The Dark Calling (The Arcana Chronicles #5)(84)

Sticks and stones. “Shouldn’t you have seen this coming?” I asked Lorraine. If only she’d read the future beyond my pregnancy. Talk about a buried lead. “But then, these days I can barely predict what I’ll do. You didn’t stand a chance.”

“Go to hell!” Blood spilled from her lips. “You’ll d-dream of this memory forever.”

“Oh. You think this is the worst I’ve ever seen? It doesn’t even make the podium. Besides, it’s only a reverie, right? But I can turn it into a nightmare. Should I make this wood grow inside you? Replace your every vein?” I thumped the shoot through her right leg, the vibration making her cry out. “Or you can talk. Is there truly no other way to kill the Hanged Man? Were you lying?”

“Vow you’ll spare our lives . . . and I’ll tell you.”

I canted my head. “Fine. I give you my word as the Empress that I’ll spare you.”

“The rope was destroyed . . . no longer exists! I’m glad of it!”

For some reason, I believed her. After all these weeks of waiting, my mission was over? And Aric was already a casualty of the game?

“How do we kill Richter? How’s he supposed to die in this game?”

“The Hanged Man . . . convinces the Emperor to kill himself.”

My lips parted. What would stop Paul from doing the same to my friends—and to Aric? The Hanged Man was poised to win the entire game. Evil would rule.

I didn’t want Richter to win, but everything in me rebelled against Paul’s victory too.

My eyes narrowed as an idea surfaced. I could create hemp. I could always make a noose. Just needed to execute with it.

A whole suit of guilty souls happened to be trapped in this place, offered up to me.

If I defeated Paul and freed Aric, we could put Richter in the crosshairs once more. But first I had to secure the weapon.

Was I strong enough to do what needed to be done here? Callous enough? I am, the red witch said. Give yourself over to me!

I looked at Jack. His face was bruised and pulpy, one lid swollen shut. He’ll bring me back.

Proceeding with this noose plan wasn’t necessarily the good-guy thing to do—but it was the move I wanted to make.

To survive in this new world, I’d need to be deadlier than my violent adversaries. Crazier than the insane ones. More monstrous than them all.

In other words, mother of the fucking year. The heat of battle scalded me. “Jack, I think I’m going for a swim.”

His smile was bloody. “Not too deep, bébé.”

Lorraine and the others kept thrashing to get free. Whatever she saw in my expression made her eyes grow crazed.

“You vowed . . . not to kill us.”

I rapped my purple claws together. “As everyone keeps reminding me, the Empress is a known liar.” The deviousness of briars was my own. “Put yourself in my position. Basically, I’m weighing your serial killer lives against the future of mankind. Dear one, you shouldn’t take this personally. Just surrender to the dream.”

Vines erupted from my skin as rage burned. I gazed down at that bottomless pit with a little less horror than before—it’s getting easier, Evie—because I was becoming the Empress I was meant to be.

“Other Minors . . . will sense our murders. The kingdoms will unite . . . hunt you and your child . . . hunt all Majors.”

“You bashed my face in, planning to cut off my head. You threatened the lives of Jack and my kid. The Cups shouldn’t have picked a fight they can’t win.” A thornless rose stalk surfaced from my nape to circle my head, creating a crown. Leaves pointed up, and a dozen red blooms matched my drying blood. In a breathy voice, I said, “Recognize me now? Lorraine, maybe in the next game you’ll remember: An Empress always trumps a queen.”

Gran would be so proud. For the first time, I gave myself over to the red witch completely.

Do.

Your.

Worst.





40





“PLANK, PLANK, PLANK!”

I blinked open my eyes, found myself kneeling beside Jack. Was he yelling at me? In my clenched fingers was a crimson-spattered noose. I could barely move my heavy limbs, drained by my power outlay.

“Jack?” My throat was on fire. From the red witch’s shrieks? Petals and razor-sharp thorns surrounded me like a victim outline.

“Snap out of this, Evie! They’re coming for us. Cut me loose.”

I leaned around him, slicing through his cuffs.

Jack pulled me close. “You back with me?”

I nodded against him, not sure of anything at all. “What happened?”

“We’ve got to go.” He pried my white-knuckled fingers from my new noose, taking the thin length from me to loop it around his waist. He zipped his coat over it.

I caught a glimpse of the dead Cups before Jack pinched my chin and drew my gaze away. “Doan look at that, peek?n.” He helped me stand.

“What did I do?” Everything was a blur.

“What you needed to.” We headed toward the exit. On the way, he seized a rifle from a fallen guard.

Outside, Jubileans clamored for the plank. “Lorraine’s dead!”

“All the Ciborium were murdered by the witch and that Cajun!”

“The criminals are still aboard.”