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Plus, I felt a deep gratitude to him for saving Evie from Richter's attack.
"You must want her back," Kentarch said. "Will you pursue her?"
She haunted me more than ever. Seeing her again just made it all the worse. But she expected to get Dominija cured--which meant she expected to return to him. I told Kentarch, "I'll end up doing whatever's best for her. Story of my life with that one. You ever been in love?"
He gave a humorless laugh. "You could say that. My wife, Issa, and I were separated months ago. I've been searching for her ever since. I came to this castle for assistance in finding her."
Bonne chance, Kentarch. Good luck, because his Issa was most likely long dead.
As we neared the dome, I unstrapped my crossbow. Just beyond the boundary, Evie's fortification loomed, a frozen forest of towering thorn plants. The foreboding branches seemed to move under the wavering yellow light.
This place reminded me of tales my mother used to read to me, of enchanted winter forests filled with magic and evil villains.
Only this was real.
Snow trails meandered throughout, forged by what had to be large animals. Another grizzly? I checked my bolt-action clip of arrows, knowing it'd take more than this to bring down something so big.
In a hushed tone, Kentarch said, "If Fauna is awake, she will be able to scent you. Should her beasts give chase, your only hope is to make it back here to me."
I nodded, not looking forward to an encounter with overgrown wolves--or worse. "No pressure." More snow started to fall. Merde. This wasn't exactly my preferred hunting environment, and the cold was making my bad leg stiffen up. "I'm heading in." In case something happened to me, I turned to give him a last message for Evie but decided against it.
If I died on her twice, no message was going to fix that wound.
"Be wary, hunter," Kentarch murmured. "All manner of creatures prowl within."
I crossed the boundary, heading into the thorn forest. Vertigo seized me and sweat started to bead my skin. I felt almost drunk. Not surprising. I hadn't eaten in days.
I shook my head hard. A successful take could mean the difference between my girl living or not. Stay sharp, Jack. I'd done this all my life. Even before the Flash, my survival had always depended on my ability to hunt. Clotile's survival and ma mere's as well.
As I eased deeper into the thorns, I began to hear bird calls. Dozens of them nested on high branches. A jackpot of animals!
We're goan to eat good today. I raised my crossbow. Took aim--
WHOOSH. They scattered in a frenzy of feathers, squawking a retreat. I stilled. What had spooked them? Was Lark on to me?
An unsettling quiet fell over the forest. All my senses told me danger lurked, but I continued forward anyway. Those fowl would have to set down somewhere.
I sucked in a breath when I saw large tracks ahead. Wait . . . my own footprints? I'd gone in a circle, me? I swiped sweat from my brow. Jack Deveaux doan get lost.
Not even in enchanted forests.
I peered closer and spotted a second set of prints, almost as large as my own. Those tracks followed alongside mine. Some animal I didn't recognize, something with size to it, was stalking me.
Chills skittered up my back. I straightened, muscles tensed. Finger on the crossbow trigger. I ain't the hunter here anymore--
A roar sounded in the branches above me. I pivoted, swinging my bow up.
Golden eyes gleamed in the dark. A flash of fangs as a beast sprang for me. I fired.
Before I could shoot again, a weighty body crashed into the snow, not inches from my boots. My arrow jutted from one of its eyes.
A lioness! She looked to be a couple hundred pounds. No wonder all the other game had scattered.
My gaze darted as I shouldered my bow. How to get my prize back to Kentarch?
I would be getting it back. We could feed on it for days.
A shriek sounded from the castle. Lark! She must've sensed the kill. Adrenaline spiked my veins. No way I was leaving this lion. I bent down and grasped the carcass under its front legs, maneuvering it for a fireman's carry.
Now to rise. Damn it, I could haul this beast from here. I'd lifted Matthew. But that had been before my injury.
Come on, legs, doan fail me. With a yell, I hoisted it up and across my shoulders. My knees knocked, my bad leg screaming. But I took a step forward.
