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But I kept our plan and our alliance secrets close to the vest.

“Leaving pequeña with another man must have been hard.” Every day I regretted my decision, yet every day I recommitted to it. “She told me she loved two.”

“Ouais. Two.”

“I assume you want Evie to win—and I’m down with that—but what kind of future can she and the Reaper have? I mean, won’t he have to die? Won’t we all? The game will demand it, no?”

“What if we upended the game?”

Sol didn’t hesitate to say, “If it’s possible, we must do that. I’m not convinced that everything is going to miraculously come back once the last Arcana is standing. Maybe in the past, but this feels different.”

“Different how?”

“If Death can sense, well, death, I can sense the sun. It’s still there, rising each day and setting each night, but its light has been blocked. Corrupted. By what, I do not know. I think we’re in the midst of great magic—a divine curse, even.”

“Dominija and Gabe said the gods set the stage for this game. A tilted stage.”

“Sí, exactly! So how do we appease these other gods? Every Arcana dying but one? There’s got to be a better way.”

Heh. Other gods. “We need more information. Dominija will translate those chronicles. Could be something in there.” And the Minors might have intel. We already had a twenty on an entire suit. The Pentacles traded medical care and women at the Sick House.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the map at Richter’s. Had to know why he and Zara had spared Fort Colman. Were they treating it as a reserve of people to harvest, like the Hierophant had with his cannibal pantry? Or maybe the Pentacles had powers that even two Majors feared. If so, we needed to know what they were.

“I’m eager to hear what Death finds in those chronicles.” Sol swiped condensation from the truck window to gaze out at the night. Lightning made the low-hanging clouds look like fireworks were going off inside them. “You know, Evie gave me my first real taste of life out here in the Ash. She once yelled at me because I wouldn’t take clothes off a corpse.”

I had to grin. “I chewed her out for not plucking sunglasses off a body. Seems some of the grief I dished to her rolled downstream to you.”

“So she was trained by the best. I have to admit I’m excited to be out in the world with you guys. I have much to learn.”

Back to quarterbacking, me. And now I had one more Arcana on my roster, with new strengths for the playbook.

“What’s the plan, General?”

First thing? Get Kentarch to courier the chronicles to Death. I’d deal with the fallout from Joules. Second . . . “We got to fix this truck if we’re goan to stay on the move.” Dominija would have the parts we needed at the castle. Kentarch could pick them up when he dropped off the chronicles.

“And after that?”

The answer grew undeniable. “Recon. At the Sick House.”

14

The Empress

“Jack knew,” I told Aric when he returned from showering later that night.

“Pardon?” He wore only loose sweatpants, his muscular chest bare. Memories of our earlier time in this bed simmered.

I gave myself an inner shake to stay focused. “Jack knew we’d been together.” Ever since Aric and I had hastily made that phone call, I’d stewed with anger about his plan and guilt over my actions.

“Yes. He’s a very perceptive mortal.”

“He must have been so hurt.”

“As was I when Jack told me you’d resumed your relationship in Jubilee. He will learn to live with it. And he has much to occupy his mind right now.”

“Like his narrow escape from the Emperor and Fortune.”

“Among other things. He’s probably at this moment planning a trip to the Sick House.”

My eyes widened. “He wouldn’t go pick a fight with Minors.”

“Wouldn’t he? I’m not opposed to him and his crew investigating a potential threat to you. Remember, the Fool warned about at least two suits uniting against you. Plus, there is a slight chance that Jack might find a qualified doctor there.” Aric positioned his sword next to his side of the bed, then climbed in with me.

“What are you doing?” I pointed at his chair. “Off to your spot! I’m still pissed about your suicide plan.”

“I’m going to bed with my wife. We are—how would you put it?—back together.”

His take-charge attitude shouldn’t be this sexy. “Do I get any say?”

“No. Not after the way you reacted earlier. You needed me as badly as I needed you. Why should we deny ourselves what we both desire?”

As memories washed over me, I couldn’t quite formulate an answer.

“Be pissed from your side of the bed then,” he told me. “You’ll forgive me a little more when I take you later tonight and in the morning.”