tent. How close were we cutting it?
He situated his crutch over his lap. Aged stickers of cats decorated the metal parts. Who had it once belonged to? âSo an Empress, a horse, and a wolf walk into a fort. . . .â
âIf this is a dirty joke, Iâll pass.â Iâd missed the Magicianâs humor. Tilting my head at him, I said, âYou donât look so good, Finn.â
Was there even a spare Advil to be found? Selenaâs arm had to be hurting her too, but with her extensive training, she probably knew Jedi tricks to limit pain.
âI feel like a bucket of fuck, but Iâll be ready,â he assured me. âRight, Matto?â
âReady Magician!â
I sat on the other bench. âI heard you took a header off a ridge.â
âH to the Azey. That army blows Baggers. My bear-trap injury never quite healed up. Didnât take much to rebreak my leg. Selena was worse off, though. She broke her arm in two places, cracked her ribs, and fractured her collarbone.â
Just a week ago? Iâd suspected she had accelerated healing.
âSomehow she dragged me back to the fort.â
For Selena to refrain from killing Arcana was one thing. Quite another for her to save another card. Sheâd shown loyalty to someone other than Jack.
I guessed she and Finn had smoothed over their animosity.
âGood thing Iâm dying young,â Finn continued in a nonchalant tone, âor Iâd be shit out of luck with this bum leg.â
âDying young?â He wasnât kidding.
âMade peace with it.â He shrugged. âKind of think we all should.â
âBecause of the game? We donât know that yet.â As I spoke, another gust howled, drilling horizontal rain against the metal walls.
Finn looked up warily. âNot just because of the game.â
After three months of near constant downpours, the weather was shifting. Occasionally, weâd get hurricane-force windsâand a fog so thick it bordered on tangible. âHave you guys gotten snow here yet?â I thought Iâd spied a single flake the night Iâd left Aric.
âNot looking forward to that. SoCal surfer boy here, remember? Just think: if the snow comes down like the rain has . . .â
âSnowmageddon!â Matthew cried, cracking both of them up.
âYeah, Matto, that groundhog came out to check for nuclear winter. But then a Bagger ate him!â
He almost had me laughing. As soon as I got Jack safe.
Finnâs demeanor turned serious again. âEves . . .â He opened his mouth, closed it, then frowned at the wolf. He probably wanted to talk about Larkâwithout her overhearing.
Iâd help him out. âThereâs a medic whoâs taking good care of her.â
He nodded, but a question lingered in his gaze. He peeled at a sticker of an orange tabby.
âShe felt terrible about how everything went down,â I told him. âWhen she realized youâd survived the mine collapse, her entire face lit up. Her eyes watered. She was as into you as you were into her.â
âWeâre here for a mission, peopleââSelena swept insideâânot group therapy.â
Gabriel was right behind her, watching the Archerâlike a hawk.
She assessed me. âYou gonna have enough juice for this? Donât see your glyphs.â
My Empress power gauge. âIâll have enough.â Since emotions fueled my powers, I feared Iâd have too much. âAnd you?â
Under her jacket, she wore a pistol holster; over it, an arm sling. A sword belt circled her narrow waist. âI got a Glock and a cutlass. Consider my swash buckled.â
Joules barged inside, his skin sparking with anger. AC/DC. âYouâre really goinâ to do this?â he demanded of Gabriel. âInfiltrate an enemy camp with a bowless Archerâand an untrustworthy Empress? How do you know she