Arcana Rising (The Arcana Chronicles Book 5) (16 page)

My soldiers had had a mind of their own. And I’d seemed to sense through them.

At the Lovers’ lair, I’d set vines free, commanding them to kill Bagmen, even perceiving destruction through them. But I’d never felt them working on autopilot before, with no conscious thought from me. “I wouldn’t even have to look behind me to aim?”

She nodded. “Your vines have an awareness. Even when you sleep, they keep watch. Unfortunately, they’re not foolproof. Some players, like Death, are too quick. He’s slipped past your sentries before. Other players—like the Tower—strike from too far away for your plants to detect them.”

“What else can I do?” I asked, eager to learn.

“You can become a talented healer. You have an innate knowledge of medicinal plants, and I’ll teach you more. You can also manipulate wood. Past Empresses crafted priceless jewelry pieces, giving them as signs of favor. And with a wave of her hand, one Empress constructed bridges and shrines, building an entire civilization, easily garrisoning her army of men.”

Aric had told me I’d commanded an army in the past, one that had clashed against the Emperor’s.

“Another Empress could spy on foes through any plant on earth. She could even meld her body with a tree, transporting herself from one trunk to another.”

“No way!” Could I meld into a tree? Hadn’t I once had the urge to put my fingers in the soil and take root?

“Not that there are any trees left to travel through.” Gran sighed. “I’ll show you more after you’ve rested. You’re still recovering.”

“I’m fine. I can do this.” But
she
looked as if my exercise had weakened her.

“In time. For now, why don’t you tell me about your interactions with Death? He was the
last
person I expected to show up at my door.”

“What made you go with him?”

“I had a feeling that was my path, and I was on borrowed time anyway. Plus he knew things about you. The name of your horse. Your art. Your ballet. He said that you’d spent months trying to reach me, and he planned to give you whatever you desired. Could’ve knocked me over with a feather.”

Despite knowing everything about me, even my malicious past, Aric still loved me. I didn’t want to hurt him anymore. But every time I contemplated my life, all I saw was my past—Jack—and my future—Richter.

“Death is very protective of you,” she said. “He can’t help it. He’s cursed to desire you each game.”

Ouch. “Gran, it’s more than just desire.”

She sighed. “He’s got you believing he loves you, doesn’t he? He’s killed you two out of the last three games. He
beheaded
you.” As I’d pointed out to him last night. “He’s a villain, Evie.”

Time to explain the new program to Gran. “Aric would give his life for mine. I trust him.”

“I admit he did go to great lengths to rescue you. But only because he can touch you. He’s a red-blooded male, and you’re the sole woman he can be with. What wouldn’t he do to preserve your life?”

Again, ouch. “Then why would he return you to me?”

“As a courtship gift, to sway your favor. He’s notoriously calculating, does everything for a reason.”

She was right about the courtship. Aric had admitted as much. He’d intended to use my grandmother to coerce me, but in the end, he hadn’t gone through with it. He’d wanted me to choose him—but only if I loved him more than Jack.

How could I explain that to Gran? She would never believe it anyway.

“We will use this to our advantage,” she said. “He’ll continue to protect you, so you should keep him alive to the very end.” Aric would be happy to know her game strategy was no longer flawed. “Your victory is so close.”

I shuddered at the idea of
winning
. “Can the game be stopped?” Could fate be changed?

“I don’t follow.” She blinked at me, as if I’d just asked, “Hey, can I borrow your credit card and pop over to the mall?”

“I know others have tried to stop it before.”

“Some players united, making a big show of peace. But in the end, all those alliances failed. Arcana are born to kill. They only delayed the inevitable.”

“Why is it inevitable?”

“The gods decreed this game,” she said. “They set these events into motion eons ago. Someone has to win. No matter what, someone
will
win. Say the last two cards allied for a couple of decades: they would both age. Once one died, the other would walk the earth—older, weaker. Disadvantaged in the next game.”

When he’d sought a future with me, clever Aric had already come up with a solution to this problem. He and I would live our lives together, with Lark tagging along. We would somehow predecease her (that part had been vague), and she would endure for centuries, forced to play the next game against Arcana young enough to be her grandkids. Yet she’d volunteered for it!

Being with Aric had seemed so complicated, so loaded with intrigues.

When I’d chosen Jack, I’d also been choosing the future he represented: building Acadiana, far from the game, repurposing my abilities to help others.

Gran said, “Not that the Minor Arcana would allow such a union anyway.”

My eyes widened. “They exist?” In any Tarot deck, there were fifty-six Minor Arcana cards, divided into four suits: cups, pentacles or rings, wands, and swords.

Such as the eerie
ten of swords
card. I couldn’t imagine that one as a person.

Gran’s gray brows drew together. “Of course,” she said, as if she was telling me something I should already know. “They can be as dangerous as Major Arcana. Especially the court cards.”

“Where are they?” Did they converge too? “How do you find them?”

“You
don’t
,” she said. “Best avoid them. Let’s hope the Knight of Swords perished in the Flash. The Queen of Cups too. Truly, a good dozen of them are walking nightmares.”

“Aric said he sees evidence of them everywhere in some games; other games, no sign at all. He also said that some believe Tarasovas are Minors.”

Gran crossed her arms over her chest. “Bull manure. I’m no Minor. They have their own functions—to hide evidence of the Major Arcana, to hasten the game, and then to rebuild the civilization afterward.
My
function is to make sure you win.”

Why hadn’t Matthew told me about them? Or had he? The last time I’d seen him, he’d said there were now five obstacles to beware: Bagmen, slavers, militia, cannibals, and . . . Minors. “The Fool told me the Minors watch us, plotting against us. I thought he was talking about
miners
, with an
e
.” How many times had I misunderstood his decoder-ring talk? Sometimes I could have sworn he’d confused me on purpose. “Why would they plot?”

