Sounded familiar. Would that be his excuse for letting Finn die?
“I tell myself something worse must’ve been in store for them.” Again, Jack stared into the flames. “Cannibals attacking or the plague. I tell myself his reasoning was pure. Some days I even believe it.” Could Finn’s fate have been worse?
Yes. Definitely yes.
Jack cleared his throat and faced me. “So, what’re the details on Circe?” He didn’t want to talk about the massacre any more than I wanted to discuss Aric. “She’s the one you fought outside of Fort Arcana?”
“Yes, but she and I have come to an understanding since then. If free of Paul’s influence, she’ll try to help us. We just need to find her.”
“Okay. We got a plan, at least.” After a hesitation, he said, “There’s something I need to tell you—”
A commotion at the mouth of the cave announced the return of Kentarch and Joules, with the butchered lion in hand.
“It can wait,” Jack murmured to me.
“We wanted to give you more time to talk”—Kentarch set up a spit over the fire—“but hunger calls.” Once the lion started to cook, he handed us each a skewer with a slice of raw meat the color of pork.
As we roasted them over the flames, my attention shifted back and forth from Jack—Is he truly here with me?—to the broiling meat. My mouth watered.
Joules inhaled deeply. “Smell that, would you? Hope we don’t draw company. This is Richter territory, after all.”
Jack rotated his skewer. “When’s the last time anyone saw him?”
I said, “A few weeks ago, we encountered him and Zara. She’s the Fortune Card, a chopper pilot. I’ve tangled with her before.”
“What’s her power?”
“Freakish luck. She can steal it through touch. She was just about to steal mine when Lark and Aric rescued me.”
“Richter’s targeting food depots,” Joules said. “Anything they canna carry back to their lair, he incinerates. No one knows why.”
Jack said, “I’d wondered why supplies had dried up even more lately.”
“Empress, tell him about Richter’s other ally! Ol’ Jackie boy will get a kick out of this. And by kick, I mean stroke.”
As I reluctantly relayed the highlights of my partnership with Sol, the muscle in Jack’s jaw ticked overtime. “Lemme get this straight: he made Baggers dine on you?”
“He also saved our lives from Zara and Richter.”
Joules said, “We were in Death’s truck, running from quakes. Didn’t know we were headed right for a blown-out bridge and would’ve eaten it for certain. But Sol had his Baggers show us a safer route. You haven’t lived till you’ve seen a Bagger hitchhiking with his thumb out.”
True. “Sol’s sense of humor is one of the reasons I liked him.”
Jack’s expression darkened. “And I bet he liked you too.”
“Not in that way. He’s a big flirt, but his heart is taken.” By two. The tragedy of his love life rivaled mine. “Besides, I was so frantic to save you, I was on my worst Empress behavior with him. I’m surprised he could forgive me.”
Jack asked, “How do you know which Baggers are . . . helpful? Which ones are under Sol’s control?”
“I don’t. Odds are against it. He can only sense through a limited number of them at a time, and only when he’s awake.”
“Like Lark with her animal sentries.”
“Exactly,” I said, even as I wished Jack didn’t have to be versed in this deadly world I’d dragged him into. Arcana insanity.
Joules nodded at the cooking meat. “Looks ready. Let’s see if the Empress can keep this down—”
“Because it’s really exotic food,” I quickly added.
Kentarch cocked his head at me, probably wondering why I hadn’t confessed about the baby.
Jack took my skewer from me to blow on it before handing it back. “This’ll be good. Good for you too.”
I took my first exploratory bite. Lion meat tasted like a cross between pork and beef. “Not bad.” Even as Joules and Kentarch chowed down, they kept their eyes on me, as if expecting me to hurl.
But my stomach welcomed this meal like a long-lost love. I dug in, ravenous.
We all did. Jack rolled his eyes with pleasure. Joules had grease smeared over his cheek.
Regeneration fired throughout my body. Aches and pains dwindled as I healed. Energy filled me. Lion meat; who knew?
“Another round of skewers?” Joules asked.
“Absolutely,” Kentarch said. “We’ll save the rest. If we ration it, we’ll have meat for a few days.”
After our third helping, I grew sated and warm for the first time in weeks. Jack was here with me, and the future wasn’t nearly so bleak.
“Your color’s returning, peek?n. Amazing what one meal can do. How’re your powers? Come on, flex for me.”
Joules laughed. “Yeah, Empress, show us some vines.” Asshole. “Maybe some after-dinner strawberries?”
“My powers have been a little wonky lately.” Changing the subject, I said, “Did Matthew tell you where to find me?”
“Non. I knew you were at Domīnija’s castle, but he refused to come off the location before he ditched. He did leave me a message though, wrote it in soot. I figured if he took the trouble to write it, I should memorize it.” Clearing his throat, Jack said, “The Flash taught them that all dreams are nightmares. They became bad dreamers. All hail the bad dreamers as good.”
“What does that mean? Who’s he talking about?”
“You’re asking me?” Jack sipped his flask.
“So where had you been heading?”
“Up to Azey North.”
“To lead them?” That would make sense. As their general once more, he would’ve been able to recruit scouts to help search for me.
Yet he shook his head. “I just wanted to show my face, me. Not slink away like some coward.”
“Wait a minute. You weren’t trying to find me?”
Jack scrubbed a palm over his nape. “Matthew told me you were safe with Domīnija and your grand-mère. I wanted you to move on with your life.”
I couldn’t get enough air. “You were going to let me believe that . . . that you were dead?”
Kentarch stood. “We will allow you two to speak in private.”
“Feck that!” Joules said. “We’re just getting to the popcorn moment.”
Kentarch collared him and escorted him out.
Once we were alone again, Jack said, “I was goan to let you live in peace in that stronghold, the one Domīnija made sure to describe to me, the one with all the comforts I could never give you.”
“Remember how you and I talked about being a team? I asked you not to make decisions all on your own for both of us. But that’s what you did!”
“Matthew showed me visions of you in the aftermath of the massacre. I saw—no, I experienced—what you went through to bring me back. I felt you breaking for me, and I couldn’t let that happen again.”
Had he seen me rocking Tess’s skeletal corpse? “It wasn’t your decision to make.”
“I wanted food and warmth and safety for you. I could only give you more Ash. Hell, I figured I’d be dead soon anyway, so why upset you more? Evie, you looked like you were dancing on a razor’s edge.”