The Dark Calling (The Arcana Chronicles #5)(42)

Now to rise. Damn it, I could haul this beast from here. I’d lifted Matthew. But that had been before my injury.

Come on, legs, doan fail me. With a yell, I hoisted it up and across my shoulders. My knees knocked, my bad leg screaming. But I took a step forward.

One foot in front of the other . . . for Evie . . . one foot . . . Lungs squeezing for air, head spinning, I pushed on.

Halfway there. I hoped.

Behind me, creatures gave chase. Their roars and howls were spurs to my back. Another surge of adrenaline. One foot . . . one foot . . .

Just outside of the hazy sphere, I caught sight of Kentarch. His jaw was slack. “You took down a lion? With a crossbow?”

A whistle sounded in the air behind me. I knew that pitch. Gabriel was gunning for me.

Closer to the boundary, closer.

“The Angel is diving for you!” Kentarch held out his hand, even as his gaze was focused on the sky behind me. “Drop the dead weight, you madman!”

No way. Digging into the last of my reserves, I forced my burning muscles to keep going. For Evie. For Evie. Faster, Jack! Boy, doan you know how to run?

From far too close, Gabe yelled, “You’re mine!”

I vaulted the last few feet past the border, collapsing forward into the snow. Kentarch dragged the lion off me, then lugged me several more feet away from the dome.

“Ahhhh!” Gabe bellowed his fury. His wings swirled snowdrifts as he reversed direction.

Heaving breaths, I scrambled around to face him.

The Archangel hovered at the edge, fangs and talons bared. “Greet me properly, hunter. Come shake my hand.” His wings were much larger than before, and now a lethal-looking claw jutted from each joint.

I croaked out, “Pass.”

Eyes crazed and hair wild, he looked like a psycho version of himself. If this shocked me, how stunned had Evie been when Domīnija turned on her? She was lucky to be alive.

Gabe turned to the Chariot. “Join us, and we shall find your wife for you.”

Was Kentarch tempted by that offer? I called, “Doan you want to know how Joules—your loyal ally—is doing out in the Ash? I’ll tell the Tower you asked after him.”

Gabe barely glanced at me, attention on Kentarch. “You do not have to join our alliance. Simply bring us the Empress, and we shall unleash all of Fauna’s creatures to locate Issa.”

I didn’t like that a bit. I rose with difficulty and slapped Kentarch’s shoulder. “We got to go, podna.” A chorus of howls sounded. “He’s just stalling for Lark.”

“You’re correct.” Kentarch clamped my arm and the lion’s neck. “I still can’t believe you bagged a lion.”

Between breaths, I wheezed, “What? Like it’s hard?”

His lips twitched. “Come, hunter.”

As he began to teleport us, I glanced back at Gabe—just as his wing claw lashed out from behind the sphere.

Air whistled across my throat as we disappeared. The Archangel had missed my jugular by millimeters.





20


The Empress





I paced the cave, using calories I didn’t have. I’d started hyperventilating, imagining all the things Arcana could do to Jack.

Snarling wolves, Gabriel’s talons, Aric’s unnatural strength and speed. If Jack faced the Endless Knight, he would die. With one sword strike, I would lose both of them forever.

Joules sat by the fire. “How do you plan to tell ol’ Jackie boy you’re in the family way?”

“That will be a good problem to have.” I pinched my temples. “I can’t do this again.”

“You’re still in love with the Cajun.”

My eyes watered. “Of course I am! We didn’t break up, Joules. He was stolen from me.”

“So now what are you goin’ to do? You got Death’s unholy spawn in you.”

No matter what had happened, I would still try to save Aric, just as I’d endeavored to save Jack. Both had earned my loyalty.

As long as one didn’t harm the other.

“In case you were wondering, my vote goes to the hunter.”

“Maybe Jack found someone else out there. We haven’t seen each other in months.” How long had he been enslaved?

“Come on, Empress. It’s not like females grow on nonexistent trees these days. Even if they did, Jack’s a goner for you. Gabe, Tess, and me were in and out when he built Fort Arcana. Every day, he was praying he’d get you back and keep you safe inside it.”

My tears fell.

“Of course, whichever one you choose, you got to get back into the castle. Why don’t you go with the Cajun, and then we take over the place? Jack’s good with strategy.”

I stopped in my tracks. “I can’t believe you’re using my heartache to pitch me an overthrow of Aric’s home—”

“Heads up!” Joules cried as shapes materialized in the cave.

Kentarch and Jack appeared, dragging something with them.

I stumbled to Jack, wrapping my arms around him. Relief flooded me, until I registered blood. “You’re hurt!” My hands flew over him, checking for injuries, brushing away crimson snow.

“Not my blood, peek?n. I’m fine.” He looked wiped out, but in good spirits.