“They’ll want the earth righted as soon as possible. Minors like to see
dead
Majors—because catastrophes end with the close of the game.”

I’d made promises over my mother’s body to find Gran and see if we could fix all that the apocalypse had broken. Was
dying
the most helpful thing I could do to further that end?

“Once you’ve collected all the icons, the earth should come back,” Gran said. “The sun as well.”

“
Should
come back?”

“There’s never been a disaster like this. I can’t say for certain.” She rubbed her temples, like I did whenever my head was hurting. “When you were a girl, I knew you would be important to the future of humanity, but I didn’t know how. Maybe you’re supposed to reseed the planet.”

Yet I couldn’t do that permanently until the game ended and daylight came back—if I even won. For that to happen, I’d have to lose Aric, Lark, Circe, Finn, Joules, and Gabriel. In other words, I’d be insane.

Now Gran had just confirmed a new threat—to all of them. I’d have to think about the Minors later.
Put ’em on the list.
“When the Empress won before, what did she do until the next game?”

Aric had revealed how he’d spent his solitary centuries: “I wander the earth and see men age before my eyes. I read any book or paper I can get my hands on. I watch the stars in the sky; over my lifetime some dim, some brighten. I sleep for weeks at a time and chase the dragon.”

When he’d made that confession, I’d thanked God I hadn’t been cursed to that.
His horse looks sick, and he has no friends.
Why would he have made friends? Just to watch them die, over and over?

Gran frowned. “What did the Empress
do
? She was immortal.”

“But how did she spend her time? What was her life like?”
My life.

“I don’t know,” she said, clearly stumped. “Chroniclers only document the games. She probably ruled over men as a goddess. And relived her most glorious victories.”

So the Empress had spent centuries gazing at the twenty-one icons on the backs of her hands.
I’ll pass.
The more I thought about the game, the more I saw my battle against Richter as a one-way ticket. I didn’t expect to walk away unscathed from a murderer who leveled mountains and bled lava.

And I’d never stop until he was dead. “Gran, would you rather that I live happily for a few months or be miserable for hundreds of years?”

“We don’t have time for silly questions,” she said, exasperated. “Your immortal life will be a tribute to the gods. You will be the winner. You must be.” She waved at the vines seeming to pulsate all around us. “And why
shouldn’t
you win? You’ve already made brilliant plays. Your alliance is well-picked for the most part. Though Circe can be tricky.” A sudden gust of wind spattered rain against the window. Her eyes darted toward the glass. “The Flash must have weakened her. Her attack on the Emperor would have too. But she regains her strength with every single drop.” Gran met my gaze again. “At least that little Fauna will be easy to remove.”

My claws sharpened at even the imagined threat to Lark. The vines on the ceiling skittered. Enough. “I need you to understand some things. I didn’t turn out like you hoped. Given the choice, I would never fight or play this game. These icons on my hand disgust me—I have them only because I fought for my own life. I’ll help take out the Emperor and his allies, but I could never hurt my friends.”

Her eyes went wild. “Friends?
Friends?
They will betray you at the first opportunity!” Spittle dotted her lips. “The only reason Death might not is because his lust is stronger than his age-old need to kill.” She leaned in aggressively. “Do you think they care about you?”

I squared my shoulders. “Yes, I do.”

“You won’t for long,” she promised me. “Not after you’ve read our chronicles from front to back.”

“What are you talking about? We don’t have written chronicles.”

“You
know
we do.”

Mouth gone dry, I shook my head hard. “You would’ve . . . you would’ve shown them to me.”

“Evie,” she said in a measured tone, “I
did
.”

“Coo-yôn?”

A light neared, getting brighter. A lantern? Shadows wavered over the rock walls. I raised a hand to my forehead, shielding my eyes. Hadn’t seen this much light in weeks.

I squinted. Blinked. Blinked again. The image remained.

Before me was two of . . . Matthew. “Hunter!”

“You a ghost? You goan to take me to hell?”

He frowned. “Do you know the way?”

Sounded like something he’d say! Could this truly be
coo-yôn
? My heart got to pounding—made my leg throb like the devil. “You real?”

In a too-loud voice, he said, “We’re leaving.”

“Shhh! You
are
real.” I choked out words: “Did Evie . . . d-did my girl . . . live?” I held my breath, waiting for his answer. The next few seconds would decide whether I hoped for a future—or accepted the end of a life that already felt too long.

Every moment of my existence seemed to lead up to this strange kid’s next words. All the pain. All the confusion. And then that sweet, sweet time when Evangeline Greene was all mine . . .

“Empress lived. Her smile died.”

“Ah, God, my girl’s alive.” Relief made me even more lightheaded.
“Alive.”
I shuddered, and my eyes grew damp. Couldn’t control my emotions, me. “How? I thought I got her killed like the rest.”

“Tredici saved her.”

“Tre-what?” Was he talking about Domīnija? I’d figured as much.

“Death!”

“Quiet,
coo-yôn
.” I slept apart from the other captives, but somebody would hear him before long. “I gotta get to Evie.” I tried to scramble up on my good leg. Only busted my ass.

Waves of dizziness hit. I had to gnash my teeth to keep from blacking out. “How’d you sneak past the guards?”
Shackled slaves could move around down here at the terminus, but two armed guards kept anyone from getting near the mine elevator.

Coo-yôn
shrugged. “Mad skillz.”

“Who’s with you? They comin’ in guns blazing?” I was going to get free of this hellhole! I’d get back to my girl.

He lowered his lantern. “I’m
rogue
.”

I tried sitting up again, slowly. “What’s that mean? Is Evie close?”
God, let her be.