The Dark Calling (The Arcana Chronicles #5)(40)

“I’ve been saying the same thing. I thought he’d annihilated the army, Selena, and you.” Another wave of lightheadedness hit me. “Where were you going just now?”

“I’ll tell you all about it. But first, we have to get you some food. I’ll head west and see if I can scare up something.”

“You actually think I will let you out of my sight. Adorable.”

Kentarch said, “We came from the west. There’s nothing.”

“Merde. For days, I haven’t passed anyone to roll. I can sometimes bag a snake or a rat”—he patted the crossbow over his shoulder—“but I came up empty.”

“So you earned your name of hunter?” Kentarch tilted his head. “I could teleport you to a place thick with game. More meat than we could possibly eat.”

Huh?

“That so?” Jack asked suspiciously. “You look pretty handy. How come you haven’t gone and . . . ?” He trailed off with a look of comprehension. “You’re talking about the animals at Death’s castle. Lark’s creatures.”

Kentarch nodded. “I can’t go within that sphere.”

“But a civvie could.” Jack’s eyes lit up. “Oh, hell yeah, Chariot.”

“Oh, hell no, Chariot!” I clung to Jack’s hand. “Did you not hear the part about the giant grizzly? It’s too dangerous.” I’d just gotten him back!

“You think I’m goan to let you starve when there’s game to be had? Joules will stay with you, keep you company. Kentarch and I’ll be right back.”

“This isn’t like poaching an alligator from a Louisiana state park. This is Death, Lark, and Gabriel. They won’t let you just walk in there, fill up your shopping cart, and stroll out. She has thousands of creatures now, and under her influence, they’re all killers.”

Jack grinned. “Then she woan miss a measly pheasant or two.”

“Lark’s much stronger now than when you last saw her. She’ll do anything to hurt me—which means hurting you.”

He pried his hand from my weak grip. “It’s the only way.” He stood. When I reached for him, he seemed to force himself to back away. “You woan sway me in this.”

Was he risking his life because he planned on a future with me? He didn’t know everything. “There’s something I need to tell you—”

“His mind’s made up, Empress,” Joules interrupted. “You’ll have plenty of time to catch up later. But for now, you don’t want anything to banjax his motivation or his focus. You don’t want to get him killed, do you?”

I glared at the Tower. Selfish much? “This hunt is not happening. Jack, you’re not leaving.”

Holding his ground, he said, “I know this is tough, but I swear to you I’m coming back.” He turned to Joules. “Anything happens to her . . .”

The Tower created a javelin. “I got this.”

Jack squared his shoulders and faced Kentarch. “Come on, Chariot. Never teleported before, but by God, I’m ready to poach Domīnija’s lands.”

“Do you require a rifle? Something more than a compact crossbow?”

“Goan in quiet, me. Slip in, bag some birds, slip out. They’ll never know we were there.”

If I could manage a vine, I’d tie Jack to me. “I can’t lose you again.” I raised my hand to use my powers, but nothing happened.

“Evie, I promise you I’ll be back.”

“No time to dawdle.” Kentarch took his arm.

A spindly vine finally shot from my palm. It lashed only air. They’d already disappeared.





19


The Hunter





“Mère de Dieu,” I muttered when we touched down in a new snowy landscape. I’d officially teleported. One thing I could say since meeting Evangeline: life was never dull.

When I’d first seen her face out on that road, everything inside me had lit up—the way I always felt around her. This time I hadn’t nearly gone over my handlebars.

I told Kentarch, “You could’ve let me give her a proper good-bye, finessing that situation a touch more. Remember, I just came back from the dead.” And now she’d had to watch me leave yet again.

The last time she’d lost me, it’d broken her. I couldn’t imagine what she was going through back in that cave. It had taken sheer will to leave her.

A million other thoughts swirled in my overloaded brain.

Evie’s hurting. Got to feed my girl. Not my girl—she’s wearing Death’s ring. God, the sight of that . . . like I been stabbed. What’d I expect, me? I left her with Domīnija, left her to think I died. When she finds out the truth of that, she’ll have my ass. Did I really just teleport?

One thought stood out: What will happen between me and Evie now? I’d have to confess that I’d decided to let her go. Because of Matthew, I’d abandoned her to a man who’d then tried to kill her.

Kentarch said, “Trust me when I tell you she has an acute need for food. We have no time to spare.”

He was right. I pictured her back there, looking so fragile. When I returned, Evie and I would have a long talk.

Tugging my ragged coat closer, I surveyed the snowscape. Kentarch had brought me to the top of a large hill. From this vantage, I could see a castle sprawled over the neighboring mountain. A frozen moat with huge shards of ice circled it. A dirty yellow haze cloaked the entire rise like a bell jar.