My eyes darted to Jack. I could give him all the time in the world, and no matter how hard he worked, he could never match the situation at Aric’s. I thought Jack was coming to the same conclusion right at that moment.
“The Empress didn’t tell you what her new life was like?” Aric said. “How she was indulged in every way? She enjoyed fresh food daily and a cook to prepare it. She slept in her warm bed in a lavish tower filled with a new wardrobe and every imaginable amenity.”
Jack hadn’t been a fan of rich people before the Flash. I didn’t see that changing just because of the apocalypse.
“She had time to read and draw. In fact”—Aric leaned in, holding Jack’s gaze—“she used to dance for me every day.”
That muscle ticked in Jack’s jaw. He looked as pissed as he had when Aric first called me “wife.” But then Jack rallied: “It wasn’t like that at first, no. All that came after you got into her head. You think this ain’t Stockholm syndrome?”
“The symptoms are there.”
Jack blinked at Aric’s frankness. “Why doan you tell me what you did after you abducted her? Evie refuses to.”
“Very well. I made her walk for leagues, barefoot, coatless, and freezing. She was bound, so she couldn’t break her falls. All the while she never knew if or when I would kill her.” Aric’s bearing wasn’t proud by any means, but he seemed determined to own up to the wrongs he’d done.
It struck me; this was what forthrightness looked like.
He wasn’t finished. “I laughed when she mourned you and insulted her as often as possible. I blunted her powers with a cilice that cut into her arm every hour of every day. To get free of it, she had to persuade Fauna to claw her flesh off.”
My glyphs stirred as I remembered that pain.
Jack’s eyes had widened. “Part of me wants to punish you for all that. Part of me wants you to keep talking, keep digging your own grave with her.”
Aric exhaled wearily. “You’ve yet to understand what the truth is.”
“And what’s that?”
“Any harm I do to my pursuit of her is offset by my honesty. The Empress can handle anything but deception—because she must always know where she stands. She’s been like that since the beginning of time.”
He was right. I could handle losing some of my arm better than I could Jack’s lies to me: “No secrets. Except for how bad I want you.”
Jack wasn’t deterred. “Truth? Like how you told her about her mother—out of context? Bet you couldn’t wait to tell her that.”
“He didn’t, not for months,” I said. “And only when I put pressure on him.”
Aric moved in closer to me. “Had I done the same to her mother—and I would have without hesitation—the Empress would’ve heard of it firsthand.” In a tone as old as ages, Death said, “Mortal, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in all my years, it’s this: lies are curses you place on yourself.”
My lips parted. In that moment, I remembered why I’d started falling in love with Aric.
Inner shake. If only he’d learned in all his years not to coerce women into sex.
As if he’d read my mind (though I hadn’t felt his presence there), Aric asked Jack, “Do you know why she left me that night?”
“To rescue me!”
“I told her I could easily free you if she slept with me. I pushed her, and instead of surrendering to me, she drugged me to escape. So if you think I could ever get that woman to do something she truly doesn’t want to, you’re as mistaken about her as I was.”
Jack appeared to be grinding his molars. “And you tell me this too?”
“I take no actions that I wouldn’t publicly recount. If you can’t speak your deeds, then don’t do them.”
If Jack’s bravery was like a living thing inside him, Aric’s wisdom radiated from him.
Jack clearly didn’t know what to make of Death—an uncommon situation for the perceptive Cajun. Since Jack’s go-to response tended to be pure anger, with a side of action, I needed to defuse this.
“Look, guys, can we just secure the place? I’m exhausted.”
I must’ve sounded as tired as I was because Jack nodded. “Ouais. Come on, bébé.”
At the back of the laundry room was a door. A ring of keys hung from a wall peg beside it. They looked like old-timey jailor keys.
Jack raised his bow and flipped on all the light switches. “Stay back.”
Aric unsheathed one of his swords, tugging me behind him.
When Jack opened the door, fluorescent bulbs sparked to life in the freezing garage, illuminating the space.
I peeked around Aric. “Oh, my God. . . .”
28
“Must be twenty of them.” Jack lowered his bow.
Half-dressed men, all shivering.
Aric sheathed his sword. “They’re secured.” The prisoners had been shackled by the ankles to separate bolts.
“Secured?” I whispered. “Aren’t we going to free them?”
Both Jack and Aric shook their heads, then seemed annoyed that they’d agreed with each other.
“Just ’cause they got caught by slavers doan mean they’re innocent,” Jack said. “They could be rival slavers, murderers, rapists. They doan need to have filed teeth to be cannibals.”
Some of the men cast me unsettling stares. One ran his hand over his crotch as he ogled me. Ugh!