Arcana Rising (The Arcana Chronicles #4)(8)

Other Baggers mobilized to locate the threat, shoving through the mass of men.

From my cobra’s hood, I straightened the end of a huge vine, another spear. It shot outward, jabbing a Bagger through the eye.

More creatures turned toward me, wailing as they attacked. I speared another one and another. Soon I was using two spears. Three spears. Ten. Like a hydra.

I’d never felt more monstrous. Glowing. Vicious. Claws overflowing with poison.

Shirts yelled and dove out of the way, more afraid of me than anything else in this place. Bandana stared at me with revulsion and fear.

I smirked. But I thought we were gonna date?

One green spear pierced a Bagman, then caught the two behind him. Dead zombies piled up. The stench almost made me retch.

The red witch craved her carnage, demanding total control. But my mission was too important to give her free rein.

Struggling to focus on what mattered, I sent barbed rose stalks creeping toward the stage. Sol didn’t notice as green slithered up his chair and his companions’.

Stalks suddenly coiled around their necks. I used them to lift the two Baggers high into the air.

Sol yelled, “Nooo! Stop!” He clenched the stalk around his throat and pulled, so I tightened all three barbed collars.

The Bagmen on the field ceased their attack. The melee slowed, until everyone was staring at my handiwork.

With a flick of my hand, those terraced plants swelled. The Skins in the bleachers reacted too late; from behind them, a surge of green overran them, my own terrifying wave. The vines snared them, a vast living net. The more the men struggled, the more trapped they became.

A spotlight seemed to shine from Sol’s eyes as he swept his gaze over the crowd to identify his attacker.

I stepped into that light and moaned. God, it felt amazing.

“Who are you?” he demanded, bleeding fingers curled around his collar. “What are you?”

My gore-covered vines cleared bodies out of my way as I strode toward the stage, closer to that delicious sunlight.

Even with all these plants, I’d only been able to regrow half of my arm. Now I raised the stump to his spotlight. My flesh regenerated before our eyes. Even my icons returned.

Gasps and whimpers sounded from all around me.

I flexed my new fingers and claws. Rolled my wrist. With my restored hand, I pointed at Sol. “You’re coming with me.”





5





“I’m the Empress, and you’re my prisoner.”

When I continued forward, a different beam shone from Sol’s eyes. This one did nothing for me, nor to me. But the men closest to me screamed. A few balled up and rocked in the bloody grass. One sank to his knees, battering his fists against his head.

Sunstruck? Had Sol just maddened them? Power number three.

I tightened the Baggers’ collars; the pair wailed in the air. “Try anything else on me, and those two will lose their heads.”

“Wait!” Sol raised his palms, dimming his gaze. Accent thick, he said, “I’ve stopped. Just don’t hurt them, por favor!”

“They’ll be safe as long as you do what I say.”

His eyes were panicked. “Anything!”

I beckoned him with a crooked finger. Still collared in rose stalk, he descended the stage to the field, his Birkenstocks squelching in the blood and Bagger slime.

When he stood before me, heat radiated from him. He was even taller and more built than I’d thought, so I used another stalk to bind his wrists and tightened the one around his neck. Blood ran down his neck and bronzed chest.

Taking a page from the Lovers’ playbook, I told him, “Your collar—and the ones on your two pet zombies—are pressure-loaded. If I die, or go crazy, or lose control in any way, the three collars will snap closed, beheading you.”

Brows drawn, Sol asked, “What do you want from me?”

“A truck, with all the gas it can carry. You and your two Baggers will be coming along as my hostages. If we get to my destination safely, I might not kill you.”

“Where are you taking us?”

Unfortunately, I had to reveal where I wanted to go; couldn’t reach it otherwise. “To a place called Fort Arcana. I want you to ask your men if anyone has ever heard of it.”

“I have heard of it.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Continue.”

“From captured Azey soldiers. That’s the Army of the Southeast—”

“I know who the Azey are.” Jack had been marching them down to Louisiana to establish a settlement around Haven. A refuge.

“These soldiers camped across the river from this fort.” He was telling the truth! “We plan to raid it in the future.”

Good luck with that. “Where are those men now?”

“Didn’t survive.”

Shit. “How far is the fort?”

“Two days.”

Days! So many minutes! “Do you have a map?”

He shook his head. “But I know the way.”

I should probably get him to draw a map anyway, but we didn’t have time. Besides, navigating was not my strong suit. “Why should I believe you?”

He shrugged, wincing as thorns dug into his shoulders. “If I don’t get you there in two days—barring unforeseen roadblocks—you can kill me.”