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."