The Dark Calling (The Arcana Chronicles #5)(26)

Kentarch gunned the engine; the wolf missed by inches, jaws slamming shut around air. SNAP.

As we sped faster, birds and bats dive-bombed the truck, splattering themselves across the windshield.

What was that up ahead? My foggy mind registered the sight: A bear had just tromped onto the narrow road through the ravine.

This was no normal bear—Lark must’ve fed it her blood when it was a cub. Which meant the thing had grown to be gargantuan, nearly as tall as Ogen.

She’d already had a bear. What else had she raised that she hadn’t told us about?

The beast reared up on its hind legs, stretching its arms wide, claws gouging both ravine walls. No way around it. No way to reverse.

Joules opened his free hand, willing another javelin to appear. “Bloody feck, mother, bloody feck.” When he came up empty, he yelled to Kentarch, “Ram it! If we can get past it, the road opens up.”

“Are you crazy?” I cried. “It’s way bigger than a wolf. It’ll crumble this truck.” Even if we survived the collision, the other beasts would just descend on us.

“I’d rather die in a crash than from fangs.”

Through the crack in the window, I thought I heard Kentarch calmly say, “This will hurt.”

I clutched the side of the truck, bracing for impact yet again. Sooner or later, my luck would run out. I was betting on now.

Even the birds must have sensed the impending collision—they eased off their assault, circling above the roadway.

Joules began reciting the Lord’s Prayer, then broke off to do a countdown: “Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . FECK!”

But the crash I expected didn’t happen. Shivers raced over me. Time seemed to slow. Suddenly we were surrounded by the bear—we were . . . inside the bear.

Its mighty heart thundered right before my eyes. Tha-thud. Tha-thud. Real or unreal? We moved past as if in slow motion.

Just as we started to clear the massive body, those shivers returned, and the truck solidified—while the tailgate was still in the bear.

It exploded from the pressure. Gore and chunks of fur spewed into the air. Blood splashed the back of the truck.

“Wh-what happened?”

“Boyo up there teleported this entire truck through the bear. And there’s a sentence I never thought I’d say.”

I’d seen . . . its heart. Kentarch had moved the mass of this vehicle—through the mass of that bear. No wonder Aric had been so excited to have this ally joining him.

“Are we clear of them?” I asked.

“Nothin’ can catch us now.”

In front of us: a desolate road. Behind us: thwarted wolves. Maneater snapped at Scarface, and a scuffle broke out between them.

Joules bellowed into the night, “Get fecked, Fauna!”

I gazed away, my attention drawn to the top of a mountain in the distance. Aric. He was astride his warhorse Thanatos, illuminated by the yellow haze.

I drew back my whipping hair. He sheathed his swords.

The bastard had already retrieved them. Way to prioritize, Reaper.

For my own survival, I was being separated from my husband, the father of my kid. My only hope was for him to leave that sphere. I somehow managed to yell, “Come and get me, Death!” While inside, I was pleading, Please, Aric, please come and get me . . . .





12





When I could no longer stand the cold, I knocked on the icy rear window, wincing as pain stabbed through my bare knuckles. My teeth were chattering. “C-can we come inside?”

Kentarch glanced at the rearview mirror.

“Chariot, please. I’m freezing, injured, and powerless.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“Because if I had any of my abilities, I wouldn’t have needed you to save our lives back there.”

Joules added, “We’d both accepted that we were wolf chow. Not by choice.”

Noting his camo jacket, I said, “Come on, soldier. We’re what you’d call neutralized threats.”

Kentarch slowed to a stop. “Try to harm me, and I’ll put you inside another animal. Or a boulder.”

Talk about an awful way to die. “Understood.”

Joules and I hopped down from the back. Hastening to the passenger door, I climbed into the front, sliding over the wide bench, Joules right behind me. Kentarch gunned it again.

“Cheers, Chariot.” Joules gazed around the roomy cab in awe. “Talk about tricked-out.”

Electronics covered the dash—everything from an outdoor thermometer display to a CB box, to a small monitor with GPS coordinates plugged in. Did GPS still work? Aric had said most satellites were untouched.

Storage pouches abounded. The sun visor had sleeves for even more gear: a penlight, a couple of unrecognizable hand tools, and a picture of a gorgeous, smiling woman about Kentarch’s age. A rifle was mounted to the ceiling, within his easy reach.

“You got a name for this beast?”

With a shrug, Kentarch turned up the heater. His jacket billowed, revealing a holstered pistol. He also had a pair of blades strapped to a thigh.

I raised my hands to the warmth. “Thanks.” My fingertips were discolored, and that snakebite was swollen. I should’ve already regenerated from two tiny puncture wounds—so, definitely venomous.