‘We will mourn for Karl in our own time,’ said Hugo, addressing the others. ‘He was a Corsi, but he belonged to the Circe. They will do right by him. For now, Sebastian needs to be our focus. If we start making preparations now, we can leave before—’
‘Wait,’ I said. ‘That’s not all of it.’
I closed my eyes, forcing my thoughts to go back, to return to the last time I saw Sebastian, almost seventeen hours ago. To make myself see the old animal cage at the back of the Circe property where he’d been held. To relive the moment I’d lost him.
‘Right after the trial, Augustine showed up at the Circe.’
At the mention of the man who’d been banished from Outcast Gypsy society, the Corsis immediately bristled with hatred and fury. But, they kept silent, letting me continue.
‘Augustine is actually my uncle Adolár.’ The words burned like acid in my throat. ‘I never knew it until last night. I was too young when he left the Circe to remember him.’ I shuddered. I didn’t want to dwell on my relationship to the former Gypsy anymore than I had to. ‘Augustine told my father he was on his way to Savannah to meet with the Queen. He had somehow found out about our kris, and he offered to escort Sebastian there.’
‘So, Augustine has my brother,’ said Hugo, in a deadly tone. ‘That marimé traitor with a grudge against every clan in this kumpania, and Nicolas just lets him waltz out of the Romany camp with your guardian?’
‘It happened so fast,’ I replied, rubbing my palms together until my skin stung. ‘My father couldn’t spare a Marksmen escort, but the High Council was already expecting Sebastian. Augustine said that if he personally delivered Sebastian to the Court, he’d be able to get an audience with the Queen.’
‘Why would he think that?’ huffed Kris. ‘He’s marimé. He’s lost his Gypsy blood and every right he had under our law. It’s not like he could even get anywhere near her.’
‘Unless he had an extremely important reason,’ Hugo said, sarcasm heavy and dripping. ‘Unbelievable. Nicolas let Augustine use my brother like some kind of bargaining chip to see the Queen.’
‘My father had no choice,’ I replied, feeling caught between my family and Sebastian and sickened by the whole thing. ‘Augustine threatened to tell the other clans we were harboring a murderer. The Marksmen made Sebastian look like some merciless killer. Half the troupe already believed he was guilty. But then, when they let him out of that cage …’
I dropped off. A cold chill poured through me.
James touched my shoulder again, gentle and non-threatening. ‘What happened when they let Sebastian out?’
‘He wasn’t himself,’ I said quietly.
‘What do you mean?’ asked Hugo. He sat on the other end of the couch. I felt the tension coming off him like the heat from an engine.
‘I’ve seen what Sebastian can do.’ I paused, trying to find words to describe the change that came over him, but everything sounded wrong in my head. ‘What I mean is, I know how he can be when he’s forced to act as a guardian, when he has to protect me … or anyone else. But he’s always snapped back before. It was different this time. He was vicious, and his eyes … his eyes were just … empty.’
Like an animal’s, I’d nearly added, but stopped myself. No, he wasn’t the creature Quentin accused him of being. In that brief moment – just before he’d gone so wild – he’d asked for my forgiveness, and in his eyes, I saw the sweet, strange boy whose life had intersected with mine. He wasn’t a beast.
Something had happened to him.
Hugo’s gaze traveled to the window. It had grown dark outside, and the glass reflected the room. The corner of his mouth tightened. ‘Do you believe he killed Karl?’
‘Absolutely not!’ I leapt up, suddenly shaking with a fury that caught me off guard. ‘He would never do something like that. You’re his brother. You should know!’
‘He’s not the same kid you knew in school. He’s a gargoyle now.’
‘He’s my guardian,’ I snapped. ‘I don’t care what he looks like or where he came from. He’s still Sebastian. He has the best heart of anyone I’ve ever met, and he would never … ever …’
Hugo rubbed his eyes. ‘I’m not saying it was intentional …’
‘He didn’t murder Karl!’
I pressed my hand against my mouth. I would not cry. Not in front of them. As my fingers brushed my lips, I remembered the impulsive kiss I’d given Sebastian after the trial. How he’d stared at me, so shocked and wide-eyed with that unearthly silver gaze, that it felt like my heart was going to leap through my chest.
