The Tower had made the kill, Gabriel there with the assist. As an Arcana, Joules would soon bear the Lovers’ icon, a small mark appearing on his hand.

A trophy. And maybe a way to keep score?

“Oi, birds, how about that blast?” Joules gave us a mock bow. “And that was just a one on a scale of a hundred. When the Tower has to come in to save the day, collateral damage happens.”

“You could’ve fried us,” Selena told him.

“Serves you two right for nearly killin’ Tess. We’ve never seen her so close to bitin’ it.”

Ah, God, Tess! “Is she okay?” Now that I wasn’t burning with red witch power—and confidence—I flinched to recall my actions.

Gabriel bared his fangs at me. “She will be. In time.”

“She’s officially no longer the Arcana laughingstock,” Selena said. “Because of her, we prevented J.D. from getting his eyeballs scooped out with a hot spoon.”

Gabriel’s snarl faded.

“No shite?” Joules surveyed the ruins of contraptions, whistling under his breath. “In the next few days, Tess’ll plump up right smart. She’ll be glad she helped. Lass likes to help.”

I asked Gabriel, “Will you please fly Jack to the doc?” I didn’t want to part from him, but he needed medical attention.

With a nod, Gabriel easily lifted Jack’s big body in a fireman’s carry. Note: superhuman strength for Gabriel. With a grimace of pain, the angel swooped his damaged wings.

I watched him and Jack until they disappeared into the night sky.

Selena rifled through an overturned trunk. “Why’d you come, Tower? You went from hell no to feck it.”

“I started a tab for the Empress. She owes me now. Plus Gabe said he’d do whatever it took to save you, even if it meant using his wing till he crippled it.” Joules faced me. “What happened, anyway?”

I told him the highlights, ending with: “Thank you for the save. For whatever reason you did it. You’re a hero.” I studied his reddening cheeks. “And I think you like it.”

His voice went gruff. “Piss off.” He ambled away.

Selena returned. “Got J.D.’s stuff.” She wore his crossbow strapped over her back and his bug-out bag slung over a shoulder. His rosary dangled from her free hand.

“You found the rosary!” Rose-ary. “Can I see it? And Jack’s bag?”

With a grudging look, she handed them over. I stowed the beads in my pocket, hugging the bag to my chest.

She slumped down beside me.

There Selena and I sat in the drizzle, shoulder to shoulder, as if nothing had come between us over these months. As if we were still on the same page.

As if we didn’t love the same man.

She said, “I couldn’t find the Lovers’ chronicles, though.”

“Their father must have them.” The battle had been close for me and the Archer, but the Lovers were now dead. So why wouldn’t my uneasiness fade? Yes, we still had the general to contend with, but how tough could a mortal be? “After tonight, will Milovníci continue terrorizing people?”

“Who can tell? All I know is he’s about to meet up with his kids real soon.”

When more soldiers closed in to gawk—at us, at the bodies, at the contraptions—that guy Franklin approached us. He’d ditched the gas mask, but it had left him with hat head. Gas mask head? “Is Deveaux going to be okay?”

“I think so. Thank you for asking.”

He toed a bloody clump of sawdust. “Are you his girlfriend?”

Selena raised her brows, as if she couldn’t wait to hear my answer.

“Jack and I went to school together.” For five days. “We met up after the Flash. I’m Evie. This is Selena. Sorry for the abrupt entrance before. We were on a clock.” When he nodded, I asked, “Do you know Jack?”

“I knew of him from the Louisiana reservist unit, before the Azey took it over. Made a real name for himself as a bow hunter. He destroyed hundreds of Bagmen and never wasted a bullet.”

The man that monsters should fear.

Selena told me, “We came across some guys from Canada who’d all heard of J.D. from different sources. But they said the number of Baggers was in the thousands.”

Was Jack growing into a folk hero?

Selena turned to Franklin. With her typical diplomacy, she asked, “The crank—who was attached to it?”

“A few months back, a couple of guys helped Deveaux escape the general’s firing squad.” Franklin looked away. “The twins tortured them since then. The last one alive was having his intestines pulled out inch by inch.”

That was what I’d seen. The slimy rope. Oh, dear God. The Lovers had tried to force Jack to turn the crank, to torment someone who’d saved his life.

“You never thought to help those men?” Selena demanded. “Or the four guys getting cooked into Baggers?”

Franklin’s shame was palpable. “I wanted to! But I’ve got a little brother in Azey North. He’s only twelve. Every time I stepped out of line, I risked my life—and his. There are spies everywhere.” He exhaled a long breath. “Or, there were. They bugged out, running north.”

“What will happen to the women here?” I searched the crowd for that hobbled lady.

“Per Deveaux’s orders, I’ve already seen to their release, protection, and provisioning.”