“Then I shall pay you for two,” the Ringmaster replies, raising his brow in a challenge.
He throws coins at my father and steps out of the circle, leaving a spot for my father to walk out behind him.
My father shuffles over to where the coins landed on the ground and bends, scooping them up into his greedy fingers.
“Do not ever return to my circus. You are no longer welcome here. And should you try anything—any funny business, arson, anything at all—only death will await you. Agonizing, torturous death. Do you understand?” His smile is so wicked, a chill rolls over my body.
He laughs, delighting in the fear on my father’s now ghostly pale face.
“Y…y…y…yessss,” my father stutters, before running out the gap in bodies, not bothering to wait for us.
Only silence follows—until a single, eerie howl pierces the quiet, escaping the beast-man’s lips. I gulp in fear, feeling the trembling of my mother’s body against my own.
The Ringmaster looks around at his performers with a swell of pride in his chest, then walks back beneath the cover of the big top. I’m certain I catch a swirl of smoke and shadows snaking around his boots as he makes his exit.
My mother and I quietly tiptoe away, vanishing into the sleeping town. But home is no safer. Home is where my father’s wrath awaits.
Chapter 12
Azrael
The cellar is atmospherically dark. It’s thick with shadows that don’t answer me when I call for them. The air is musty and unfamiliar. In the far corner, bright lights glow, emitting a low hum only sensitive ears like mine can pick up. Rows of plants in crisp white containers grow upward. It’s perfectly neat and tidy. The sickly sweet smell of the blooming devil’s bane makes my stomach churn. Sweat dribbles down my forehead, but when I try to lift my hand to brush it away, my arms refuse to obey. They feel heavy, numb. I’m chained in iron. Now that I’m assessing my situation, I realize my shoulders ache from being strung over my head and secured to the iron hooks in the stone wall of the cellar. It’s no wonder I feel weak despite draining a soul before my big performance.
My wrists burn with a searing pain, as do my legs and abdomen. This isn’t ordinary iron. The Ringmaster has saved only the finest iron in his collection for me. It weaves around my ankles, threading through lower wall hooks, then loops aroundmy middle and winds multiple times tight around my wrist. A shudder from the agonizing pain ripples across my sweat-soaked body.
Tilting my head, I listen closely. A faint melody stirs, low and haunting, filling my ears. The iron sings the siren’s spell, whispering it into existence and rendering me helpless. Every inch where the iron-spelled chains touch burns like a thousand fires blazing at once. My body screams in anguish as the metal burns against me. These chains hum with old magic—a gift my grandfather acquired long ago. Forged by a sea siren to bind a demon, even those with Lucifer’s blood surging through their veins. Which is exactly why they are so good at holding me here against my will.
I never expected him to use his tools on me. When Henry hauled me away and they stuffed the poisonous purple flower in my mouth, I thought I’d wake in my bedroom like countless times before. But here I am, suspended in this cellar. The Ringmaster hasn’t ever gone to this extreme of a punishment. I try to gulp but my throat is dry, and it still burns from where the flower slid down. I wonder how long I’ve been out. Has it been hours… or days? I won’t know until he releases me from this torture. Until then, all I can do is hang here and wait.
As I hang from the chains, my mind continues to spin, replaying the series of events. He struck her right in front of me. I can still hear the echo of the smack against her skin. He’s lucky I care for Mercy enough to resist snapping his neck in front of her. I would’ve taken great satisfaction in watching his lifeless body dangle from my clutches. My jaw aches at the thought ofdevouring his soul. But I can’t. I will not allow myself to do it. He deserves a far worse fate—judgement.
This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have kissed her like that. Anger bubbles beneath my skin, but it’s quickly squashed by a steaming burst of power coursing through the iron chains to nullify my own. The chains react as I writhe, fighting against their control. I howl as my back arches while the pain consumes me, and then darkness washes over everything once more.
Cold water splashes over my body, running down my face, and I sputter, ripping my eyes open. I once again have no idea how long I was out. The Ringmaster stands in front of me, wearing a condescending sneer and holding an empty bucket.
“Look who’s finally decided to join us,” he says, his words indicating I had some other choice rather than being locked down here like some kind of dangerous beast.
I look up at the Ringmaster through wet strands of hair that hang into my eyes. “What are you so afraid of that you went through all this trouble?” I ask, my words filled with disdain.
“You know how you get, Azrael. All this,”—he waves at the chains—“this is to protect you, and to protect that girl. But most of all, it’s to protect the circus and this extension of the Kingdom.”
I scoff. “Protecting the girl. That’s a new one for you. Since when have you done anything but hurt her?”
“Azrael, while I may not condone your childish infatuation with the girl, it doesn’t mean I want her subjected to watching you murder her father in cold blood.” He turns from me, reaching his hands up to rub his temples in slow, circular motions.
“Look at me.” I demand. “Do you really think I’m that far gone? Do you honestly no longer see me as a man, and only the monster you’ve forced me to become?”
“That’s enough, Azrael.”
“Oh, is it enough for you, Grandfather? The way I see it, you’ve created a monster you no longer know how to control.” My words are bitter, filled with an unspoken hate for everything he’s ever made me do in order to serve Lucifer.
“This isn’t about me, Azrael. I know my limits. I understand the consequences of my actions.”
“Well, are we done here? Have you deemed the monster safe for humanity?” I snarl.
“We are far from done here, Azrael.” His eyes bore into mine with a steely gaze that would make anyone—but me—submit.
But I refuse to break for him. There’s no part of me left to bend to his will, and he’s made sure of it.
