Dead of Winter
Page 19
His voice went gruff. “Piss off.” He ambled away.
Selena returned. “Got J.D.’s stuff.” She wore his crossbow strapped over her back and his bug-out bag slung over a shoulder. His rosary dangled from her free hand.
“You found the rosary!” Rose-ary. “Can I see it? And Jack’s bag?”
With a grudging look, she handed them over. I stowed the beads in my pocket, hugging the bag to my chest.
She slumped down beside me.
There Selena and I sat in the drizzle, shoulder to shoulder, as if nothing had come between us over these months. As if we were still on the same page.
As if we didn’t love the same man.
She said, “I couldn’t find the Lovers’ chronicles, though.”
“Their father must have them.” The battle had been close for me and the Archer, but the Lovers were now dead. So why wouldn’t my uneasiness fade? Yes, we still had the general to contend with, but how tough could a mortal be? “After tonight, will Milovníci continue terrorizing people?”
“Who can tell? All I know is he’s about to meet up with his kids real soon.”
When more soldiers closed in to gawk—at us, at the bodies, at the contraptions—that guy Franklin approached us. He’d ditched the gas mask, but it had left him with hat head. Gas mask head? “Is Deveaux going to be okay?”
“I think so. Thank you for asking.”
He toed a bloody clump of sawdust. “Are you his girlfriend?”
Selena raised her brows, as if she couldn’t wait to hear my answer.
“Jack and I went to school together.” For five days. “We met up after the Flash. I’m Evie. This is Selena. Sorry for the abrupt entrance before. We were on a clock.” When he nodded, I asked, “Do you know Jack?”
“I knew of him from the Louisiana reservist unit, before the Azey took it over. Made a real name for himself as a bow hunter. He destroyed hundreds of Bagmen and never wasted a bullet.”
The man that monsters should fear.
Selena told me, “We came across some guys from Canada who’d all heard of J.D. from different sources. But they said the number of Baggers was in the thousands.”
Was Jack growing into a folk hero?
Selena turned to Franklin. With her typical diplomacy, she asked, “The crank—who was attached to it?”
“A few months back, a couple of guys helped Deveaux escape the general’s firing squad.” Franklin looked away. “The twins tortured them since then. The last one alive was having his intestines pulled out inch by inch.”
That was what I’d seen. The slimy rope. Oh, dear God. The Lovers had tried to force Jack to turn the crank, to torment someone who’d saved his life.
“You never thought to help those men?” Selena demanded. “Or the four guys getting cooked into Baggers?”
Franklin’s shame was palpable. “I wanted to! But I’ve got a little brother in Azey North. He’s only twelve. Every time I stepped out of line, I risked my life—and his. There are spies everywhere.” He exhaled a long breath. “Or, there were. They bugged out, running north.”
“What will happen to the women here?” I searched the crowd for that hobbled lady.
“Per Deveaux’s orders, I’ve already seen to their release, protection, and provisioning.”
I frowned at him. “What orders?”
“He’s in charge now. In his messages, Deveaux promised to lead the white hats among us, the good guys who protect people in need.”
“Thanks, Franklin. I’ll tell him you asked after him.” When the man strode off, I turned to Selena. “In charge? Why would Jack entangle himself in all this? To help total strangers?” He’d protested whenever I’d done the same, insisting that we could only worry about ourselves and our own survival.
“When he assumes command here, we can liberate the other half.”
“That sounds like a ton of responsibility.”
Selena nodded. “He’s different now.”
I wanted her to unpack that comment, but other looky-loo soldiers clustered around us. When they stared at me and Selena, Joules wandered back our way, producing another javelin.
He paced, twirling it menacingly. Guarding us? “Oi! You wanna ride the lightning, my friend?” His electrified skin sparked in the drizzle.
“These soldiers can’t get enough Arcana,” Selena said. “Guys who handle lightning and girls who grow vines. Flying angels.”
“No one here saw me grow vines. Well, they did. But only before we went back in time.” Again, a sentence I never thought I’d say. “What a night.” My brain felt like mush. Like it was limping along. “Did you know any of the stuff about me and the Lovers? Were they telling the truth about the last game?”
“They weren’t lying.”
“That might’ve been good to know before I went in there to face them.” Why hadn’t Death told me?
She shrugged. “I considered telling you, but I didn’t want you to chicken out just because some army-backed serial killers planned to mutilate and murder you.”
Right. “How can you know for sure what I did back then?”
“It’s in my chronicles. In past games, the Archer would travel with an entire contingent, like war correspondents. They saw the Lovers’ remains. Definitely had the Empress’s stamp.”
The red witch’s stamp.
Selena examined her swollen arm. “Matthew should’ve told you this stuff. He should’ve warned J.D. about getting captured. How about a heads-up about the Priestess?”
“You can’t blame him. He’s doing the best he can. And maybe he tells us everything we need to know, but we fail at understanding.” Like I had when he’d told me about Tess manipulating time.
“How’d you fight the Priestess, anyway?”
“She sent water tentacles, so I choked them with my vines.”
“Tentacles? Evie, she could’ve swept you into the river like a guppy. Or crushed you with a tsunami. She was playing with you.”
Every time I identified the very last card we’d ever have to kill, another one popped up.
As if reading my mind, Selena asked, “You still think we can end all this?”
In a hushed voice, I said, “There isn’t a trues over here, and we’re worth four icons between us. But neither Joules nor Gabriel targeted us.”
“I can’t tell who’s crazier—you, for continuing to believe we can end the game, or me, for starting to believe you,” she said. “I never imagined someone like you would be a leader, other than a cheerleader.”
