The House of Cards

Evil Unseen

Evil Unseen

The back door of the wagon jiggles as someone messes with the lock.

I clamber to my feet, pressing my back against the far wall, one hand held in front of me, the other pressed to the wooden wall.

Through the small, barred window in the side of the wagon, I can tell that I have been here for about a day. A day since I had followed Jack into the night, watched as he betrayed us to the Heart Huntress, as he made some kind of deal with her. A day since they had dragged me to this small camp of theirs, throwing me in one of these prison wagons they had brought with them.

The House of Pentacles tried to feed me earlier in the day, but when they had opened the door, their guard had quickly found my hands wrapped around his throat in my attempt to escape. They had managed to pull me off before I could kill him, but had refused to come near me since.

The lock on the door clicks open, and when it swings wide to reveal who is behind it, I do not need an excuse to launch myself at him.

Jack throws up a hand before I can reach him, something cold snapping around my wrists, and I am yanked backwards onto my ass. The chains he created clink as I rise, tugging on them.

My magic wells in my stomach, and I do not hesitate to release it into my bonds, expecting them to dissolve and fall from my body in a cloud of fine dust.

But they do not.

I yank again, a growl rising in my throat.

"See, that's another thing I learned over the years watching your magic, Maeve," Jack says, leaning against a wall, careful to remain out of my reach. "You can't destroy the things I create. And clearly, you hadn't noticed."

I do not give him the dignity of response, pinning him with a glare and sliding down the back wall of the wagon.

He meets my hard gaze with those strange purple eyes of his, refusing to be the first to look away.

And at the base of my skull, I feel him nudge up against the walls I slammed over the bond.

Keep him out, Lady. The oily voice whispers in my head, and I feel my heart rate kick up a notch. Make him pay.

I shove the voice aside.

If he is a monster, then so am I.

"Coward," I grind out, spitting the words at him. "If it were not for theses Fates damned chains, you know you would be dead now."

A smile touches the corners of his lips. "I would prefer it if I remained in one of the realms of the living, yes. But I cannot have you getting hurt, Maeve. Especially if I were the one to cause you injury. That is the thing that would hurt the most."

He digs into my walls and I grit my teeth against the hammering pain in my temples.

Tear out his heart, drink him dry.

Lies, lies. All he speaks are lies. They drip from his mouth like tar.

I'll take care of her. I promise.

"Lie to me again," I dare him, leaning closer, yanking on the chains. The threat hangs off my words, off a cliff over an endless abyss.

He leans in as well, close enough that his lips brush my ear, his breath whispering through my hair. My stomach turns.

"I love you."

The words ghost over my flesh, raising goosebumps on the back of my neck.

The lies stop pouring from his lips, a flooding faucet suddenly shut off.