and then disappeared back into her normal shadow as if nothing had ever been awry.
Simon stood perfectly still. Once more he had looked Harrow Faire in the eyes and dared it to kill him. He had tried to convince Cora to kill him the moment she had received the gift from Clown. And now…he had gone and played a very, very dangerous game.
Now he would have to see if he would survive it.
“Father?” Amanda’s puppet whispered loudly. “What is happening?”
Cora turned to look at the doll. Her eyes were as black as the void. She lifted her hand, and with a twist of her wrist, Amanda crumpled to the ground. Simon knew without a doubt that she had drained what was left of the Aerialist dry.
Simon squared his shoulders, straightened his tie, and prepared to greet the end of his life. “I suppose you must be angry with m—”
He was airborne.
Curious thing. He didn’t even really feel the impact at first. He only noticed the ground whizzing past him as he hurtled through the air. Now he was outside. How did that happen? He hit the tarmac with a grunt and rolled end-over-end. Sky, ground, sky, ground, sky, ground. Finally, he came to a stop some twenty feet outside his tent.
She’d thrown him like a child’s toy.
I think I rather went and got myself very properly fucked. He laughed weakly and coughed up some blood onto the pavement. Looking up, he saw the rest of the Family, gathered and watching.
“I suggest maybe you should all run away, unless you—” He grunted as a foot came down on the back of his neck, pinning him to the pavement. “Hello, darling.”
“Ringmaster is dead,” Cora announced. “As is Amanda.”
Silence. Rudy spoke up. “Jack?”
“In the tower. Mind going to cut him down in a few?”
The Zookeeper let out a stuttered, “S—sure.”
Cora kicked Simon roughly over onto his back and put her foot back on his throat. He coughed and grabbed her shoe. At least she wore silly flat-soled sneakers and not the stilettos Diva favored. She glared down at him with gray eyes that were as dark as the ocean sky in a storm. But they were her own eyes, at least.
She was furious.
He supposed he might deserve it. Just a tiny bit. Just a little. It didn’t stop him from smiling innocently up at her. “What? I did it all for”—he coughed—“for you. Why are you mad at me?”
Cora laughed. A dark, sarcastic laugh. “Oh? For me? Do tell! Explain how double-crossing me, betraying me, and playing that sick fucked up game was for me?”
He hacked. Gasped. “Air. Can’t—can’t defend actions if—I can’t—breathe—”
With an exasperated eyeroll, she pulled her foot off his throat.
Simon wheezed. He stayed on the ground. He had a feeling if he got up, she’d just plant him right back down, anyway. “I knew you would be too nice to exact revenge. They needed to pay for what they did. Amanda and Jack betrayed your friendship. Turk broke his own rules when he threw you into that pit. They needed to suffer, Cora. You’re too sweet for that.”
“I thought—you made me think—” She looked up at the sky and let out a long, wavering sigh. She wiped at her face. “You’re a fucking asshole, Simon. And what you did to them was wrong. Amanda didn’t deserve that!” Cora kicked him hard in the ribs, and Simon grunted and rolled onto his side. She turned and walked away, heading toward the tower. “I’ll go get Jack, Rudy. Don’t worry about it. I need to go for a walk before I curb-stomp that ass-wipe.”
Aaron walked away from the crowd. “I need to get drunk. Very drunk. Who’s coming?”
Everyone left.
Just walked away and left him there on the pavement.
Simon rolled onto his back and looked up at the starry night sky. “I get no love. I get no love, and I get no respect!”
He sighed.
“Why does everyone hate me?”
Jack was unconscious as Cora pulled him down. At least this time she didn’t drop her rescue on their head. She was very glad Simon hadn’t been awake when she unceremoniously dropped him on his neck on the stairs. This time, she had a bit more control over her power. She commanded the shadowy tendrils to lower Jack to the landing of the tower.
She sat on the ground next to him, her back up against the blown-apart jamb, and waited. The Faire had boarded up the door to keep any patrons from wandering in, but