“Because I can.”
I shove past him, running to catch up with Kenan. I can’t do the push and pull between him and I for much longer, especially not when I still have the effects of the alcohol rushing through me.
“Sass!” Killian calls out behind me, but I ignore him. I don’t want to so much as pay him any attention. Wrapping my arms around my torso, something dark clouds over me as I take that first step into the park.
“Ma! Can we get fairy floss?” I ran toward the stall, only to stop short in my tracks.
There was a man. In a suit. I bent my head until I could see his face.
“Ma!” I yelled, turning around to find Mama.
I didn’t have to look long because Mama was right behind me, her shoulders square. “What the fuck do you want?” Her face paled even more because her sickness was getting worse. So much worse. For the first time ever, I didn’t just feel sad that Mama was sick.
I felt scared.
Sweat trickles down my face as I try to blank out the memory flashes.
“You okay?” Kenan comes up beside me, watching me skeptically. I look to Keaton who is standing beside him. Keaton and I have never spoken before, but apparently that’s not unusual. Keaton is dark. As an individual, his soul is damned, you can see it anytime his eyes land on you. Much like Kyrin, only different shades of black. There’s something holding Kyrin back, with Keaton, it’s as though he’s like this by choice. As if he happily handed his soul over to the Devil.
I nod, licking my lips. “Yeah.” Kenan is momentarily distracted by something, or someone, over my shoulder.
I turn to face Killian, who is watching me carefully. “You been here before?”
How could he…
“Once,” I grind out, passing all of the abandoned rides.
The carousel remains in the middle of the main path, standing out against all other rides due to its sheer size. We continue down as we pass the old food stands and small tents where there’d been tarot readers, crystal readers, and even psychics. I pause when I see the old gold and red merry-go-round. The horses look the same, only aged. The old gold paint and bright red saddles have faded to a soft sepia, as if the rain had washed out all of the color. It was beautiful once. This whole park was.
“You know, Midnight Mayhem used to come back to perform in Kiznitch every six months when I was a kid.” Killian makes his way onto one of the horses, jumping the small gate.
I follow, climbing over the metal gate and landing on my feet. “I remember.”
Killian shakes his head, staring at me from above. “Why do I get the feeling you’re here to test me?”
“Test you?” I ask, my eyebrows raised. “Why would I be here to test you?”
Killian pulls out his bandana from his back pocket. He comes closer, his thumb pressing against my bottom lip. “Because you’re the one test I can’t solve.”
I hold my breath.
“Kill!” King hollers out from behind us. “Play time.”
Killian smirks, and I watch as he ties the bandana behind the back of his head, hiding his mouth. “Ready?”
“For what?” I ask, following him back out of the gate and down the dusty path with overgrown grass.
“The rules are simple.” Killian jumps up onto an old wooden table once we’re back with everyone, his military boots landing with a thud.
“Here we go…” Perse grumbles, folding her arms.
“What’s happening?” I whisper to her, making sure to watch Killian closely.
Killian glares at me. “Hide and seek, only you hide, and we seek…” Killian gestures to the three other brothers, as well as the Six Demons and the few others who work with us.
All the girls—and Kenan—shuffle in our spot.
“Your seeker is your master for twenty-four hours. You are completely at his mercy.”
I don’t like this game.
Perse rolls her eyes and takes a seat on the ground. “Well, I’m not running this time.”
I look around at them all, hoping that someone, anyone except Killian, takes me.
Killian jumps down from the table. I jump at his sudden proximity. So close. He smirks at me, his eyes widening like a fucking maniac. “Run.”
“I—” Val grabs my hand and shoves me forward, and before I can protest, we’re running toward the back of the Ferris wheel.
“Val!” I call out when she doesn’t stop running.
I pause, sucking in deep breaths as I take in my surroundings. Ducking and dodging old fallen plaster boards and tins of paint, I pull open a black curtain that must have been a back entrance for one of the rides. Old furniture is hidden by white sheets, spiderwebs strewn throughout.
I stop walking. Thousands and thousands of copies of myself peer back at me at different angles. A mirror maze. Cool, but not because I might get lost. Being lost has to be better than being at Killian’s mercy, so I do the next dumbest thing that I have done aside from sleeping with him. I get lost in the maze.