26
" Maybe I . . . shouldn’t tell him what I thought I’d heard. Not until I knew more. How exactly would I put the revelation anyway? Jack’s alive, but apparently he kept that little detail secret. Ah, but Matthew spilled the beans! Buying myself time, I waved Aric on.
I was scarcely listening as he began talking about Paul, of all people. How the EMT had grown worried when I’d been shut in with my grandmother for so long. How I had lost weight and become listless. The man had pleaded with me to get a checkup, even offering to source contraception after Aric and I had started sleeping together.
Wait. I glanced up. “After?”
Aric nodded. “He said you told him you had no need of contraception.”
The hell? “I went to him and got a shot prior to us getting together. I told you about it.”
“As I told him in turn, but he swears that never happened.”
Real? Unreal? Had I . . . imagined my meeting with Paul? I’d already feared gaps in my memory; Gran had told me things that I’d had no recollection of. Was I now inventing memories?
Had I invented Jack’s return?
In a soothing voice, Aric said, “I’m not angry, love. Just talk to me.” He wasn’t the first person to look at me as if I’d gone insane, like I was trouble with the possibility of rubble.
Won’t be the last.
No. I refused this. I had heard Jack, and I had gotten that shot. “It did happen, which means Paul’s a liar.” But why would he lie? “I’m going to confront him.” In time. Right now, all I wanted was to hear from Matthew again.
Yet I frowned as a thought occurred. “Why would you be talking to Paul about contraception?”
Aric tucked my hair behind my ear. “Sievā,” he said gently, “do you not know you’re pregnant?”
Tick-tock. "
― Kresley Cole , Arcana Rising (The Arcana Chronicles, #4)
31
" You could be my goddess queen. Together, we’d build the largest settlement on earth! With your crops and my sun, we’d feed thousands. Between your thorns and my Bagmen, we’d maintain order.”
Order. Jack had wanted the same thing. I absently said, “That is something to think about. Well, except for the goddess queen part.”
“Don’t knock that part, pequeña. It’s my favorite detail about our future. We would do our duty and repopulate the world. Because we are givers. I, myself, would be devoted to giving.”
I quirked a brow at him. “No kids for me. Would you really bring children into a world like this?”
Eyes alight with playfulness, he said, “No. It was just an excuse to get in your pants.”
“Ugh. Behave. Or you’ll get a vine where the sun don’t shine. "
― Kresley Cole , Arcana Rising (The Arcana Chronicles, #4)
33
" Your future refuses to behave.” Coo-yôn yanked off the jacket he’d sourced for me. Up was down. Then he stepped back. And released me—
I toppled over, falling out of my seat onto the ground. Was the sosie dumping me on the side of the road? ’Cause I was about to die? “Now, let’s just talk . . . ’bout this, coo-yôn.”
He caught hold of my good ankle, then dragged me farther away from the truck. He’d hauled me into . . . a bank of snow.
Jack and I had marveled at the snow. I spun in circles as flakes fell, dizziness overwhelming me.
I’d known this was going to send me spiraling. Gasping for breath, I collapsed, tears streaking down my face.
I lay in the snow and lifted my hand to the sky. Flakes landed on my damp face. Each one was a cool kiss good-bye.
Lying in that bank of snow, I gazed up at the falling flakes. They drifted over my face. Soft, soft. Like Evie’s lips. With effort, I lifted my scarred hand to the sky. I closed my eyes and pretended my Evangeline was caring for me.
J’ai savouré. I savored each cold kiss. . . . "
― Kresley Cole , Arcana Rising (The Arcana Chronicles, #4)
34
" Empress.—
I tensed. Was that . . . Matthew’s voice? Why would he be in my head after all these months? How dare he contact me now! Leave me alone! A buzz in my ears grew louder and louder, like white-noise on steroids.
—Have a secret. He doesn’t want me to tell you.—
His eerie tone gave me chills.
Aric hurried around the truck, snatching open my door. He leaned in, cradling my face in his shaking palms. He was speaking to me with dread in his eyes, but I couldn’t hear a word.
Get out of my head, Fool!
—Listen.— A different voice carried into my mind: —“What kind of danger is she in? Damn it, tell me! What’s coming, coo-yôn?”—
I whimpered. Jack??? Is that you? He sounded so close.
Blood kept pouring. My breaths shallowed till I was hyperventilating, on the verge of blacking out. But I was desperate to hear more of his voice. Jack, please answer me! "
― Kresley Cole , Arcana Rising (The Arcana Chronicles, #4)
35
" Matthew watched my eyes, as if he knew exactly what was going on in my muddled thoughts.
I’d believed she would be better off going with Domīnija before I’d lost everything. Now I knew . . . if I truly loved my girl, I’d let her go.
