Nightfall

by Douglas, Penelope

  What the hell was that?

  I pulled back from Emmy, hearing screams and shouting as all of us turned in circles, searching for where the sound came from.

  And then we saw it. Beyond the cathedral, far into the black sky toward Cold Point—a cloud of fire and smoke rising into the air like an atomic bomb.

  Oh, my God.

  “What is that?” Damon yelled.

  “It’s near the Cove,” I said. I knew exactly where it was, and the only thing that it could’ve been.

  People started running, and I grabbed Em’s hand, all of us racing out of the gazebo. I searched for the kids, Misha, Ryen, and Alex, but then something caught my attention, and I narrowed my eyes, spotting the little girl from the Cove the other night. Still dressed in her dirty black clothes and the beanie on her head. She was staring at us.

  “What the hell?” I growled. “Michael!”

  “What?”

  I pointed toward the cars at the curb in front of Sticks. “Get her!”

  Was that what Rika meant when she said she thought she saw something?

  “Oh, shit,” he exclaimed.

  Keeping Emmy’s hand in mine, I hurried with her through the crowd, the little girl spinning around and trying to get through the people as a car tried to exit the alley, and a food cart blocked her other way out.

  She slipped through a patch in the chaos, but I lurched forward, catching her arm just in time.

  I hauled her back to me, her arms flying out and trying to hit me.

  “Let me go!” she yelled.

  I wrapped my arms around her as she thrashed and kicked, and her head hit my nose, pain shooting up into my head.

  Fuck.

  “Hey, hey,” Rika said, pulling her out of my arms. “It’s okay. No one will hurt you.”

  She fell to her knees in her red gown, looking up at the little girl and taking her hands in hers.

  “I promise,” she told her. “No one will hurt you. We just want to make sure you’re okay.”

  “I’m fine,” she barked and tried to pull away. “Let me go!”

  Damon grabbed her, keeping her there.

  But Rika looked up at him. “Let her go.”

  He frowned but did it, and Rika smiled up at her, trying to soothe. “I saw you watching the wedding,” she said as people ran every which way around us. “Did you like it? My mom says I should’ve worn white.”

  The little girl scowled but didn’t move, her eyes trailing over Rika’s earrings and hair.

  I rubbed my hand over my face. Jesus Christ. We didn’t have time for this. The Cove blew up, the townspeople were in a frenzy, most of them probably loading up to go check out the trouble for themselves, and this kid just happened to be there the other night and now here tonight? This was connected.

  “I like red, though,” Rika teased her. “Do you like red?”

  The girl just stared at her, and after a moment, reached out and touched Rika’s earring, enamored.

  “Do you know what that was at the Cove, honey?” Rika asked.

  The little girl looked around, fear etched in her eyes.

  Rika tipped her chin at her. “It’s okay.”

  The girl swallowed, finding her words. “No. I left the night you guys came and set the fire.”

  “I’m sorry about that,” Rika told her. “We didn’t know you lived there.”

  “I had already left my hiding spot when you got there,” she explained. “When the men came through the tunnel from the sea a couple of hours before.”

  My eyes shot to Michael, seeing Micah, Rory, and everyone else join us.

  “The men?” Rika asked.

  The girl nodded.

  “What did they look like?” Rory asked her.

  “One looked like him.” The kid pointed to Michael. “But with darker hair.”

  Darker hair and hazel eyes.

  Aydin.

  “The other one was hurt,” she said. “His hand.”

  Taylor.

  “What’s your name?” Rika asked.

  But the kid took one more look around at all of us hovering over her and whipped out of Rika’s hold, slipping between Alex and Em and diving into the crowd.

  “Wait, no!” Rika called as Banks lunged for the kid.

  But she was gone.

  No matter.

  I looked to Micah, Rory, and then Em. “Aydin and Taylor,” I said.

  They nodded.

  The train went under Deadlow Island. I didn’t know how they’d gotten that far, or if they had help, but the tunnel could’ve certainly connected to Coldfield and the Cove tunnels, as well.

