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But there was enough of the basics here for two players like Zara and Richter to uncover who they were and what was at stake.
Not long after I’d finished reading, Sol opened the passenger door and climbed into the cab.
I exhaled a weary breath. “Not good company tonight, Sun Card.”
“Because Death and the Empress had just had sex before you talked to them?”
My hand inched toward my bow. “You got a Bagger spying on them inside the castle?”
“No, I heard her. You forget that I spent time with her out on the road. She sounded Empress-y on the phone, so I figured she’d either just killed or gotten laid.”
“Maybe I came out here to lick my wounds.”
“Which I would love to do for you.” He gave me a slow once-over. “Every last one of them.”
“Barking up the wrong tree, Sol.” It struck me that this guy only acted carefree. Underneath all his swagger, he was just making the best out of his circumstances.
With a sigh, he said, “Forever amigos, never amantes. I understand.” Then his eyes clouded, turning filmy white, like a Bagman’s—a sight for this Cajun to get used to.
“You communing with one of your scouts now?”
“Sí.”
Sol could’ve melded with my mother like that. The idea stuck in my craw. Still, I couldn’t help but ask, “Did you order all your Baggers the world over to attack anything that moves?” Was that why ma mère had lunged for Clotile’s throat? I reached under my collar and ran my fingers over my rosary.
“I only control specific ones, usually those closest to me.”
“So why do they attack? What do you feel when you meld with them?”
He blinked, and his eyes cleared. “An all-consuming thirst—for blood.” He left me to sit with that, adding, “I made sure no Baggers would surround us here. Sometimes they’re attracted to me.”
“Seems like Richter would’ve burned them for fuel in a pinch.”
“They do not interest him. I think he also eats through burning, taking nourishment somehow—like a dragon of yore. I never saw him consume a meal or a drink, and I watched him a lot. He must not like the way Bagmen taste.”
The whiskey churned in my stomach. “Why couldn’t you use your powers on him and Zara? Surely you had a chance over these months.” Since we’d fumbled our own chance to strike and the trail had gone cold, maybe we should put those two on hold while we investigated a clue we’d uncovered tonight.
Sol shook his head. “Zara’s luck would have annihilated me before I reached my peak rays. Richter would have burned me on the spot. Remember, though I am a god, I have no super strength, healing, or advanced senses. Physically, I don’t differ much from a regular human. I mean, aside from my divine looks and flawless physique.”
“Heh.” I narrowed my gaze as a thought occurred. “How did you get away from them tonight?”
Grief settled over Sol, making him seem older than his years. “They were so caught up with torturing my Baggers, they didn’t notice me slip toward the elevator. Plus, Zachter never would’ve expected me to abandon my loved ones. My Bea and Joe were killed tonight, I’m sure.” His eyes glinted, and his voice roughened. “Por Dios, I loved them.”
“I’m sorry they’re gone. The people they’d been.” I offered him the bottle.
He accepted it, but just stared at it. “I have feared for some time”—his tone dropped to a whisper, as if he was about to blaspheme—“that they weren’t alive and that I couldn’t find a way to heal them. I had my followers working on a cure in Olympus.”
Should I tell him what Dominija had revealed to me about Bagmen? The whiskey said sure. “Sol, the Reaper can sense death, and he told me that Bagmen are gone. Forever. They’re just reanimated bodies.”
After a long pause, Sol took a swig, coughing against the burn. “It helps. Thank you for telling me that. I should never have kept them in that state for so long.”
“Can you, I doan know, deanimate them?”
He frowned. “No sé. I don’t know.”
“Those people wouldn’t want to be like that. They wouldn’t want to kill and turn others. You got to figure out how to let them rest.”
“Rest?” I imagined the mental wrestling inside him. “If they are truly gone, then yes, I will try.”
That finalized it. I’d keep him around. Once his grief ebbed and he’d come to terms with the truth, I’d get him to work on taking out Baggers.
He raised the bottle in my direction. “So tell me what happened to you after Richter’s attack on your army.”
With a shrug, I did.
Nearly a bottle later, Sol and I were pickled, and I’d told him about Selena saving me and coo-yôn’s rescue. I’d told Sol about Finn’s murder and the Hanged Man’s powers and defeat. I’d told him how I’d left Evie behind.
