The Ringmaster (Harrow Faire #4) - Kathryn Ann Kingsley Page 0,57

looked off down the path where Cora had gone. “I have not come this far to be defeated so close to the end. The Faire does not have long to live. One more return to the surface, and it will not be able to Invert again to save itself. We will all finally be at rest. The Faire will do desperate things to save itself…so we must do desperate things to ensure we are victorious.”

“Like what?”

He shook his head. He wouldn’t trouble her with the tactics he had whirling about in his head. He felt his age weigh on his shoulders again. Either way, he was ready for it all to end. He did not want to be this man that he had become. He did not want to be so cruel. “Sometimes it takes a terrible act to prevent a larger catastrophe.” He patted her gently on the shoulder and began to walk after Cora. “I’ll see you later, love.”

“Be careful.”

He smiled at her concern. As if there was something here that could threaten him. He was Ringmaster. He held the Key. He was fine. But he knew she wasn’t warning him against physical danger. She was warning him against what ate at his heart. He looked up at the observation tower, visible over the tents.

Quietly, he murmured to himself a truth he had long since known but hadn’t ever had to act on. Until now.

“Sometimes you must become a monster to save the world.”

15

Cora was laughing so hard her sides hurt. She was sitting on a box in Bertha’s tent, a whiskey sour in her hand. Aaron was standing in front of her, gesturing wildly, retelling a story. He was a fantastic showman. He was still a smarmy bastard with way too much pomade in his hair, but he knew how to tell a good tale.

It had something to do with chucking a beehive into Anastasia’s boxcar as a prank. The pranks people played on each other in the Family still seemed a little extreme to Cora. But when people couldn’t die and healed quickly, she supposed it all came out in the wash.

Jack was there as well, sitting next to her, a beer in his hand, smiling and dutifully correcting Aaron when he may-or-may-not-have exaggerated a portion of a story.

This was fun.

This was nice.

It felt like she was hanging out with friends. And…she was. When Aaron finished his story, she felt like she should applaud. Instead, she nudged him in the leg with her foot. “So, what’s your deal?”

He blinked. “Hum?”

“How’d you get here?”

“Oh. Hah. Well.” He sat down next to Bertha and picked up his own drink. “I came here in 1928. The country was in a mess, and so was I. I was running from the law.”

“You? In legal trouble?” She snorted. “No way.”

He grinned. “I know, I know. I’m such an upright and outstanding citizen. See, I got on the wrong side of a bad group of people in Boston, and they followed me here. I figured, hey, I could hide in the circus for a while. Maybe do a bit job or two. Well, I bumped into Ludwig, and he offered me a way out of my problems. He told me exactly what I’d be getting myself into. I said yes.”

“You came willingly?”

“Live forever? Not have to worry about all the stupid mistakes I had ever made in my life?” He scoffed and sipped his beer. “Believe me, toots, it wasn’t a hard decision. I’ve been Barker ever since, and I love it here.”

“What about you, Bertha?” Cora smiled at the Bearded Lady.

She smiled back and leaned against the wall. With a deep breath in, she let it out slowly. “It was 1905. Believe it or not, I was a Chicago socialite. I was a proper lady. Except for one thing—I also liked the other ladies a little too much, if you get my drift.” She chuckled and sipped her drink. “One night, my family caught me, my boyfriend, and my girlfriend all together. I was shamed. My father and mother disowned me. I moved out and had nowhere to go. I drifted for a while until I stumbled on this place. It was Jim, the Mechanic, who Sponsored me. I wanted somewhere I could be free. Somewhere I could be myself. Where I could be the freak I really am.”

Cora looked over to Jack. “How about you?”

He frowned. “I came looking for my mother.”

“How does that work, anyway? I thought people forget