Shadow Prophecy (The Magic Carnival Book 6) Read online

  “That was just a crazy dream.” Celestine crossed her fingers behind her back and tried to look innocent. She widened her eyes and thought of kittens and brown paper packages tied up with string.

  Alfie nodded. He got to his feet, then held out his hand to help Celestine up. She quickly pulled on her glove and extended her hand, letting him drag her to her feet.

  “You need to rest. You’ve been working too hard.” He picked up her crutches from where they lay and gave them to her.

  “Thanks, Alfie. I will.”

  With a nod, the animal trainer stalked out the door. He paused. “I’ll send you some cream for Artemis. It’ll help heal her paw.”

  Chapter 9

  “I’m telling you, we need to keep a close eye on that girl. Something’s up.” Alfie was pacing up and down the small aisle in Jack’s trailer. Jack and Sam were sitting cooped up in the booth. They’d been practicing Jack’s absorbing when the Beastmaster had stormed in. Sam shifted uncomfortably in the dinette seat as he watched Alfie turn and stalk back to them. He’d decided not to tell Jack about the video footage of Celestine walking around the Carnival the previous night. He didn’t want to get her into trouble until he was sure she was doing something wrong. Alfie’s rant was making him wonder if he shouldn’t have just said something.

  “What are you talking about, Alfie?” asked Jack calmly.

  “I mean, she was totally off base about the monkeys—little Suzi’s pregnant, probably with twins,” Alfie continued as if Jack hadn’t spoken.

  “Congratulations, that’s fantastic news,” said Jack. He hesitated, looking from Sam to Alfie. “Isn’t it?”

  “Yes, yes. It’s fantastic,” Alfie said, nodding impatiently. “But that’s not the point. She told me they’d never get pregnant, and I’d have to get another female to breed. Completely off base, but it made me go and check Suzi pretty closely, so I’ve found out earlier than I might have.”

  “So we have yet more proof that Celestine’s the world’s worst fortune-teller?” said Jack drily.

  Even though Jack was right, Sam had to force himself not to speak out in defence of Celestine. She was terrible at fortune-telling. Everyone said so.

  Alfie took another couple of steps. “Yes. And no. She had some kind of fit while I was there and woke up raving about the animals on the carousel flying.”

  Sam clenched his fist. Another fit?

  “That sounds a little farfetched, even for us,” said Jack.

  “I’d usually agree. But I was gettin' the heebie-jeebies while she was sayin’ it. I can’t explain it. Part of me was convinced she was tellin’ the truth.” Alfie hesitated then turned to glare at Jack. “And it was like the Carnival itself was pushing me to go see her. I’ve never felt anythin’ like it.”

  “But she got the monkeys wrong?”

  Alfie shook his head. “I know I sound crazy. But I’m telling you, I think we need to keep an eye on her.”

  Jack took a deep breath. Then he looked at Sam.

  “What?” said Sam suspiciously.

  “She had a fit when she was up the mountain with you, as well?”

  Sam nodded. “She said she gets them sometimes.”

  “I need you to do a complete physical on her. We can’t have someone who’s ill working the circuit. It could be dangerous.”

  Sam froze. “You’re not going to throw her out, are you?” He couldn’t keep the accusation out of his voice.

  Jack glared at him. “I’m not Veronica, Sam,” he said quietly. “Indigo is heading home today. She can take Celestine with her back to the Compound if you tell me she’s not fit enough to finish the season. We take care of our own.”

  Sam let out the breath he’d been holding and his shoulders slumped back down. “Of course. Sorry. I just….”

  “No need to explain.” Jack’s expression was grim. “But I do need you to check on Celestine for me right away. If Alfie says there’s a problem, there’s a problem.”

  Alfie shook his head. “I’m not sayin’ send her home. But there’s somethin’ going on that we don’t understand.”

  Sam nodded, relieved he was going to be the one to assess her. “I’ll go now, if that’s okay? If Indigo needs to leave soon, it will help to find out as soon as we can.” He moved out from the bench and stood up.

