Cole, Kresley - Arcana Chronicles 06 - The Dark Calling by Cole Kresley

Author:Cole, Kresley [Cole, Kresley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Valkyrie Press
Published: 2018-02-13T05:00:00+00:00

25

The Hunter

Day 553 A.F.

I’d just opened a gas can when Joules climbed down from the truck to join me. “This rig’s a right beauty, huh?” he said.

“That she is.” Though the extended-range tank held thousands of miles’ worth of fuel, we’d hit empty. Luckily, Kentarch had spare cans in the back. Time to feed the Beast.

For the last two days, we’d been making slow progress, catching naps in the cab.

I’d left Evie asleep in the front seat. She’d looked exhausted, her lashes fanning out against the purple smudges under her eyes. I’d brushed her hair from her forehead and murmured, “À moi.” But she wasn’t mine. Not anymore.

“Sooo,” Joules began, “your girl’s up the duff with the Reaper’s spawn. How’re you taking that news?”

Conflicted as ever. Evie was going to be a mother, would soon have another man’s son.

I told myself this over and over. Still, I needed to draw her to me every time I caught a thread of her honeysuckle scent. And that kiss at the lake? She’d been telling me something with that kiss, something I was desperate to hear.

She loved me just as much as she ever had, maybe even more. But knowing that only made this situation harder. “I’ve heard better news.” Elle me hante. She haunts me.

“What’s your play now, hunter?”

The last thing she needed after all she’d been through—and in her condition—was me putting pressure on her. The weird part about it: I got the feeling she expected me to. “Stay the course,” I said, no matter how badly I wanted to tell her that we’d run away together.

My old issues remained. I had nothing to give her. She needed food and safety more than ever. She needed to be back in Death’s castle.

Our dream of Haven would never have worked without food and supplies.

“You really believe Circe’s goin’ to save the day with some kind of weapon?”

I emptied one can, then grabbed another. “Got to.”

“Then let’s think about how we’ll use it. Instead of a Reaper rescue mission, let’s plan a hostile takeover. We sack the castle, you and the Empress set up house, and we all ride out the apocalypse.”

So unbelievably tempting. But . . . “A kid belongs with his father.”

And damn it, I owed Domīnija for Evie’s life. For mine as well.

Joules leaned against the side of the truck. “Evie can make promises for him all she wants to, but we both know Death’ll never share his resources with us. Especially now that there’s a little Reaper on the way.”

“I’m not eager to sing the praises of the man who married the only woman I’ll ever love—”

“And knocked her up.”

“—but Domīnija’s honorable. You help reunite him with his wife and kid, then he’s goan to reward you.”

I had to admit that I’d actually liked the man. Take away the drama around us, and I could almost imagine us being podnas. We’d emptied more than one bottle of whiskey together, and I’d found him to be honest, smart, and brave as the night is long.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.