The Dark Calling (The Arcana Chronicles #5)(43)

Kentarch certainly was. “Your hunter deserves the name. He took down a lion with merely a crossbow.”

Joules crouched beside the creature. Its lifeless eyes stared at nothing. “Fauna’s got a lion on her card.”

In the previous games, they’d surrounded her. I’d once asked her why she now favored wolves. All business, she’d said, “Better suited for the terrain here.”

Lark would be furious at this loss. “Jack, I thought you were going to snare a hedgehog or something.” When he reeled against me, I said, “You need to sit and rest.”

“Bonne idée.” Good idea. He all but collapsed by the fire.

Sitting beside him, I stroked damp hair from his forehead. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

Kentarch answered for him. “He carried this game through the snow—what should have been an impossible feat—while the Archangel bore down on him.”

Joules’s head whipped up. “You saw my boyo?”

Jack nodded. “Since when did he grow wing claws?”

“One of his cult elders said that he’d grow ’em eventually, along with his wings getting bigger and tougher. Must be all the food he’s tucking away at the castle.” Joules bit out a curse. “I canna believe he’s still under the influence.”

“Gabe was twisted.” Jack looked at me. “Is that what Domīnija was like?”

“Worse. Gabriel doesn’t have a history with you or a reason to hate you. And you’re not an Arcana.”

Joules poked the lion carcass with his javelin. “Is this one of her familiars?” Poke. Poke. “What if it comes back to life?”

Kentarch assessed the animal. “Aren’t her familiars giant like those wolves?”

I shook my head. “No, the wolves grew so big because they drank her blood when they were pups. Her falcon is a normal size. This lion could be connected to her.”

Joules stumbled back. “Can we eat a familiar?”

Jack said, “After what I just did to bring that back, we’re goan to clean its goddamned bones.”

At this point, I had no qualms about dining on one of Lark’s creatures, but what would lion taste like? Would I be able to keep it down? “We probably want to cut its head off as quickly as possible.” We? Right now, I couldn’t cut butter with a hot knife.

Kentarch gestured toward Joules. “You and I will take it outside to butcher.”

“Tarch, I’m more on the consumption end of things. Less production, you understand? But I’m an ace baster.”

“Now, Tower.”

As the two hauled up the lion, Jack started to rise, but Kentarch waved him down. “Stay and rest.” Catching my gaze, he said, “I’m sure you have much to tell each other.” So he hadn’t revealed my secret.

Perfect. I’d get to.

At the cave entrance, Kentarch turned back and told Jack, “A lion marked me when I was young, nearly taking my life”—he’d never volunteered anything about his childhood to me and Joules—“but now one will save us from starving. Good work, hunter.”

Jack gave him solemn nod. “Thanks for the ride, podna.”

This exchange reminded me of how people responded to Jack. He commanded loyalty because folks genuinely liked him. Aric commanded loyalty out of fear.

Once we were alone, Jack pulled off his bow and bug-out bag. “Adrenaline’s wearing off.” He snagged a flask from his coat pocket.

When he offered me a drink, I held up a hand. “All good.” Just seeing his face was a luxury for me. He was safe. Warm. Larger than life. I leaned in closer to him.

One of my biggest regrets was never telling him that I loved him. How would he react to those three words? And to my news?

He took a swig, then stared into the flames. Was he remembering his harrowing escape from Richter?

Needing to comfort him, I took his hand in mine.

He turned to me, and a marked longing lit his gaze. Then he tapped my ring. “So, you and Domīnija, huh?”

Voice soft, I said, “I thought you were dead. We all did.”

“That’s all that needs to be said, then.” He took another drink. “You get hitched?”

“Not officially in this life. Kind of a leftover from the last game.” Aric had never considered us not hitched. Not even when he’d been trying to behead me.

“I’d love to see the look on the Reaper’s face when Gabe tells him I’m alive.” I could only imagine Aric’s fury. “Still can’t believe he attacked you.”

“Paul reverses a card, bringing out an Arcana’s worst traits. You can actually see a tableau turning upside down. Aric’s resistance to change and his rage were brought to the fore. His unresolved anger over the past spilled into the present, and he hated me. He truly would’ve killed me.”

“Tell me everything that happened.”

Staring at Jack’s beloved face, rememorizing every feature, I told him about the Hanged Man and his powers. About Finn’s poisoning and Lark and Aric’s attack. About Gabriel and Joules rescuing me, and Kentarch saving the day.

Jack took it all in. He was silent for a moment, then asked, “Why weren’t you affected by the Hanged Man?”

“Aric once told me I’m immune to brainwashing after my run-in with the Hierophant.” But I didn’t know why I’d escaped a reversal. After recounting everything to Jack, I began to see how distinct those powers were.