  “I need you to be honest in your assessment, Sam. Don’t feel sorry for her or let her stay out of pity,” warned Jack. “We need everyone to be in top condition for the circuit, or we’re not going to make it through the season.”

  Sam hesitated by the door. “I’ll let you know what we should do,” he said, then escaped through the silver entranceway.

  His mind was whirling as he stalked along the row of trailers toward Celestine’s place. Did they think she was a danger to the Carnival? He knew she wasn’t; at least he hoped she wasn’t. That was why he’d kept quiet about the late night visits.

  But maybe his judgment of people wasn’t the greatest. He’d been trapped next to Veronica’s side for the last ten years. That had to mess with a person’s perspective. And before that, he’d trusted her enough to join The Experiment. That was the worst decision in the world.

  He knocked on the door of Celestine’s small trailer. He heard Artemis’s meow in the background, then a murmuring from Celestine. A moment later, she opened the door, her crutches tucked under her arms.

  “Hi.”

  “Hello.” The first thing Sam noticed was the dark smudges under her eyes.

  “I’m here to check on you. Make sure your leg is okay.”

  She stepped backward. “I’m not used to house calls from a doctor. We’ve gone up in the world around here.”

  “All part of the new service,” he said as he climbed the steps in to her small space.

  He indicated that she should sit on the one chair not attached to the floor, a bright yellow wooden seat with a flower-patterned pillow.

  He sat down across from her, on the bench seat, and indicated she should lift up her leg. She hesitated.

  “I’m a professional. I’m not going to molest you or anything.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Sam wished he could take them back. He looked at Celestine, and his eyes caught hers. The violet at the edges seemed to burn brighter for a moment, deepening until it seemed to cover her whole iris. He held his breath.

  Perhaps she did have reason to fear him because all he wanted to do was take her lips against his, to crush her beneath his body and hold her tight.

  He cleared his throat.

  “You know I have a thing,” she said. “I don’t like to be touched. That’s why I wear the gloves and the long clothes. I need you to respect that.”

  Sam nodded, his visions of touching her body all over turning to dust as he remembered her strange quirk. “I can look at your ankle without touching it if you help me.”

  It was awkward, but between them, they managed to get her bandage off. The swelling had gone down a little, courtesy of the fast healing that being part of the Carnival afforded them. “It looks good. We can rebandage it for now, but you’ll be able to take it off pretty soon.”

  “Thanks, Sam. I appreciate it.”

  He waited until they had the bandage firmly back in place before bringing up the other reason for his visit. “Alfie came to visit Jack.”

  She hesitated a beat. “He told you I had another seizure?”

  “Yes. We need to talk about it.” Sam paused, wondering how to say it. “Jack said you can go back to the Compound if you’re not well. They’ll look after you there. You don’t need to force yourself through the pressure of a season if you’re not well enough for it.” He leaned in, about to put his hand on her arm, before he remembered. He pulled back.

  “I’m fine. I feel fine.” Her jaw tightened.

  “You’ve had three seizures in the last two days. Has that ever happened before?”

  She shook her head. “Not for a long time. But I can be more careful. I was taking risks by being out there a
lone.”

  “Why were you up the mountain?”

  “You’ll think I’m stupid. You’ll laugh.”

  Sam shook his head. “No I won’t.”

  Celestine hesitated. “I was trying to give Artemis a sense of the mountains. It’s where she came from. The Savannah breed is just one step away from being wild cats.”

  Sam glanced over to where Artemis sat on the windowsill, her half-closed eyes focused on Celestine. “She doesn’t seem that wild.”

  “She’s not. But I was trying to let her find her wild side.”

  Sam felt his lips twitching. “You’re right. I am going to laugh at you,” he said, before letting a bark of laughter come out. It sounded rusty, and he realized he hadn’t laughed in a long time.

  Celestine smiled, the warmth in her eyes letting him know she wasn’t upset. “Okay, fine. It’s wasn’t my best plan. What were you doing up there?”

  “Running.”

