‘He’s sealed to the Romanys,’ said Josephine. I could feel her heated emotions like shockwaves through my chest. ‘Sebastian deserves the same care and respect as anyone here.’
‘Josie,’ said Quentin in his sickeningly calm voice. ‘I know you’re sympathetic towards the gargoyle, and I wish there were a better solution, but we have to think of our clan. If the demon – if Sebastian – is truly innocent, the High Council will make that determination, and then the matter will be settled. Despite how it looks, the truth is, Savannah is the safest place for him right now.’
A silent pause followed.
‘That may be true, Quentin,’ said Nicolas after a moment. ‘But we have no way of getting him there. You don’t have men to spare, and we need everyone else tending to Circe duties.’
Augustine’s scent intensified as he rounded the corner of the wagon. I bit back a growl. He’d been waiting for just the right moment to appear, and Quentin had played the family expertly into his hands.
‘I’ll take him,’ he said in a pleasant voice.
I felt the Romanys’ shocked reaction as they saw him.
‘How dare you set foot in our camp,’ Nicolas said furiously.
Augustine made a reprimanding sound. ‘Now, is that any way to greet your long-lost brother, Nicolas? I’m hurt by your lack of hospitality.’
‘You’re not welcome here,’ replied Sabina, her voice bitter.
‘Thank you for the reminder, dearest sister-in-law, and trust me, I have no intentions of hanging around.’ Augustine sighed. ‘I was simply passing through Sixes. But news travels fast, and I heard about the murder. I knew Karl well, and I wanted to express my condolences. I’ve been made aware of your situation and it just so happens that I’m traveling to Savannah tonight. I could take the gargoyle to the High Council for you.’
‘That’s absurd,’ said Nicolas. ‘You’re no more welcome there than you are here.’
‘Normally, I would agree with you,’ he replied. ‘But I have a feeling my reception will be different this time. Of course, I would prefer a little hospitality when I arrive. Delivering something to the High Council would put me in good standing with them.’
‘You mean with her,’ Nicolas answered.
Sabina snorted. ‘You think it’s that easy to overcome marimé status, Adolár?’
I heard Josephine gasp. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Since when has uncle Adolár been banished?’ demanded Francis.
‘Since he broke the law of the High Council almost fifteen years ago,’ said Nicolas, his voice cold as steel. ‘When he lost his Gypsy blood and his Roma name was changed to Augustine to mark him as marimé.’
‘You’re Augustine?’ I heard Josephine whisper in disbelief.
‘Surprised, children?’ said Augustine. ‘Then again, it’s been a long time, and your parents felt you were too young to understand what really happened to your uncle when I left the Circe. My moving out of the country was a much easier explanation. Keeping secrets is a difficult thing. One can only hold onto them for so long.’ His tone turned mocking. ‘Does it bother you that someone this traitorous is related to you by blood?’
‘Was related,’ snapped Sabina. ‘Not anymore.’
‘One day, perhaps, that will change,’ he replied. ‘And speaking of change, Nicolas, I know you feel it coming. When it does, I just want to make sure I’m on the right side.’
‘How,’ demanded Francis. ‘By killing members of the head families?’
‘I’m hurt, nephew,’ said Augustine. ‘I may have my grievances with the current leadership, but I would never stoop so low as to take the life of a fellow Roma. But someone is, and it won’t be long before everyone is involved. It would be a shame if they discovered the Romany clan was keeping a gargoyle suspected of murder hidden in their camp.’
Another pause filled the air, this one heavy with indecision.
‘The Queen won’t see you,’ said Nicolas harshly.
‘Oh, I think she will,’ Augustine replied. ‘When I inform them that the Romany clan has violated the terms of my marimé by killing my three noble gargoyles who, as you may recall, fall under the same protection as I do. How do you think that news will sit with the Council, Nicolas?’
‘They weren’t gargoyles,’ he replied. ‘And they invaded our camp.’
