Arcana Rising (The Arcana Chronicles Book 5) (33 page)

Which Evie would I choose to be?

Just as the line of bullets veered toward us, I said, “Aric, take the next right!” Damn it, I would create my own symbols. I would fill in my own new slate.

He wheeled a hard right, and we skidded onto the smaller road. “Are you familiar with this area?”

I didn’t answer. At the next junction, another Bagger pointed left. “Go left.”

We fishtailed left, the line of fire stitching the pavement where we’d just been. The road began to curve through canyons. Bullets struck the rock walls, instead of us; I just prayed they wouldn’t ricochet the wrong way.

“Much better terrain,
sievā
. Is the Fool speaking to you?”

Gabriel said, “Will the calls return?”

I shook my head. “Um, the Bagmen are directing us. I think Sol is using them to help us.”

Aric did a double take.

“Jaysus! The Empress has gone mental. As can happen when you’re
diddlin’ Death
.”

Gabriel laid a hand on my seat, his talons digging in to the leather. “If he is leading us anywhere, it will be into a trap—or off a cliff.”

“Why would he help his enemies?” Finn asked from the back.

Joules blustered: “Sol’s the one in the feckin’ helicopter shootin’ at us! He’s not goin’ to try to kill us
and
try to save us.”

Aric murmured to me, “I can’t disagree with their logic.”

“Sol has to make it look like he’s still allying with Zara.”

Joules turned to Aric. “You’re listenin’ to this?”

Finn added, “Eves, the Sun is not a good dude. He’s evil.”

Yes, at times. But I had been too. Now I was different. “He’s
layered
,” I said, using Sol’s word. “Up ahead, there’s another Bagman pointing left.”

Aric eyed me. “Are you sure? If you believe this is the right course, I will follow it.”

“You will?”

“I trust you with my life.”

I’d made so many mistakes, tragic ones, that I hardly trusted myself. Then I pictured Sol at the edge of the lava gravestone. He’d been conflicted. “I believe Sol is helping.”

Aric turned left at that Bagman.

Joules bit out another curse. “I understand she’s the only tart for you, but no piece is worth dyin’ over!”

Aric’s shoulders tensed. “And yet you keep risking Death because of the one you lost.”

Joules’s skin sparked anew, his hand dropping to his boot.

Did he have a knife stowed in there? “Don’t even think about hurting him, Joules! Or I’ll poison you where you sit.”

To our left was a tunnel. A Bagger pointed to our right. Aric went right.

“Look down there,” Gabriel said. “The canyon leads to a city, one with standing buildings.” That valley had mountain-to-mountain structures. Fires burned in places. Smoke billowed. Lots of things to confuse infrared vision.

Aric raised his brows at me. “Perhaps the Sun
was
aiding us. If we reach that city, we could lose Fortune.” He took my hand on the console.

Joules coughed. “Is that a wedding band I spy with me little eye? Already married, Empress? Jaysus, the Cajun’s just months cold in the grave. Actually, he never was
cold
, now, was he?”

Joules might as well have struck me.

Aric’s voice turned menacing. “If you ever speak about Deveaux again, you will use respectful words—or I swear to the gods, I will spit you on one of your javelins.”

Finn, Gabriel, and Joules looked shocked by Aric’s defense of Jack. Even I was surprised.

Joules muttered, “Talk about singin’ a new tune.”

The street shook again, vibrating the truck. “The Emperor’s getting closer.”

Aric accelerated even more. “We must make that pass before he takes out the road.”

I peered out the window; a fracture was opening up beside us, racing us. But we were pulling ahead. “We’ve got it. We’re beating it.”

Aric suddenly slammed on the brakes. I jerked my gaze forward.

A skin-and-bones horse trotted in front of us. We all gaped to see an animal—

Fissures forked across the road leading to the valley. The horse disappeared into a crevasse not ten feet from us. Our escape had been sabotaged.

