This post contains lots of spoilers!!
This book picks up right where Poison Princess left off - with Evie killing the Alchemist (who was definitely not a good guy) and coming into her Empress powers. Evie offers Selena (the Moon card), Finn (the Magician card), and Matthew (the Fool card) a truce. She only wants to kill Death and she's out of the game. They accept. Jack seems horrified by Evie's transformation, but he tags along with them anyway. They are attacked by Joules (the Tower card), Tess (the World card), and Gabriel (the Judgment card). Evie offers them the same truce she offered the others. They don't accept, but they agree not to attack them again.
They head into cannibal territory to escape Bagmen that are after them. Eventually Jack is able to accept the changes in Evie and they reconcile. She even ends up giving him her virginity before the big battle with the cannibals and Bagmen.
They meet up with another Arcana - Lark, the Mistress of Fauna (the Strength card). They are wary, but accept her into their alliance. After being repeatedly spurned by Selena, Finn takes a liking to her, and she appears to return the feelings. They compare notes on the game: there can be only one winner, the winner will gain immortality (at least until the next game), some families have retained histories that pass on the knowledge from the last game (like Evie's grandmother), each Arcana is reincarnated from a past one (Evie's dreams/nightmares of the "red witch" are actually memories from one of her previous lives).
Finally the Bagmen catch up to them, but so do the cannibals. The cannibals defeat the Bagmen and take the group hostage. The cannibals are led by an Arcana - the Heirophant card. He apparently doesn't know what he is and thinks that the calls he hears are the voices of angels. He has the power of mind control. The group is put in the "pantry." One of the humans there is about to be taken to be fed on while still alive. He asks Evie to kill him. She does and then injects his body with her poison. After the cannibals (the Heirophant included) eat the human, they die. However, any remaining cannibals are still under his control and will try to get their revenge on Evie. They escape through the tunnels - Lark is from the area and says she knows the way through.
However, Lark has led them into Death's trap. Death is with Ogen (the Devil card). Death promises to let the others in her alliance live if she goes with him. She agrees. After they are away, she unsuccessfully attempts escape, twice. The second time, Joules, Gabriel, and Tess show up to try to kill Death. They are able to escape and make it to his to mountaintop castle. He fits her with a cuff made from his armor that binds her powers.
Death's castle has lots of comforts that are unexpected in the apocalypse. Matthew is able to communicate with Evie and assures her that everyone in her group made it out okay, but Jack wants to go after her. She realizes that she needs to make Death trust her enough to take off her cuff so she can use her powers to kill him.
However, after time, she realizes that Death isn't that bad of a guy. She dreams some memories of her past lives' encounters with him. The Touch of Death doesn't kill her like it does others. He seems lonely. He doesn't want to kill, but he's forced to by the game. He likes to read. He likes to watch her dance. They grow closer. He tells her that Jack lied to her about 2 things: her ex-boyfriend Brandon was Jack's half-brother and that he killed her mother so that she'd leave with him after the Flash. Evie feels betrayed by this revelations and is hurt that Matthew knew the truth and didn't tell her.
Eventually Death reveals that in a past game, they were married. And then she turned on him and he was forced to kill her. That's why he's been so intent on harming her this time. She dreams that memory and is horrified - he loved her and she betrayed him. She tries to convince him that she won't do that this time around. He also reveals his real name - Aric. He leaves on an errand and while he's gone, Ogen attacks her and Lark. She's able to get her cuff off and protect herself and Lark. Aric comes back just in time and kills Ogen. With her cuff gone, she still doesn't try to kill him and he realizes that he can finally trust her. And he tells her that he loves her. He wants to sleep with her (he's still a virgin since she's the only human he can touch), but she's still too confused by her feelings about Jack.
Matthew calls out for her help. Jack has been taken by the Lovers - Vincent and Violet. She begs Aric's help to save him. He agrees, but on one condition - that she choose him.
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