asked.

Lark said, "Didn't you learn your lesson when I dicked you over?"

I narrowed my eyes at them. "I did learn--and I didn't trust him." I told them about Sol's attachment to those two Baggers and how I'd threatened them. I ended with: "He called my bluff."

Aric no longer steepled his fingers. I'd wager that under the desk he was clenching his fists. His tell. Though his face was often emotionless, his hands said a lot. "I will bring you his head, Empress."

"I . . . Sol's not like Fortune," I rushed to say. There must be something good in a guy who'd loved as deeply as he had. But then, Vincent had also considered himself in love with his sister, an absorbed twin. Still, I tried to reason with Aric and Lark. "He's not vicious like Zara is."

Aric raised a brow. "He had contagious zombies dine on your blood."

Lark added, "Hey, what's vicious about that?"

"I told Sol I was immune. And I could argue that he saved my life through that attack." A stretch, but . . . "Zara could easily have taken my head; she didn't because I was contained. In any case, why wouldn't Sol have attacked me? I took him prisoner, threatening the 'lives' of his loved ones. I behaved like a lunatic and gave no sign that I'd be his ally. I told him I was taking him to Death and outlined his imprisonment here." It didn't have to be this way . . . Sol's words to me just before he'd taken me down. "Naturally, he fought back. And he used the tools he had at hand."

Lark rolled her eyes. "She wants to be friends with another one!"

"It's not that! I'm just saying I gave him no reason to choose our alliance over his own. In his mind, I'm probably as bad as Richter."

Looking back, I could tell Sol had been shocked by my description of the Emperor's massacre--and then by the evidence when he'd followed me into the mountains outside Fort Arcana. But he'd already been in deep with the Emperor and Fortune. Maybe the Sun believed it was too late to do anything about his alliance.

Or I could be projecting my instincts and feelings onto him.

"I repeat: he had zombies dine on you." Aric's arm muscles flexed under his thin sweater. Yep. Clenched fists. "Perhaps those bites have affected your thinking?"

Lark snorted. "You can't be this big of a dumbass."

I was confused on a number of things. I was half-crazy. But these two had a lot of nerve giving me flack about this. "Of the last four Arcana who have abducted me, each one gave me a reason for his actions. Arthur wanted to experiment on me. Guthrie tried to turn me into a cannibal. Vincent planned to sever parts of my body and watch them grow back. Death wanted to cut off my head for vengeance, threatening the 'creature' every day that he would do so."

Aric's brow furrowed.

I gazed from him to Lark. "When I asked Sol why he was hurting me, do you know what he said? 'Already in an alliance.'" I rubbed my temples. My head was now pounding. "For no other reason, we should keep him alive because he juiced my abilities like nothing before."

In a measured tone, Aric said, "That is something to consider."

"Yeah. Sure, Eves."

I hadn't changed their minds whatsoever. So I changed the subject. "How did Sol and Zara live through that crash anyway?"

Aric rose, heading to his bar service for a bottle of vodka and a shot glass. "Fortune possesses the divine power of luck." He poured a shot, then decided to bring it and the bottle back to his desk. "When fully empowered, she can overcome insurmountable odds."

He didn't offer me a glass? We'd also shot vodka in this study, talking into the night.

Lark said, "Like she'll always get a lucky bounce?"

He took his seat again. "In that crash, any number of scenarios might have played out. She could've been thrown from the helicopter, landing perfectly on the remains of a tree, cradled between two limbs. Or she could've plummeted into a pond deep enough to break her fall. All I know is that she walked out of that canyon, likely unscathed."

Lark frowned. "I thought she was associated wit

h fate. Her Arcana name's Our Lady of Fate."

"As she desired it to be," he said. "But it's a very liberal translation."

I'd thought these Arcana things were set in stone. Now the goalposts were moving.

He downed that shot, then poured another. "She appears to control fate, but she doesn't have any influence over what happens to her. Her power is passive. She doesn't read the future and consciously affect it--not like the Fool does." Aric's gaze grew distant. "Ages ago, Fortune was known more accurately as Lady Luck. The Fool was known as the Hand of Fate. She despised him for that and envied his power."

I'd once called Matthew the hand of fate. He could see a thousand years into the future, but he'd also been able to guide me through a hail of bullets. "But how would Sol have survived?"

"Fortune's allies often benefit from her luck--unless she takes it from them. She's also a luck thief. That's her active power."

I murmured, "She can steal it through touch." As Death stole life. She'd been about to touch me before she'd been interrupted. "When Matthew said fate had marked me, he meant destiny in general? Not Zara?"

"I would believe so."

Adjusting the creature around her nape, Lark tugged a folded-up piece of paper out of her jeans pocket. "I'll update my new list of Arcana." She stood, then flattened the page on Aric's desk.

I crossed my legs, leaning down to massage one aching calf. "I thought you kept a laminated one on the fridge."

She snagged one of Aric's pens, making some notes. "I don't flaunt the list anymore. Not after a decent Arcana died. I might not have gelled with Selena, but I respected her."

Selena and I had just gotten to be good friends. I recalled the Moon raising her beautiful face to the drizzle as she'd talked about my ceasefire plan for the game: "Jesus, Evie, what if it catches on? What if we could all live in peace? Use these powers for good?"

What if fate had marked me because I'd been trying to foil the game? Had I lost Jack as punishment?

Matthew had once told me: Fate demands her due. In other words, the game demanded blood. . . .

Lark made a last note. "Think I've got it. You two wanna look over?"

Shaking myself from my thoughts, I rose and hopped up on the edge of Aric's desk, daring him to say something. The three of us began to read the list:

The Cursed Twenty-Two

0. The Fool, Gamekeeper of Old (Matthew)

I. The Magician, Master of Illusions (Finneas)

II. The High Priestess, Ruler of the Deep (Circe)

Aric tapped the page beside Circe's name. "Just the Priestess. Also known as the Water Witch."

Lark wrote "Hand of Fate" next to Matthew's, then edited Circe's. "Considering Poseida of the deep, or whatever, has been parked outside the castle for weeks, I think we should discuss this witch. What're her weaknesses, boss?"

I added, "If she remains in the abyss, how could she ever be defeated?"