The Faire (Harrow Faire #5) - Kathryn Ann Kingsley Page 0,78

swam around, completely oblivious to what was going on. Maybe that was why she liked fish. They just went about their merry little aquatic lives without any clue of what was happening in the world around them.

She got dressed. She didn’t do up anything fancy, but she tried to look respectable. She also tried to wear clothes she could fight in. And that might not be really uncomfortable if they got covered in blood.

There was no telling how the night was going to go.

She jumped when there was a knock on the door, and she laughed at her own silly reaction. She answered it and smiled at Simon, dressed in his absolute finest, standing at the top of her stairs. “Hey, tall and sexy.”

He smirked and leaned down to kiss her. “Is that really what you’re going to wear? Come, now, Cora dear. You’re about to ascend the throne!” He strolled past her, leaving her to shut the door behind him as he immediately went for her closet and began rooting around in it. “Really, do you not own anything more dramatic than that?”

“I don’t want to go in there looking like some two-bit reject from a Saturday morning cartoon show like some people.” She would never get sick of teasing him. She loved how he looked—even if he was over-the-top all the time.

“I look fantastic. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it.” He pulled out a knee-length coat from somewhere in the back of her closet. It was black, with broad, dark blue stripes. She had never seen it before. “Ah-hah! This’ll have to do, I suppose. We also shouldn’t be late. Here. Put this on.” He thrust it at her.

“But—”

“Cora.”

She knew that tone of voice. She wasn’t going to win this one. And it wasn’t worth arguing about a damn coat. She took it, sighed, and changed into it. It was comfortable, but she probably looked ridiculous. “Better?”

“A little. It’ll have to do. Come, come.” He headed out of the boxcar, grinning from ear to ear. “Aren’t you just so excited?”

“No. I’m scared, nervous, and I feel like I might throw up.”

“Bah!” He strolled beside her, clearly elated. He was like a kid at Christmas. “Tonight, we’re going to be set free. Tonight, we start a new chapter. You, as the Queen of Harrow Faire, and me, your King.”

She rolled her eyes. “We could very well lose the vote, Simon.”

“We won’t. And it doesn’t matter if we do. I’ll convince you to kill Ringmaster anyway.” He smiled down at her. “We’re going to win. You’ll see. Trust me.”

It wasn’t worth arguing with him about something that might not come to pass. If they lost the vote, he could whine at her all he wanted about killing Ringmaster. He’d be disappointed, angry, and he might leave her. But she was going to keep her word, one way or another. Whether Simon liked it or not.

Simon whistled cheerily all the way to the tent. She couldn’t have felt more the opposite. Every step toward the tent made her more nervous. Every step made her a little more scared. She hated things like this. She felt like she was going to go take a test. That this was her final exam on the class she needed to graduate, and she hadn’t studied.

Harrow Faire looked beautiful in the setting sun, even if it was a bit eerie with all the rides turned off and the park empty. Usually, they stayed open well into the night, but they had all agreed it would be better not to have patrons running around underfoot on a night when everything might change.

When there might be a war.

She really, really hoped there wasn’t.

Oh, she wanted to win. But she wanted it to be quiet. She’d never been in a brawl before, and even if she did have weird shadow powers, she was pretty sure it would only take one punch from Ringmaster to put her flat on her ass.

Hey. Laz. Does all this power come with the side-effect of being an ass-kicking martial artist?

“Nope.”

Damn. What the fuck good are you, then?

“I’ll file your complaint with management.”

She laughed.

“What?” Simon looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Nothing.”

“Hm. The voice in your head?” He poked her in the temple. She swatted his hand away, and he grinned in victory. “It’s nice being the sane one for once. Sane-er, anyway.”

“I’m not insane.”

“Mmhm.” He leaned in toward her. “Sure, you’re not. That’s all right. I enjoy crazy. It’s sexy.”