‘Minor details,’ said Augustine, glancing at his fingernails. ‘But it doesn’t change the terms of my agreement. Now, unless you want me to address these issues directly with the Queen, I propose you hand the shadowen over to me. The creature will be my invitation through the front door.’ Augustine stopped talking, and I could feel the heavy weight of his words. When he continued, his voice was softer. ‘All I require is the chance to gain an audience with our sister. Allow me that, and there will be no mention of any of this to anyone.’
Another silence. But this time, I felt a shift in the air.
‘I’ve already contacted the Council and apprised them of the situation,’ said Nicolas. ‘If you fail to arrive without the gargoyle—’
‘Then they’ll have my head,’ Augustine finished with a condescending voice. ‘Believe me, I know better than most the power of the Council. No, brother, I intend to deliver your package. In fact, why don’t you tell our sister that I’ll be leaving immediately?’
‘No!’ cried Josephine. ‘You’re not taking him anywhere!’
Augustine laughed: an ominous sound. ‘Ah, my dear, headstrong niece. I’m not giving your father a choice.’
‘Nicolas,’ said Quentin, ‘as much as I hate to admit it, this is the best way to carry out the wishes of the kris.’
‘You’re the bandoleer, Father,’ continued Josephine, ignoring him. ‘There has to be some way you can overrule the kris’s decision. Sebastian is supposed to stay with us. You know he didn’t murder Karl. He’d never do something like that. He’s my guardian.’
‘You still refuse to believe this creature is dangerous,’ said Augustine with unnerving calm.
‘I never said he wasn’t dangerous,’ she replied coldly. ‘But he won’t hurt us.’
I smelled Augustine draw close to my cage. I crawled reluctantly towards the door, digging my claws into the wood to hold myself in place. I couldn’t turn back, especially now. Another growl welled in my throat, and this time, I didn’t try to choke it down.
‘You have much faith in this shadowen,’ said Augustine. He drew back the flap just enough for me to see his face. Thomas’s arrow was in his hand with a fresh coat of prah sparkling at its tip. Hair prickled along the nape of my neck. He leaned closer, his voice so low only I could hear. ‘Just in case you were thinking of changing your mind.’
Before I could even draw a breath, he gouged the arrowhead into my wounded shoulder. I winced as a sharp, stinging pain flowed down my arm. I shook my head, trying to focus, but fury was already churning in my stomach.
‘What are you doing?’ I heard Francis say.
The flap opened wider, revealing the rest of me. Augustine pulled something from his pocket. I squinted through the rapidly forming haze in my vision. It was a key. I felt the Marksmen around me tense. My chest heaved. My wings strained against their bindings.
Augustine glared at the Romany family. ‘I’m showing you the truth.’
Nicolas stepped forward. ‘Adolár …’
The strange Roma dust surged through my veins, turning the world around me into a blob of dizzying red. I snarled in the back of my throat. Augustine’s eyes met mine.
‘Make it convincing,’ he whispered as he shoved the key in the lock.
I heard it click.
And I was free.
I burst through the door and landed on all fours in the middle of the Gypsies. The Marksmen surrounded me, weapons drawn. I whirled on them in blazing rage, and my wings snapped free from their restraints.
I heard Nicolas yell my name. But I didn’t listen. I whipped the air into frenzy with my wings. Debris spewed. The prah shut down my brain, filling
what was left with dark instincts, and I let them take me. I grinned – baring all my wicked teeth – eager for a fight like I’d never been before.
The Marksmen were on me at once. I felt sharp knives in my flesh. I slammed one Marksman against the bars of the cage as another leapt onto my back. I ripped him loose with my claws. I was bleeding, and I didn’t care. Someone shouted for reinforcements. They came, weapons glittering. I attacked, throwing them in every direction. I fought until their numbers overwhelmed me.
It took nine Marksmen – including Quentin – to finally bring me down.
I was on my stomach, a thick boot crushing my neck from behind. The Marksmen used their weight and weapons to secure me, but I jerked and writhed, causing more damage than they were inflicting. The prah’s power worked like anesthesia, numbing me to pain. I felt nothing.
Until Josephine’s pale face appeared in front of mine.