  Michael shook his head. “Two nights ago…”

  They’d been here for two days.

  Motherfucker.

  “And they just announced their presence,” Kai said, staring off at the black cloud dissipating into the air off the coast.

  The town swarmed around us, people hopping into their cars, while others chatted wildly.

  “Get out of your dresses,” Michael told the girls. “Everyone meets at Coldfield in thirty minutes! Go!”

  Emory

  Present

  Lev and David carted everyone home in the SUVs, and after we’d scrambled into new clothes, and the kids and grandmas were secure at Kai’s parents’ estate, safely under the care of Katsu and Vittoria, we raced down the black highway, pulling on jackets. I slipped on a pair of black leather gloves Banks lent to me, since it was chilly.

  But I was pretty sure it was because she didn’t want me leaving fingerprints.

  I didn’t argue. She’d had more experience in this. The girls had filled me in last night on everything I’d missed over the years—Delcour, the Pope, Pithom, Evans Crist, Gabriel Torrance, and everything the guys did wrong—and right—in their quests for vengeance.

  And Trevor. I’d known he was dead but not the extent of his demise. It all should’ve scared me. It was a lot to take in.

  But I couldn’t help it. Something bubbled up inside me as Will drove, and I couldn’t believe how running wasn’t even an option. Even with the fear knotting my stomach, I didn’t want to be anywhere else.

  Sensing him staring at me, I pulled my black ski cap on and glanced over at him in his black hoodie, and the veins in his tattooed hands bulging out as he gripped the wheel. His eyes flashed to me again, his mouth opening and closing.

  “Stop looking at me,” I said, facing forward. “I’m coming, and you’re not stopping me.”

  I knew he was worried about the mess he’d gotten me into, but he was forgetting that this was all my mess, too. I didn’t run anymore.

  We pulled into Coldfield, the place swelling with a crowd, the explosion down on Old Pointe Road drawing people out of their houses instead of back in. Will didn’t even bother looking for a parking spot. He pulled up behind two cars, blocking them in, and shut off the engine.

  Another SUV pulled up behind us, and everyone climbed out of both cars.

  Will and I walked to the rear of the vehicle and pulled open the hatchback. He dug in a duffle bag, handing everyone their mask, but no one put them on yet, simply hooking them onto their belts.

  Misha and Ryen jogged up, dressed in street clothes and ready to rock.

  Will narrowed his eyes at his cousin, pausing. “What are you doing?”

  But Misha just reached down, pulling out a black mask with a blue stripe. “This belong to anybody?”

  Will dropped his eyes. “You don’t have to be here, man. You don’t have to be involved.”

  Misha stared at him. “Yes, I do.”

  He strapped his mask onto his belt and dug back into the bag, pulling out a white one for Ryen.

  Will gazed between them, a smile slowly forming at his cousin diving into the fray with us. “And my wolfpack, it grew,” he said, choking on fake tears, “it grew by two.”

  “Shut up,” Ryen told him.

  Misha snorted, all three of them grinning ear to ear at The Hangover reference.

 
Misha and Ryen stepped away, and I didn’t know much about them, but I knew Misha wasn’t a Horseman and he wasn’t the typical Thunder Bay rich boy. Will was family, though, and he was here for family.

  Will grabbed one more mask out of the bag, a yellow one with blood around the mouth and eyes.

  “They could be distracting us,” Micah told him. “Drawing us out there, so they can destroy the town while we’re running around in circles.”

  “They have nothing to gain,” Will told him. “Their beef is with us. They want to confront us. They’re not going to make it hard for us to find them.”

  Then he held the mask out to me.

  “Real monsters don’t wear masks,” I teased.

  He shrugged. “Real monsters might not care about being identified, either. No mask, no fun for you.”

  Aw, my man. Layin’ down the law. God, it turned me on.

  I reached in and pulled out a black one to match his white one instead, both with a thick red stripe down the left side.

  “I like this one,” I said.

  He smiled and pulled his out, closing the back hatch and locking the car.

