Aric slowly shook his head. “Do you truly think I’ll allow you to take her out of my reach? Straight into a meeting with soldiers? You’re deluded in your young age.”
Rodrigo said, “Uh, the conditions of the meet are that you come alone and unarmed, with no Arcana.”
Once the man had left, I told Jack, “I don’t like you going by yourself. Much less with no weapons. Let us follow you.”
“Tonight’s important, peekôn. You got to trust that I know what I’m doing.”
“In other words, the Empress should trust that you know who to trust,” Aric said. “If your co-conspirators betray you, our element of surprise will be gone. Surely Milovníci put a price on your head.”
“He did. I’m the general’s most wanted, and he ain’t d.i.c.king around. The bounty’s a woman, free and clear.”
My claws sharpened at the threat to Jack—and at the idea of a woman being pa.s.sed around like that.
“You bade the Empress flaunt her abilities, but not just to frighten those slavers,” Aric said. “You’re using us to secure power. Once freed, those men will disseminate information—that you shaped.”
Jack nodded. “There’ll come a time when soldiers are more afraid of us than of the general.”
“Wars are won by perception.” Aric stroked his golden stubble. “Again and again, I’ve witnessed this.”
“I let that rumor grow about me and the Bagmen because people want to believe that something like that can actually happen. They need to believe it.” A new story to tell. “Like they need to believe there’s a girl out there who can seed the ground, if they could just ease her wrath enough.”
“You’re turning her into a nature deity. With her own fables.” Aric’s tone wasn’t disapproving, more contemplative.
“Ouais. Right now I want as many people as possible to think I’m riding the countryside with life and death—”
Aric bit out, “You are.”
“—and that the two of them demand order.”
Headlights glared through the windows. Jack glanced past a curtain then back at me. “It’s them. Before I leave out, I’ll get you settled in a room.” He clasped my hand, leading me up the stairs. Over his shoulder, he enunciated to Aric, “Get her settled upstairs in a room—to herself.”
On the second floor, Jack headed toward a back bedroom. Blue walls with race-car wallpaper. “You stay in here with the door locked till I get back. Try to get some rest.”
“This is so important that you’ll let me stay here with Aric?”
“J’ai les mains amarrées.” My hands are tied. “You can’t imagine what’s on the line. Short of this, I’d never leave you. I trust you, but him? I put nothing past that Reaper.”
“I’m nervous about you going alone.”
“Traca.s.se-toi pas pour moi.” Don’t worry about me. “Are you goan to be safe here with him?”
I removed my pack and coat, tossing them on the bed. “You saw how he fights.”
“No, I mean safe from him. He woan try to steal you away?”
“He can’t, and he won’t. Remember what I did to the plague colony?” How could we ever forget?
Jack exhaled. “Promise me you woan let him guilt you into anything. It’s goan to be you and me, Evie. Just . . . just doan give me anything else to hurt on.”
In other words, don’t get with Aric. “I haven’t made any decisions. And until I do, I’m not doing anything—with anybody.”
“You mean that b.a.s.t.a.r.d’s still in the running?” Jack swiped his palm over his face. “I ain’t hearing this.”
“I can’t deny that I have a history with him.” And an Arcana connection.
The truck driver laid on the horn. No concern about attracting Bagmen?
“I got to go. But we will finish this later.” With a wince, Jack shrugged from his bug-out bag. He placed his bow on the bed and removed the guns from his holster. At least he still had his vest on. “Keep this transceiver.” He handed me the two-way radio. “I’ll take another one, so you can call me for any reason.”
I clipped it to my jeans pocket. “Reviens back sain et sauve. T’entends?” Come back safe to me. You hear me?
My use of French made his brows draw together. As if he couldn’t help himself, he gripped my nape and kissed me. Short. Heated.
He drew back just before I broke away. “Doan want to leave you. After tonight, I doan plan to ever again.” As he left the room, he murmured, “Nothing to hurt on, bébé.”
When Jack reached the first floor, I heard Aric say, “Rest a.s.sured, mortal. I’ll keep her safeguarded—and warm.”
“My gun. Your skull. Think about it.” The front door opened. Closed.
I locked myself in, then crossed to the window. An army convoy truck awaited. Two guys with machine guns hung off the sides, outriders ready to blow away anything that neared.
What was Jack heading into? Shoulders back, he strode past the array of bodies. With exaggerated movements, he opened one side of his jacket, then the other. To show them he was weaponless?
As he climbed into the cab, he gazed up at the window, giving me a chin jerk in farewell. I kept the truck in sight until the fog swallowed the taillights.
How could I not worry? Add it to my ongoing apprehension about Selena and Matthew. I fought the urge to reach out to him, to check on him. But if Matthew needed a break from me, I’d respect that.
I unzipped my pack and pulled out my sleeping bag, unrolling it against the wall. I’d just wondered what Aric was up to when he called from downstairs.
“Come to me, Empress.” I could hear the grin in his voice. “Why fight temptation?”
Curiosity seized me. But joining him would be a mistake. When he turned on his charm, he was seduction personified. The last time I’d been alone with him, he’d touched me with reverence, murmuring, This is joy I feel, is it not?
I called back, “Going to sleep.”
“Hmm. Your loss . . .”
I exhaled a huff of breath. d.a.m.n it.
29
Aric waited at the foot of the stairs, broad shoulders back, blond hair drying. The golden stubble on his chiseled jawline glinted in the firelight.
Too gorgeous for his own good.
“We’re in a house with electricity and food. If you don’t take advantage of all its offerings, someone less worthy will.” He had his helmet under one arm and a leather saddlebag slung over a shoulder. His version of a bug-out bag. What would a man like him pack?