Chapter 29

Twenty-Nine

The cirque is a mess. Fear streaks the pale faces searching for me in the crowd, looking for answers. Everyone hesitates, unsure. It's my duty as ringmaster to look after them and keep them safe. I failed. I feel that weight heavily when a small hand slips into mine. Looking down, I peer into Ember's blood-speckled face, her mask pushed back to expose it.

"Okay, we need people to make sure that every fire is out. Someone needs to check on the kids too. Save what parts of the tents you can. Gather our . . . Gather our dead," she chokes out. "Diamond and I will double-check the cirque in case any more townspeople are hiding. Let's go!" She claps her hands, and people burst into movement, looking determined now that they have a purpose.

"Thank you," I murmur, grateful for her at this moment. Usually, I'm in control and know what to do, but this was unexpected. Even now, the smell of charred flesh burns my nose and screams ring in my ears. Some of my people died tonight, and I couldn't do anything for them. I couldn't save them.

"Of course. We're family," she replies before tugging my hand to get me moving. "We need to make sure no one is hiding."

I fall into step with her as we search every corner of the cirque. We find Club protecting the kids, making sure those who are still whimpering in fear know they are safe. He huddles with them in the center, instructing any who are okay to check on those who may not be. Heart is dangling above tents, trying to rectify some of the damage and seeing if they can be saved. We'll have to replace what we lost, and he does his best to mend what can be temporarily fixed. Spade is helping carry our dead, his face stricken, with Freedom trailing along behind him, chuffing in sadness. Even the tiger senses what a huge loss this was. All are somber and angry.

I feel it too.

How dare they attack our home? Our people?

They'll pay for it.

When we find one of the assailants, alive and hiding behind a tent, a strength I didn't know I possess fills me. I lift him with one hand as he groans and presses his palm against a wound on his side. When Heart appears behind me, I throw the man toward him. My voice comes out flat and furious. "Tie him up in the big top. I'll check for others." I glance at the pale, scared man. "Then we're going to have a little talk."

I know my smile is sinister, and the audible gulp he lets out only confirms that. Heart giggles as he leads him away, Ember stoic at my side. I follow her gaze to see one of our clowns, Monty, face down in the grass a few feet away. His arm is stretched toward a tent, as if warning whoever may be inside, and there is a knife in his back.

A small head pops out from inside the tent. "Is it safe now? The clown said I would be safe hiding here." The boy's eyes fall on Monty and begin to water, as if he only just realized what happened.

Ember looks at me, stricken, then drops to her knees. "It's safe now," she says, holding her arms open, and despite the blood on her, the child rushes into her embrace. She lifts him into the air and turns, wandering to the closest circus staff member. "Can you take him to be with the others?"

"Of course."

She hands the child over, and when she looks back at me, there is bloodlust in her eyes that I feel in my very soul.

Our queen is angry, very angry, and she wants revenge.

By the time we clear the cirque, we find three of their men alive, all with various injuries. We tie them up in the big top and stand before them, our masks in place. Blood covers most of us from chasing and killing their people, and we let them see it so they will understand that they won't be making it out of here alive.

Heart chuckles as he leaps up onto one of the rigging poles and dances across it, a knife in hand as he begins to sing. "Duck, duck, goose!" He points at one who recoils as far as the bindings will allow him. "Won't you come to roost? I want to play, play with you today!" He leaps at them, and they shout in fear. "Boo." He chuckles as he skips backwards, sliding around Ember. "I wish I saw you kill them. What a sight."

"Heart," she warns and points at her feet. "Sit. You can play with them when we're done."

"Promise?" he asks, sulking.

"I promise." She pats his head, and he sinks to his knees at her side like a dog. It seems our queen has tamed our beast, or at least made it so he only answers to her. She strokes his hair as he continues to play with the knife, drawing in the sand as I step forward.

I cross my arms, eyeing the three men as Spade stands to one side, Club on the other.

"Speak or I will let Queen and Heart play with you. Trust me, you don't want that. Both are feeling very emotional right now," I warn. They aren't the only ones either. Club snarls, smashing his fist into one's face as he wiggles, trying to get away. Spade kicks another with a barked order to speak. We're all angry and on edge.

"You're surrounded and alone," I tell them, my voice low and deadly. "You're in the cirque now. No one can save you, and you'll beg for death before we're through with you. Speak. Last warning."

The one in the middle glances at Ember. I don't know what he sees in her face, but his eyes widen and dart back to me. "We hate you," he spits. Despite his fear, his hatred wins out. "You can kill us. That won't change anything."

"Oh, we aren't going to kill you. Not at first," Ember taunts. "First, we'll play with you."

He glances at her again, his nostrils flaring in disgust, but his fear is strong. Ultimately, that wins out. "Some guy?—"

His friend elbows him. "Shut up," he hisses.

I pluck a knife from my side and throw it. I might not be as good as Club, but I can keep up. It embeds right in his chest. He gurgles and gasps, looking down in horror as he begins to die. "It's rude to interrupt someone when they are speaking," I warn as I glance back at the man in the middle. Both him and his friend struggle in earnest now. "Carry on."

Ember skips forward and crouches before him, pressing an axe to his chin. "He means now, otherwise . . ." She drags it down, slightly cutting his throat, and he recoils, trying to escape her.

"I don't know, okay? Some guy who was passing through was speaking to us about you guys. He told us where to find you and how easy it would be to stop you since the police won't care what happens to you. You're not like us. You're freaks. It seemed like a good idea!" He jerks again. "Get her the fuck away from me!"

Ember sits back, tilting her head. "What man?"

"I don't know, a stranger," he hisses, and then he spits at her despite his fear.

We freeze. She slowly lifts her hand and drags it down her mask where he spit. "You'll regret that," she warns, gripping the axe and jerking it back. His agonized scream rents the air as she drives it down into his leg with all her strength and keeps chopping, hacking it off from his knee. His friend screams, fighting to get away as blood splatters him. I watch, considering his words, while Heart claps happily and cheers at my side. None of us make a move to stop her as she turns her eyes to his other leg and starts to chop.

"He's right," I remark over his screams. "The police don't care. We're outsiders, freaks. They won't lift a finger to help us. We either need to kill them or punish them somehow. Either way, we're on our own."

"They came here, to the cirque," Heart reminds me. "They came to the place with no rules, no laws, and walked in of their own accord." His grin is vicious. "I say we give them what they want—freaks."

Ember, now panting and covered in blood, glances back at me. "They will die. They came here for death, so they'll get it." Grabbing the man's jaw, she forces his mouth open as he wakes from pain-induced unconsciousness. He begins to struggle again, despite his severe blood loss. "Don't move or this will go wrong."

He stills, eyes wide as she grabs his tongue. He panics, grunting in fear as she pinches it between her fingers.

She grins and slices it off with her axe before tossing it at his friend. "Spit at me now, you bastard."

His scream is a unique sound without his tongue, and then he passes out again, slumping to the floor. She stands and steps back, bloody axe in hand. His blood pools in the sand, and I know it won't be long until he's dead.

"She's right. Kill him." I nod at the other one. "Then we'll burn all the bodies. We'll get rid of every trace we were ever here. It's time to move on."

Turning away, I head out to give the order. The man's bellows fill the air behind me as my family descends on him and takes out their anger for the deaths and destruction they caused.

I can't help but smile. It's like a symphony to my darkness.