Page 6 of Chaos Carnival

I spun around, wincing at the pain in my throat. “Oscar?”

Lux reached for a black backpack propped against the wall and unzipped it. The crystal skull's ethereal glow illuminated in dancing patterns across his face.

“I grabbed him before we came after you,” Lux said, lifting Oscar out carefully.

“Thanks.” My voice came out as a rasp. I took Oscar from him, the familiar weight of the skull oddly comforting in my hands.

“Yes, thank you, dear boy.” Oscar's cultured voice dripped with his usual dry wit. “Though next time, perhaps consider a more elegant mode of transport. The indignity of being jostled about like a common sports drink is almost too much to bear.”

Maverick stepped beside me, his hand brushing my arm—a brief, reassuring touch that did nothing to calm the panic clawing at my chest. Every second we wasted was another second Ivan had Addie. My best friend was only in danger because of me.

His jaw was tight, the muscles corded beneath his skin. “He won't lay a hand on you again.”

The promise hung in the air.

I pulled away from his touch. Each breath was a reminder of Ivan's fingers crushing my now bruised throat. What he was capable of. What he might be doing to Addie right now.

“I can take care of myself,” I said, my voice raw, the words sounding weaker than I intended.

A ghost of a smile played at the corners of his mouth. “I know,” he murmured. “But it won't stop me from wanting to beat him to a pulp.”

The raw violence in his words contrasted sharply with the gentle way he looked at me. My stomach did a strange flip—part fear, part something else I didn't want to examine too closely. Maverick was dangerous in many ways. He made me feel things, notice things, want things I couldn't afford right now.

I swallowed hard, pushing away any warmth that threatened to spread through my chest. I couldn't let myself get distracted by the way Maverick's presence seemed to fill every corner of the room, or how his eyes held mine with an intensity that made my pulse quicken.

“We need to find them,” I said, forcing myself to focus. “Now.”

“And then what?” Stone's voice cut through the tension. “We rush in blind against a man possessed by a wraithshade? That went so well last time.”

“He's right,” Lux said, his usually playful expression grim. “Ivan was untouchable before. Now he's got an ancient evil riding shotgun. We need—“

“We don't have time!” My voice cracked. The image of Addie suspended in that crackling blue energy flashed through my mind again. “You don't know what he's capable of. The things he used to make me do, the people he hurt—” My throat closed up, memories threatening to drag me under.

“Then tell us.” Stone's firm tone anchored me back to the present. “Give us something to work with here, Tess. Weaknesses, patterns, anything.”

Oscar's crystalline surface caught the kitchen lights. “If I may interject, our dear Ivan does seem rather fond of his theatrical displays. A tendency toward the grandiose can often mask... shall we say, insecurities?”

I grabbed onto that thread of hope. “The circus.” The word tumbled out before I'd fully processed why. “He's been obsessed with building some kind of supernatural circus. That's probably where—“

A sound like breaking glass cut through the air. We all froze.

Maverick's head snapped toward the hallway. “Someone's here.”

The temperature in the room plummeted. Frost crackled across the windows, spreading in delicate patterns that seemed to whisper of ancient power. My skin prickled with goosebumps as that familiar, oppressive energy rolled over us in waves.

“Hunters,” Stone breathed, his face hardening into a mask of cold fury.

The word crushed all the air from my lungs. I'd heard rumors about the hunters who pursued supernatural beings, but the raw fear in Stone's voice made my blood run cold. What kind of creatures could make ancient seraphim like the three before me look so alarmed?

Maverick found my hand in the darkness, his grip tight. “Whatever happens, stay close.”

I wanted to argue, to insist I could handle myself, but the bone-deep chill seeping through the walls told me this was something far beyond my experience. The hunters were coming. We were trapped between them and Ivan.

My grip tightened around Oscar's skull as heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway, getting closer with each passing second.

Chapter 4: Furious Hunt

Tess

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