Page 114 of Circus From Hell

“Until Kreo?”

“Until Kreo,” he repeats with a sigh. “We were very close before he moved his attention to Karma. Suddenly, nothing else mattered to him.”

“I’m sorry, Spiral. You haven’t had it easy,” I say quietly, reaching my hand to his to offer a semblance of comfort. My palm lands on the back of his, and he stares at it like it’s attacking him. “But you know none of that is Karma’s fault.”

His eyes snap up to look at me. They’re wide, maybe nervous, like what I’ve said has hit him hard. Good. Both of them are victims to Kreo’s control, and it’s about time they see it.

“She’s the reason I’m still in pain,” he whispers. I know it’s what he says to convince himself.

“She’s the reason you stop feeling pain,” I correct.

He snatches his hand away. I let him go.

“It doesn’t matter. Once Kreo realises what Karma’s done, she’ll be in big trouble.”

“If we stay around that long.”

“You can’t leave,” he snaps. “Kreo will kill me for letting Karma and Soren go. Besides, Karma will never agree to it. She belongs here.”

“We’ll convince her otherwise. She belongs with us. You could too. Get away from Kreo.”

He shakes his head, internally and externally fighting against it. “No. No. You can’t. She can’t.”

“She can. She will.” I’m goading him, fighting him when I should walk away, but he needs to realise that we’re not ready to let Karma go, that we’ll never be ready for that.

His eyes open and shut, twitching, and his head shakes.

“No. No. No! She can’t leave. She can’t go.”

Black and white spirals land on my gaze. An unfamiliar tether wraps around my mind.

“Arlo?” Micha calls out, and the spiral eyes fizzle away. The momentary hypnotic hold Spiral had on me dissipates, and I turn around to find Micha looking for me frantically. When he spots me beside Spiral, he darts over, dragging me up and away by my hand. “You stay away from him, you hear me?”

“Stop it,” I snap, pulling my hand away. Micha pauses and stares at me like I’ve grown a second head. “Calm down, Micha.”

“He’s wrong in the head,” he whisper-shouts, tapping his temple. “He’ll kill any of us.”

I should agree. I saw the evil in his eyes when he tried to hypnotise me, but I also should have known better than to push him.

“I think he’s misunderstood.”

Micha laughs exasperatedly and drags a hand back through his hair. “I know you’re soft, Arlo, but come on. Even you can see that redemption isn’t a path for that freak.”

“None of us are on a path to redemption. You aren’t. Why should he be? Karma committed more atrocities than him, but you still love her.”

He pulls a face, prepared to argue, before he shuts himself up. He knows I’m right; he loves Karma.

“You convinced me that Karma can’t help herself. But him? He can, Arlo.”

“He’s hurting,” I murmur, sliding my palms over Micha’s chest to wrap around his neck. “He’s already muzzled and tied up. He doesn’t need any more mocking.”

Large hands find my lower back. My older brother drags me in to press my chest against his. “Just be careful. I don’t trust him.”

“I know.” I press a kiss to his lips. “But he’s good for Karma. It’s clear she needs all of us at this point, despite how badly you and Soren want to keep Spiral at arm’s length.”

“I hate when you make sense,” he mumbles as he holds me close. His mouth descends on mine, and he kisses me fiercely.

“Save it for Karma. She needs it,” I chastise when I feel him getting hard against my stomach. “Come on. Let’s head back to bed.”