  “More of a mountain climb than a run.”

  “I like to push myself. To make it harder. The incline seemed like the perfect opportunity.”

  “Why do you push yourself like that? Is it because of Veronica?”

  As quick as that, the good humour he’d been feeling died. “What do you know about Veronica?” he asked sharply.

  “I know she’s going to do everything she can to destroy you.”

  “I’ll be ready for her when the time comes.”

  “You’ll need more than being physically fit to beat her,” she said softly.

  “What makes you so sure?” said Sam harshly. “You’ve never even met her.”

  “You can’t make your whole life about getting revenge. You have to move on.” Her violet-blue eyes were huge on her face as she watched him.

  Sam ran one hand through his hair. “I can’t move on. Not until she’s gone. As long as she’s out there, the possibility of her return haunts me.” The words flowed out of his mouth almost without his permission.

  “She did a number on you, that’s for sure.” Celestine’s voice held pity.

  “She forced me to stay by her side for ten goddamned years as she tortured and killed people in order to make her way to the top. She has to pay for that.” His voice shook, and Sam tried to understand why he kept answering her questions with the truth. Perhaps he should be the one heading back to the Compound for the summer.

  “Jack and Rilla and the Nine have it under control. You don’t need to be the one who takes her on.”

  “I’m the one working with Jack to make it happen. I’m doing it because I need to be part of her downfall. I did too much. I saw too much to leave it be, Celestine. Can you understand that?” He was pleading now, trying to get her to understand why he was compelled to follow this path. There was no other option for him and his sanity.

  “As I understand it, she forced you to do the things you did. You were never a willing participant.”

  “But that’s exactly why. She took away my control for ten years. I couldn’t be myself or do the things I thought were right. I didn’t know who I was anymore. It got to the point where I didn’t know what was right or wrong.”

  “You seem to know now.”

  Sam sighed. “The only thing I know for sure is that I need to stop Veronica from hurting anyone ever again. And I will do everything in my power to make that happen, which includes dying.” The words came unbidden from his mouth, and Sam realized they were true.

  He was going to kill Veronica, or die trying.

  Chapter 10

  “That’s what’s going to happen, you know. You’re going to die, and she’s going to win.” The words hung in the air between them for a moment. Celestine held her breath, hoping it might be enough to convince him.

  “You don’t know that for sure.” His eyes were bleak.

  Celestine hesitated, wanting to keep her secrets. The image of Sam’s lifeless, blood-splattered body flashed into her head and she shuddered. “I do know it,” she blurted. She put one hand over her mouth in a belated attempt to stay silent. What was she doing? The only reason she’d stayed safe for so long was because she’d kept her secrets to herself.

  Sam shook his head. “No one knows what will happen.”

  Celestine let out a tiny breath of air and took her hand away from her mouth. He didn’t believe her. She could stop now and it would be okay; she could stay hidden in the Carnival.

  But could she ever forgive herself if something happened to Sam, and she knew she could have prevented it? “When I touched you up the mountain, I had a vision. I saw her kill you. Then I saw it again that night by the kennels.” The words hung in the air, and Celestine had the sense of her own destiny changing.

  Sam leaned forward, his movement tentative. “Everyone I speak to says you’re a fake, Celestine.” He hesitated. “They say you never get the future right.”

  The air was thick around them, like something important was happening, but she didn’t know what. She only knew she had to convince Sam to change his path, or he was going to die. And she knew for certain she didn’t want that. “I do it on purpose. I tell them the opposite of what I see. I don’t want anyone here to know what I can do.”

  “Why would you do that?” Sam’s voice made his disbelief clear.

  Celestine almost growled in frustration. The trouble with carefully setting up a reputation for being a fake was that everyone believed you were a fake. She’d gotten so good at pretending, it was second nature to her. She’d almost convinced herself that she was normal.

  But she wasn’t. And the visions were stronger and coming more regularly ever since she had touched Sam. She didn’t seem to be able to keep her gloves on properly these days.

  She let out a sigh and tried to decide what to say. Perhaps she could convince him without telling him everything.