One foot in front of the other . . . for Evie . . . one foot . . . Lungs squeezing for air, head spinning, I pushed on.
Halfway there. I hoped.
Behind me, creatures gave chase. Their roars and howls were spurs to my back. Another surge of adrenaline. One foot . . . one foot . . .
Just outside of the hazy sphere, I caught sight of Kentarch. His jaw was slack. "You took down a lion? With a crossbow?"
A whistle sounded in the air behind me. I knew that pitch. Gabriel was gunning for me.
Closer to the boundary, closer.
"The Angel is diving for you!" Kentarch held out his hand, even as his gaze was focused on the sky behind me. "Drop the dead weight, you madman!"
No way. Digging into the last of my reserves, I forced my burning muscles to keep going. For Evie. For Evie. Faster, Jack! Boy, doan you know how to run?
From far too close, Gabe yelled, "You're mine!"
I vaulted the last few feet past the border, collapsing forward into the snow. Kentarch dragged the lion off me, then lugged me several more feet away from the dome.
"Ahhhh!" Gabe bellowed his fury. His wings swirled snowdrifts as he reversed direction.
Heaving breaths, I scrambled around to face him.
The Archangel hovered at the edge, fangs and talons bared. "Greet me properly, hunter. Come shake my hand." His wings were much larger than before, and now a lethal-looking claw jutted from each joint.
I croaked out, "Pass."
Eyes crazed and hair wild, he looked like a psycho version of himself. If this shocked me, how stunned had Evie been when Dominija turned on her? She was lucky to be alive.
Gabe turned to the Chariot. "Join us, and we shall find your wife for you."
Was Kentarch tempted by that offer? I called, "Doan you want to know how Joules--your loyal ally--is doing
out in the Ash? I'll tell the Tower you asked after him."
Gabe barely glanced at me, attention on Kentarch. "You do not have to join our alliance. Simply bring us the Empress, and we shall unleash all of Fauna's creatures to locate Issa."
I didn't like that a bit. I rose with difficulty and slapped Kentarch's shoulder. "We got to go, podna." A chorus of howls sounded. "He's just stalling for Lark."
"You're correct." Kentarch clamped my arm and the lion's neck. "I still can't believe you bagged a lion."
Between breaths, I wheezed, "What? Like it's hard?"
His lips twitched. "Come, hunter."
As he began to teleport us, I glanced back at Gabe--just as his wing claw lashed out from behind the sphere.
Air whistled across my throat as we disappeared. The Archangel had missed my jugular by millimeters.
20
The Empress
I paced the cave, using calories I didn't have. I'd started hyperventilating, imagining all the things Arcana could do to Jack.
Snarling wolves, Gabriel's talons, Aric's unnatural strength and speed. If Jack faced the Endless Knight, he would die. With one sword strike, I would lose both of them forever.
Joules sat by the fire. "How do you plan to tell ol' Jackie boy you're in the family way?"
"That will be a good problem to have." I pinched my temples. "I can't do this again."
"You're still in love with the Cajun."
My eyes watered. "Of course I am! We didn't break up, Joules. He was stolen from me."
"So now what are you goin' to do? You got Death's unholy spawn in you."
No matter what had happened, I would still try to save Aric, just as I'd endeavored to save Jack. Both had earned my loyalty.
As long as one didn't harm the other.
"In case you were wondering, my vote goes to the hunter."
"Maybe Jack found someone else out there. We haven't seen each other in months." How long had he been enslaved?
"Come on, Empress. It's not like females grow on nonexistent trees these days. Even if they did, Jack's a goner for you. Gabe, Tess, and me were in and out when he built Fort Arcana. Every day, he was praying he'd get you back and keep you safe inside it."
My tears fell.
"Of course, whichever one you choose, you got to get back into the castle. Why don't you go with the Cajun, and then we take over the place? Jack's good with strategy."
