by Trudi Jaye
“Ah, yes. The girlfriend. I’m not surprised you’re here. I’m just taking back what’s mine.” She lifted the gun and pointed it at Celestine’s heart.
“He’s not yours,” said Celestine fiercely. “He belongs to no one.”
Veronica laughed. “You’re wrong. He was mine for ten years. I ordered him to do anything I wanted. He did it all, you know. Never said a word. Never complained.” Veronica turned and spat in Jack’s direction. “And then someone from the Jolly Knight Carnival comes along and destroys my world. Kills my brother. Leaves me with nothing. Less than nothing.” She pulled the trigger again, and this time Celestine couldn’t help herself, she screamed. She looked down over her body, and at first she couldn’t see if she’d been hit. She let out a relieved breath—then the pain burst from just below her shoulder and she saw a spreading circle of red. This was what they’d not been able to plan for. Bullets that went wide or were aimed outside the vest range.
“You hurt him so badly, he may never be able to recover. But he doesn’t belong to you anymore,” said Celestine through gritted teeth, forcing the words out. She felt herself sway, but stood her ground. She had to keep Veronica occupied while the others forged ahead with the plan. “You don’t own him.” She would save Sam, no matter what it took. Even if it took her life.
At least he’d be free of her.
“I made him who he is,” said Veronica, her whole attention focused on Celestine. “You are nothing, a speck, compared to me and my influence.” She took a step toward Celestine.
Celestine opened her mouth to reply, but Sam spoke first.
“You have done nothing but torment and destroy,” he said, appearing directly behind Veronica. He grabbed her around the neck and pulled his arm tight. “You are the worst thing that ever happened to me, and I will spend the rest of my life trying to atone for the terrible things you made me do.” He jerked her neck tighter. “And I will never forgive you for that.”
Celestine raced forward and yanked the handgun out of Veronica’s hand with her good arm, before the older woman could think to use it on Sam.
“Let me go, Sam,” said Veronica calmly, her words slightly garbled because of the choking hold Sam had on her.
“No. This is nothing more than you deserve,” he said, his eyes dark orbs behind Veronica’s head.
Veronica started struggling. “This is not possible. You have another block on you. You must obey me.”
“You and your games. You’re not powerful enough to put a full block on me anymore.”
Veronica’s face went purple, the veins standing out on her neck. And then she visibly calmed down. She stopped struggling. Her face returned to its normal color. She smiled. “Sam. You know you don’t want to hurt me. You’re a doctor. You must let me go.”
Sam shook his head. “Never. You have no power over me now.”
Behind her Celestine heard a scuffle, and turned. Jack was wrestling with one of the guards, their tall frames evenly matched.
But Rilla was on the back of the other guard, who was twice her size. Celestine hesitated, looking back at Sam, but he seemed to have Veronica under control. She stumbled over to Rilla and the guard. Her strength was leaking out of her, as well as blood, but she managed to slam the butt of Veronica’s gun into the side of the guard’s head. The guard simply grunted and kept trying to shake off Rilla.
When she tried to move in to hit him again, he reached out one arm, flicking at Celestine like she was a pesky fly. Leaping back out of reach, she gasped as a web of pain stretched out over her torso from her shoulder. She bit her lip and held up the gun with her good arm. Her finger hesitated over the trigger, but she couldn’t pull it. She was a terrible shot and her vision was already becoming blurred. She was just as likely to hit Rilla as the guard.
They needed to end it quickly—the longer the fight went on, the more likely the guard was to win. He was bigger, stronger, and knew more about fighting.
Relying on the large man being distracted by Rilla, she rushed in close and jerked her knee up in one quick practiced gesture—her brothers had always fought dirty—and hit the guard squarely in the groin. He bent over into a groan, and she hit him again on the back of the head with the butt of the gun. This time he went down with Rilla on top of him.
Celestine stepped back quickly and her knees buckled. She fell to the floor as shudders wracked her whole body and landed heavily on her shoulder. Pain pulsed out from her wound and everything went blurry. She had to force her eyes to stay open. She looked up to see Veronica looming over her, a malicious sneer on her face. Celestine tried to lift herself back up, but her shoulder was a burning ball of fire, and she just groaned instead.
What had happened to the others? To Sam? Had she killed him? She couldn’t even move her head to see.
Smiling, Veronica leaned down and took the gun from Celestine’s nerveless hand.
“Goodbye, my dear,” said Veronica, holding the gun loosely in her hand before bringing it up to point at Celestine’s chest. Light from the overhead lamps created a halo around Veronica’s face, and Celestine blinked rapidly, trying to clear the image of Veronica as an angel.
Time stood still, and rainbow colors appeared in the world around her. Celestine gasped, trying to pull herself back out of the vision. Her whole body was tensed for the bullet that was about to rip through her. But it didn’t make any difference. The vision couldn’t be stopped. Her body would be shaking with a seizure, but her mind was here, about to be a reluctant voyeur into Veronica’s future.
Veronica was standing over a small grave. Around her were rolling hills and meadows full of sheep. She wore an immaculate suit, cream with intricately patterned gold buttons. Her hair fell gently around her shoulders, and she looked more relaxed than Celestine had ever seen her.
