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“I’m going to Hilda’s tent,” I say, turning away. “I need to . . . I need to read the cards.”
The reminder of the warning that death is coming weighs heavily on my shoulders. If Heart dies . . .
I can’t even think about it right now. I need to consult the cards and see if I can learn anything else.
“Just be careful,” Spade says, reminding me that I’m in the most danger.
Roger won’t like that we escaped, but this is some sort of game to him now. He wants me alive, and he won’t stop coming until I’m within his grasp. That isn’t going to happen, but I also won’t let him hurt what’s mine.
I move through the cirque with purpose, my strides long and rushed. When I push into Hilda’s tent, I’m surprised to find her there. She’s standing, her arms crossed over her chest.
“I was wondering how long it would take you to show up,” she says. Her eyes flash as she gestures to the table. The cards sit upon it as they always do, but something feels different this time. With my fury burning in my throat and my hatred of Roger in my heart, the cards feel . . . stronger. The pull I feel to them nearly suffocates me.
“Take a seat,” Hilda says, and her voice echoes with many. “You’re ready.”
Ready for what?
I don’t ask the question out loud. Instead, I walk around the table and take a seat. Before I can place my hand over the cards, they spring into the air and float before me, shaking with the energy in my core. They flip and move between the fronts and backs, flickering between the faces, then they begin to glow, becoming brighter.
I don’t ask what’s happening. I don’t need to.
He hurt my family. We barely made it out of there, and Heart nearly died. Roger expects me to run again, but he doesn’t know the Ember I am now. He doesn’t realize who he fucked with.
But he will.
I tilt my chin up as the cards begin to vibrate and then circle faster and faster. I can barely follow their movements as they start to burrow beneath my skin, digging in, but the small points of pain ease once they make it inside. I am the cirque now. I was always meant to be the cirque, ever since I was given the joker card as a child, and now I’ll never be alone again.
Hilda’s weathered hands come to rest on my shoulders.
“You’re ready,” she says again, and it feels like a blessing from the one who carried the cards before me. “Ember, queen of the cirque, hunter of darkness.”
“Yes,” I hiss, strength flooding my body with the cards. My back bows with power and darkness. The queen of hearts flips out and hovers before me—the final card. With a final flicker, it slams into my chest and slides inside. This one burns the most with a pain I know is meant to be a reminder of everything we’re going to face. I stand and roll my shoulders, my body buzzing with energy, and my fury expands even further.
I won’t run ever again. I won’t hide. I won’t be afraid.
Now, it’s time to hunt.
Chapter
Fifty-Three
“Go,” Hilda urges as she steps back. “It’s time for you to meet your destiny.”
Understanding floods me, along with my anger, and with a sharp incline of my head, I turn and leave her tent. I avoid everyone as I hurry back to my own. My steps are determined as power floods through me, the cirque pulsing deep in my bones.
It had been patiently waiting for me to claim it.
I sold my soul, but in return, it gave me its power.
Ducking into my tent, I move through the low lamp light to my box of outfits, ripping it open and staring deep inside before grabbing a fistful at random.
My eyes catch on the mirror, and I freeze. My own eyes glow in an unnatural way, and my lips are tilted in a cruel smile.
I’m coated in Heart’s blood, but I leave it as a reminder. I do change my clothes, though, since mine are torn and soaked. If I’m going to face down Roger, then it will be on my terms. He will expect me to run and hide.
Not anymore.
If he wants me, then he’ll get me, but before the sun rises, he’ll realize the woman he is hunting is also hunting him, and she isn’t scared anymore. No, she’s a fucking nightmare.
