it came off easily enough when she could just rip things apart at the seams.
It’s weird being an eldritch monster. But it’s also damn convenient.
She sipped from the bottle of whiskey she had grabbed on her way to the tower. She had every intention of finishing it. She was about an inch and half down the glass when Jack jolted, thrashed, and screamed.
“Hey—hey—” She reached out and put her hand on his arm. “You’re okay. You’re down.”
Jack was hyperventilating, and he rolled onto his side, retched—although nothing came up—and collapsed back to the wood. “What…what happened?”
“Turk’s dead. So’s Amanda. Simon hanged you by your ankles.”
“I know about that last bit.” He grunted and half-crawled, half-scooted to the doorjamb and leaned against it. He was shivering, his skin covered in sweat. “Amanda…Amanda’s dead? Did you?”
“No. To make a very painfully long story very short, Simon set up a double-double cross. Cut a deal with Ringmaster to let the Faire live a little longer if he destroyed me. Part of the deal was Turk letting Simon turn Amanda into a doll to hold her hostage. Simon turned on me at the vote, but it was all a lie. Just to make you, Amanda, and Turk suffer as much as possible.”
Jack reached out for the bottle, and she passed it to him. He drank greedily from it before he had to stop and cough. He handed it back, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Fuck. Fuck. Amanda? Turk just…just gave her over?”
“Yeah.”
“And it was all a sick game on Simon’s part.”
“Yeah.” She paused. “And what makes it worse is that I still love him. And…he said he loves me.” She laughed dryly and drank from the bottle. “So, yeah. Fuck.”
“You won.” Jack paused. “Turk’s dead, and so you’re…”
Cora fished something out of her pocket. It was a small, metal crest. It was made out of every kind of metal she could imagine. Gold, brass, silver, bronze, iron, steel, copper, and several she couldn’t even name. They were all twisted together in an immensely detailed sculpture. It looked ancient—like, seriously ancient—but it was in perfect condition, if maybe a little tarnished here or there.
It was the Key.
It was hers now.
“Yeah.” That was all she could muster up. She turned the little disk over in her hand and slipped it back into her pocket. “Doesn’t feel like winning. Feels terrible.”
“Good.” Jack huffed a laugh. “Sorry. That wasn’t supposed to be as dickish as it sounded.” He reached for the bottle. She passed it. “I just. I’m glad you’re not happy Turk and Amanda are dead.”
“I liked Turk, and I adored Amanda. I really did. And Turk wasn’t entirely wrong in the things he believed, but he wasn’t entirely right, either. I suppose nobody ever is.” She took the bottle back and took a swig from it and put it down in between them. “And what happened to Amanda…” She cringed. “The sick part of it is Simon did it out of love. He wanted you all to pay because of what you did to us.”
“I deserved that.” Jack gestured in the direction of the top of the tower. “Amanda…didn’t.”
“No. She didn’t.” Cora shut her eyes and leaned her head back on the jamb. “He also did it to see if he could betray me—hurt people like that—and if I’d still love him despite it all.”
“And do you?”
She laughed sadly at how pathetic she was. “Yeah. I do. It’s wrong, it’s stupid, and it makes me weak…but I do.”
“Doesn’t make you weak. It’s wrong, sure. Does it make you stupid? Maybe. You have terrible taste in men. But it makes you strong to be able to shoulder that much madness and take it in stride. He doesn’t deserve you.” Jack nudged her foot. “So…you going to kill me now?”
“No. I’m done killing Family. I don’t ever want to do it again.”
“You finished off Amanda?”
“I wasn’t going to leave her like that. She was barely there. Didn’t know herself—didn’t even recognize Turk.”
Jack repeated the four-letter word of the night. “Fuck.” He took another big swig from the bottle. “I…I don’t know if I can stay here now, Cora.”
“I know.” She got up and grunted. She was a little buzzed. Good. “If you want me to end you, I will. I don’t want to, but I’m not going to make anybody stay. You can also just…leave. You’ll fade away eventually. You can see a bit of the world before you go, maybe. Then you’ll really