"Call it what you want," Lark told me. "If Joules and Gabe are on the verge of biting it out there, you know this means certain death for a lone mortal."
Good. He was a murderer.
Paul cleared his throat. With his brows drawn, he said, "I'm to head out into the Ash, then? Where will I go?"
I was more convinced than ever that his whole demeanor was an act. "Not our concern. Leave. Now."
His voice broke as he told Aric, "Sir, I . . . I'm scared."
Damn it, that admission tugged even at my sympathy. What if I was wrong about him?
I'd been wrong before--epically. I'd tried to run away from the game: wrong. I hadn't listened to wise cards like Aric and Circe when I'd gone to rescue Selena from the Lovers: wrong. Richter had burned her anyway, laying waste to Jack's army in the process.
Though I hated and mistrusted Paul, the responsibility for killing a mortal weighed on me.
I needed Aric to take my hand and offer support. Instead, I could feel his disappointment in me. After last night, I'd thought we'd be united in this.
Finally, he spoke: "This isn't right."
"Seriously, Aric?" He rarely reversed himself. "What happened to trusting me? What happened to following where I lead?"
"Then choose the correct path! Will you show no mercy, Empress?"
"Empress?" I couldn't remember the last time he'd addressed me like that. "What is wrong with you?"
Paul called, "Please don't fight over me. I'm sure I'll be fine. Thank you, sir, for over a year of protection. It's more than most received." He turned to go, heading down the drive.
He took one step farther away. Another. With a last look, he strode out of sight.
Finally! Good riddance.
But Aric said, "No, no, this is all wrong."
"Let him go." With Paul out of our lives, I'd be able to lower my guard; I would take the leap. "Please, Aric!"
Finn said, "I know I'm the new kid on the block, and my vote doesn't really count"--Lark's gaze whipped to the Magician's sweating face--"and I know I'm about to be in the doghouse with the missus 'cause she's a fan of Paul's. But I got real bad vibes about him."
Someone else felt the same way! I'm not crazy.
Lark's lips parted. "How can you say that? He's my friend."
Finn ran his coat sleeve over his face. "Babe, when he examined me and offered to do the surgery, I turned him down flat. Maybe it's the Magician in me, but I sense something's not right with that dude. Figure he's as trustworthy as gas station sushi."
"God, thank you, Finn." I crossed to him and took his hand. "You don't know how much better this makes me feel."
With his eyes on Lark, he said, "Just calling it like I see it." Had he tottered on his feet? "And hoping my girl can . . . my girl can . . ."--he cleared his throat--"understand." Sweat was dripping down his face now. "Whoa. Something's off." He coughed, then again.
I turned to Aric. His gaze remained on the road, even though Paul was no longer visible. "Aric! We need to get him inside."
A gurgling sound came from Finn's throat. His face was turning purple! Wait, this had to be an illusion. He'd told me they were involuntary to a degree, and the stress of this situation must be affecting him. "Is this a trick?"
When Finn collapsed to his knees, Lark shoved me away. "He's choking!"
Aric sped into action, pulling him up to deliver the Heimlich maneuver. Nothing happened. He tried again.
Frantic, Lark sprinted to the gate. "Paul, we need help!" No answer. "I don't see him on the road!" He couldn't already be down that long mountain drive.
Aric said, "Fauna, send your animals to find him."
She gave a jerky nod, and her eyes turned red as she ran back to us.
When a line of white foam dribbled from Finn's mouth, Aric laid him on the snowy ground. "The Magician isn't choking. This is a toxin of some kind. Maybe venom or a poison."
Finn clutched his throat. Had he eaten something bad? Or . . . "Oh, God, Paul did this." Gran had accused the medic of poisoning her.
Lark dropped down beside Finn. "Enough about Paul! If he was here, he could fix this!"
The Magician's eyes were wide with fear.
"Don't leave me, Finn! I love you."
He released his throat to grasp Lark's hands. He believes he's about to die, is trying to comfort her.
Lark must've concluded the same. A high-pitched whine left her lips. Chaos erupted. The animals spread over the property went berserk, yips and howls filling the air.
Finn's illusions flashed all around the courtyard. Waves . . . a sunset . . . a middle-aged woman with a stern expression . . . how Lark had looked the first time we'd all met her.
Those animal screams rang out louder and louder. I was about to howl right beside them.
"Shut them up so I can think!" I concentrated, trying to sense if some plant-based toxin was inside him. Sensing . . . Not a plant. I couldn't produce an antidote. But some toxin was killing him. Think! Our only hope was for him to vomit whatever he'd ingested. He needed an emetic!
I yanked off my gloves, then flared my thorn claws. In my chronicles, I'd learned that I could deliver more than poison through them.
"You're going to claw him?" Lark bared her fangs, hovering protectively over Finn. "Oh, hell no!"
"I'm going to give him something to make him throw up. Let me try to save him."
She finally relented. "If he doesn't pull through . . ."
I sank my claws into his neck, injecting him. Please let this work. Withdrawing them, I waited, gaze flitting over his face for any sign.
Yet Finn's wide eyes grew sightless.
Lark cried, "I don't hear his heartbeat!"
I turned to Aric. "You know CPR!"
He knelt beside Finn, beginning chest compressions with his gloved hands. One compression after another after another.
Teardrops spilled down Lark's cheeks. "Finn can't be gone. He can't be. I-I just got him back."
Aric was sweating by the time he drew back. "The Magician's passed on. There's nothing I can do."
Finn was . . . dead.
Tears blinded me. Shock numbed my brain. There was something I needed to remember, but all I could do was stare at my friend's terrified face.
Lark wailed, a bloodcurdling sound. "Who did this to my Finn?" Would she still not believe it was Paul?
I didn't know how he'd gotten out of a locked room to poison Finn, but I knew why he'd done it.
The Magician had been on to him.
I barely noticed when Aric stood. "Do you feel that, sieva?" He surveyed the area. "Something is coming."
"Richter?" Was the end here for all of us?
Aric shook his head. "This is more like what the Moon Card might've done--a feeling. An ominous feeling. Some power is amongst us."
My gaze darted. "Where? How do we fight it?" The air shimmered, and a dome of hazy yellow light appeared above.
When it enveloped us, Aric's eyes glittered. "A pall falls over us."
Pall. Paul. Where was the medic?
The ice in the river cracked more loudly than usual, the sound echoing over the mountain like cannon blasts.
Lark rose up from Finn's body, her eyes turning an even darker red, her fangs sharp. "I know what happened here." Her tableau wavered over her. Then the image began to rotate until it had turned upside down. Reversed. Her animal gaze landed on me, her expression promising revenge. "You killed Finn. You poisoned him."
I gawked. "Me? Paul did this!"
"You made the ham. Finn was the only one who ate it, to be polite to you. And you touched him right before he got sick. You clawed him, and he died."
"Are you high?" How could she doubt me after all I'd done to reunite them? "Why would I ever hurt Finn?"
"You murdered him in the past!" I hated that she had a point. She stalked closer, her movements predatory. "My creatures will fang you apart."
"Easy, Lark, think about what you're doing." Unable to manage so much as a vine, I
hurried to Aric's side. "She's losing it!" I glanced up at him.
His Grim Reaper tableau appeared as well, turning, reversing. Just before it locked into an upside-down position, he held my gaze and bit out, "Run to the castle." Seeming to fight some inner battle, he drew his swords. "Run--from me."