Endless Knight (The Arcana Chronicles #2)(9)

She shoved the map into her pack. “Listen, you deceptive little shit, Evie’s the linchpin. I go where she goes—”

“The linchpin’s still going to find her grandmother,” I interrupted. “Like I said, I’m heading to the Outer Banks.” I gazed around. “Where’s Jackson?”

Finn zipped Matthew’s pack closed. “Um, Jack bugged out before we woke up,” he said, his demeanor guilty. “He’s gone, Evie.”

“Not a card,” Matthew said. He’d never felt comfortable with Jackson, a non-Arcana, around.

“Gone gone?” No, I refused to believe he would abandon me without so much as a look back. Like you abandoned him? my conscience whispered.

Selena rolled her eyes. “What’d you expect? J.D. witnessed you go full-on Empress, all Little Shop of Horrors. I think he got the message: we’re—not—human. Not to mention what he heard in the cellar, about us being in Death’s crosshairs. If I were him, I’d be sprinting away from us as fast as I could.”

That was . . . fair. “I’m surprised you didn’t chase after him.”

“If he’d liked me back, I might’ve asked him to run with me,” Selena admitted. “Even though I’ve accepted that an alliance with you is the single thing that might keep me alive.”

I asked Matthew, “I don’t suppose he’s coming back?”

Matthew gazed at the cloudy sky. “He should’ve said good-bye.”

I surveyed the yard, seeing the Bagmen bodies from the night before. Jackson had collected his arrows from those corpses—on his way out. Ever practical, Cajun.

My eyes watered, but I forced a blank expression on my face. “It’s for the best anyway.” I hated that he’d left! “He didn’t belong with us.” He belonged with me.

Never to see him again? The idea hurt me worse than a sword to the stomach. I asked Matthew, “If Jack is still nearby, will he be safe from other cards?”

Matthew nodded. “Not Arcana.”

Yet we were, which meant we were all in danger. I couldn’t afford to think about Jack right now—I needed to figure out how to survive the next hour!

“All right, Evie, what do we do?” Finn checked a new watch. “We’ve got company in less than forty-five minutes.” He looked at me like I was his leader, like he’d listen to whatever a girl like me had to say.

In the past, no one had consulted me about anything. And I’d been okay with that.

“We run out of the valley, threading the needle,” I said. “But if you want to go with me, then we make a pact not to harm each other, and we make it fast.”

Selena and Finn scowled at each other.

“What are our options?” I demanded. “Say we go back to Finn’s, and Death comes. Say we somehow defeat him. Do we even take a fiver to celebrate our team’s victory—or do we start wiping each other out directly?”

When they remained unconvinced, I said, “Matthew showed me a vision of another alliance of three. They fought Death. They were organized, skilled, and committed. They never would’ve hurt each other, which means they had to be planning an exit from the game.” I turned to Matthew. “Right?”

He didn’t deny it, just said, “System the game, game the system. There’s a heat in battle.”

“There is,” I said. “We might need to fight, but that doesn’t mean we have to kill each other. If we all commit to this, then we don’t have to become murderers. Your hands are clean.” Unlike my marked one.

Finn asked Selena, “Think a pact’s even doable for you?”

“If we can come up with a viable way to get out of this game, then I won’t hurt any of you,” she said. “Otherwise, we’re back to the take-out-Death alliance.”

I shared a look with Finn. Best we’re gonna get.

He tapped his watch. “We’re getting close on time.”

Which meant I’d be leaving my trees. You’re welcome, Requiem! “All right. First order of alliance business: run.”

They both grabbed their packs, like I’d given marching orders.

Grasping Matthew’s hand, I hurried toward the yard. “Can you see how far away the other cards are?” We crossed over the front porch—the place where I’d finished the Alchemist. There was no sign of his blood. Baggers must’ve licked the boards clean.

“You need to stay here and fight, Empress.”

The mere idea made me queasy, my legs feeling rubbery. “We’re taking off, honey. It’ll be safer for you.”

His big brown eyes were solemn as he said, “I hope you are terrified and angry and sad for as long as it rains.”

“Matthew! Why would you say that?” I cast him a hurt look. “Never mind, we’ll talk about this later.”

“Death watches. Strike first, or be first-struck.”

He kept saying that, but even if I unleashed my full arsenal, I didn’t know if I could kill Death. He would slice through my barriers and vines with his swords. His armor would protect him from my thorns and claws. Just like in my dream. Now that I wasn’t all roided out on Empress juice, I didn’t have high hopes for my chances. “One threat at a time, okay?”

We hadn’t made it out of the yard when everyone froze midstep; Arcana calls sounded.