Dead of Winter (The Arcana Chronicles #3)(85)

Send in Jack first. Selena’s not good. You might freak her out even more.

Suddenly she loosed a scream that echoed off the walls. She was staring in horror at her hand, the uninjured one.

An icon was appearing, one that matched her brand. The Archer had been marked by the Lovers . . .

Twice.





40


Selena’s gaze remained fixed on that icon even when we heard the door give way.

“Evie?” Jack called. “Selena?”

“In here.”

He rushed inside, his gaze sweeping the area, showing no emotion at all the blood, the torture contraptions, Selena’s condition.

Not yet.

“Where’s the sister?”

“Look on his chest,” I said.

Jack frowned at Vincent, then squinted. “Is that . . .”

“Yep. Vincent absorbed his twin.”

“Mère de Dieu.” Collecting himself, he said, “It’s over, then. You two all right?”

“I think so.” Define “all right.”

“Any of that blood yours, Evie?”

I shook my head. “And you?” He had a shallow slice down his neck, and a deeper slash over his arm.

“I’m fine. How you doing, Selena?” A muscle ticked in his jaw as he surveyed the Archer. “Come on, fille, answer me.”

“J.D.?” Selena roused from her daze. “It’s you!”

“You’re goan to be okay. We’re taking you home.”

When Death entered, Selena scrambled back. “I-I can’t do this!”

“He woan hurt you,” Jack assured her, making both Aric and me do a double take. Going to one knee, Jack clasped her uninjured hand. “Trust me in this, cher.” His position looked romantic.

I flushed with guilt that my thoughts had gone there.

“You gotta get me out of here,” Selena pleaded. “I have to get out.”

He reached for her, lifting her against his chest, her long hair spilling over his arm. “We’re goan.”

I told him, “Death and I will do a search for survivors.”

With a nod, Jack carried Selena out of the room, murmuring soothing French words to her.

“And so the day is won, another card trumped.” Aric’s gaze roamed over me. “I’m surprised the Archer took their icon. Your witch didn’t want it?”

I shook my head. “Let’s search this place—then get out.” I wanted to stand in the rain, taking another car wash/shower.

“Of course.”

As Aric and I walked down that spray-painted hall, I said, “I remembered what I did to the Lovers in the past.” To those kids.

I’d wondered if Arcana turned evil because of nature or nurture. I’d debated if evil was innate in us or manufactured by chroniclers. What if we made each other evil? Perhaps we traded torments from one game to the next, spreading a contagion.

Like the plague.

I wrapped my arms around myself. “I never want to be like that again. It’s selfish, but I didn’t want that icon. Aric, I’m done killing. I am done.”

He shouldn’t look so troubled by that statement. “The game begins in earnest. You have to be prepared, sievā. There might come a time when your ruthlessness would be rewarded.”

I gazed up at him. “You weren’t ruthless tonight. You could’ve let Jack die twice.”

He stopped in the middle of the hall. “I wanted to prove to you that I can be selfless.” He slid off his gauntlet to press his bare hand against my face. “I can be what you need.”

Those red lights illuminated his spellbinding face. When we were alone together, I felt like I was supposed to be with him. He would understand me better than Jack ever could. Aric knew my real history, what I’d really been like. And still, he wanted me.

But was I already too far gone for Jack?

“Release the mortal, Empress,” seductive Death said. “Deveaux will help the Archer heal. She’ll continue to be his perfect partner. Let them have each other with your blessing.”

Jack had murmured to Selena in French. I’d thought that had been our thing. And, God, could I be any more petty?

“Your eyes are green,” Aric observed. “Jealousy rules you.”

I glanced away. “I can’t control it.”

“If you could, I’d demand to know how. I’ve experienced jealousy all my life. Of men whose skin doesn’t kill. Of men who can cherish a wife and start a family with her. I have never known it like I do when I think of you and Deveaux together.”

“If it’s any consolation, I pictured you kissing someone else and felt just as jealous.”

Though my words seemed to please him, he said, “But there will be no one else.”

“By some quirk of fate it’s me you can touch. It could just as easily have been Selena or even Tess.”

“You think that’s all I see in you? I told you I was raised to be a warrior scholar; my match must be one as well. Quintessence might read alongside me, but she’s no warrior. Selena is all warrior, but no scholar.” His thumb stroked my cheekbone. “I didn’t want to fall in love with you, equating it to my own doom. I resisted with everything in me but was no match for your fierce courage and keen mind.”