  It wasn’t that she thought he’d let her secret out, at least not on purpose. But the fewer people who knew the better. If her brothers even caught a hint of a rumor about her, they’d come check it out. And as soon as they were in the same vicinity as her, they’d be able to find her using their connection. She wouldn’t stand a chance. She’d almost been caught in the weeks before she arrived on Abba’s doorstep, and she never wanted to feel like that again.

  “I’m hiding from...” She took a breath. “No one can know I’m here. This is the only safe place for me, and I have to pretend to be something I’m not to stay safe.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you, Celestine.” Sam reached out one hand as if to touch her then pulled it back. “But I’m not going to pretend to believe you when I don’t.”

  Celestine stared at Sam, taking in his serious brown eyes, and the lines on his face that had etched in the pain he’d already experienced in his life. He was a good man. A worthy man. He didn’t deserve to die. She took a fortifying breath. “I’m hiding from my brothers. They want me to do the full show, to touch hundreds of people every night and tell them their futures. But... I can’t.” She gripped her hands together tightly in her lap.

  “What happens when you touch that many people?”

  “It... takes something from me if I use it too much. Like I have to start using pieces of my soul to make it work. My mother…” Celestine broke off. She couldn’t say the words, but the image of her mother’s wild, irrational eyes filled her head; they were burned into her memory. Her mother hadn’t known who she was, let alone how to tell a fortune toward the end.

  Sam hesitated. “I believe you’re hiding from someone, so it makes sense that it’s your family,” he said softly, his eyes filled with pity. “But nothing you predict ever comes true, Celestine. I’m sorry. Everyone knows it.”

  It hurt. She admitted that to herself. Something about Sam had made her feel they were connected, right from the start. To hear him say he didn’t believe her was painful. She took a deep breath. Then let it out. Behind her, Artemis meowed. “The reason I don’t like people touching me is that I get my strongest visions when I touch people skin to skin.”
She felt soft fur against her side and looked down to see Artemis curling her body against hers. She put her arm around the cat and smoothed one hand down her furry body.

  Sam frowned. “I think that bump to your head was harder than I realized. I’m going to take you for an MRI.”

  Celestine let out a frustrated huff of breath. “I’m fine, Sam. I’m not making this up. I know what I saw. Veronica knows you, she knows all about you. You were with her for ten years. Don’t you think that’s going to help her as much as it’s helping Jack and Rilla to make plans? She’s not going to be easily beaten.”

  Sam sat back in his chair, staring at Celestine, his expression pensive. “I don’t believe that you can see my future. I’m sorry. I just don’t.”

  “Then let me touch you again, see if I can catch a vision that will prove to you that I’m telling the truth.” Again, the words were out before Celestine could think better of them. Why was she so determined to prove herself to Sam?

  Sam stared at her for a moment, his dark brown eyes unreadable.

  He was going to say no, she could see it in his face. Celestine’s insides curled in on themselves as she tried to think of another way to prove what she was saying.

  “Okay,” he said.

  “Pardon?”

  “You can touch me. See if you can find out anything useful.”

  For a moment, time seemed to stand still. He was giving her a chance. Sam hadn’t completely given up on her. A small part of him was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, despite what he was being told by everyone else.

  Her heart leaped as she realized what his agreement meant. She was going to touch him, skin to skin. Her heart started beating faster, and she surreptitiously wiped her suddenly sweaty hands on her skirt. “It works better if I can hold both your hands in mine,” she whispered. There was so much riding on this. She had to get it right.

  He silently held out both his hands, watching her intently. Celestine awkwardly pulled off her gloves. After so many years of wearing them constantly, taking them off felt like she was undressing for Sam. She hadn’t touched another person’s skin except by accident for a long time. Holding out her suddenly trembling hands, Celestine hesitated just before touching him. Sam held his own hands motionless, waiting patiently. She took a quick breath, then lurched forward, grasping both his hands in hers. Her blood pumped through her body like she was about to leap off the side of a ravine.