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I watched him walking away, knowing how difficult this must be for him. Hey, Reaper, time for your wife to talk to the other guy she loves.

The call rang moments later. Nervous about seeing Jack after so long, I scooped up Tee and rushed to answer.

Jack’s heart-stopping smile on the screen made my cheeks flush. Sol must be shining away, because Jack was as tan as he’d been in high school, his gray eyes vivid. When I regained my equilibrium, I said, “Well, well, the Cajunland player. You look amazing.”

He grinned. “I let Sol cut my hair and style me with some of the clothes here. Glad you approve. And look at you.” His gaze darkened hungrily as he said, “Um, um, um, Evangeline, never knew I had a thing for redheads.”

My cheeks grew flushed from his tone. Not everyone had been a fan of the red strands that kept appearing. Lark cast my hair wary glances, while Circe just sighed.

“Lemme see this kid I keep hearing about.”

I held Tee up to stand in my lap. “Can you believe he’s almost three months old?” The castle of lost time was living up to its name.

“Bonjour, p’tee garçon!” He smiled at Tee, the skin around his eyes crinkling. “I’m your godfather, little podna.”

Tee stared at him with fascination. Then he bounced up and down on his chubby legs, showing his excitement.

Jack laughed as if he’d done backflips off a high dive.

I gave Tee a teether to play with, and he happily leaned back to chew and listen.

“From the photos you sent, I thought he was a dead ringer for Death, but I see some of you in there too. How’s Dominija doing with all this?”

“Enjoying fatherhood in what he believes is his limited time left.” I could all but feel another strand of hair turning red at the thought.

Earlier today, the weather had relented, so I’d bundled up Tee to play in the snow while Aric rode. He’d lifted his son into his arms atop the horse, making Tee laugh with delight, while I’d snapped photos like a pre-Flash mom.

Something new I’d learned about Aric: he was self-conscious about having his “likeness taken.” The moment had turned bittersweet for two reasons. One, Aric had stoically allowed pictures of himself because he wanted me to have mementos of him. And two, I’d realized I would need a lifetime to learn everything about my husband.

“How are you, peekôn?”

Honestly? “A little less apocalyptic now that I’m talking to you.”

“I heard you got a new houseguest. What’s it like with Circe there?”

“I feel better knowing that she’s here with us and safe. And she’s already recovering some.” As if to illustrate, a loud splash sounded from the pool room. “She’s going to work on a memory spell for the next game.” If Jack was a Minor, would he reincarnate for a future contest? No one knew. “We’ll be treated to actual witchcraft around here. She might even include me in the spell.” Progress!

“Never dull, is it?”

I had to smile. “Not for long. So how are the guys doing?” I asked, skirting around the subject of Jack’s new discovery.

“I’m learning a lot about this crew. Sol misses Spanish beaches. Gabe watched his first movie last night—The Terminator—and his wings fluttered with tension the whole time. Joules grieves his big family back in Ireland just as much as he grieves Calanthe.”

“And I know what Kentarch grieves. It hasn’t lessened at all, has it?”

“It woan.”

“No,” I softly agreed. “It won’t.”

“But life’s as good as we can expect here. Sol’s already growing grain to feed us and the livestock you guys sent. And yesterday he unfroze a nearby lake and warmed the water so much that we took a quick swim.”

“No way. That must’ve been like a dream.”

“With the Bagger King on our side, we had no worries about one snagging us from the deep. First time I took a voluntary dip since you and I played in that pool.”

I remembered him taking my hand and leading me into Selena’s temporary house. We are home, Evie Greene! “That night feels like a lifetime ago.” We both fell quiet as we went awash in memories.

In time, Jack said, “So . . .” He pointed to my hair. “New mom ’do?”

“I’m feeling the red witch more and more. Like she’s readying for a fight.”

“Back in Jubilee, you said you feared what would happen if you faced off against Richter.”

“I did—and I do—but I’m starting to fear more what will happen if she doesn’t fight him.” Maybe I had my own one-way-ticket scenario. “Yet Aric’s planning to die in this game and give me and Tee to you, like he’d planned to award you his castle. He keeps acting like it’s olden times.” Take care of my family.

“He is an olden kind of guy.”