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When I repeat it, he pulls a small dagger from somewhere and holds it out to me. His fingers grip the blade as he offers me the handle. I take it, my hand shaking slightly.
“Blood within, I give it willingly. I cut myself open for you.” He nods at the blade, and I repeat the words before I slash the dagger across my palm, drawn by a power beyond us. My hiss fills the air at the sharp pain, and I hold my hand above the bowl, watching my blood hit the basin. Diamond’s hand covers mine, forcing a fist and increasing the flow. The pain makes me lightheaded, but I stay strong as it fills the bowl, not crying out.
“This night and every night to come, I am yours. I swear this oath, and I offer you my sacrifice. Take me.”
I repeat the words, and my eyes drop to the table.
The blood seems to be sucked into the wood, flowing from the bowl and out into the carvings, turning them red. It disappears until the bowl is empty, leaving a card where my blood was only a moment before. “Blood of ours, it is done,” Diamond declares as I press my hand to my chest, my eyes on the card.
“Take it,” he murmurs.
Reaching out slowly, I pick it up. It’s the same thick black card as the joker that called them to me, but as I flip it over, I find it blank.
“Your future is yours, as is your name. Here, you are reborn to the cirque.” Spade and Club help me stand, and I meet their eyes. “It’s done. You’re one of us now.”
I don’t feel any different, but I trust what they are saying, even if I don’t fully understand it. “You’ll need to pick a name, and when you do, the card will change.”
“Why?” I ask.
“You’re one of us now,” Heart answers. “You’re a nightmare.”
I sway slightly but grip the card tighter.
I’m one of them.
I have a home, one that will protect me.
I gave my soul for that. The thought should terrify me, but if anything, I feel more at peace than I ever have. “Help her to her new home. You need to rest. We’ll speak tomorrow,” Diamond says. “For now, let your home shelter you.” He turns away and walks into the darkness like a phantom, disappearing as I watch him go.
Glancing down at the blank card, I can’t help but wonder what will fill it.
What will I be? Who will I be?
For the first time in years, excitement fills my soul.
Chapter
Ten
Club and Spade help me to a different tent, this one sitting farther back, nestled within the heart of the circus and surrounded by four others. I’m quiet, as are they, and for a moment, I just stare at the black tent. It’s plain but large and in the shape of a heptagon. They release my arms, and I stumble, watching as they walk toward it.
“Your new home,” one of them murmurs.
They part the material that forms the door, and I step within, glancing back at them as they drop it behind me, leaving me all alone. I turn forward, looking around at my new living space. It’s emptier than the other tent I was in, as if waiting for me to fill it with my own things. There’s a large double bed pushed against the back wall, framed by the black material of the tent, with mismatched pillows and blankets. The floor here is harder, although still covered by a bright carpet, but there seems to be flooring underneath. There’s a wardrobe with a mirror on it and a huge, candle-filled light hanging from the ceiling, but not much else except a two-person table sitting in the middle of the tent with two chairs.
There’s a black box on it, and I hop closer on my crutches, collapsing into a chair.
My head is spinning, and my emotions are muddled. A week ago, I was fighting for my life in an attic, and now, here I am, my soul given to a circus and four masked men claiming we are family. I can’t help but wonder, despite my conviction, what I have gotten myself into.
Reaching across the scarred wood, I touch the box, my card clutched in my other hand. Taking a deep breath, I lift the lid. I made my choice, so now all I can do is accept it and keep moving forward. There’s no point in looking backwards.
Ember is dead. They are right. I need a new name.
I’m not the same woman who begged for death in that attic. Here, I am reborn as something new, something unknown. Here, I can be whatever I want to be.
Within the box is a perfectly stacked pile of cards, and with hesitant fingers, I tip it, letting them spill across the table. My eyes catch on the joker for a moment. It’s similar to the one I had before, glittering red. There are all the other suits as well, and when I flip them over, the backs have the traditional red and black diamonds, but there are words written there.
Tell me your nightmares.
