chance to hold Cora one last time. He stood on shaky legs and walked to Cora.
“Simon—I—” Her voice cracked and broke off in a choke. Catching her in his arms, he held her tightly to his chest. She was shivering in his arms. She was so afraid. His heart hurt, and he knew it was not just her fear and suffering that was to blame.
“Ssh, Cora…I know. I know.” He stroked his hand over her hair. Trying to soothe her as little as he could. There was no point, but he did his best. He tilted her head to his and kissed her. Slowly, tenderly, trying to make it last.
It was to be their last kiss.
There was no returning from this place.
There was dampness on his cheeks. It wasn’t from her. He was the one crying. When they parted, she lifted her manacled hands and stroked the tears from his cheeks.
“I failed you, Cora. I should have known Turk wouldn’t let you tell the others what you know.” He clasped her hands in his and kissed her fingers. “I failed in protecting you.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
He smirked. “Everything is my fault, cupcake. Haven’t you been paying attention?”
She smiled back at him. Just barely, but enough. She was crying as well. Those beautiful gray eyes of hers were bright and flecked with white like clouds. He caught her in another embrace, kissing her, wishing he could take her away from all this.
If he could destroy her soul, if he could kill her, he would. He would do anything to spare her what was to come. He didn’t know where the chains led. He didn’t know what was waiting for her at the bottom of the tower. But he knew what waited for him at the top, and he couldn’t imagine that down was any more merciful than up.
I will find a way to destroy you, Ringmaster. I will find a way to pull your bones from your still-living body and fashion new paintbrushes out of them. I’ll distill your blood into pigment and create a masterpiece from you. It will be the best accomplishment you will ever be a part of.
Because I love her.
And you are going to hurt her.
And she is mine.
“It’s time.” Turk lifted the chain under his boot in his hand. “Say goodbye.”
Cora sobbed against him, and he broke the kiss, hugging her close. “Ssh, Cora…be brave. Be strong. You are more than you think you are.”
“Simon—I love you. I love you.” She grasped the front of his coat in both hands, as if that alone might keep them from being separated.
He smiled at her and stroked her damp cheek. “So you keep saying. Cora…I—”
Turk let go of the chain. The weight of it descending into the darkness yanked her backward and ripped her out of his arms. He tried to snatch her back, but the force was too much. Cora screamed and hit the railing and tipped over it. She fell into the darkness.
“Cora!” Simon screamed as he tried to reach her. But she was already gone. “Cora—no—”
She screamed.
And then her scream was cut short.
It took him a moment to realize that the undignified wail that filled the air came from him…not her. “Cora!”
A heavy hand grasped the back of his coat and ripped him away from the railing. He punched Turk’s chest, but he might as well have been punching a brick wall. It did no good. “Damn you!”
A heavy fist met his face, and the world went hazy. He hardly felt the impact as he hit the wood planks of the landing. He didn’t feel the stairs bouncing off the back of his legs as he was dragged up the winding tower. He didn’t feel the ropes around his wrists cinch tight, binding them to his waist to keep him from climbing to freedom.
But he did feel the ropes around his ankles. That forced his focus back to the surface. He kicked and screamed, hollering like a madman, thrashing as hard as he could. But like Cora…it was too late.
His weight left the stairs as Turk heft him up. And then he was falling.
But he didn’t have far to go.
With a painful lurch, he screamed as the bones in his ankles snapped. But it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t fall. He wouldn’t ever, ever fall.
There was once a time that he had hated and loathed the darkness beneath him. He had wished spite on whatever lurked in its shadows.
But now he knew what was down there