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I sighed. “He is that. Have you two talked about this more?”

Jack shrugged. “We’re at war. Soldiers fall. He’s making contingencies.”

Always with the contingencies. The Chariot had made two supply runs in the last few days, preparing us to ride out a nuclear winter—and defend ourselves—at both sites.

Upon meeting Lark, Circe, and Tee, Kentarch had been polite but restrained, and he’d been eager to return to the hangar.

Aric hadn’t invited any other Arcana here, not that Joules wanted to come. Yet Sol did. The history grad student had heard from Gabe about all the treasures Aric had amassed in his immortal life, and the Sun burned to see them.

But Aric had reminded me, “I was wearing my armor when Sol used his power against me, and still I sensed the potential devastation of his rays. At close quarters, he could take any of us down in seconds. . . .”

I told Jack, “I believe Richter’s going to come here. I got away from him once, and I escaped Zara before she stole my luck. They won’t let me out of their crosshairs again.”

“Doan disagree. And they woan need the calls to find you guys. Kentarch told me there are vines all around the castle now. Zara will spot you on a flyby sooner or later, if her luck holds. And I reckon it will.”

“I thought about retracting the vines, but with this weather, Lark can’t do a whole lot of surveillance. Sometimes those vines are our only PEWS.”

Jack’s lips curved. “More evidence you listened to me a time or two, huh?”

I returned his grin. “On occasion.” Yet then I narrowed my gaze as a thought occurred. “You and Aric are way ahead of me, aren’t you? You’re already planning for the showdown to happen here.”

“I suspect the castle’s goan to be our field of battle. I hope it is. If Sol melted the river there, Circe could be an asset. Lark’s got nine giant wolves, and you’ve got all your vines growing. Richter’s goan to step in it, if he’s not careful.”

Sadly, we still had Fortune to deal with too. The subject was exhausting, so I changed it for now. “You’ve been busy, huh? How does it feel knowing you might be a Minor?”

“I go back and forth on believing it might be true. I’m landing more on not. Matthew said that I wasn’t an Arcana, and I still feel like ole Jack Deveaux. I got no superpowers or miraculous skills, so to hell with it.” He ran his fingers through his hair. My Jack didn’t like things unsaid or unknown.

“I heard the Swords weren’t fans of mine.” Aric had told me I’d been on their hit list, just as Matthew had warned.

“They got led astray when it came to you.”

“You remember what I told you about my bottomless well of rage? I am a threat to the world. The Swords were right.”

“You are good, Evangeline, down to your soul. I will always believe that.” He was so vehement that I almost believed it too.

Almost. “Who had the Swords favored to win?”

Jack hesitated, then admitted, “Death.”

A wise choice. Maybe we should heed them. I didn’t want Aric to be burdened with more immortality, but I also didn’t want to destroy the planet.

Jack asked me, “How do you feel knowing I might be a Minor?”

I adjusted Tee in my lap and debated how to describe my fears. “I worried that you might have been drawn to me because of the game. After all, you’ve been thrown in my path repeatedly, ever since we got paired up for that history project.”

“Thrown? Ah, Evie, I’ve been seeking you out any which way I could.”

“Then how did we find each other out in the Ash?”

“We were both heading down the only cleared road, toward the sole rumor of food in the area. When so few of us are left, we’re goan to run into each other.”

I wasn’t convinced. “I guess I worry your feelings were, I don’t know, manufactured or something.”

“I wondered about that for a nanosecond. Then I pulled out my trusty cell phone and scrolled to my favorite picture, one of you watching a sunset at the Gulf. As I looked at that pic, I knew two things. I’m in love with you—game or not, Minor or not—and more, you’re in love with me. I doan think the game likes that, any more than it likes you and Dominija in love with each other. You and I feel this way despite the strength of the game, which makes our bond even more unexpected.”

He had a point, as compelling as ever. I missed him so badly, couldn’t stand this separation. I’d comprehended that I would always feel incomplete without both him and Aric in my life, but I hadn’t yet accepted that fact. “Then why won’t you come visit us on Kentarch’s next run? Not seeing you weighs on me.”