‘Okay,’ said Hugo, after several moments. Both his expression and his voice were softer this time. ‘I just wanted to hear it from you.’
Hugo walked to the front window, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his ripped jeans. The others watched his movements the same way people in our troupe watched my father.
‘This was Augustine’s doing, from the very beginning,’ said James. ‘He had his shadow creatures kill Karl, then he took his books.’
‘And framed Sebastian in the process,’ added Vincent.
It felt like the temperature had dropped ten degrees. ‘But why?’ I questioned. ‘My uncle … I mean, Augustine … had his own collection of shadowen books. I remember his library when I was a child. It was mostly fairy tales and stories, same as Karl’s.’
‘I think Karl had more information than we knew,’ said Hugo.
A moment passed. Then another. The four tattoo artists locked stares with each other. The veins in Hugo’s neck bulged. Goosebumps rose along my arms.
‘Whatever Augustine took from Karl is the least of our problems,’ said Hugo at last. He ran his hands through his wiry hair. ‘Maybe he’s using my brother to gain safe passage into Savannah, but he wants Sebastian for himself.’
‘Sebastian’s sealed to me.’ I clutched the dandelion pendant at my neck. Though I hadn’t believed it at first, there was no longer any doubt in my mind. He was my guardian. I was his charge.
‘I know,’ said Hugo, sounding resigned. ‘But Augustine has wanted Sebastian from the start. After everything that went down last autumn, I thought he’d given up his quest. But it looks like I was wrong. Augustine knows there’s something special about him.’
My stomach rolled uneasily. I’d known Sebastian was special, even before he’d become a gargoyle. I’d never met anyone like him before. But the way Hugo used the word sounded different. Ominous. ‘What is it?’
James sighed heavily. ‘We don’t know.’
All my scared feelings funneled back into anger. ‘Well, what do you know, then? I came here because I thought you could help Sebastian. You’re the ones who turned him into a gargoyle in the first place.’
‘People don’t turn into gargoyles, Josephine,’ Hugo replied. ‘Shadowen have to be created. Their bodies are carved from special stone and then brought to life with prah.’ Hugo paused, as though working over several thoughts in his head. ‘You know what Sebastian looked like when you first met him, and how he is now. There’s something unique about him.’
Vincent pounded his fist against the wall. ‘Now, Augustine has him.’
‘Augustine was ordered to take Sebastian directly to the Court of Shadows for trial,’ I said. ‘If he had failed to show up, the Council would know. And so would my father.’
‘Josephine’s right,’ said Hugo. He moved behind the counter and stared at the wall calendar near the register. ‘The High Council is scheduled to meet in three days. That gives us time. But we should leave tonight.’
‘When?’ asked Vincent.
‘Midnight,’ Hugo replied. Then he turned back to me. ‘Thank you for letting us know what’s happened. I’m sure you’re being missed right now. You’d better get back to the Circe.’
‘No. I have to get to Savannah.’
Hugo frowned. ‘What good would that do?’
‘I’m going to testify on Sebastian’s behalf.’
‘So tell your fath
er to take you.’
I hesitated. I hadn’t been allowed to set foot inside our primary Gypsy Haven since becoming the Queen’s successor. But I couldn’t tell the Corsis that. ‘Look,’ I continued quickly, ‘I have to get to Savannah before Sebastian goes on trial. I’m a Romany. The Queen has to see me.’
‘Josephine.’ Hugo’s voice was firm. ‘I get where you’re coming from, I really do. But you’re not coming with us. Besides, what do you think would happen if Nicolas discovered you just took off and left the Circe without permission?’
I met his gaze without blinking. ‘I’m going to Savannah.’
‘No, you’re not.’ Hugo lifted me to my feet, not forcibly, but enough for me to know he meant business. The guys crowded around me, herding me towards the door. ‘Thank you for coming here to tell us. I know it was a risk. But let us handle it from here.’
I grabbed hold of Hugo’s shirt, desperate now. ‘Hugo, please.’
James opened the door and stood aside.
