poor excuse for a familiar. Can’t you do something useful? Like cut me down?”
“You’re lying to yourself. You love her. You nearly told her. Why can’t you just admit it?”
“I have admitted it. It doesn’t mean I have to like it. I hate the fact that I feel this way! I’m not—” He swallowed. He hated being upside down. He really, really did. “I’m not cut out for this. No one should love me. Clearly, she’s defective. She should love anyone else. This is her fault. She should have been smarter than this and gone with Jack. Hell, even Rudy! Not me. Never me.” He shut his eyes. His sunglasses had fallen off at some point. It didn’t matter. “Do you see what happens when someone loves me?” He snickered. “The world ends.”
“This would have happened anyway. This isn’t about you.”
“Everything is about me.”
“That’s the problem.”
“I despise you. I wish you would just wither away and die.” He sneered. “Why don’t you do something useful and go see Cora?”
“I have.” His shadow sank lower on the wall, nearly disappearing into the stark outlines of the stairwell’s own sharp darkness. Only his eyes were visible, swirling and pointed, visible where they shouldn’t belong.
There was a great deal of weight in those two words. Simon swallowed again. Something told him she was not in the pits of hell having a sexual romp with Lucifer. Suddenly, he almost preferred that option. “Is she…” He didn’t even know what to ask. “Is she okay?”
“No.”
Simon shut his eyes. Rage boiled over in him, and he snarled, thrashing again on the rope, kicking wildly, trying to do anything. Anything at all! Free his hands. Free his feet. Fall the distance into the darkness. He’d be mangled and broken when he landed, but he didn’t care. He would be with her.
He loved her.
He hated that he loved her.
But he loved her all the same.
“Cora!”
“She can’t hear you. Not right now.”
Was he crying? When had that started? He screamed at the top of his lungs. It was the only thing he could do. He was helpless.
He was powerless.
And she needed him.
There was nothing he could do.
And that was the worst thing of all.
5
“You did what?”
Turk shut his eyes as the small crowd in front of him burst into chaos and shouting. Some frightened, most angry. He had expected this. He held up his hands to try to quiet them down. It didn’t work. “Everyone, please, calm down.”
Still, they rabbled on.
“What do you mean, you put them in the tower?”
“But why?”
“Why did Cora even kill that man?”
“There are rules, Ringmaster!”
Turk sighed. “Everyone, please. Enough. Let me speak.” The crowd continued to shout at him. Finally, he couldn’t stand it anymore. He slammed his fist into the post of the tent next to him, causing the whole structure to shake. “Enough!”
Silence.
He straightened his back, squared his shoulders, and tugged down on the hem of his tailcoat. He was Ringmaster. He was in charge. Harrow Faire was his domain. And these were his soldiers. His friends. His Family.
For a moment, he debated keeping his word to Cora. But he looked at their faces of anger and confusion—of fear—and decided against it. It would only bring them needless panic. They should enjoy the last years of their lives. Not spend it in anger and sadness.
Turk was so very tired of all of this. He had been relieved to have Harrow Faire dead within the week. But Cora’s actions had extended their timeline, and that frustrated him to no end. But setbacks were the bread and butter of war.
Setbacks and cruelty.
Now he had both.
“I did not put them in the tower because of her actions last night,” Ringmaster began. “I do not know why she targeted that man in particular, but it doesn’t matter. I have known for some time that upon Clown’s death, Cora was given his ability to drain seity. Simon saw this as an opportunity. I knew he was conspiring against me. He wished to use her to kill me and take over the Faire. When I spoke to Contortionist about this, she showed no desire to use her new abilities. But last night, all that changed. To protect us all from the danger she had become—commanded by the Puppeteer’s strings—I did what I had to do. I removed the threat. I put them in the tower.”
The tent was silent. Aaron was sitting near the front, his hand over his mouth and his eyes wide. The Barker was always the