Selena returned. “Got J.D.’s stuff.” She wore his crossbow strapped over her back and his bug-out bag slung over a shoulder. His rosary dangled from her free hand.
“You found the rosary!” Rose-ary. “Can I see it? And Jack’s bag?”
With a grudging look, she handed them over. I stowed the beads in my pocket, hugging the bag to my chest.
She slumped down beside me.
There Selena and I sat in the drizzle, shoulder to shoulder, as if nothing had come between us over these months. As if we were still on the same page.
As if we didn’t love the same man.
She said, “I couldn’t find the Lovers’ chronicles, though.”
“Their father must have them.” The battle had been close for me and the Archer, but the Lovers were now dead. So why wouldn’t my uneasiness fade? Yes, we still had the general to contend with, but how tough could a mortal be? “After tonight, will Milovníci continue terrorizing people?”
“Who can tell? All I know is he’s about to meet up with his kids real soon.”
When more soldiers closed in to gawk—at us, at the bodies, at the contraptions—that guy Franklin approached us. He’d ditched the gas mask, but it had left him with hat head. Gas mask head? “Is Deveaux going to be okay?”
“I think so. Thank you for asking.”
He toed a bloody clump of sawdust. “Are you his girlfriend?”
Selena raised her brows, as if she couldn’t wait to hear my answer.
“Jack and I went to school together.” For five days. “We met up after the Flash. I’m Evie. This is Selena. Sorry for the abrupt entrance before. We were on a clock.” When he nodded, I asked, “Do you know Jack?”
“I knew of him from the Louisiana reservist unit, before the Azey took it over. Made a real name for himself as a bow hunter. He destroyed hundreds of Bagmen and never wasted a bullet.”
The man that monsters should fear.
Selena told me, “We came across some guys from Canada who’d all heard of J.D. from different sources. But they said the number of Baggers was in the thousands.”
Was Jack growing into a folk hero?
Selena turned to Franklin. With her typical diplomacy, she asked, “The crank—who was attached to it?”
“A few months back, a couple of guys helped Deveaux escape the general’s firing squad.” Franklin looked away. “The twins tortured them since then. The last one alive was having his intestines pulled out inch by inch.”
That was what I’d seen. The slimy rope. Oh, dear God. The Lovers had tried to force Jack to turn the crank, to torment someone who’d saved his life.
“You never thought to help those men?” Selena demanded. “Or the four guys getting cooked into Baggers?”
Franklin’s shame was palpable. “I wanted to! But I’ve got a little brother in Azey North. He’s only twelve. Every time I stepped out of line, I risked my life—and his. There are spies everywhere.” He exhaled a long breath. “Or, there were. They bugged out, running north.”
“What will happen to the women here?” I searched the crowd for that hobbled lady.
“Per Deveaux’s orders, I’ve already seen to their release, protection, and provisioning.”
I frowned at him. “What orders?”
“He’s in charge now. In his messages, Deveaux promised to lead the white hats among us, the good guys who protect people in need.”
“Thanks, Franklin. I’ll tell him you asked after him.” When the man strode off, I turned to Selena. “In charge? Why would Jack entangle himself in all this? To help total strangers?” He’d protested whenever I’d done the same, insisting that we could only worry about ourselves and our own survival.
“When he assumes command here, we can liberate the other half.”
“That sounds like a ton of responsibility.”
Selena nodded. “He’s different now.”
I wanted her to unpack that comment, but other looky-loo soldiers clustered around us. When they stared at me and Selena, Joules wandered back our way, producing another javelin.
He paced, twirling it menacingly. Guarding us? “Oi! You wanna ride the lightning, my friend?” His electrified skin sparked in the drizzle.
“These soldiers can’t get enough Arcana,” Selena said. “Guys who handle lightning and girls who grow vines. Flying angels.”
“No one here saw me grow vines. Well, they did. But only before we went back in time.” Again, a sentence I never thought I’d say. “What a night.” My brain felt like mush. Like it was limping along. “Did you know any of the stuff about me and the Lovers? Were they telling the truth about the last game?”
“They weren’t lying.”
“That might’ve been good to know before I went in there to face them.” Why hadn’t Death told me?
She shrugged. “I considered telling you, but I didn’t want you to chicken out just because some army-backed serial killers planned to mutilate and murder you.”
Right. “How can you know for sure what I did back then?”
“It’s in my chronicles. In past games, the Archer would travel with an entire contingent, like war correspondents. They saw the Lovers’ remains. Definitely had the Empress’s stamp.”
The red witch’s stamp.
Selena examined her swollen arm. “Matthew should’ve told you this stuff. He should’ve warned J.D. about getting captured. How about a heads-up about the Priestess?”
“You can’t blame him. He’s doing the best he can. And maybe he tells us everything we need to know, but we fail at understanding.” Like I had when he’d told me about Tess manipulating time.
“How’d you fight the Priestess, anyway?”
“She sent water tentacles, so I choked them with my vines.”
“Tentacles? Evie, she could’ve swept you into the river like a guppy. Or crushed you with a tsunami. She was playing with you.”
Every time I identified the very last card we’d ever have to kill, another one popped up.
As if reading my mind, Selena asked, “You still think we can end all this?”
In a hushed voice, I said, “There isn’t a trues over here, and we’re worth four icons between us. But neither Joules nor Gabriel targeted us.”
“I can’t tell who’s crazier—you, for continuing to believe we can end the game, or me, for starting to believe you,” she said. “I never imagined someone like you would be a leader, other than a cheerleader.”