Hugo took my hands in his. ‘Things are complicated enough as it is. You being there would only make things more difficult. The sooner we get to Savannah, the sooner we clear this up and get Sebastian back.’
‘But—’
‘Go home, Josephine.’
Hugo ushered me out of the Gypsy Ink and shut the door behind me.
2. Josephine
It was sweltering underneath the stage lights. My thick tights clung damply to my legs, and sweat tickled the back of my neck. As I eased carefully into a headstand, balancing on Andre’s shoulders, my sequined costume scraped against my arms.
Once I made it through the routine, the show would be over, and I would be free. I tried to focus, to keep myself in the moment of our performance, but the Circe continued to fade around me … my mind traveled, the crowd blurred …
The Holding Tent emptied quickly after Sebastian’s trial. The benches were abandoned and the space was eerily quiet. Except for one sound – the sound of labored breathing, the sound of someone in pain.
He was still chained to the center support pole, just as he’d been during the kris. I stared at Sebastian in sickened shock. His jeans were ripped in several places with long tears. There were gashes in his arms, covered with his strange, purple-black blood. A deep slash cut across his chest. It had ripped the fabric of his t-shirt away. His jaw was discolored, his gray skin turning an unsettling shade of indigo.
My eyes rose to his face, and his eyes met mine.
I ran across the room.
‘Sebastian!’
‘Josephine,’ he answered. His voice was hoarse. ‘What are you doing here?’
I studied his wounds. ‘Oh, God, what have they done?’
‘I’m fine,’ he said, smiling.
He kept his lips closed, as always. But how could he smile right now? I tried to laugh, but it felt like I was choking. ‘You suck at lying, you know.’ I suddenly remembered the Marksmen. ‘Are they still here?’
‘They’re in the woods,’ he answered. He shifted his body, trying to loosen the chains around his middle. I could see pain flicker behind his silver eyes. ‘What’s going on?’
‘A handful of grotesques near the back gates.’ I looked away, hating to say it out loud, to admit the next bit. ‘And two chimeras.’
Sebastian growled. The sound was inhuman, threatening. But it wasn’t directed at me. It was for himself. I saw the glimmer of sharp teeth as he started to speak. ‘I should’ve—’
I pressed my fingers against his mouth. ‘Don’t go there. I’m the one who told you to leave Anya and Matthias. The Marksmen will deal with them. Even if you had killed those chimeras on the mountain, it wouldn’t have prevented all this from happening.’
I removed my hand, and I saw him swallow back another growl. His eyes, which had taken on a fierce gleam, softened again. I felt a kind of unspoken communication pass between us, wrapping around me like a blanket, familiar and comfortable. We were in this together, no matter what happened next.
Sebastian’s wings suddenly shuddered against the cords, and he winced. He maneuvered his body, trying to find a comfortable position, but the Marksmen had done their job well.
Quentin’s Marksmen.
Anger licked across my stomach as I remembered how nonchalantly Quentin had withheld casting a vote in Sebastian’s verdict – a decision that could’ve set him free. Quentin’s hatred of the shadow world was fierce. I’d once seen it as noble. But after this …
‘They’re wrong about you,’ I said, placing my hand against Sebastian’s neck. I felt him tremble. ‘I should have challenged my father and the kris. I should have forced Quentin to change his decision. You’re innocent.’
‘There’s nothing you could’ve done,’ Sebastian replied, giving me that same, gentle smile that made me feel all kinds of things. ‘Not even your father can go against the ruling, you said so yourself. I don’t know much about your people’s laws, but I saw the power of the council tonight. They’d already made up their minds.’
My shoulders slumped under invisible hands, pushing me down. ‘I know my words wouldn’t have changed anything but, believe me, I’m not done trying. There has to be another way.’
I stared into his eyes, and a powerful, electric silence fell between us. He leaned forward, but the chains prevented him from going very far.
‘Thank you,’ he said softly. ‘For believing me.’
‘I’ve always believed you, Sebastian.’ I raised my hand to his face and pressed my palm gently against his right cheek. His skin was cool to the touch, like a stone plucked from a mountain stream. I felt my heart beat faster as our eyes met. ‘You’re the only one I can believe.’
