Endless Knight (The Arcana Chronicles #2)(22)

He cast her a mulish look. “Not your psychic.”

“Matthew, please,” I murmured, “can you tell us anything?”

He gazed down at his hand. Yet now he seemed to be looking for something there.

Or maybe my paranoia was spreading like kudzu. I asked Selena, “Do you ever ally with Fauna? Does her family chronicle?”

“Not normally. Each game she’s allied with different cards.”

Finn stared for long moments at the image. “She’s got an infinity symbol on her card. It’s right above her head. Like on mine.”

Those shared symbols. Death’s card had a waterfall like mine and a rose upon his flag. In essence, he carried a single white rose—as the Fool did on his card. “. . . to be read like a map.”

Seeming to give himself an inner shake, Finn said, “So, to recap, we’ve got zombies on our trail and cannibal mines nearby, and now we’ve got another Arcana on our ass.”

“Look on the bright side,” I said. “How many animals can still be alive? This game, it would suck to be the Mistress of Fauna.” No sooner had the words left my mouth than a wolf howled in the distance.

With plaintive calls, two more answered.





8

Blood spilling from my mouth and wound, I writhe on Death’s sword.

Please. The word is on my lips, but I am too proud to utter it.

Though I want to live, I will never beg!

The Reaper removes his gauntlet, revealing a hand covered with icons. He must have nine kills.

Soon to harvest five more.

He reaches for me with that bared hand, a weapon in itself. I shudder with fear and agony. The more I shake, the more his sword slices at my entrails and raps against my spine. Tears blur my vision, spilling down my cheeks.

In the distance, a lion roars.

“This will hurt for nary a moment more,” he promises, his eyes intent on mine.

All the things I wish I’d done. At least my family will pass on to future Empresses what knowledge I’ve garnered. I made sure of that.

He’s so close I can perceive his breaths on my face, cooling my tears.

I am looking upon Death, as his hand inches closer. . . .



I shot awake, swiping my palm over my cheek, stunned that there weren’t tears streaming down, stunned that Death wasn’t right beside me. As I blinked my eyes, I probed, realizing his presence was gone.

It was dark in the hut, but my shirt was riding up, revealing a glowing glyph. It cast enough light to see Matthew’s sleeping form nearby. Selena and Finn were asleep as well.

Jackson was awake, seated across from me—and staring at the glyph. It reflected in his gray gaze.

In a low tone, he said, “Can you feel them things, you?” There was no rage in his voice.

“They’re like shivers.” I admitted, “It’s comforting to feel them.” Because they represented my arsenal, and I believed that somehow, someway, they were all that stood between me and Death.

Jackson’s gaze flickered over my face, studying. Always studying. “What’s it feel like when you change completely?”

Amazing. No room for uncertainty, just sizzling power. “It’s definitely different.”

“You were like a . . . a divinité.”

I sat up. Still his words could thrill me. Still I was one heartbeat away from telling him how much I—

“You ain’t human, no?”

The thrill flared out, leaving cold ash. Though the statement was fair, it still stung. How to answer? “Both my parents were. You know my mom was.” Jackson had met her the night before she died, giving her enough time to get to know him, to rest assured that he could keep me safe. “I never wanted to deceive you, Jack. I was just getting used to this stuff myself. Didn’t know my way around it.”

He scrubbed a hand over his tired face. “Why didn’t you tell me about all this shit?”

“I was warned against confiding in others.” Arcana means secrets, as Matthew had said.

“Coo-y?n must’ve told you that!”

Selena sighed without rousing. Finn smacked his lips and muttered, “Mom, how long I gotta stay there?”

Without a word, Jack collected his gear and stormed out into the mist, taking a seat on a nearby shelf of rock.

Though uninvited, I joined him.

“You listened to coo-y?n, trusting him over me?”

“Yes, Jackson, the psychic I trust with my life told me not to tell anyone. You know, the kid who predicted the end of the world and saved me from the Flash. Besides, you and I had a deal: I’d tell you my secrets once you got me to my grandmother’s.”

“Like you would’ve told me then. You wrote me a note and took off from Finn’s without a word because you knew how I’d react.”

“That’s not true. After our fight, I decided that you deserved to know the truth, warning or no. I was coming to reveal everything when I saw you and Selena—”

“Not me.”

“Not you,” I whispered.

He fell silent. Talk to me, I wanted to scream. Tell me what you’re thinking.

“You told me I quieted the voices.” The Arcana calls I’d heard but hadn’t understood. “Seems like you’d need to hear them now.”