She would never be Evangeline Deveaux. We’d never see the bayou come back to life. It wouldn’t always be Evie and Jack. My eyes blurred, but nothing was wrong with my vision.
I loved that fille more than my own life; this just proved it.
“I’m not goan to kill you right now, no,” I told Matthew, my voice thick. “But only ’cause you’re goan to swear never to tell her I survived.” I swallowed. “As far as Evie’s concerned, I’m buried under that rock.”
Coo-yôn nodded, then reached into his pack, pulling out . . . that cell phone and the tape player! Evie’s pictures, her voice. How’d he get those . . . ? Didn’t matter. The kid was giving me another crutch, right when I needed it most.
God, peekôn. Noble, for the record, cuts like a blade to the heart. . . . "
― Kresley Cole , Arcana Rising (The Arcana Chronicles, #4)
36
" My vision and lungs were clearing, yet my head and my heart still suffered, ’cause I knew I was running out of time to reach my girl. Urgency clawed at me, till I thought I’d go mad.
Did she remember that it’d always be Evie and Jack? That even death—or Death—couldn’t keep us apart? Would she remember how perfect it’d been between us?
With her, I’d known true peace for the first time in my life. Hadn’t she?
As coo-yôn and I covered miles, I’d craved that cellphone—with its pictures of Evie—and her taped recording. When I’d been separated from her before, I’d used her voice like a drug. Now I was a junkie needing a fix, but my pack had been stolen early on. Gone forever.
Matthew had sourced another one for me—up was down—but it was empty. Fitting. ’Cause I was starting over with nothing.
From behind the wheel, coo-yôn said, “You need her.”
“Tell me something I doan know.”
He frowned, taking me literally. “You don’t know the future. I see far. I see an unbroken line that stretches through eternity—and back on itself.”
“Uh-huh.” Just hold on, peekôn, I’m coming. "
― Kresley Cole , Arcana Rising (The Arcana Chronicles, #4)
38
" The Hunter:
“Your future refuses to behave.” Coo-yôn yanked off the jacket he’d sourced for me. Up was down. Then he stepped back. And released me—
I toppled over, falling out of my seat onto the ground. Was the sosie dumping me on the side of the road? ’Cause I was about to die? “Now, let’s just talk . . . ’bout this, coo-yôn.”
He caught hold of my good ankle, then dragged me farther away from the truck. He’d hauled me into . . . a bank of snow.
_______________
The Empress:
I’d thought the sight of snow—and all the emotions it brought—would make me less likely to be with Aric.
Just the opposite; because I could see my future so clearly. If he died before I did, some symbol—like snow—would mark the end of his existence. Later I would experience that waypoint (because everything was connected) and wish to God I’d taken a different path.
I decided then that I would map my own journey and mark my own waypoints. The snow would symbolize both the end of one story and the beginning of another.
A new slate. But not a blank one. The red ribbon would be a cherished remembrance, but I wouldn’t keep it with me at all times.
I lay in the snow and lifted my hand to the sky. Flakes landed on my damp face. Each one was a cool kiss good-bye.
_____________
The Hunter
Lying in that bank of snow, I gazed up at the falling flakes. They drifted over my face. Soft, soft. Like Evie’s lips. With effort, I lifted my scarred hand to the sky. I closed my eyes and pretended my Evangeline was caring for me.
J’ai savouré. I savored each cold kiss. . . . "
― Kresley Cole , Arcana Rising (The Arcana Chronicles, #4)
40
" If you give me the name of the contraceptive shot you had, I will source for more of them. I am keen that nothing interrupts our enjoyment of each other.” His tone indicated the understatement of the millennium.
“It’s called Depo-Provera. It’s supposed to last three months or so, and Paul has a few more doses.” When he’d injected me, I’d said, “The idea of living another three months feels far-fetched right now.” He’d replied, “Better safe than sorry, huh?”
Aric nodded. “I will be on the lookout for it.”
Aric raised a brow at that. Then, seeming to make a decision, he eased me aside to get out of the bed. “I have something for you.” As he strode to our closet, I gawked at the sight of his flawless body.
The return view was even more rewarding.
He sat beside me and handed me a small jewelry box. “I want you to have this.”
I opened the box, finding a gorgeous gold ring, engraved with runes that called to mind his tattoos. An oval of amber adorned the band. Beautiful. The warm color reminded me of his eyes whenever he was pleased.
“My homeland was famous for amber—from pine.” He slipped the ring on my finger, and it fit perfectly. Holding my gaze, he said, “We are wed now.”
First priest I find, I’m goan to marry you. Jack’s words. I recalled the love blazing from his gray gaze before I stifled the memory. “Aric, th-this is so beautiful. Thank you.”
The symbol of his parents’ marriage had been derived from trees. Another waypoint. "
― Kresley Cole , Arcana Rising (The Arcana Chronicles, #4)