I froze, overwhelmed by her proximity. I felt her warm breath on my skin as she gasped. She was on her hands and knees, staring at me with so much emotion that it pierced through the red haze, cracking me open, deep inside. Regret and doubt seeped through my resolve.
‘Sebastian!’ she cried. ‘No! This isn’t you. Please, stop this. You need to come back. Show them you’re not dangerous, Sebastian. Please. Show them who you really are!’
Black despair swept over me.
Play your part, Sebastian, and she’ll be left alone.
My heart quit beating.
Cross me in any way and, I promise you, she’ll never perform again.
I choked on the fury that Augustine’s powder unleashed in my blood. Josephine’s hands cupped my face, caressing my jaw, holding onto me with desperation. I needed her warmth like I needed air. Every moment I’d spent with her flashed before me – every detail sealing itself inside my heart. The depths of her eyes. The sound of her laughter. Her scent on the breeze. The way I felt when she touched me.
Her kiss.
‘Sebastian …’
Hot tears pricked my eyes, stinging me to the core.
I’ll always love you, Josephine.
No matter what I am.
I closed my eyes, but the tears escaped, rolling down my cheeks, soaking her fingers. I made a horrible, painful sound in the back of my throat. I forced the sound into words – thick and gravelly, barely above a whisper – and for her ears alone.
‘Josephine … please … forgive … me …’
I summoned my strength and fixed blazing eyes on Josephine. My lips pulled away from my teeth, revealing every jagged edge. I let loose a viscous snarl. She jerked back in shock; her eyes wide with a horrible fear that I’d never forget.
Then I hurled myself at her.
The Marksmen barely caught me. I thrashed in their clutches, roaring like an animal – teeth and claws and madness. Josephine screamed. She fell back into the dirt and scrambled away. Francis caught her and dragged her to her feet. His arms wrapped around her. Her terrified expression was like a spear through my chest.
‘Please, no … no,’ she cried. ‘How could you …’
She broke off and buried her face in her brother’s shoulder. Quentin flashed between us, brandishing a long knife pointed at my heart. After that, everything felt like it was underwater. Sounds were muffled, images were slow and indistinct. I heard voices. Shouts and orders. My body was slammed into the ground. I turned my face into the dirt, choking on sobs that racked my body worse than the rage ever had. I’d done what I had to do. I’d found the strength to protect her one last time – from Augustine. And from myself.
Now, it was over.
So I didn’t care when the needle full of vitamin D was jammed into my neck. I didn’t care when I was flung mercilessly into the cage. And I didn’t care when the heavy tarp was lowered over the bars, shutting out the night.
I didn’t care about anything.
Not anymore.
Epilogue: Awakening Dreams
It was dark outside – and raining. My slippers were soaked and muddy, and I pulled the flimsy silk robe around my shoulders to protect my costume from the damp. It was pointless, and Yvette was going to kill me for ruining one of her well-designed masterpieces, but I didn’t care. I ran faster, splashing water as I plowed through puddles.
Behind me, cheers and applause from the audience filtered through the canvas of the Big Tent. It wouldn’t be long before they discovered I was missing – most likely when they gave the warning call for my next act. But they’d just have to survive without me.
I had to see him.
I was lost among the abandoned vehicles and I stumbled aimlessly, out of breath and frantic. And then my heart jumped as I spotted one lone wagon, set apart from the rest and covered with a large, moldy tarp. I rushed forward, untying the corner with shaking fingers. I pulled it free of the cage and looked inside.
I gasped.
He was huddled in the far corner of the cage, his body shaking with small spasms, and his cheek pressed hard against the cold bars. He breathed shallowly through gritted teeth, and his eyes were closed.
The sight scared me. I’d never seen him look like this before – so animalistic. Granted, there were moments since I’d known him when something dark and wild would pass across those strange silver eyes of his – veiling them like the moon behind a cloud – and then it would be gone. But this was different. He seemed almost … savage.
I breathed his name softly.
‘Sebastian?’
His eyes slit open to silvery half-moons.
‘Josephine.’
