blink. His sudden absence was more jarring than his appearance. He really could go zero to sixty and back with no notice. “Dinner! I’m starved.”
“Why? It hasn’t been that long since breakfast.”
“Cora dear, you really must wear a watch. Today isn’t yesterday. It’s today.” He paused, his eyebrows scrunching together. “That made no sense, did it?” He sighed. “We slept through a day and a half. Today’s dinner is not yesterday’s dinner. And I’m starving.”
With that, he caught her hand in his and began dragging her off through the park toward the cafeteria. All she could do was laugh and be tugged along beside him as though she was on his strings.
How far they’d come. Who was to say how far they would go?
Or if they’d survive?
This was war.
And in war, there were always sacrifices.
She wove her fingers into his and prayed to anyone who would listen that she had already lost enough.
Something told her that the odds weren’t good.
12
Twice now, Cora entered the cafeteria tent and heard the record scratch. Twice now in a row, she’d watched everyone turn to stare at her as they walked in. At least this time she wasn’t covered in blood.
This time, Turk, Jack, and Amanda were missing. Small favors. It meant she could go a little longer without having to face two people she believed to be friends who had betrayed her.
Something told her a lot more would be added to that list before this whole mess was over, one way or another. She had asked people to choose sides. Not everyone was going to see things her way. She had to expect that.
But the only thing worse than having everyone fall absolutely silent and swivel to look at her was the fact that it was clear they expected her to do something. Say something. She was on stage. She might as well have spotlights on her.
“Hi.”
That was all she had.
She ducked her head and hurried toward the food. It was Thai night, apparently. Hard to go wrong with peanut sauce.
Simon hummed to himself as he stood next to her, filling his own plate. “If it makes you feel any better, this is how they always stare at me. And I’m not the avatar of a terrible eldritch demi-god.”
“Nope. Doesn’t make me feel better at all.” She fished a beer out of the cooler and began walking to an empty table, far away from everyone else. Not because she didn’t want to sit with anyone—she did.
But she was pretty certain she wasn’t going to be welcome.
Simon strolled beside her to the tables, still humming a quiet waltz as he sat across from her and set into eating his dinner. She would think he was ignoring how terribly awkward this was for her, if it wasn’t for the fact that he hooked his ankle around the back of hers and pulled her leg in between his. It was a silly gesture. But she appreciated it immensely.
She got exactly three bites into her Beef Pad See Ew before someone across the room hollered a question at her. “Why a vote?”
It was Jim, the Mechanic. She swallowed, wiped her lips with her napkin, and turned her head. Everyone was looking at her. Her cheeks instantly went warm. She wasn’t cut out for this crap. She really wasn’t.
“Well…” She felt like an idiot. Picking up her beer bottle, she twisted it in her fingers, needing something to fiddle with. It seemed like the right thing to do. Nope, not good enough. I was really fucking tired and didn’t feel like picking a fight in the moment. Nope.
After a long pause, she decided to just pull the ripcord and start talking. “You’re Family. You should get a say in this. Ringmaster should have told you all what he was doing to Harrow Faire. He should have told you the truth. Deciding whether we all live or die—whether this place deserves to keep going—wasn’t his call to make. It’s everyone’s. He’s not the only person who’s lost their life because they came here. But he’s also not the only person who found love. Who found joy. Who found meaning because of it.”
But I’m still hiding something from them, aren’t I? She stood from the bench and moved to stand against the edge of the table. “Look…I’ve spent a lot of time talking to Harrow Faire recently. It’s in my head now. Which, trust me, is really…really fucking weird. However weird you think it is? Double it, and you’re almost