by Trudi Jaye
Sam helped her down and then put his arms under her knees and shoulders.
“What are you doing?” she asked, weakly batting at his arms.
“I’m carrying you to your trailer,” he said, his voice rough. “No arguments.”
Celestine briefly considered making a stand, but her shoulder was hurting and she wasn’t sure she could actually make it to her place on her own two legs. “What are we going to do about Viktor?” she said instead.
“You’re going to do nothing,” said Sam. “You’ve been shot. I’m going to get you settled, and then I’ll go try to help where I can.”
“Your power is why Viktor is strong enough to tinker with the carousel and make the animals fly off,” said Celestine carefully.
“I know that,” bit out Sam. “Don’t you think I know that?”
Celestine winced. She hadn’t said that very well. “What I meant was that perhaps we can do something to turn off your power? So that it doesn’t work anymore?”
“Like what?”
“We go to Jack. Instead of going to my trailer, we head to his place. We get him to absorb your powers.”
Sam shook his head. “Jack’s about to lose consciousness at any moment. He’s not strong enough to absorb anything right now. I’m surprised he managed to stay conscious long enough to get Frankie here.”
Just then, a car came screaming into the parking lot behind them, a big, dark-purple Lincoln that looked like it had come straight out of the seventies. It sprayed stones as it came to a halt nearby. A tall elegant woman climbed out, her long legs encased in fashionable skin-tight jeans and a red silk shirt. She had long dark hair, and dark glasses that hid half her face. “I’m looking for Jack Knight,” she said. “I heard he was here.”
Sam glanced from her to Celestine. “We’re... uh... in the middle of a crisis at the moment... Jack’s not available.”
The woman huffed out an exasperated breath and pulled off her glasses. “Look, I’m tired and pissed off. I’ve just spent the last twenty-four hours on a goddamned plane getting here to see him, so he can bloody well stop what he’s doing and see me.” She glanced at Celestine and blinked, seeing her properly for the first time. “Is that blood?” she said.
Celestine nodded apologetically. “You better come with us. Jack’s been hurt. You really won’t be able to see him right away, I’m afraid.”
“Hurt? Where is he?” the woman looked around as if she was going to run and find him.
“Rilla’s with him,” said Celestine gently. “He’ll be okay with her there.” She needed to make this woman understand that she wasn’t going to be able to just come back into Jack’s life and insert herself where she didn’t belong.
“Rilla?”
“His wife.”
“He has a wife? I go away for a little while, and suddenly he’s in a Carnival and he’s shacked up?” The woman spared a scornful glance at the big top in the distance.
Sam let out an exasperated breath. “Come with us. I have to get Celestine back to her trailer. You can stay with her until Jack’s ready to see you. In the meantime... We do actually have a real emergency,” said Sam.
Celestine gestured for the woman to follow them.
“I’m Celestine and this is Sam, by the way.” She gave a small smile. It was getting hard to hold her head up, but she felt compelled to try in the face of this graceful creature.
“I’m Hannah. Jack’s sister.”
Celestine managed to hold in her small gasp. Sam stumbled, stopped and then righted himself. She hung on tighter around his neck.
“I... ah... didn’t know he had a sister,” said Sam.
Hannah shook her head impatiently. “He probably doesn’t talk about me much. I’m a disappointment to my staid older brother.” She glanced around. “Although I have to say I would never have thought he’d stick around somewhere like this. More our father’s scene than Jack’s.”
“Jack’s found a new home here since he met Rilla,” said Celestine. Her shoulder was starting to throb, and she was thinking about her bed in the same way a person lost in the desert might think about water.
“Apparently so,” murmured Hannah.
She followed in silence until they reached Celestine’s trailer and opened the door when Sam gestured at it.
Celestine closed her eyes, tears of relief edged under her lashes. She grasped Sam’s hand when he placed her gently on the bed. “You need to find Frankie. Go help him. This is part of my vision. Veronica has been here. Tell him to keep Viktor away from the carousel.”