  “Martin could be there,” he told me as all of us walked into Coldfield so we could sneak into the Cove undetected.

  “Or he could not,” I pointed out.

  But he shook his head, leading the way through the crowd. “Somehow I don’t think we’re lucky enough that all of this isn’t connected, Emory.”

  Connected…

  I slowed, thinking about Martin, Evans Crist, Aydin...

  Who put Will in Blackchurch? We still didn’t know. Who had something to gain?

  Aydin and Taylor had been in town two days. Why wait so long to make their presence known? What were they doing?

  Like Micah and Rory, Aydin, Taylor, and their families would be useful allies to someone.

  Evans knew Will had escaped, and now…

  My chest caved. Evans put Will in Blackchurch.

  Evans was connected to Martin.

  It had been two days.

  Two days.

  I tipped my eyes up, looking around us, my face drifting from mask to mask to mask inside the haunted park.

  Plenty of time to plan…

  Shit.

  “Wait,” I called out, and then turned my head and raised my voice as everyone continued to drift ahead. “Wait!”

  Everyone spun around and stared at me, and I rushed for them as Will rushed back to me.

  “They’ve been here for two days,” I said, everyone crowding around us. “Two days. What have they been doing? Taking in the sights?”

  “They’ve been getting ready,” Michael guessed.

  “No,” I told him, glancing around again for danger. “They’re not alone.”

  Everyone gaped at me.

  “They didn’t come here without help,” I clarified in a louder voice.

  Blackchurch’s caretakers would’ve sent them home or to another facility. They escaped and got here fast with someone’s help.

  A still figure caught my eye, and I did a double take, seeing him standing in the crowd and staring right at me as people bustled around him in a blur.

  My whole body turned hot.

  He wore a mask—a devil painted black—and I watched him as he watched me, my heart echoing in my ears.

  Coldfield continued to rage like a party around us, people running, screaming, and laughing as “Highly Suspicious” played over the sound system.

  “Their parents?” Rory threw the idea out there, and Micah shaking his head, not knowing.

  But I answered for him. “No.”

  “What are you saying?” Alex asked, stepping in.

  I looked to Will. “It’s all connected. Evans Crist solicited Martin’s help to cripple your parents by sending you all to prison, but he didn’t anticipate that you’d get organized on your own when you got out. In time, you became a threat he needed to deal with, too.”

  “My father may have done shit,” Michael chimed in, “for which he will pay, but he’s been quiet for years.”

  “But mobile,” I retorted. “What if he sent Will to Blackchurch to cripple you like he did to your parents all those years ago?” I looked around at all the guys. “You haven’t moved forward with the resort in Will’s absence, after all. It worked.”

  I shot my gaze to the right, seeing the figure again.

  Or someone who looked exactly like him. He was also dressed in the same black jacket and black devil mask with the hood pulled up.

  I darted my gaze back to the other one, noticing he still stood in the exact same spot. They were both staring at me.

  “What if he knew the moment Will was broken out?” I asked Michael. “What if he enlisted the remaining prisoners and their families and had them brought here? What if Aydin and Taylor have been sleeping right down the road this whole time at your parents’ house?”

  No one spoke, the wheels turning in their heads as they exchanged looks. As they came to terms with the possibility that Aydin could win tonight.

  “Aydin engages in nothing until he’s sure he can win,” Alex said in a quiet voice. “She’s right. He’s not alone.”

  I stepped in closer, our circle tightening. “They were probably at the wedding,” I said, gesturing with my eyes to the crowd. “They’ve been following us the whole time.”

  I slid my eyes to the left, seeing another one. And then another one.

  Slowly, the devils were all around us, slipping through the unknowing crowd and surrounding us like an army, and our crew averted their eyes, awareness finally written all over their faces that we were already caught.

  “The masks,” I murmured. “The devils. It’s how their crew is identifying each other.”

  “Shit,” Rika whispered, moving her gaze around the theme park.

