The Dark Calling (The Arcana Chronicles #5)(91)

I’d known our time there couldn’t last forever—she’d been cooped up and I’d had dozens of close calls that she would never hear about—but we’d been out of options. Now she thought she was going to take on the world. Alone.

No chance I’d let that happen. Evie was ma fille, my future, my home.

And she felt the same way about me.

Memories from last night stole into my mind, until even I felt like blushing. Her cries, the way her hair had haloed around her head as I’d ridden between her thighs. The heat of her soft flesh. The trust in those blue eyes as she’d peered up at me, her sweet lips parted.

We’d had each other four times, and all she’d done was whet my appetite for more. Not surprising. When I’d been inside her, that same feeling had come over me: where I’m supposed to be. I pulled her even closer.

Under his breath, Domīnija snapped, “Try to control your heart rate, mortal; that’s my wife you’re holding.”

I shot him a killing look. The first time I’d been with Evie, the Reaper had stolen her from me. Now he was back in her life once more. How in the hell could I be expected to give her up again? Much less Tee? Kentarch had been right; I’d started thinking of that kid as mine. “I doan see a ring on her finger, Reap.” Had she left it in the confusion this morning?

Shuttering his expression, he said, “Was it lost?”

“Are you hoping it slid off her finger when she was caught in an avalanche? Maybe that she had to barter it for food in Jubilee?” Frustration boiled over. “Non, I took it off her finger right before I slept with her the first time.” Not a lie, though I’d made it sound like we’d been together for a lot longer than we actually were.

Evie stirred but didn’t wake.

I expected words of anger from the Reaper, lashing out. I craved a dust-up. But he said nothing, just seemed to be grinding his molars.

After several miles of silence, he asked, “How far is this cave?”

“Took us days to get from there to the coast, but we had to wait for Kentarch to recharge his teleportation power. Vehicles block the way. Doan know how we’re goan to get around them now.”

No way Evie could go on foot. She didn’t have gloves or a thick enough coat. I’d stored bug-out bags for her, me, and even Tee in the cave. But how to reach our gear?

“Leave the obstacles to me. We will drive directly to our destination.”

Sure thing, Reaper. “You look whipped.” Something told me he’d run farther than humanly possible. “I can take a stint at the wheel.”

He gave a humorless laugh. “Concerned for me, mortal?”

“Last thing we need is a wreck.” The further inland we drove, the more snow blanketed the ground.

“Despite my exhaustion, my reflexes are infinitely faster than yours. I will remain where I am, thank you.”

I rolled my eyes, ’cause he had a point. He’d deflected a bullet with the tip of his sword. A bullet meant for the back of my skull.

After another few miles, he said, “How did you survive Richter’s massacre?”

I smirked at him. “I told you, I cheat Death.”

He didn’t respond to that, and goading him was no fun if he refused to go toe-to-toe. “Selena shoved me into a mine. I survived the lava and the flood, but then slavers nabbed me. Coo-y?n rescued me from their salt mine right before they butchered me for food.”

Domīnija seemed to be assessing me. “The Fool has never showed such interest in a mortal before.”

“What can I say? I’m special in every way.”

“Didn’t he tell you that you should go down to Louisiana?” Domīnija and I had talked about that the last time we’d drunk together back in Fort Arcana. “Have you given up your dream of rebuilding Haven?”

No, but . . . “Kinda hard to think about that since Richter took out my army. Besides, you’re not getting rid of me. If you think I’m bowing out again—”

“Again? Are you talking about when you left the fort?”

I’d marched out my troops while Evie slept to make it easier for her to go with Domīnija, all the while praying she would read the letter I’d left her and come running. She had—and almost died in Richter’s fire.

“After coo-y?n saved me, we were on our way to your castle. He took me to the memorial Evie made for Selena and me. Through a vision, he showed me her grief. When I thought about all the things you could offer her, I told him to let Evie believe I died in those flames. Next thing I know, she’s out in the Ash, starving, with little power and a kid on the way. Seems to me that you forfeited any right to her.”

He swiped his hand over his face, that spiked gauntlet catching my eye. Not nearly as dangerous as the skin it covers. “I know that. I’m not asking you to bow out. All I expect is for you to work with me to make her safe. Then we will figure out the future.”

Future? My gaze was drawn to Evie’s pale face in the glow of the truck’s electronics. She is my future.

I glanced over at the Reaper. Both of us had just been staring at her. Saps, one as bad as the other.

Clearing my throat, I said, “What happened when you shed Paul’s control?”

“I believe I was very close to losing my mind. All at once, I went from zero doubt and confusion to more panic than I’d felt in two millennia—combined. I couldn’t think. Couldn’t reason.” In a lower voice, he admitted, “I rode my warhorse into the ground.”