Sam shook his head. “No. Your shoulder needs to be looked at first. I need to wash out the wound, get it all patched up.”
Celestine shook her head. “My shoulder is the least of our worries right now. If you don’t help Frankie, Veronica could win. Then we all lose.”
Sam hesitated and then turned to Hannah. “Do you know anything about first aid?”
Hannah shook her head once. “Nope.”
If the circumstances had been any different, Celestine would have laughed at Sam’s torn expression as he hovered next to Hannah. As it was, she just watched him and tried not to think about the vision of Alfie lying dead next to the carousel.
Sam didn’t take long to decide. “Just wash out the wound,” he said. “Get it clean and then put something over it to keep it uncontaminated until I can get back.”
Hannah nodded uncertainly. “That doesn’t sound too hard.”
Sam turned to Celestine. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Sooner.” He leaned in and gave her a kiss.
She gave him a small half smile and then he headed for the door.
Celestine watched him race back out into the Carnival with fear in her heart. Viktor’s vision with the carousel had been particularly disturbing.
If Jack wasn’t wounded he could have absorbed Veronica’s magic and everything would have been fine. Sam’s amplifying ability could even have helped them, making Jack far stronger for battling her.
But Jack was badly hurt and the Carnival just wasn’t as strong. Not only had they lost his ability to absorb the magic, they’d also lost one half of their Ringmaster duo.
She could also feel the Carnival pulling on the magic to help him heal, in the same way it was helping her. All of that was sucking energy that should have been used against their nemesis.
Celestine shifted restlessly on the bed. How were they going to beat Veronica? What if all her predictions were about to become true?
They’d beaten Veronica this afternoon, but the explosion, and now this threat from Viktor made Celestine wonder if that hadn’t been Veronica’s plan all along. Make them think they’d won, just so she could really sink them properly.
Hannah moved over to stand next to the bed. “I guess I better take a look at your shoulder,” she said.
Celestine blinked and her focus returned to the tiny bedroom. Hannah leaned down and, before Celestine could stop her, touched Celestine’s arm. Fear surged up through her body—she wasn’t strong enough to survive this right now. Celestine tried to pull back, to tell her mind to stop. But as always, there was nothing she could do.
Time stood still. Sparkling lights the color of a rainbow fluttered across Celestine’s vision. But instead of going into a future vision, Celestine found herself in the Carnival dreamscape. Misty clouds covered the landscape and two bright lights stood in front of her.
One of the lights moved forward and crossed his light over hers. As soon as it touched her, she recognized Jack.
The Carnival needs our help.
Celestine nodded. That much she already knew.
I think I can push my blocking power through the Carnival landscape into Hannah. I know she’s there with you. I can feel her. The Carnival thinks she might have a similar ability to mine.
“What will that do?”
If we can break the magical hold that Veronica has over Viktor, we can stop what’s about to happen. What you saw happen.
“How do you kn
ow all this?”
I can feel it through everyone at the Carnival. Sam being part of the Carnival has truly expanded what we can do. But I’m unconscious. I can’t move or come to you any other way. Believe me, I would if I could.
Celestine could feel the desperate longing in Jack’s voice; he meant what he said. It was up to her.
Bring Hannah here, to the dreamscape.
Celestine blinked open her eyes. Hannah stared back down at her, fear in her eyes. “Oh, thank God. I thought you were going to die or something,” she said.
Celestine reached up and grasped Hannah’s hand. “I know this is going to sound crazy. I know you don’t know me, but I know your brother. And he needs you. We all need you. You need to close your eyes and follow me.”
Hannah pulled back. She held up her hands as if to fend off Celestine. “Look, no offence, but you’re starting to sound crazy. I think your fits might be affecting your brain.” Hannah backed up again. “I’m really sorry that you’re injured, but I think I better leave now.”