  We had enough to overcome Evans Crist with the eleven of us, plus Micah and Rory, but we might not now if Evans had Aydin and Taylor’s families behind him. And if he had Martin and a police force behind him?

  We were screwed.

  Rika grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the warehouse, everyone following as we piled inside, hurrying around a maze of dark tunnels, and slipping behind a prop wall, actors gasping as we found them sticking their hands through the holes to grab patrons and scare them.

  Rika whipped off her hoodie and unhooked her mask. “Emmy, switch with me.”

  She took my mask and hooked it onto her belt.

  “Alex, switch with Banks,” she told her.

  I remained still. “They’re coming after all of us,” I pointed out.

  It was no use to hide my identity when she was in danger, too.

  But she retorted, “Not Aydin and Taylor. They’ll be after you two first.”

  Okay, maybe. And if Martin were here tonight, I would definitely be a target.

  I slid off my jacket and tossed it to her, taking her hoodie and pulling it over my head as Alex and Banks did the same.

  “Get to the underground,” Will told everyone. “Em and Alex will go with Rika and Michael.”

  The underground?

  But before I could ask questions, Ryen chimed in, “We shouldn’t split up.”

  “We’ll move faster and easier that way,” he told her.

  I grabbed his face and kissed him, out of breath already. “I want to go with you.”

  He caressed my cheek. “We’ll meet at the Cove. I have to lead them away from the town. I just want to give you all a chance to get away before they catch up.”

  We pulled on our masks and yanked up our hoods to cover our hair.

  “You two go with Kai and Banks,” Will told Misha and Ryen. Then he jerked his chin at Rory and Micah. “And you both stick with Lev, Damon, and Winter.”

  They nodded, pulling on their new masks. I kind of wanted to smile. Will had thought of everything, hadn’t he?

  “Shake ’em,” he instructed us. “I left the door unlocked. Get to the underground. Get to the Cove.”

 
; “Yup,” everyone said, moving out into the maze again. Damon and Winter slipped through first to get a head start.

  But before I could leave, Will grabbed me, pulled me into his arms, and lifted my mask, kissing me hard and deep, his tongue making me moan.

  I love you.

  “Don’t get hurt,” I whispered against his mouth.

  I nodded.

  He gazed into my eyes. “I’m marrying you.”

  And then he pulled down my mask and rushed me out of our hiding place.

  Yeah, we hadn’t exactly finished the ceremony, and I wanted all of it.

  Rika grabbed my hand, pulling me after Michael and Alex, and I whipped my head around, seeing Will go the opposite direction.

  He disappeared around a corner, and I sucked in a breath, an awful feeling curdling in my stomach.

  Shit.

  I didn’t like this.

  We headed through the haunted house, making our way for the Mad Scientist wing as Rika quickly filled me in on how Will owned Coldfield as a cover for…well, Coldfield, the underground transit system he’d discovered. I’d heard of the haunted theme park that had risen up in Thunder Bay over the past few years, but I’d never been here.

  I couldn’t wait to see the city underneath.

  We moved as quickly as possible, trying not to draw attention, but I couldn’t see where the others had gone until I spotted Damon grabbing a bloody sheet and throwing it over Winter, then sweeping her up into his arms like she was his latest victim.

  She must’ve said something, because his lips moved, whispering back to her, and then he tickled her between her legs before they disappeared into a tunnel.

  No one else was anywhere to be seen, and I kept my eyes peeled as we slinked through the life-size dollhouse portion, the fog drifting around our feet as the darkness loomed in the rafters above.

  I passed mannequins with rotting green skin, fifties-style haircuts, and retro clothes, the joints of their bodies outlined in black to make them look like puppets, but as I slipped through, twisting my eyes from left to right, one came to life and jumped in my face. I screamed, raising my hands to hit her, but I stopped myself, running ahead instead.

  I glanced over my shoulder, seeing her step back into place for the next victim, frozen in some creepy posture, but as soon as I whipped my gaze forward again, someone stepped into the pathway ahead of us, a dark form with a devil mask.