Applause roared around me. I jerked to the present. My legs wobbled in my pose. The chair Andre was balancing on teetered underneath his feet, but he adjusted so fast, no one in the audience would’ve noticed. But he did. I came out of my handstand. He offered his hands and I dismounted beside him.
‘What’s in your head?’ Andre hissed in my ear. ‘Focus!’
I sprang onto his broad shoulders again for our next pose, the most difficult of our combinations for the routine. His hands wrapped around mine, giving me a cue with one firm squeeze. I pulled myself up again, this time, balancing on one arm. My body quivered. Just a few more seconds. I tried to block out the crowd, the lights, and the pressure. But my mind …
Sebastian …
I said his name like a plea.
Sebastian …
He turned his silver-moon eyes toward me. Guilt, like a massive explosion, struck me from the inside out. I strained to reach him through the bars of the cage. I couldn’t. He was too far. I’d come too late. All I could do was whisper the same phrase, over and over again.
I’m so sorry … I’m so sorry … I’m so …
I over-rotated. Andre’s hand clamped tighter, but I couldn’t straighten. My body wouldn’t obey. I clenched my teeth and willed all my strength into my muscles. My stomach burned as I held on. It was only skill and hours of practice that kept us together. We morphed fluidly into another pose and I managed a smooth dismount without missing a beat. Applause erupted from around the Big Tent.
My cheeks burned as Andre took my hand and we faced the audience. We took our bows and hurried out of the circle as the lights dimmed on the stage space. We slipped behind the curtain separating the Big Tent from the backstage.
‘What was that?’ Andre snapped at me. ‘That’s the worse we’ve ever done that routine.’ We stopped in front of our dressing areas and he looked me over, his close-set eyes scrutinizing me critically. ‘What’s going on? Are you hurt?’
‘No,’ I said, pulling back the separating curtain. I didn’t want to look at him. I just needed him to leave me alone so I could change out of my costume and be finished with the performance for good. ‘I’m fine, Andre. I just had an off-night, that’s all. It’s been a long day.’
‘When is it not a long day around here?’ he said.
‘I
know—’
‘It’s about that gargoyle, isn’t it?’
I froze, my hand on the curtain. I saw the judgment written across Andre’s broad face, along with his scathing disbelief. He’d formed his own opinions, just like Quentin – I knew it the second I saw him sitting at the table for the kris. I felt a slow, cold anger seep through my bones, pushing away my guilt and shame.
‘His name’s Sebastian,’ I said.
And I shoved the curtain closed between us.
*
I stripped down as quickly as possible, relieved to put away the sequins and glitter. I’d spent most of my life hiding behind the show glam, disappearing within the elaborate makeup and bright clothes. It gave me a sense of peace. Now, I suddenly felt stifled by it.
The curtain rustled. I finished buttoning my jeans and sat down to pull on my shoes.
‘Come in.’
Francis slipped inside my small dressing room. My brother was dressed all in black, but it was the uniform used by the Circe crew, not the Marksmen. He plopped down in a chair opposite me, giving me a crooked smile, but his eyes were clouded.
‘Are you sure about this, Josie?’
I stood and grabbed my duffel bag, hastily cramming a few outfits inside it, along with items off my dressing table. ‘Yes, I’m sure. It’s the only way. I’ve already worked it out. Claire is going to take over for me for tomorrow’s show. I talked to Father and told him I need a short break, so I can clear my head.’
‘I still can’t believe he’s giving you permission to spend the entire weekend away from the Circe,’ said Francis. ‘It’s totally not like him at all.’
‘Father’s a lot of things, but he’s not heartless.’ I zipped up the duffel bag, then shrugged and looked away. ‘And he knows how much Sebastian—’
Means to me.
I didn’t complete the thought, but I didn’t have to. Francis already knew what I was going to say. He was my twin, after all. His eyes narrowed into a knowing look, and he pursed his lips.
‘You’re taking a big risk, you know. You’re not allowed anywhere near Savannah, you remember that, right? What with you being the secret successor to the Queen and all.’
Midnight Page 2