She grabbed her handbag off the side table, then ran out the door.
Chapter 43
“He’s holed up in there and we can’t get him out,” said Frankie, talking over his shoulder at Sam. In front of them was the old inventing van Viktor tracked around the circuit with them. It had all his tools, devices, ideas, and plain old junk stored inside it. Luckily it was two doors down from Frankie’s own trailer, so the Chancemaster was managing to stay nearby.
“Have you got someone around the other side just in case?”
Frankie nodded. “He’s surrounded. But he’s acting crazy. I’ve never seen him like this before.” He hesitated. “When he puts his mind to it, Viktor is a cunning old bastard. He’ll find a way to escape if he really wants to.”
“Veronica’s managed to get her claws into him somehow.”
“We have to figure out what she’s done to him.”
Sam nodded, wracking his brains to remember the details of the visions Celestine had told them about. “I’m going to ask Celestine if she can remember anything that would help,” he said.
As he turned, Sam saw a flash of red going past and looked up. Jack’s sister Hannah was running awkwardly along the alleyway in her high-heeled shoes. “Just a minute,” he said to Frankie, and strode over to intercept her.
“You okay?” he said. “You look scared.”
Hannah looked up. Relief flooded her face. “You’re the doctor, right? You need to get back to that woman. She’s having some kind of delusional fit.”
Sam froze. “She had a seizure?”
Hannah nodded, her expression relieved. “Yeah, a seizure. It’s finished, but now she’s talking like it hurt her brain or something.”
Sam grabbed Hannah’s arm. “I might need your help, if it’s as serious as you’re saying.”
Hannah glanced back the way she’d come. “I don’t...,” she said.
But Sam wasn’t in the mood for no. He grabbed Hannah’s arm and dragged her back to Celestine’s caravan.
When he opened the door, Celestine was getting herself dressed.
At least she was trying to.
Blood was dripping down her arm, and her hands were shaking as she held a clean shirt against her body. She looked up with relief when the door swung open, and tears welled when she saw it was Sam.
“We have to find Hannah,” she said. “She’s the only one who can save us.”
Sam looked back to where Hannah was hovering behind him in the doorway. Hannah shrugged and wiggled her finger in circles by her forehead. Crazy.
“Come on in,” he said to Hannah.
She shook her head. “No. Look, I’m sorry for your friend, but she’s freaking me out. If you’ll just point me toward my brother, I’ll get out of your hair.”
Sam glanced back at Celestine.
“We need her,” she whispered at him.
He turned back to Hannah. “Jack was badly hurt by the same woman who’s currently trying to hurt us here at the Carnival.”
Hannah glanced up and down the alleyway. “Seriously, just point me in the direction of his place... trailer... whatever.” She gestured at the row of trailers with one arm.
Celestine came to stand beside Sam. She put her good hand into his, and squeezed. She was trembling and pale, but otherwise composed. “Jack is in trouble. He needs your help. Desperately,” she said.
“Jack’s never in trouble. He doesn’t take risks.”
Sam smiled ruefully. “He does now. This Carnival, the people in it, are worth taking risks for.”
Hannah looked at Sam curiously. But then she shook her head. “You all sound just as crazy as each other.”
“Look, Hannah, we need you. Jack needs you. Can you please try to trust us?” said Celestine beside him. She swayed, and Sam put his arms around her.
“You should be in bed,” he said to her.
She shrugged. “No point being in bed if everything is going to be destroyed around me,” she said hoarsely.
Hannah let out a huff of breath. “You’re both serious, aren’t you?”
Sam glanced back at her. “Of course we are. Are you going to help or not?”
Hannah held his gaze for a moment, as if she could tell by just looking at him that he was lying. Then she shrugged. “I’ve got nothing better to do while I wait for Jack, I suppose.”
Sam grinned and stepped back into the living room. He helped Celestine to sit on the bench seat in the kitchen and then turned to Hannah, who’d followed them inside. “Make yourself at home,” he said. “Do you want something to drink?”