“I did it, Marco,” she whispered, looking down at the gravestone.
Celestine could see Marco’s name engraved into the marble. Underneath, the date of his birth and death were followed by the line: Fly free, brother. I love you still.
A breeze stole in across the meadow and blew gently across Veronica’s face. She shivered. “I vowed to avenge your death, and I did it.”
A bird screeched high in the sky, and Celestine looked up, watching it wander lazily across the sky.
Veronica leaned down and placed a single red rose across the tombstone. She placed her hand softly next to the rose, as if touching her brother’s face. “I love you, Marco.”
Then Veronica stood and walked carefully back out of the small graveyard, past a tiny stone church with a single tower and bell. Celestine looked around, trying to find a landmark or a name, perhaps an address that would mark where they were. Nothing seemed familiar or extraordinary enough that she might be able to find it again.
Veronica climbed into a large cream car. As she drove away, the vision faded, and Celestine returned to her body, her whole being tensed for the pain of being shot.
Veronica had won.
Chapter 41
Sam rolled to his feet, searching the warehouse for Veronica. His heart lurched when he saw her standing over Celestine, who was lying prone on the floor, her whole body shaking in a seizure. He roared, sprinting toward Veronica.
She wasn’t going to hurt Celestine again.
Veronica looked up and saw Sam running toward her. Her eyes widened, and she held up her arm, pointing the gun directly at his heart. “Stay back, or I’ll shoot you too,” she said loudly.
He kept running—he didn’t care about a bullet, he would keep going through anything she sent his way, just to save Celestine.
She hesitated, watching his progress toward her as if she didn’t understand what was happening.
He was almost on her, when she seemed to make a decision. She sneered at Sam, then turned and ran. Sam got to Celestine seconds after Veronica left her, skidding to a halt beside her.
He glanced up at Veronica as she escaped through the metal door at the side of the warehouse, but he di
dn’t chase her. His hand slid into Celestine’s, fitting perfectly. He ran his other hand across her forehead, pushing strands of red-blonde curls out of her eyes. “It’s okay, Celestine. You’re going to be okay,” he whispered to her as her seizure ended.
The link between them brightened and glowed. He leaned down and kissed her cheek, feeling the magic of the Carnival working through both of them. Celestine opened her eyes and looked up at him. “Are you okay?” she asked.
Sam let out a breath. “You’re the only person I know who would wake up after being shot and having a seizure, and ask if I’m okay,” he said on a laugh.
“I know how I feel,” she said.
“How do you feel?”
“Rotten.” She made a face.
Sam looked around for the other two. Jack and Rilla were tying the guards to a couple of old heating pipes not far away. The door burst open and Frankie and Garth came running in. They both had guns.
“Are we too late?” said Garth.
Jack shook his head. “She didn’t do as much talking as we expected. Just went straight to the shooting.” He fingered the hole in his shirt.
Garth noticed the blood on Celestine’s shoulder. “Do we need the hospital?” he asked Sam.
Sam blinked and realized that he’d been so busy holding her hand, that he hadn’t properly checked Celestine’s wound. “I’m so sorry, Celestine. I wasn’t thinking.” He ripped the shirt around the wound, and leaned in for a closer look. The bleeding had already stopped, and he found an entry and exit wound, so the bullet has gone through cleanly. There was also a humming inside him that he recognized. The Carnival was helping heal Celestine as well.
“I think we can leave it for today. I have all the supplies I need in the clinic. But we need to get back to the Carnival so I can dress this wound as soon as possible.”
Frankie looked around. “Where’s Veronica?”
“You didn’t see her on the way in?” asked Jack.
“No.”
“Then she escaped.”
Frankie looked around and hesitated. “You don’t think...?” he said quietly. He glanced at Celestine. “Didn’t she see...?”
Jack looked at him and then Rilla. “Everyone out! Right now!” he yelled.
Sam glanced up at Jack in confusion, but the expression on the Ringmaster’s face said it all. He thought Veronica had something more planned for them. It wasn’t like her to just slip away in the night. She liked to leave a big impression.
He scrambled to his feet and dragged Celestine with him. She groaned, but let him do it. He put her good arm around his shoulder and helped her to half walk across the floor to the exit. To one side Rilla and Jack were untying the same guards they’d just tied up. Frankie held a gun on them and kept glancing at his watch.
Sam emerged into the outside world. Everything was covered in pinks and oranges, the shades of a beautiful early morning sunrise. He kept moving, dragging Celestine as far away from the warehouse as he possibly could. He didn’t know where their car was, but he still had the keys to the truck jangling in his pocket, so that’s where he headed.
He’d only taken a dozen or so steps when a deafening explosion filled the air around them. A wall of heat and air hit Sam, knocking his feet out from under him. Sam clung tight to Celestine as the detonation inside the warehouse ricocheted along the whole street, pulsing outwards and striking everything in its path.
As they were flung through the air, Sam managed to twist his body so that he landed first, pulling Celestine down on top of him. She cried out as they landed heavily on the ground, and then went limp.
