Abrupt--STOP.
For a moment I was relieved just to be still, until I realized all I could see was blackness. Cocooned in snow. No air.
Panic surged. Which way was out? Where was up? Head spinning, I dug frantically . . . .
A javelin pierced the cocoon beside me. Frenzied, I changed direction and dug toward that spear.
Joules hauled me out. Sprawled on my back, I sucked in greedy breaths. Air never tasted so good.
Coated in powder, Joules said, "You were digging the wrong way."
Then he'd just saved my life. My sense of direction never failed to fail.
He motioned toward my shoulder. "Sorry about stabbing you."
Blood had stained the snow, but I didn't feel the numbed injury. Cold and adrenaline were great painkillers. Making it to my knees, I surveyed our new surroundings. We must've traveled a mile down that mountain, landing in what looked like a ravine. Was this an old road?
My stomach lurched again. Oh, no, not now.
I wobbled to the side and threw up.
"Do that on your own time. We've got to move."
I vomited till my stomach was empty. Wiped my mouth. Took three tries to get to my feet.
The sound of howls spurred me. The wolves were well beyond Paul's boundary, which meant they'd never stop until they'd caught us.
Crunch, crunch. Wolves gotta eat. Now it would be my bones.
Joules and I staggered along the ravine. "Any ideas, Tower?"
"Yeah. Avoid them." He pointed in front of us. Large eyes glowed in the darkness. Scarface was blocking our exit.
In rapid succession, Joules launched three javelins. When the wolf beat a hasty retreat, Joules yanked me around in the other direction.
"Running out of juice here." He must have burned through a hundred javelins. His skin no longer sparked. "Anytime you want to throw in some vines, Empress."
"I'm tapped out from fighting the others."
"Come on, you've got to be sandbagging. You canna manage one bloody petal?"
"I'm pregnant, okay?"
He gave a mad bark of laughter. "Who's the unlucky father? Death? You're takin' the piss."
"Just shut up and run, you fucking leprechaun! Scarface will be back. And there are hundreds more . . ." I trailed off.
Up ahead, eyes glowed from another animal blockade. Maneater and company were in front of us. Scarface's growl sounded from behind us.
We were trapped.
As Maneater licked her drooling chops, Cyclops limped forward to join her. Again I spied something like confusion in his eye. The wounds I'd given him earlier still poured blood.
"We're surrounded." Joules opened his palm, but nothing appeared. He stared down at his hand in bafflement. "Tapped out? Never happened in me life."
"Where's the fecking Lord o' Lightning?"
"I've never been starving before!" He made a fist. With a yell, he opened his hand again. Nothing.
As the wolves on both sides closed in, Joules and I stared at each other.
I needed the red witch; I needed rage. All I could manage were exhaustion and resignation.
Aric would never forgive himself for this. Never. He would somehow win the game--he always won--and he'd live as penance till we could be together again.
"Any last words, Empress?"
"Look on the bright side, Joules. You're so prickly, they'll choke on you."
His lips curled into a gallows grin. "And you'll poison 'em--"
Headlights beamed into our eyes.
11
A huge truck barreled along the ravine floor. Scarface whirled around, snarling at the new threat.
IMPACT. A deafening yelp sounded as he went somersaulting through the air. Joules and I dropped to the ground, dodging his claws.
The wolf collided with Maneater and Cyclops, a gigantic wrecking ball. They tangled into a heap of limbs.
The truck window rolled down. As my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I spied a man with intense eyes, a beret, and sigh-worthy cheekbones.
Kentarch! His tableau shimmered over him, a helmeted warrior driving a horse-drawn chariot--and it was right-side up. "Get in the back," he commanded in a deep, accented voice.
Joules and I scrambled to the passenger door. I yanked on the handle. Locked.
"The far back," he enunciated.
The Tower and I shared a look, then headed for the truck bed. He was still hauling me over the tailgate when Kentarch floored it, spraying snow. Ahead, the wolves leapt to their paws and darted out of his way.
The lights mounted on the cab roof illuminated a mass of animals swarming behind us. Kentarch raced the truck like a chariot, and the ride was just as smooth--in other words, not at all. We bounced along, the large tires airborne more often than not.
Canvas netting covered crates in the back; Joules and I clung to the net for dear life. Sweat and blood on my face began to freeze.
Joules muttered curses as he wrestled to hold on. "He's the Chariot?"
I nodded. Aric called Kentarch the Centurion because of past games. But our cards did evolve--if we survived this wild ride, I'd never think of Kentarch as anything other than the Chariot.
"You know this bloke? Trust him?"
"I know of him. Never met him before. He allies with Aric."
"And the Reaper wants you dead."
I bit out, "Any suggestions?"
The back window whirred open. "What is happening at the castle?" Kentarch asked, sounding as calm as Aric had when chased by missiles. "I was invited there, yet a war zone greeted me."
I released my handhold and crawled toward the window. "Death and the others have been brainwashed by the Hanged Man. I'll tell you all about it. You mind if we climb inside?"
"Yes." The window closed, leaving a slender gap.
Dick! It wasn't as if I'd killed him in the past. Oh, wait.
Joules yelled, "We've got company!"
I jerked my head around. The wolves had regrouped, were tearing over the landscape. Scarface led the pack, closing in fast. He tensed like he was about to lunge for us. I cried, "Punch it!"
Kentarch gunned the engine; the wolf missed by inches, jaws slamming shut around air. SNAP.
As we sped faster, birds and bats dive-bombed the truck, splattering themselves across the windshield.
What was that up ahead? My foggy mind registered the sight: A bear had just tromped onto the narrow road through the ravine.
This was no normal bear--Lark must've fed it her blood when it was a cub. Which meant the thing had grown to be gargantuan, nearly as tall as Ogen.
She'd already had a bear. What else had she raised that she hadn't told us about?
The beast reared up on its hind legs, stretching its arms wide, claws gouging both ravine walls. No way around it. No way to reverse.
Joules opened his free hand, willing another javelin to appear. "Bloody feck, mother, bloody feck." When he came up empty, he yelled to Kentarch, "Ram it! If we can get past it, the road opens up."
"Are you crazy?" I cried. "It's way bigger than a wolf. It'll crumble this truck." Even if we survived the collision, the other beasts would just descend on us.
"I'd rather die in a crash than from fangs."
Through the crack in the window, I thought I heard Kentarch calmly say, "This will hurt."
I clutched the side of the truck, bracing for impact yet again. Sooner or later, my luck would run out. I was betting on now.
Even the birds must have sensed the impending collision--they eased off their assault, circling above the roadway.
Joules began reciting the Lord's Prayer, then broke off to do a countdown: "Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . FECK!"
But the crash I expected didn't happen. Shivers raced over me. Time seemed to slow. Suddenly we were surrounded by the bear--we were . . . inside the bear.
Its mighty heart thundered right before my eyes. Tha-thud. Tha-thud. Real or unreal? We moved past as if in slow motion.
Just as we sta
rted to clear the massive body, those shivers returned, and the truck solidified--while the tailgate was still in the bear.
It exploded from the pressure. Gore and chunks of fur spewed into the air. Blood splashed the back of the truck.
"Wh-what happened?"
"Boyo up there teleported this entire truck through the bear. And there's a sentence I never thought I'd say."
I'd seen . . . its heart. Kentarch had moved the mass of this vehicle--through the mass of that bear. No wonder Aric had been so excited to have this ally joining him.