The Dark Calling (The Arcana Chronicles #5)(14)

Finn’s parents hadn’t forgiven him for his involuntary pranks. They’d shipped him across the country, booting him from his beloved California.

“Speaking of forgiveness,” he continued, “Joules and Gabe are out there, starving. Lark’s falcon spotted them, and they’re looking rough.”

If Jack lived, was he starving?

And yet here I was again, holed up in this castle, not helping, not doing anything but biding my time.

Finn laid aside the remains of his sandwich. “Death hasn’t changed his mind about throwing them a bone?”

“It’s still a solid no-go.” When I’d broached it a while back, Aric had said, “If we feed the strays, they will never move on, and a larger convergence of cards could lead Richter here sooner. Plus, I make it a rule not to extend a hand to those plotting against me.”

I told Finn, “Maybe if Joules wasn’t so bent on electrocuting Aric.”

“True. I had to give it a try.”

“I’ll keep working on him,” I said, even though my influence on Death was negligible these days. I couldn’t even get him to jettison my grandmother’s killer until the weather turned. “What was it like being on the road with Joules and Gabriel?” The three of them had teamed up after the catastrophe at Fort Arcana and targeted Richter. To no avail.

“Besides feeling like a third wheel to their epic bromance? It was cool. Sometimes they’d open up about their pre-Flash lives. Get this: Patrick Joules, the great and powerful Tower, was a choirboy.”

“Brash, foulmouthed Joules?” Every other word out of his mouth was feck. “You lie.”

“I swear! Self-described goody-goody. At least, before he met Calanthe.” The Temperance Card had been the love of Joules’s life. Unfortunately, Death had killed her in self-defense.

While I struggled to picture Joules as a choirboy, I asked, “Wasn’t Gabriel born into a cult?”

“Kidnapped by one when he was a baby.”

“Jesus, how awful.”

“They worshipped him as an angel.” In the history of the games, Gabriel had been a righteous guardian, a protector of good. “Funny thing: Gabe wasn’t born with wings. On Day Zero, he had to leap off a mountain into nothing and hope those wings shot out of his back on the way down.”

“Holy shit.” That reminded me of one of my escapes from Aric, when I’d made a blind leap off a bridge, with no idea if I might hit debris in the water. He’d ditched his armor to dive in and save me—just in time for cannibals to fire on us.

Shot twice, Aric had ducked behind a boulder. I’d never forget the way he’d looked when he’d peered up at the sky, gaze stark. Had he been thinking that the Empress would always bring him misery? That she’d forever ruin his life?

I cleared my throat to say, “Um, Gabriel must be a big believer to jump without wings.”

Finn shook his head. “Not at all. If he hadn’t, he would’ve had some ‘help’ from the cult members. He was scared shitless, but he had no choice.”

“Not a leap of faith? And here I thought you were telling me this story to give me perspective with this baby.”

“I think you’re like Gabe—you got no choice but to leap.” Finn winked at me and said, “Might as well make it a swan dive, blondie.”

Would I ever get my wings? I forced a smile. “So, you and Lark are hitting it off like a house on fire. You guys barely left her room today.”

He blushed. “Taking advantage of the storm, since her guard duties are lessened. Eves, I dig her.” He pulled at his pajama collar. “To the point of, like, love and all.”

When I couldn’t stop a silly grin, he gruffly said, “Shut it.”

I chuckled. “I didn’t say anything! I’m happy for you two.” My smile faded. “What are you using for contraception?”

His face reddened even more. “Jeez, Mom. If you must know, I stored up on condoms when I was out on the road.” Relief. “When I arrived here, my worldly possessions consisted of one crutch, the clothes on my back, and a metric ass-ton of rubbers. Death would freak balls if we spawned, wouldn’t he? Hey, if we had a son and you had a daughter—”

“Don’t even go there.”

He held up his hands with a mischievous look.

“Finn, can I give you some advice?” At his eager nod, I said, “Try not to push it with Aric. He might seem like a normal, okay guy, but at heart, he’s still a knight from another era, still an assassin.” He’d made a fortune killing kings and toppling governments with just a handshake.

“I feel for the dude.”

I blinked. “For Aric?” The hypnotically handsome, supernatural billionaire? The man with the I have power over all I survey vibe?

“Sure. He’s got to be feeling stressed. He’s supposed to prep our defenses, manage our resources, guard you and the kid on the way and everybody under this roof. And he knows how unhappy you are. It’s got to be weighing on him.”

Then why wouldn’t Aric relent? I’d caught him staring at me, as if willing me to understand his position with Paul. He truly didn’t believe the man deserved banishment.

“I try to fly under the radar,” Finn said. “For instance, I didn’t tell Death that I ramble around his digs invisible and naked whenever the fancy strikes me.” Irrepressible Finn. “But sometimes Lark gets a little . . . aggressive.” Red of tooth and claw? “You mind if I pass on your advice to her?”