He said it without seeing me. But he’d already known it was me. He’d always been able to feel my presence that way.
Just like I could feel his.
His shirt was torn, clinging to his body by only a few shreds. His gray chest, trim and broad, reflected the glow of the torchlight behind me. His rounded, muscular shoulders heaved as he breathed, and I had to look away for a moment. I’d always thought Sebastian Grey was attractive, even back in school. Then, his look had been cute and mysterious. Now, it was dark and alluring. My heart jittered. I shook off the feeling quickly.
‘Sebastian,’ I said again, louder this time.
‘You shouldn’t be here,’ he said softly. His dark lips parted as he spoke, revealing glimmers of his sharp rows of teeth. ‘You must go back.’
The resonant tone of his voice drifted over my soul, giving rise to those same unexplainable feelings I always got around him, and I blinked to clear my thoughts.
‘I had to see you,’ I replied.
‘Why?’
Sebastian’s silver eyes flicked in my direction, and I froze at both the primal power and the gentle spirit in their eerie depths. I searched his face, lingering on the spiral horns above his temples, half hidden by locks of gorgeously thick pewter hair. His enormous wings quivered around his body, shimmering in the starlight. I’d learned to read his emotions in their movements, and I knew he was confused.
‘Because I had to tell you,’ I said.
His gray brows furrowed. ‘Tell me what?’
I reached through the bars. Sebastian hesitated, his expression full of self-loathing. But that didn’t stop me. I found his hand and wrapped my fingers around his, feeling his thick claws smoothly grazing my skin. I stared into his silver eyes and took the deepest breath I’d ever taken.
‘I love you.’
‘Josie!’
I flailed in my chair, sending a nearby vase of flowers crashing to the floor. Glass and water shattered everywhere. I jumped up, trying to focus my blurry eyes. Andre stood in the opening of my dressing room, his arms crossed.
‘They just called the warning cue,’ he said brusquely. ‘Didn’t you hear it?’
‘I — no,’ I muttered, kneeling down to clean up some of the water with a towel. ‘Fell asleep.’
My less-than-compassionate partner shook his head. ‘Well, hurry up. We’ve got a full house coming tonight, and we’ve got less than three hours to finish this ru
n-through before they arrive.’
‘I know.’
‘Listen, Josie, I know you had a rough night. We all did. But you’ve got to get your head back in these routines. We need a good opening night.’
I forced a smile. ‘Of course we do. And I’m good. Don’t worry about me.’
Andre plodded out of the room, grumbling to himself. I studied the flowers strewn over the floor. Broken glass sparkled on the red petals like diamonds.
Diamonds.
My mind snapped to the daydream. I could see his tortured silvery eyes burning into mine. I jerked in pain as I caught the tip of a rose thorn in my finger. I flung the flower angrily across the room and sat back on my heels.
My skin went icy when I thought of how he’d lunged at me. He’d never been viscous like that – not with me. Something happened to him – in that horrible moment when he’d looked at me, bleeding and desperate – when he’d begged me to forgive him. One instant, I was staring into his soul, and the next, there was nothing there. Like someone had yanked a television plug out of its socket and the screen flicked to black.
Quentin said he’d become an animal, but I didn’t believe it. I wouldn’t believe it. Not Sebastian. But I’d been helpless to do one freaking thing about it as my father ordered Augustine to take him away. I’d yelled and cried and pounded on Quentin’s chest, but it made no difference. I wasn’t the one in charge. I was just the daughter of the bandoleer.
Seventeen hours. That’s how long he’d been gone. And they’d been the longest hours of my life. I hadn’t slept. I’d barely eaten. My insides felt gutted out. I knew I was sabotaging my own performance with my reckless behavior. I covered my mouth with my hands so I wouldn’t scream. I couldn’t let my troupe down. We depended on the Circe to survive. It was our life. My life.
But I felt anything but alive. Every time I blinked, Sebastian’s shadowed face haunted me. I kept listening for his gentle voice, reassuring me that this was all just a bad dream and I’d wake up. But it wasn’t.
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