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“It will fall to you.” Steam wisped around Circe’s face. “To take down Richter at this point, I would need to be in my ocean, my trident in hand and my temple surrounding me. But I can assist.”
I mentally muzzled the witch and made my tone neutral. “We’ll all need to work together, our powers complementing each other’s.”
Lark rubbed noses with Tee. “So when do you tell Jack he’ll be babysitting Unclean One Junior?”
“Jack won’t know he’s going to,” I admitted. “Not until it’s too late.” Kentarch would drop off Tee at the hangar, then teleport the other Arcana back for the battle.
Lark laughed. “Rough stuff, Eves.”
Circe frowned. “What happens if Kentarch perishes? How will you reach Tee once more?”
I had no answer for that. After all, the Chariot wanted to die. “As Jack would say, I have to kick the can—”
“Quiet.” Lark cocked her head, pointed ears twitching, and we fell silent. Even Tee’s gurgling stopped.
I finally heard what she had, a plinking noise—ting ting—that sounded like two icicles striking each other.
Ting . . . ting . . . ting . . . ting . . .
It grew louder and faster. We rose and eased closer to the pool house windows to peer out at the night. By the glow of lightning, we saw a sheet of ice spreading across the landscape like a horrific wind—heading for us.
TING TING TING TING—
“Run!” Lark screamed. With Tee in her arms, she sprinted across the pool house, Circe and me rushing after them.
“Lark, get Tee out of here!” Oh, God, Aric was outside. “Aric!” I chanced a glance over my shoulder.
Ice crystals fanned out over the windows, fracturing the glass. They coated the floor, freezing even the salt water of the pool. Circe’s beakers cracked, flames extinguished.
Tee cried as we sprinted up the stairs and barreled through the doorway. I threw vines at the door, slamming it behind us. As we backed away, frost radiated outward from the center. The stalks of green withered and fell to the floor, shattering.
Ignoring the pain, I threw more vines to create a barricade against the cold, until it stopped the onslaught at last. “Aric! Where are you?”
My knees weakened when I saw him speeding down the hall toward us.
“Sieva.” He took Tee from Lark, holding him close. “It’s okay, son. It’s okay.” Tee sniffled but calmed somewhat.
I clutched Aric’s arm, and he pulled me against him. What if Circe had been asleep by the pool? She would be dead right now. “What was that?”
“I don’t know. A freak weather front of some sort.”
Between breaths, Lark said, “Cyclops was out on patrol. He froze solid. I felt it. Nobody could survive that.” Her eyes turned red as she communed with another scout. “But now, the freeze is gone. It came as quick as a breeze and left just as fast.”
This apocalypse just kept on giving! “He’ll recover, right?” Cyclops was one of Lark’s familiars, should live as long as she did.
“Yeah. But if that freeze had hit the menagerie dead-on, I would’ve lost every animal in there.”
Had Aric shared a look over my shoulder with Circe?
She murmured, “The gods vent their wrath.” Just as Matthew had warned.
Aric exhaled a breath. “I’ll call the others and warn them to stay on guard.”
Lark sputtered, “Wait, you think that’s gonna happen again?”
He nodded.
“Then it’s game over, cats. Humanity’s days are numbered. . . .”
32
The Hunter
Day 867 A.F.
Some sound awakened me, and I shot upright in my bunk, fresh from a dream about Evie. I’d been having a lot of them in the two months since we’d talked.
I rubbed a hand over my face and glanced around the room. All the guys were sleeping, present and accounted for.
Today had been busy. Kentarch had used his abilities to teleport more stuff from the castle, including a ton of baby supplies. We now had a playpen set up for Tee and formula stockpiled.
Were Dominija and I scheming to protect Evie from herself?
De tout coeur. Wholeheartedly. When Richter attacked the castle, we’d make sure she was safe with Tee at this hangar.
Across the room, Kentarch rolled over in his bunk, and again, always uncomfortable. Sometimes he would sleep-teleport, disappearing from his bed without waking. Maybe he traveled to Issa’s grave. Or the spot where they’d first met.
He ached for something out of reach, which I understood. I missed Evie so bad, I thought I’d lose my mind—
“Kos? Do you read me? Please reply.”
Had I heard a woman’s voice on the radio? I tossed on more clothes and hurried to the station in the office. I snatched up the transmitter and pressed the button. “Hey, you there?”
“Who the fuck are you?” the woman said.
What a greeting. “Name’s Jack Deveaux.”
A laugh. “Kos found you! I’ll be damned. I’m Brunhilda, the Battle-Ax. And yes, that’s meant in all senses of the term. You can call me Brun.”
