into bed. Simon made grumbly noises about being disturbed but didn’t wake up. When she took her spot on the mattress, he rolled over and slung an arm over her, murmuring again.
He was adorable when he was asleep. She smiled, shut her eyes, and let herself join him.
Skip, skip, skip. Splash.
Skip, skip, skip. Splash.
The sun was bright and warm. She was sitting on the edge of the lake on a log. Cora blinked, rubbed her hand over her face, and looked around. There was no circus behind her. Just a few ramshackle tents made of crude sails. She was back at the beginning again.
Skip, skip, skip. Splash.
She could hear birds. Wind. The sounds of life. After the few seconds it took her to become aware of herself, she saw a man standing on the shore of the lake. He had a handful of flat rocks. Occasionally he stooped to pick up another.
Clown. Lazarus. Mr. Harrow. Whatever it was that Harrow Faire wanted to be called now. He skipped another rock along the surface of the lake. That time it made it five hops before descending into the lake. Skip, skip, skip, skip, skip. Splash.
“Hey!” He looked back at her with a smile. “Did you see that?”
“I did.”
“That was a good one.” He turned back to the lake. “Have you had a nice week?”
“I have. It’s nice here when I’m not being terrorized, mutilated, haunted, or given life-and-death choices to make. It’s almost pleasant.”
He laughed and smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. Sorry about all that. I don’t know how else to be, sometimes. I see too much. I’m too…I don’t know what the word is for it. Big. I look down, and I watch you all like a bunch of ants.”
“That doesn’t help me feel better.”
“Yeah.” Skip, skip, skip. Splash. “Me neither. I try to help you all I can. I give you sugar, I give you water, I make sure nothing comes in and hurts your nest. I keep away the spiders. I try to do all that I can to make my ants happy, but it doesn’t always work. And when it does work, it doesn’t last.”
“Humans are fickle. We’re meant to be temporary. Not dying—being semi-immortal like we are—I guess it does a number on people. Like Jack.”
“His unhappiness is his problem. He could change. He could kick down Anastasia’s door and tell her how much he secretly loves her. But he likes to wallow in his emptiness. He wants to suffer.”
“Part of me gets it. I was like that, too.”
“Why? I’ve never understood that part of human nature. The need to feel bad.” Skip, skip, skip. Splash.
“I don’t know as I really get it either. Sometimes it’s biological. Sometimes you can’t help it. Other times…we’re too overwhelmed to change. Too tired from just getting through the day. And sometimes, letting yourself wallow in your problems gives you an excuse to feel the way you do.”
“Humans. You’re a weird species.” Skip, skip, skip. Splash.
“No argument here.”
“As strange as it must be for you to be gifted extra years, imagine how it is for me. I’m about to die. I am going to die, Cora. I have existed since before there was matter and energy in this universe. I have had single thoughts that have lasted longer than the whole of this planet has spun around your sun. I have breathed in the sulfur of the volcanoes that built the land we’re standing on. That made these rocks.” He held one up before tossing it. Skip, skip, skip. Splash. “I am going to die. And I am going to die very soon.”
“I…I’m sorry.”
“I know.” Skip, skip, skip. Splash. Skip, skip, skip. Splash. “I’m…I’m scared.”
She got up from the log and walked to him. Before he could throw another rock, she pulled him into a tight hug. He caved against her, his head falling against her shoulder. “I’m just so sorry.”
He clung to her. “Save me…please, save me. I stand here on the edge of oblivion, and I am frightened. I do not want to die.”
“I’m not a killer…I can’t do it.”
“You are. You are capable of murder, Cora. I know you are. That is why I took you. That is why I know you can save my life—all of our lives.”
“How are you so certain?”
He lifted his head from her shoulder. The lines of his face were drawn in sympathy and pain. He placed his hand to her cheek. “Because I only take those who kill. In that future of yours