Through it all, our shaman, she of the princess pink and golden curls, giggles.
The trailer door rattles and Lacey’s eyes snap open, as wide as I’ve ever seen them. Grayson pushes me toward the rear of the trailer and the small window cut into the exterior, a circle of stained glass marked by a bloody rose.
We’ve got to get out.
Frost etches across my skin, the ringmaster heaving against the door. Colt isn’t strong enough to keep him out for long.
A violent vibration rocks the trailer, punctuated by Charlotte’s laughter. The louder it gets, the harder it is to breathe, magic wrapping around our bodies to keep us in place. It starts at my knees until it knocks my teeth loose.
Someone is screaming.
Grayson throws me at the window, reaching around me to smash it open.
Glass falls like diamonds and the edges scrape and cut and make me bleed like the rose design. But the first gust of fresh air is a hook.
I push through the rectangle, dropping to the ground and landing hard enough to send the breath out of me. A yell cements in my throat as Lacey follows, then Grayson, and Charlotte’s laughter is our exit song.
“Mandi, run!” Grayson’s fear is a slap to the face and, lungs aching, I stand.
Our eyes catch each other and my gasp chokes into oblivion. Shards of glass have marked his skin, dots of blood. A siren call.
We don’t make it far.
A wall of magic presses against us, corralling us tight to the exterior of the trailer. Grayson lands on his feet, glancing up, Lacey stilling as vampires separate from the darkness.
Everything inside me tenses.
I’m back in the castle, surrounded and cut off from everything and everyone, powerless.
Past and present collide.
The vampires are here again wearing different masks and costumes, but have the same intent. They’ll never let us go now. We threatened one of their own with this visit. With our curse.
I shake it off as Grayson growls and the sound lifts the fine hairs on my skin.
One of the vamps clucks her tongue, her head tilting to the side like it’s broken, her eyes shadowed by black-and-white makeup.
“Running off so soon?” Her fangs peek out beneath garish red lips. “We haven’t gotten to play yet. You’re dead anyway. What’s the rush?”
Lacey moves faster than my eyes can track. Her fist plows into the vampire clown’s face, smudging her makeup and sending the woman ass over head.
The element of surprise lasts for a millisecond. The others hiss, dividing their attention between me and Lacey. She’s the bigger threat.
I’m not.
Two of them cut to the left to follow Lacey, and the others shrink their circle around me and Grayson.
Panic spreads, pungent and bitter, useless.
I grab a piece of broken glass in my hand, holding it tight enough to slice myself. The second of the vamps moves towards me.
Behind us, the caravan door shatters and the sound splits the night.
“Two dead dogs walking.” The vampire’s skin gleams under moonlight like marble, his smile tugging the corners of his lips high.
Young, twenties I’d say, trapped there forever.
Their hisses kill any illusion of youth or innocence.