Arcana Rising (The Arcana Chronicles #4)(69)

“Jack used to say that.” I tensed, couldn’t believe I’d uttered that aloud. Where’s your head at, Evie? “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Aric said firmly. “You should talk about him. He was a big part of your life.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

Aric pulled me back to face him. “Do you try not to think about him?”

After a hesitation, I nodded.

“Jack saved your life and protected you when you were vulnerable. You and I would never have this time if not for him.”

“I . . . let’s not talk about that.” I reached for Aric, seeking that oblivion. “Kiss me. . . .”

Now I assured him, “I’ll get more sleep tonight.” Maybe I’d been too mentally damaged by everything. Maybe I should have taken more time to grieve Jack.

No, no, I couldn’t have. I wanted—needed—to make Aric happy. And we were on borrowed time. . . .

I had believed dying in a fight against Richter would be easier than simply accepting what he’d done. Now I knew what would be harder than both.

Losing Aric.

I couldn’t stifle a shudder.

“Sievā, is there anything more distracting you?”

I shrugged. “Just thinking about Richter a lot.”

“We should train more in the coming weeks. We’ll add an hour each day.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, drawing me against him. “You have to be ready to fight. If anything happened to you . . .” He swallowed thickly. “I think I would lose my mind.”

Bingo, Aric.

That’s exactly what happens.





43


Day 499 A.F.





“No male ever had roommates like this trio of females,” Aric said drily.

He and I lay in bed, gazing at each other by firelight, trying not to notice how the entire mountaintop trembled.

Circe’s moat sloshed with whirlpools and eddies, like barely contained violence. In fact, the river often swelled up into rapids, the castle all but waterfront property. Last week, she’d sent a geyser a mile in the air.

All that pent-up energy, just waiting to be unleashed.

I lowered my voice to say, “I caught you eyeing the river earlier with an uneasy look. She could swamp us as an afterthought.”

Even worse? I’d seen the Priestess’s girl water-form moving in the fog—walking among us, like a ghost. When she’d gone still, she’d turned fully transparent. I’d looked right through her.

The other night Aric and I had found wet footsteps leading out of the indoor pool, but no steps leading in. Circe had hydro-ported from one body of water to another, then had been loose inside the castle.

He exhaled. “Swamp us? Or possibly erode the mountain right out from under us?”

“Whoa.” I hadn’t thought of that. “I believe she genuinely cares about you. Looking back, I can see she was doing anything she could to help get us together. But will the heat of battle make her strike?”

“She has garnered a lot of control over the games.”

“Like you.”

He inclined his head. “Yes. In any case, she’s never betrayed me.”

“But I have betrayed her.” I’d finally gotten him to explain what had happened between me and Circe in the last game.

After convincing her that I was different—from the previous times I’d backstabbed her—we’d become friends. But when I’d murdered my ally Fauna, Circe had grown suspicious. Before she could slip away to safety, I’d abducted her, chaining her in my cellar, delaying the kill so Death wouldn’t hear of it or see a new icon.

Aric had found her down there—directly after I’d tried to poison him. He’d saved her life, earning her loyalty.

I bit my lip. “Maybe she’ll only target me.” Had my countdown feeling been about Circe? Maybe I shouldn’t be waiting for the other shoe to drop; I should be waiting for the wave to crest.

“Sievā, targeting you is targeting me.”

Some beast roared in the night. The animal calls and cries were a constant reminder of Lark’s growing arsenal.

“The longer the game stretches on, the stronger we each become.”

Except me. “Does Richter?”

“Yes,” Aric said quietly. “And Fortune and the Sun.”

“Sol said he would be able to light up the entire world, controlling millions of Baggers. Could he?”

“Possibly. But if Fortune alone realizes her full powers, then she has already defeated us.”

“What do you mean?”

“Her luck-energy manipulation,” he said. “She could blindly affect a battle—before it even started. Her ability could guarantee that her alliance would win any conflict.”

“The odds would always be fixed in their favor?”

He shook his head. “Not odds. Fixed outcomes. We would have no odds.”

Maybe she was the root of what I’d sensed. Damn it, something was coming! I grabbed Aric’s shoulder. “I want you to wear your armor as much as possible. Please. If you died . . .”

He clasped my face. “I need you to understand something. No matter what happens in the future, no matter what this game brings, these months with you have been worth all my loneliness and pain.” He gave me brief, hard kiss. “I would repeat those millennia, just for this taste of life with you.”