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“All his life, all false faces Born of a false face You showed him yours”
Jackson still carried the scars of his poverty-stricken childhood His father had refused to pay support, or even to acknowledge his destitute son His mother had been an alcoholic who’d entertained drunken lovers Thosehi him to be ruthless and to communicate with his fists
All he’d ever knoas deception and violence
How could he not see me as deceitful and violent, as more of the same? Before his eyes, I’d turned into a viney-skinned, poisonousto slit some scrawny Irish kid’s throat
Matthew said, “Think less about Dee-vee-oh,up a steep incline, I considered what I reazed at randme about players who controlled animals as I did plants I remembered cards that could manipulate the elements
Her voice seees are important They’re to be read like a map” “Study the cards Memorize them The symbols are all there for a reason, Evie They tell you about the players”
Hoished I could lay hands on a deck I knew the cards were chock-full of dots to connect, threads in coes on them, so as she’d shuffled her deck, preparing to quiz me “Which cards are the best spellbinders?”
I’d chirped, “The Hierophant and the Lovers And est in body?”
“The Devil! The Devil is so strong!”
No wonder otten spooked
At the top of the rise, Finn waited up for us “Evie, I wanted to apologize again foryou and ive ht side Okay, yeah, I was now broken up with Jackson beyond all reconciliation, a itive from a zombie horde
ButI’d reairls’ lives and maybe others ould’ve fallen into Arthur’s trap And I’d learned to control my powers
It was a wash Yet then I recalled how Finn had looked out for Matthew over the last two days “I accept your apology, Finn Just don’t pull a stunt like that again”
Farther ahead, Jackson was taking a breather, drinking froazed back down the ed features were sigh-worthy
We were this close, and still I h with hiht now, but he’ll co”
“He has a teround
“No, Evie He wasfrantic, out of control I’ Hulk-smash on ye olde cabin When he realized our lack of transportation was the sole thing keeping hi into a hail of bullets Dude didn’t duck, didn’t sidestep, just rolled in, killed, took that jeep”
My lips parted as I stared up at Jackson in amazement
“He loves you,” Finn insisted
As if he could sense he was the subject of our discussion, Jack cast me a derisive look over his shoulder, then marched on
“Clearly”
“He does The reason he didn’t have his bug-out bag last night was because he wasn’t thinking about his own survival—only yours”
I glanced at Mattheho gave et used to the idea of you with powers” Finn tilted his head, taking in ht red froirlfriend went from bunny to viper From hot piece of ass to smokin’ monsteress”
I raised my brows “S “When you turned all Eviezilla, I had a boner the size ofwell, soe and boner-shaped”
My cheeks heated even more, but I didn’t put toowith girls “Well, Jackson didn’t think so He’s written ot this intense sense of curiosity He’s wicked intelligent, and he loves to solve puzzles, to dig at secrets Yet he hasn’t asked a single question about us, aboutto be a part of his life forI had to know“What were you thinking when you deceived Selena that night? Was it worth it for one kiss?”
Finn raked his fingers through his hair “Hell no I ay out of bounds”
“You think? You can’t treat girls that way”
“I know, I know But sometimes I feel forced to trick others”
Matthew piped up: “In his blood”
Finn nodded eagerly “The et antsy if I don’t That was one of the reasons I was deported from SoCal to South Carolina to live with the redneck cuzzes—because of the pranks on my parents”
“Like what?”
“My mom freaked when she woke up with a pink faux-hawk the day of a society dinner My dad, weirdly, didn’t think it was funny to see a cloith a bloody ax in our pool house They didn’t know for certain that it wason and couldn’t handle it But still, I couldn’t make myself stop It’s like a compulsion”
I flashed him a startled look “The more I use my powers” I trailed off
“The more you want to kill us,” Finn finished for ed But this conversation ain clarity if he could wean his cal our powers seemed wise anyway Our abilities weren’t infinite Both Finn and I had tapped ourselves out, and needed to recharge I gazed up at Selena, vaulting a gully with ease So what happened to her if she used hers tooout of arrows? What were her weaknesses?
Changing the subject, I told Finn, “It see problems with parents is an Arcana trait Like, more than just a few spats over curfew”
Was it our curse to be misunderstood by them? My beloved mom, rest her soul, had sent me to a nuthouse Matthew’s mom had tried to drown him Even Arthur had hinted that he’dbranch, this time to my left When I jerked ht Ahead, Selena paused, canting her head Sensing sohts of her last arrow, retrieved before we’d left Requie
Finn’s eyes were on her as well
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about hoorked out with Selena,” I said “I kno irl ants another guy It’s another to like a girl who plans to murder you at a time of her convenience”
“She said she was raised for this I guess she can’t help it” I couldn’t believe I was taking up for Selena I turned to Matthew “What’d you tell her to get her on my side?”
“The future If she kills you, Death stabs her in the eye with her own arrow”
“Such a lovely guy”