He curled onto his side, trying to protect her from whatever debris might find them. Moments later wood, bricks, metal piping—the whole damn lot—started raining down from the sky. Sam held himself still over Celestine’s body, taking the brunt of the explosion fallout, clenching his teeth against the pain each time something smashed against his back.
After what seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes, Sam looked up. His body was battered and torn. Dust and debris was everywhere. Nothing big had fallen on them, but it was pure luck. A massive brick block was embedded into the concrete less than five yards from where they’d fallen.
“Jack! Rilla!” His voice was rough and he cleared his throat. “Garth! Frankie! Anyone!” The thought that Veronica might have won after all flitted through his head. Perhaps this had always been her plan. Destroy the Carnival by taking out four of the main leaders. And he’d led them all straight to her.
“Don’t,” said a soft voice below him.
He looked down into Celestine’s gentle eyes. “What?”
“I can feel you trying to blame yourself. Just don’t.”
“But I led you all here....”
Celestine shook her head. “Veronica would have crossed their paths whatever happened. She’s been on a collision course with the Carnival for a very long time. You gave us the opportunity to take her on.”
Sam looked up at the destruction around them. “They’re dead. All of them.”
Celestine shook her head. “No, they’re not. Look through your Carnival link. You should at least be able to pick up Rilla and Jack.”
Sam took a breath. She was right. Of course she was. If the Ringmasters were actually dead, the whole Carnival would know it. Grief would ripple across the whole structure.
“We need to find the others, though,” she said.
Sam shook his head. “I’m not leaving you. You’re hurt.”
“Go find them,” she said gently. “I’ll stay right here.”
He leaned in and gave her a hard kiss. “I love you,” he said, for the first time realizing he really meant it.
She nodded and smiled back at him, the future in her eyes.
Sam stood, turning in a small circle next to her. “Jack!” he yelled. “Anyone?”
Groans from behind a large metal container led him to Jack and Rilla, a small distance away.
“Jack’s leg is stuck under the container,” said Rilla. She was trying to push the metal contain over, but it didn’t even budge.
Sam looked around quickly, trying to find something to help. He spotted a broken piece of metal piping just as Frankie and Garth limped up to them.
“Help me with this,” said Sam, gesturing to the other two. He grabbed the piping, shoved it under the container to form a lever and heaved. Between them, the metal container swung into the air. Rilla dragged Jack out, tears running down her face.
Sam crouched down beside Jack’s mangled leg. “I think this might be a little beyond my skills,” he said. “I think you might need surgery.”
Jack looked up at Rilla. “Get us back to the same town as the rest of the Carnival. We’ll go to the hospital there.”
“Where’s the car?” asked Sam.
“I’ll go get it,” said Garth straight away. He ran off to the other side of the building.
“We need to hurry,” said Frankie.
“Because he’s badly hurt?” asked Sam. “He’ll be fine, I just don’t have the tools.”
Frankie shook his head. “No, because the only reason I can be outside the Carnival is because Jack’s been blocking me. If he loses consciousness, then we’re all in big trouble. Me being here is going to disrupt the Carnival more than anything that old battle ax could do.”
Sam felt it then, little lines of distress coming from the Carnival link inside his head. “I’ll carry Celestine. Frankie, you help Rilla with Jack. Let’s go.”
Chapter 42
Celestine came back to consciousness just as the truck was driving back into the Carnival parking lot. On one side of her, Sam was edgily tapping the steering wheel as he turned into a spot. On the other side, Frankie was tapping his foot.
“What’s the matter?” she asked blearily.
“Everything’s fine,” said Sam, turning to smile down at her.
“Then why are you both so...?”
Frankie’s lips tightened. “Jack refused to g
o to the hospital until I made it back into my trailer. He’s worried about what might happen.”
“He’s still conscious?”
“He was last time we checked in with Rilla and Garth.” Frankie managed a small tight smile. “It’s all okay so far, right?”
Celestine tried to check, but she was so weak it all felt the same to her. “I don’t know,” she said.
“Are you sure she doesn’t need to go to the hospital?” said Frankie, over Celestine’s head.
Sam glanced down at her. “I think she’s okay. Unless you want to go in, Celestine?”
She shook her head. “Just give me a little time to get over the vision. I’ll be fine.”
A figure was running toward them down the trailer alleyway. Sam opened his door and stepped down. Frankie opened his side and followed suit. Celestine squinted until she recognized Joey, the runner.
“What’s the matter, Joey?” asked Frankie with concern.
“Something’s wrong with Viktor. He’s been acting strange. I have to tell Jack and Rilla.”
Celestine’s stomach dropped. She thought of the vision where Viktor reprogrammed the animals to fly off the carousel. “We need to stop the carousel immediately,” she said. “This is another of my visions. It’s coming true.”
“We need the Ringmasters. Viktor’s too strong for anyone else,” said Joey.
“They’re not available. We have to do this ourselves,” said Frankie. “Come on, show me where he is.” Frankie strode after Joey.
“Keep Viktor away from the carousel,” called Celestine after them, levering herself up on the seat. The pain had dulled to an ache, but it was spread across her entire body now, making it difficult to move quickly. She edged her way over to the door. “Sam, get me down from here.”
