Page 145 of Off the Rails

Though, it does sound like they’re moving in a pack.

My blood pressure skyrocketed at the thought. There was no way they all could have pulled the same section, right? And the odds that it was mine…

I shook my head. It didn’t matter what the Freaks did. One way or another, I was going to win this money. No matter the cost, it was time I finally made my own destiny.

78

BLADE

As soon as the green lights flashed, the three of us took off.

I’d pulled Knight of Pentacles, sending me to Medieval Mayhem. On the complete opposite side of the park as our start in Jungle Jolt, I had a good feeling that Tess may have picked it out.

Hooting and hollering, I sprinted down the cobblestone path toward Feverpoint’s main entrance, Nash and Cyrus running just behind me.

Our feet tore into the pavers, all of our angst funneling to this moment.

The wind blew my hair back, keeping it out of my face more than my mask already did. Fall chilled the air as soon as the sun set behind the mountains, making my skin rise with goosebumps as sweat mixed with cold wind.

“Better run, Trinket!” I shouted.

I wanted her afraid, she was more fun to catch that way.

But as we ran through the park, I felt freedom. Real freedom.

There was nothing in the world that could stop us on Fright Night.

Catching up to me, Nash roared out her own warning. “Stay quiet, Sweet Lamb!”

We laughed, a cackle ringing out over the park.

We need this.

And no one on this godforsaken planet could understand how it felt to be truly free. Everything else in the world faded away — The Messenger, our drug trade, the Violence — none of it mattered here.

When we got our green lights, we became the sharpened claws of one hungry beast, working in tandem for our singular goal: to claim her.

Creating a line of masked clowns, Cyrus put herself next to me. “No escape, Ragdoll!”

I knew under her stitched-up mask that a sick smile would be plastered over her face. One that would send a shiver down all of our spines.

As we approached an intersection, the last one for Cyrus to dip into her destined section, she split off from our line.

“May the best Freak win.” Her voice was stern.

And I knew from her words that her vendetta against Tess hadn’t faded. Despite what we’d been through over the last couple weeks — the last few days in particular — she was just as determined as ever to get her vengeance.

To fulfill her supposed Prophecy.

Watching her back as she disappeared into Rapid Rush, I thought about following behind her. It was the only way I could make sure Tess didn’t slip into Cyrus’s grasp. None of us knew what she intended to do with Tess once she was in her teeth.

But I knew it wouldn’t be pretty.

I could smell the violence come off of her, hear the anguish for revenge in every breath from her lungs.

The twisting in my gut was hard to ignore.

I could ignore the stupid fucking cards.