Page 30 of Carnival of Crows

“My friends found your family,” I explained as I finally looked up from my phone. “Apparently, they’re all waiting for us in the VIP tent.”

“My brothers are never going to let me live this down,” he groaned.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket. “Ready?”

He held out his hand. This time, I didn’t hesitate. Our fingers intertwined naturally. Almost too natural if you asked me.

The park looked completely different than it had when we went up the tower. The blackout was over. Every light in the park blazed to life. The Ferris wheel no longer looked haunted. It looked magnificent. Thousands of amber bulbs chased one another around the rim, reflecting off freshly polished steel I never noticed beneath the darkness.

Without the fog swallowing everything, I could finally appreciate the craftsmanship of the park. Flower boxes overflowed with deep orange mums, vintage advertisements lined the buildings - faded enough to feel authentic, lovingly preserved instead of replaced. Even the cracked sidewalks had been repaired so carefully that the seams looked intentional.

The park wasn’t pretending to be abandoned. It was honoring what time had left behind. Everywhere I looked, there were little details.

Old carnival posters tucked into windows. Wooden benches carved with tiny crows. Strings of Edison bulbs wrapped around century-old trees. Someone had poured their heart into this place.

Someone, I glanced sideways at Damien, had poured their lives into it.

When we reached the black-and-white striped VIP tent, Damien looked at me.

“You ready?” he asked this time.

“No,” I answered honestly.

I knew as soon as we walked in there, all eyes would be on us and my friends would have a million questions that, right now, I probably didn’t even have the answers to.

Nevertheless, he pulled open the canvas flap. “Ladies first.”

I stepped inside. There was complete silence for exactly one second and then…

Applause exploded through the tent, cheers echoed off the canvas walls, and someone whistled loud enough to make me jump.

“There they are!”

Amber was already standing. “SHE’S. WEARING. THE. HAT!”

Mary clapped both hands over her mouth before immediately abandoning that effort to cheer louder. Sam simply leaned back in her chair, folded her arms, and smirked.

“Took you two long enough.” Cassie smirked.

Across the room, Jack threw a triumphant fist into the air.

“Luca owes me twenty bucks!”

“You bet on us?” Damien asked.

Jack looked genuinely offended.

“I bet on YOU, big brother,” he countered. “I knew you’d be able to lock it in. Luca’s the one that had no faith.”

My friends and Cassie all burst out laughing as Luca shrugged with no remorse from the couch he was sitting on.

“Oh, leave them alone,” Cassie said, grinning just as broadly.

Damien squeezed my hand. He hadn’t let go, despite walking into the tent with his family and my friends. I half expected him to drop it like a hot potato before we made our grand entrance, but instead, it was if he was choosing to make a statement.

CHAPTER 13

Damien