She shook her head. “Let’s just do whatever it is you want me to do. Get it over with.”
Sam gestured to the other side of the kitchen table and Hannah sat down. Sam grabbed the spare stool and sat next to Celestine. “Are you okay to start, Celestine? Or do you want to get changed first?”
She shook her head. “We have to get this done as soon as we can. Every second we waste, Veronica has a chance to beat us.”
Celestine grasped Hannah’s hands across the table. The other woman held herself stiffly, but allowed Celestine to do what she needed. Sam put one hand on Celestine’s arm, unsure if he was supposed to be part of this or not.
Before he could even think to ask anything more, the trailer around them disappeared. Instead they were in a white, misty landscape he recognized from when he’d been forcibly joined to the Carnival bond. Sam saw bright lights; he didn’t know how, but he knew they were Jack and Rilla. Beside him, he felt Celestine’s softly glowing light, and next to her was a buzzing light that was changing fitfully from purple to yellow to white and back again.
Hannah.
The two lights moved forward. One, a brightly glowing light that was definitely Jack, glided over to Hannah and crossed light with her. Immediately her changing colors stopped, and she glowed a warm golden color.
Without knowing how, Sam knew that Jack wanted them all to gather closer together, overlapping their light and helping to push the energy from Jack to Hannah. He settled close to Celestine, and they both moved forward. As soon as he touched her light, Sam felt Celestine’s energy. She was weaker than she’d let on. Her arm hadn’t even been properly bound since the explosion.
He hesitated and tried to draw back. He needed to tend to Celestine before they went any further.
What are you doing? asked Celestine in his head.
“You shouldn’t be here. You’re too weak. We should leave,” he said.
They need us. This has to be done, or the whole Carnival will die.
“But—”
Sam. We must do this for the Carnival.
The tantalising thought that he could make her leave this place flitted through his head. He pushed it away. This was her decision, not his; it always would be.
He stayed in position next to her, waiting for Jack’s next move.
In this place, emotion was easier to understand than words. Sam found himself “knowing�
� things he hadn’t been told, like what Jack was saying to Hannah to convince her to help them. She gave way under his presence and soon they became one large glowing ball, rather than five separate entities. There was no hot and cold in this place, but the light was so bright he felt like he should be sweating. He closed his eyes and saw the same scene. There were no eyes in this place, it was inside their heads.
Then it was over. Jack and Rilla moved backward, away from Hannah. She was glowing brighter with her borrowed powers.
Jack had given them the plan inside their heads; there was no need to talk about it. They just knew.
Sam blinked and opened his eyes back in Celestine’s kitchen. He watched as Celestine and Hannah came around.
Hannah seemed different, less cocky, more unsure. “How do we do this?” she asked.
Sam stood up. “Celestine, you need to stay here. You aren’t strong enough to walk all the way there. Hannah, you come with me.”
Celestine shook her head. “Jack was really clear. I need to be there. It won’t work unless you and I are there, providing the link for Hannah. Together we’re strong enough to make this happen.”
Sam looked down at Celestine again, images of her lying next to Veronica going through his head. “What if—”
She shook her head. “You can’t protect me from everything. You have to let me make these decisions on my own.”
Hannah stood. “Come on. Jack said we had to hurry to get this done. I need to get him out of my head as fast as I damn well can.” Her expression was a mixture of distaste and frustration.
Sam helped Celestine to her feet and they all headed out the trailer and down the alley. Hannah strode along with her long legs, like she couldn’t handle walking any slower. She broke into a run every few paces, and glanced back impatiently at Sam and Celestine as they stumbled together, Sam’s arm around Celestine’s waist.
“When this is over, you need to rest,” said Sam. “For several weeks.”
She grimace up at him. “Thank you.” Little beads of sweat on her forehead were the only indication that she wasn’t as calm as she looked.
“For what?”
