Death waved that away. “Old habits die hard. But deep down she knows I will never again harm her.” He tilted his head at Jack. “Curious that you would decline an extra sword to protect the Empress, the woman you profess to love?”
“I woan ride with you, Reaper. And neither will Evie.”
“That would effectively doom the Archer. Shame. From what I heard, you now know how rough the Lovers play. The physical’s just a fraction of the damage they can do. Or so I’m told. Would you want that for our poor, dear Selena?”
Joules rushed into the stable. With a scathing look at Death, he told us, “Matthew was sayin’ some things that actually made sense, in between the droolin’ and crazy eyes and all. Said the three of you will ride out together, or she’s dead by week’s end.”
“Then we have no choice.” I told Jack and Aric, “You two are going with me, and we will save her.”
Joules quietly said, “No, lass. The three of you ride from here—or you die.”
22
As I followed Jack through the minefield, I chanced a look back at the fort.
Matthew had provided no more information about how I might have died there by week’s end. “Fate marked you,” he’d whispered, rocking on his cot. “Far from out of the woods, Empress. Fate demands her due.”
After that pronouncement, Aric and Jack had shut up and readied for the trip. I currently rode between them. Fitting.
I’d had time to grab bandages for Jack’s burn, and for a quick apology to Tess. I’d promised Gabriel that we would return with Selena. In a spur of optimism, I’d snagged her bow for the trip back. I’d hugged an unresponsive Matthew until I thought I’d break him.
Finn had sworn he’d take care of Matthew, and we’d left the wolf to protect them. Who knew if any other traitors had been planted?
Jack figured we could make it to Dolor in three days. Seventy-two hours to reach Selena. Would the twins truly wait until her arm had healed to begin torturing her?
The carnates had inflicted so much damage on Jack in such a short time. Shadows tinged his eyes that had never been there before. New secrets festered inside him that would never see the light. What had they done to him? I asked myself that over and over.
My thoughts were in turmoil, my mind overloaded by all the things happening to us. I’d freaking time-traveled hours ago.
Was this a hint of what it was like for Matthew?
Aric’s arrival just added to the chaos. As we’d exited the gates, he’d told me, —All I wanted was to return you to our home, yet now I find myself aiding my most hated enemy to save another card. You lead me on a merry chase, little wife.—
I peeked over my shoulder. His eyes were locked on me.
I faced forward, determined to ignore him. He might not have had malicious intent toward me; didn’t mean I’d forgiven him.
By the time the three of us had navigated the mines and the stone forest, rain began pouring. Jack pulled up the hood of his jacket. Without a glance back at me, he spurred his horse, setting a punishing pace.
As I followed, I wondered what we would encounter out on the road? Or when we faced the twins?
And how was I going to keep Aric and Jack from killing each other?
Jack was my boyfriend—maybe. If he hadn’t washed his hands of me for being hitched to Death, and if I could figure out how to trust him.
Aric was my lethal “husband”—a master manipulator, one who clearly had a trick up his sleeve.
Me, Jack, and Death on a mission.
What could possibly go wrong?
23
Our journey’s first stumbling block on the slaver route was like a macabre brainteaser.
One: a narrow dirt road is carpeted with layers of bloated corpses. Two: they died from drowning. Three: there are no rivers or lakes nearby.
After several hours of hauling ass, we’d stopped at the edge of the bodies. The rain had eased to a drizzle, the temperature dropping. That bizarre A.F. fog enveloped us, distorting ambient sounds and cloaking our way. “What happened here?” I’d thought I would welcome any chance to take a break. My migraine worsened with every mile, and I’d lost sensation in my limbs.
“Dam went out,” Jack said, without a glance in my direction. “Carried the dead down the ravine for miles and miles.”
Most of the victims were older men. Apparently, they’d managed to avoid slavers and the plague, then got wiped out by something they’d never seen coming—and couldn’t fight against.
We might be goan extinct.
Aric lifted his visor, revealing his glorious face. “I’ve seen this in other places. Catastrophic dam failure. The drought cracked the dams, and now we have nonstop rains. No one’s manning the plants, no one’s discharging overflows.”
“So this will keep happening.” A new post-apocalypse reality. “Why are the bodies laid out like this?” They formed a nearly level rise a couple of feet high and a hundred feet long, spanning the sides of the ravine.
“They’re probably lining much of this section of road.” Aric ran his gloved hand over Thanatos’s neck. “I suspect they’ve been here for weeks, entombed in silt, gradually uncovered by rain. We could be riding over others beneath this very layer of soil.”
Chilling. “We have to go across the exposed ones?” I didn’t see any way around it.
He nodded. “And it’s trickier than one would think. Corpses can roll unpredictably. Their skin is slippery and rotted. Sometimes the dead clutch things to them, like packs and weapons. Just follow me, and Thanatos will establish a track.” His massive warhorse had sharpened hooves. This ought to be interesting. And by interesting, I meant vomit-inducing.