The Dark Calling (The Arcana Chronicles #5)(56)

“Joules, I vow to you that if you help me, Aric will reward you. He’ll give you a freaking medal.”

“Canna eat a medal. Just want in on that bacon we smelled. Hell, at least Gabe’s got food and warm shelter right now. He’s thriving there.”

Jack said, “Gabe’s living with a sword over his neck. He only survives as long as the Hanged Man says. And who is Paul goan to take out first when the food supplies dwindle?” Jack’s gaze slid to me. We both knew Aric had set up the castle to sustain people for decades.

As long as the generators had fuel, the Reaper could use those sunlamps to grow crops to feed humans and livestock. Centuries of planning had gone into his home. It was everything to him.

I said, “Look, the bottom line is that Aric’s the only Arcana alive who knows how to kill Richter. Understand me: saving Death could mean saving the world.”

Joules’s gaze darkened until I could all but hear his thoughts: Nothing good comes from Death. “Worst road trip I’ve ever been on,” he muttered, leaning against the door. “Grabbin’ a kip. Wake me up when there’s even more fun to be had.”

How could he sleep at a time like this? Soon his soft snores sounded from the back, effectively leaving me and Jack alone.

I touched his arm. “I know this is all . . . a lot.”

When Jack’s muscles tensed under my palm, I pulled my hand back.

“Please, talk to me. I need to hear how you’re feeling about all this.”

Quick glance from the road. “Doan know, me. Confused. I pictured us having a kid together, down the line when we were older. Now it’s you and Domīnija.” He briefly squeezed his eyes closed, as if the thought brought on fresh pain. “You two do this on purpose?”

“Never! Paul gave me a contraceptive shot—or so I thought. I told him I didn’t want to have a child in a world like this. And I’d already told Aric that I was way too young.”

“Domīnija wanted you to have his baby?”

“Yes. No. He did at first, but then he changed his mind. Still, after we found this out, he was happy. He thinks it could derail the game. Plus, he simply wants a family. To this day, he misses his.”

“Tell me about it.” Jack would always miss his beloved mother and his sister Clotile. “What if the Reaper plotted with the Hanged Man? What if they set you up?”

“No, I don’t believe so. I trust Aric. Or I did trust him.” Death’s look of fury plagued my memories. “I’m really confused too.”

“How could he attack you and his kid?”

“Paul convinced him I lied about the pregnancy. Now Aric hates me for ‘tricking’ him into believing it for a time.”

“I’m goan to kill that medic.”

“Not if I get to him first. I’ve wanted him dead since I learned I was pregnant.”

Jack’s gaze dropped to my stomach before returning to the road. “How far along are you? Women sometimes lose pregnancies.”

“More than three months, I think. I get the feeling this one is here to stay.”

“You doan sound overjoyed by that.”

“I think having a baby is the craziest thing anyone could do during an apocalypse, much less during a deadly game. At best, I’m no longer bulletproof. At worst, it’s draining my body.”

All of my bottled-up thoughts spilled out: “And how could this kid be normal? Just weeks before I got pregnant, zombies dined on me. Since then, I’ve been bitten by a viper, caught in an avalanche, stabbed, starved, and nearly parboiled by Richter. And it’s not like I can run out and get a sonogram. Not to mention that my grandmother warned me that Life and Death would become something dire. I’m probably carrying the Antichrist. Of course, she was half-crazed when she told me that—which reminds me: great genes I’m passing on.”

“Wait. Circe said her godson. If you haven’t had a sonogram, how’d she know it’s a boy?”

“She sensed it, because she’s a witch.”

“Then couldn’t she sense if anything was wrong?”

Huh. Good point. But then, Circe’s judgment might be off. Aside from her mental decline, her likes included an occasional bloody sacrifice and being a sea monster.

“What’d the Priestess say about your pregnancy?”

I admitted, “She made it sound like the kid had shielded me from Paul’s reversal power, his dark calling. It doesn’t work on humans, and the baby might be a regular mortal.”

“That’s something, non?”

“Circe’s probably biased. She thinks this baby could usher in a new era—the key to saving the world. She called me Mother Earth and reminded me that my powers and history were all about birth and rebirth.”

“A new era?” Jack said, a wistful note underscoring his words. “You believe something like that could happen?”

I sighed. “Could this development affect future games? Yes. But I don’t think my having a kid will make the sun shine again. I’m coming to accept that only the natural conclusion of the game can do that.” This subject always made my head hurt. “Jack, I understand if you want to bow out of this mission. I mean, this is really messed up.”

“I woan stop until you’re safe. Being out in the Ash is a certain death-sentence. Being out here when pregnant? You might as well have a target on your back.”