Aric whipped the truck into reverse. “Wings down, Archangel.” When Gabriel tried in vain to lower them, Aric punched out his window, leaning out as he steered.

“Where do we go?” I asked.

“Fortune is coming up behind us. There’s only one other way.”

The tunnel.

Aric backed up to the turnoff, then slammed the truck into gear. Though Richter could bring down that mountain on our heads, we raced through the tunnel entrance. Aric killed the lights, speeding into the pitch dark. In the center of the tunnel, he braked. “Listen.”

Swoop swoop swoop.
Zara’s copter. “She’s flying over. She’ll be waiting for us on the other side.”

Aric nodded. “She might have a missile left. Even without one, she could use her guns to set off a rock slide, trapping us until the Emperor arrives.”

“Some of us know how that feels, Death,” Finn said quietly. Because Aric had told Ogen to batter a mountain—while my allies and I had been inside it.

Aric said simply, “Yes.”

To Joules and Gabriel, Finn added, “And you two are not the friends I wanted to spend my final moments with.” He petted the falcon, straightening its little helmet.

“I’ll see you soon, Cally lass,” Joules said, again seeming so young, almost . . . innocent. He even crossed himself, reminding me of Jack. . . .

I turned to Aric. If this was the end, I was grateful for even two months with him.

Making a sound of frustration, he gazed over his shoulder at Finn. “Magician, you need to disguise this truck.”

Finn looked surprised that the Endless Knight was addressing him. Adjusting the bird to see Aric better, he said, “Zara will still be able to detect the heat from the engine.”

“Conceal that too.”

The falcon gave a low cry, as if to say, “Listen.”

“Uh, I only create illusions. Like pictures, you know? I ride the pine for the big stuff.”

As though the words were pulled from him, Aric said, “You’re a magician. You wield magic. Work a cloaking spell to make us
truly
undetectable. Not an illusion.”

Finn perked up. “For real? I can do that?”

“You can, and you must. I don’t know the exact incantation, but it started with the words . . .” Aric recited something that sounded Latin-y.

I had no clue what he’d said, but Finn tensed, as if jolted by Joules’s electricity. “Dude. I’ve dreamed that.”

“It means:
I command and conjure.
Begin the invocation, imagine what you want to happen, and the rest should follow.”

Finn’s illusions distorted reality for others, but not necessarily for the people he worked his magic on. We would still look the same. The truck would. “How will we know if he’s done it?”

Aric met my gaze. “If we make it past Fortune alive.”

Finn repeated Aric’s words, then looked shocked when more mysterious commands followed. His breath blurred as he spoke his Magician’s language. He started to sweat.

“That’s it,” Aric said. “Concentrate.”

Finn’s body quaked; the falcon fluttered.

The little hairs on my nape rose.
Something
was happening. Magic seemed to swirl all around us. Joules and Gabriel shared a look. They’d felt it too.

After another minute or two of speaking, Finn paused. “I feel like I completed a spell, or something. Could be that a white rabbit’s appearing in a black hat somewhere on earth.” With a grimace, he added, “But whatever spell I worked, I’m definitely fueling it.”

Though we had no idea if he’d produced an illusion, much less a total concealment, Aric eased the truck toward the end of the tunnel—and straight into Zara’s spotlight beam.

From here, we could see the copter up close.

“She has one missile left,” Gabriel murmured.

“What’s your plan?” I whispered to Aric.

“To drive under her.”

I hissed, “There’s not enough room!” The moon roof was still open; I didn’t know if I wanted to see how close it would be.

The spotlight was blinding as we emerged from the mountain. If Finn’s power wavered . . . if Zara floated lower . . .

Aric inched toward the helicopter.

Then
under
it.

We all craned our heads up, holding our breath. . . .

Joules muttered, “Jaysus, the skids are too close.”

If the copter descended by a hair, it’d meet the racks on the truck roof.

