The Dark Calling (The Arcana Chronicles #5)(27)

Kentarch’s gaze took in the icons on my hand before he faced the snowy road again. “You said the Hanged Man brainwashed Death. Who is this new player?”

According to Paul, brainwashed wasn’t the right word, but I didn’t have a better one right now. Once my teeth stopped chattering, I said, “The Hanged Man, a.k.a. the Traitor, is a medic who lived in the castle. Goes by Paul. We had no idea he was the inactivated card.”

Joules said, “I thought that player had to drop another one to get juiced up.” His face fell. “Oh, yeah. The Magician.”

“Paul killed my grandmother, a Tarasova, priming his powers. Today he took out Finn. The Magician was immune to his influence, so Paul poisoned him, then blamed me.”

Joules punched the passenger window. “I’m goin’ to fry him.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “Get in line.”

Kentarch glanced at his side mirror, clocking the area. “What is that yellow haze?”

“Paul calls it his sphere of clarity. It reverses cards, changing their personalities. You can actually see their tableaux turning upside down.”

Joules raked his thin fingers through his brown hair. “No wonder Gabe was such an arsehole to me.”

Kentarch cursed under his breath. “I finally reached that place to recruit help, and there’s none to be found.”

Would he jettison us now? The Chariot had one mission, and neither the Empress nor the Tower could assist him. “But there will be help. If we free everyone in the castle, Lark can locate your wife as planned.” If Issa still lived. “Fauna’s animals found the Magician out in the Ash.”

And now I wished they hadn’t.

Joules asked Kentarch, “So you’re really an ally of Death’s?” Demonstrating his lack of a filter, he added, “Know that I plot his downfall most minutes of every day.”

I turned to him. “Enough!” Don’t give Kentarch another reason to ditch us. “If you want Gabriel back, we’re all going to have to work together to defeat the Hanged Man.”

“All of us, is it?” Joules gave a harsh laugh. “We’re just a trio, and you’re up the duff. Up the flue. Up the pole.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re pregnant! What are you goin’ to defeat that card with? Your swollen ankles?”

I glanced at Kentarch to see if he was surprised by this news.

He shrugged. “Death told me about the baby. You’re almost three months along?”

“Two and a half or so.” Would this pregnancy survive snake venom, an avalanche, a spearing, and a truck ride from hell?

“I canna believe Gabe and me have been out here starving, while you got knocked up with another mouth to feed. Much less the Reaper’s bastard.”

“First of all, my baby isn’t a bastard. Technically, Aric and I are married.” At least before he crushed his ring and forsook me. “And secondly, I didn’t do this on purpose. Paul gave me a shot, telling me it was a contraceptive. He knew how much I didn’t want to have a kid. He knew Aric would. Paul was trying to drive a wedge between us.”

“Death wants a tyke?” Joules asked. “Mind blown.”

Kentarch said, “The Reaper believes a child between two Arcana can upend the game.”

Joules grew uncharacteristically grave. “Can it?” His best friend was an Arcana; Joules wanted to play this screwed-up game as much as I did. Not at all.

I exhaled. “Look, I just work here. But maybe? Circe thinks this kid will ring in a new world. If the entire planet is Tar Ro, our playing field, then the gods might bring it back. All I know for certain is that nothing like this has ever happened. Aric has lived through three games, and he’s never heard of it.”

Joules grudgingly said, “It wasn’t in Cally’s chronicles either.”

My brows rose with my interest. “You have them?” Want them.

Joules jutted his pointy chin. “I might.”

“What’s your plan now?” Kentarch asked.

I let the subject of chronicles drop. “I doubt Paul will ever leave the castle, so we’ve got to get inside to kill him.” Easier said than done. Probably best to hold off telling them how invincible he was. “Which means you two will need some kind of protection against his influence.”

“Gabe likes to roam,” Joules said. “He might fly the coop and leave that sphere. Then my problems are over.”

I shook my head. “They don’t want to leave.” On that mountain, Aric had been poised at the very edge, but he hadn’t crossed to pursue us. “I think that’s part of Paul’s hold over them.”

Kentarch narrowed his gaze. “Why couldn’t the Hanged Man control you? Were you immune like the Magician?”

In general, some cards were unaffected by specific Arcana powers. I vividly recalled poisoning Ogen to no effect. But according to the Hanged Man, I didn’t possess an innate immunity to his abilities. Though I trusted little of what he’d said, I hadn’t felt as if I were a foil to him, a secret weakness. And at first, I had been swayed a touch. “I don’t think brainwashing affects me anymore, not after I shucked off the Hierophant’s mind control.”

Joules said, “Oh, yeah, you ganked him.”

Kentarch glanced at my icons again, and I felt my cheeks heating.