meant nothing to him now.
And such was the insidious disease that was Harrow Faire. Eating away at humanity like acid, chipping away at the block until there was nothing left but crumbling dust.
He had to hold on to his resolve. It was easy to throw it all away if it meant he could stay with the ones he loved. That was Cora’s downfall—not his. Besides…that ship had sailed away from him long ago. There would be no way out for him. No freedom. No mercy. Cora would offer him no quarter, even if he begged.
And he would not beg.
For this was a noble cause. And he would gladly lay down his life for it. And anyone else’s.
He had come too far to stop now.
Resuming his pacing, he went back to trying to formulate a plan. He could try to spring a trap on Cora. But what kind of trap could he wield? The girl had been clever in declaring that there would be an open vote for the future of Harrow Faire. Whether she intended to keep her word, he wasn’t sure. But it wasn’t the point.
The point was that any attempt to circumvent—or prevent—a vote would be seen as dirty tactics on his part. The Family was already cross with him for having condemned Cora and Simon to the tower without trial. Now they knew why. To break down the door of her boxcar and try to end her would rally everyone to her side.
And there was a larger problem in front of him.
Even if he could subdue Simon and Cora…
Then what?
The tower had proven ineffective at holding them.
He had no other means of ending her life.
No one could destroy the Family, save for Clown. And that door had shut.
Perhaps he could convince one of the Family who could transmute victims into other forms. Simon was out of the question for obvious reasons. As was Rudy, who had already made it painfully clear what side the predatory Zookeeper was on.
Bertha…he shook his head. Bertha was unlikely to take Cora and turn her into one of her freaks. The two seemed to be friends, and Bertha was very strict about taking only those who joined her willingly.
As was Maestro. Maksim was a severe man by appearance, but a sensitive one by trade. He kept to himself, speaking little to anyone save his orchestra. It was a long-standing running challenge among the Family to try to make Maksim laugh. Half points were awarded for a smile.
Few had ever succeeded.
But of the four souls in the Family who could add others to a collection, Maksim was the only one who might be sympathetic to Turk’s plan. The only one of the bunch who might be willing to make Cora an addition to his orchestra. Turk would naturally have to deal with Simon, but once Cora was dealt with, the Puppeteer would only have idle violence to promise in retaliation.
Maksim was his best bet. Correction—Maksim was his only bet.
He threw on his tailcoat and fetched his top hat. The Belgian was very particular about manners and decorum, and always demanded everyone around him was dressed to their particular finest. Anything else would be seen as an insult.
“Where are you going?” Jack stood, but Turk gestured for him to sit back down, and the Rigger obeyed. The boy was sweet. Foolish, but sweet.
“To see a man about a solution to our problem. Alone.” Turk tugged on the bottom of his coat, straightening it. “About the only hope we have.”
When he struck out of the tent and headed toward Maksim’s rehearsal space, tucked near the back of the big top, the sun was high and beautiful overhead. It was a crisp, late September day. The leaves were just beginning to turn their autumn colors. It was rare that they witnessed the fall, or indeed, any other season but summer. Very few people were foolish enough to attend a circus in the winter in New England.
Something told him that autumn was Cora’s favorite season. That Harrow Faire would pull out all the stops—that this was truly a fireball maneuver. He knew the phrase, even if they had never truly traveled as a circus.
A fireball outfit had one rule—take as much as you could, no matter how shady or wrong it was. Any circus declaring “fireball” would likely have to pack up and vacate come the morning, lest they be burned to the ground by the angry locals for having been scammed out of every dime they