“Faster, Reaper,” Joules grated. “Get us bloody out of here.”

“
Quiet.
Faster means more heat and sound; I won’t increase either.” Though everything in me clamored to flee, cool Aric continued gliding forward. A few feet more . . . almost there . . .

Clear! A chorus of exhaled breaths.

Finn shook, dripping sweat. “Guys, I-I don’t know how much more I’ve got in me.”

“Just a little longer, Magician,” Aric said.

We’d driven about half a mile away when Zara floated higher—and launched her last missile.

The tunnel imploded, collapsing half the mountain, the impact shaking the truck even at this distance.

Almost to himself, Aric said, “Such a mistake, Fortune.” Then he told Finn, “We’re almost concealed behind another mountain. If you can maintain the spell till then, they’ll assume we’re trapped in that rubble, slowly dying.”

Though Finn looked like he was about to pass out, he gave a pained nod.

As we curved around a bend, Gabriel said, “Look back to the left. That is the road we
were
on, heading toward that bridge.”

I followed his gaze to a mangled suspension bridge. “It’s been out for a while.” It reminded me of the one I’d leapt off to escape Death. Joules, Gabriel, Tess, and I had battled Aric and Ogen. How long ago that seemed.
Talk about a new tune. . . .

Aric slid me a look. “If we hadn’t followed where the Sun led us, we would be dead.” To Finn, he added, “We’re clear.”

Finn’s exhalation must’ve lasted a minute.

I cast him a grin. “You’re one badass Magician.”

“Thanks, blondie.” Clammy and pale, he weakly smiled. “And thanks, Death, for the recipe. That was real. And it was fun. But it wasn’t real fun.”

Joules slapped the back of Aric’s seat. “Oi, you cut that close. You got bloody nerves of steel, Reaper, I’ll give you that.”

Gabriel added, “Well played, Death.”

I nodded. “I never would’ve had the discipline to ease under that helicopter.”

Aric caught my gaze. “I never would have had the faith to trust the Sun.”

All of us had contributed powers tonight—except for me—but my belief in Sol had helped save us.

We’d gone a few miles when I spotted another Bagman. This one stood beside the road with his thumb out like a hitchhiker.

Aric raised his brows at me.

“Sol has a
unique
sense of humor. Can you slow down? I want to say thanks.” And maybe face one of those creatures up close. To face my fear.

Aric slowed, but remained tensed for action.

I sliced my thumb and grew a flower for Sol as a token of gratitude. Battling memories of my attack, I handed it to the Bagger, addressing Sol through the creature: “A yellow rose, fit for a sun god.”

With a horrifying smile, the Bagman took the rose—and gave me a formal bow.

“Sol, you
are
layered. Thank you, Illuminator.”

Aric drove on into the night.

“Guess what this means?” I told the guys. “We’ve got a man on the inside.”

Groaning silence reigned as we continued down the highway. “Now what?” I asked Aric.

“I find a place to dump our unwelcome cargo.”

Gabriel and Joules didn’t look excited about the prospect.

I told them, “We’ve got some supplies in our packs. You can have them.” In a lower tone, I said, “Before we go, I want you to know I’m sorry about Tess and Selena.”

“And we are sorry about Jack,” Gabriel said and even Joules nodded. “I wish Tess had waited for you. But we thought you’d been killed either by Richter or Circe. Tess wanted to bring you back most of all.”

I hadn’t deserved that much of the girl’s respect. To save Jack, I would have sacrificed her.

More groaning silence.

Aric flashed a glance in the rearview mirror at Joules. “Why did the two of you and Temperance target me?”

Joules shrugged like such a tough-guy, but his voice broke as he answered, “Cally said that as long as you live, we’re just walkin’ corpses anyway.”

“True.”

Joules’s face sparked, a bluster session on its way.

“Can we please not fight anymore?” I asked them. “The Priestess said that if Richter wins, there will be hell on earth. Mankind will be doomed.”