Page 76 of A Fate Everlasting

A pulse of energy coiled through the space between us.The Fooltrembled in my hands, the golden ink peeling from its surface, curling like something alive.

“You have to help us. I am not free. We are not free.”

“How? Who did this to you?” I tried to put the pieces together, to process all that was happening in front of me. An Archangel had come from the cards. This was what Dante was trying to contain, what he was trying to steal.

They were trapped.The Archangels were trapped inside the Arcana. I looked down atThe Fool, the gold shifting, the painted jester on its surface staring back at me like it knew, like it had always known.

“The darkness.”I already knew the answer. Dante had done this. “We are fighting from within. This is the only reason I am able to speak with you now. Soon, the binding will grow too strong to fracture again.”

“Tell me what to do. Tell me how to break the binding.” The chapel lurched, dust sifting like ash from the rafters.

“We were bound with arcane magic, blood magic that was long since banished. Learn what magic forged this prison. Only then will you know how to break it.”

“I will. I’ll free you. But first—my mother.” My throat closed around the words. “Is she in the After? Evangeline Davenant?” I thought of my father too, but mortals didn’t seem to pass into the afterlives in the same way. The moment the words left my lips, the chapel shuddered as if recoiling from the very idea.

“No.”His many faces spun before settling on another. “And it would be unwise to search for her.”

“What?” My blood ran cold. “She attended Evermore. She was a Luminari. Where is she? Why?”

“Do not seek Evangeline Davenant. That path leads to ruin. Your soul is forged from deepest darkness, but you must choose the light.”

“Why?” I pressed. A cold weight curled in my chest. I didn’t understand.

The chapel groaned like something alive, the blood in my veins turning to ice.The Fool Cardburned, its image peeling off in strands. Words came in whispers, in many voices—then just one.

“I cannot fight the binding any longer, I cannot stay. Marry this card with the Arcana deck and free us all.”

Another crack resounded and the walls trembled, the torchlight dimming. The Archangel’s form fragmented, dissolving like embers in the wind.

“The After is crumbling.”

The words rang like the tolling of a funeral bell.

“And if you do not find the deck?—”

A violent wind ripped through the chapel, like a scream of warning.The Foolflared, one last frantic pulse. Then the world flashed white, and the Archangel was gone. The Arcana wasn’t just magic. It was a cage, a prison holding the Archangels inside.

The card lay silent in my hands, its glow completely extinguished. My mind screamed, trying to understand, clinging to what I’d just been told. But the information fit like pieces of disparate puzzles, none of the edges lining up.

There was a bang as the chapel doors flew open. Godwin puffed out his chest. “Quickly now. The guards are already on their way. Whatever you just did alerted the Archdaemons.”

The words looped again in my mind.The After is crumbling.The After. I’d never even seen it, but the thought of it falling to ruins cleaved through me. That would mean Elsewhere was the only afterlife Luminari could strive for.

I could feel it unraveling under my skin, like threads pulled loose from the tapestry of the world. This wasn’t just about cards, or graduation, or survival. This was far bigger. This would affect everyone, even those beyond Evermore.

I sprinted out of the chapel, pausing on the steps as I braced my hands on my knees, desperate to catch my breath. “The Archangels…” The words cracked through me. I felt them in my bones, in my blood, in the hollow place between my shoulder blades that ached with every movement.

“Not here.” Godwin guided me forward. Every step felt like my shoes were made of lead. “If they find you, it’s all over.”

I couldn’t breathe. The Fool was still warm in my hand, though its light was gone. I thought I’d wanted the truth, but not like this. Truths at Evermore seemed only to invite more questions and unearth more doubt. My chest heaved. My prayer had been answered, but I didn’t feel relief. Without the Archangels, we were doomed.

36

The stone groaned as it opened into Godwin’s office. The books had shifted, the room in total disarray. The desk that had once been in the far corner had been moved to the center of the room.

The surface was chaos. Maps lay strewn across it, some so brittle they looked as if they might disintegrate at the slightest touch. Sigils etched deep into parchment, surrounded by fevered, frantic calculations.

Blood rushed to my ears as I turned to Godwin. “The Archangels are trapped within the Arcana.” My voice fractured against the stone walls as I held upThe Fool. “You knew about this, didn’t you? That’s why you asked me to get the cards back.”

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