Page 141 of Circus From Hell

His face contorts. Fear.

He realises that I know too much.

He goes for his clicker, and Arlo throws something.

A… shoe?

It hits Kreo in the side of the head, distracting him from his failsafe.

It’s enough for me to dive forward. His eyes widen, and I shove him to the ground, the clicker falling aside and rolling away.

“Your creations are the death of you, Kreo.”

My snake tongue doesn’t rattle.

I’m fuelled by certainty.

The electricity inside of me comes to life at my fingertips.

Fire blazes wildly as it catches onto the next strip of the tent, and my sharp teeth sink into the side of Kreo’s face. He screams out, his blood leaking into my mouth, but I feel no satisfaction as I pull him apart. Just like he pulled me apart.

But he won’t be stitched back together.

I rip my collar off and drop it. It lands beside his head.

That’s all of me he gets.

Soren pulls me away, but I fight to tear Kreo apart further.

“He’s dead now, darling. It’s over.”

The sound of light rushing footsteps distracts me.

My head snaps to look in Spiral’s direction.

My lips part to warn him, to yell, but it’s too late.

Moxie rushes forward with a knife, digging it into the back of his neck with one thrust.

I scream.

Someone else screams.

My dead heart breaks.

“Traitor,” she spits as he falls onto his knees. “That’s for Kreo.”

I can’t move, internal pain overtaking me as I stare at his dying body on the floor. Micha holds onto Arlo tightly, Soren holds onto me tighter, and Moxie spins and runs before sense returns to my head.

Spiral’s name leaves my mouth in an anguished, throaty yell, and I fight free from Soren’s grasp.

Arlo is sobbing. Soren is trying to tug me away, but I crawl across the floor, desperate to reach my evil clown. I trample through dead bodies and leaking blood. The fire reflects across the side of his face.

“No!” I weep, dragging his head onto my lap. His black eyes are lifeless. “No, no, no!”

I can’t think of all the ways I’ll kill Moxie when I find her; I’m too occupied with rocking his dead body.

This is all Kreo’s fault.