Chapter Twenty-Six
Cricket brushed a lock of hair from Zephyr’s cheek, and his eyes turned slitted. A smirk crossed his face as he wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged her closer. “Looks as if my wish came true. I got you in my bed,” he purred.
“This isn’t exactly your bed, now is it?” she teased, trailing a finger over his lower lip.
With one swift motion, he lifted her atop him as he rolled to his back, and Cricket gasped. He pressed his forehead against hers. “This one is sufficient. If I had enough coin, I would make it so we never left this room again,” he said gruffly, nipping her neck.
“I think we would die of starvation or thirst.” Cricket arched a brow and rolled, squeaking as they fell from the bed and collapsed on the floor.
Zephyr caught himself before his weight crushed her, and she couldn’t hold back the loud laughter spilling out from her. A laugh she hadn’t released in ages.
“Oh, fuck.” He balanced himself on his arms while his body shook from his own laughter. “Are you all right?”
She threaded her fingers through his hair. “I will be once you wake me thoroughly.” Neither one of them had been able to sleep much during the night. There’d been lovemaking, touching conversations, and more lovemaking. Darkness still lingered behind the curtains, the sun not yet risen.
Zephyr captured Cricket’s lips and brought one of her legs around his waist before giving a heavenly thrust inside her depths.
When the sun filtered in through the window, Cricket and Zephyr eventually had to wake from this dream of ecstasy and return to the world of horror that threatened to consume them.
Cricket slipped her dress over her head while Zephyr drew on his trousers. He left them unfastened as he buttoned the back of her dress.
“I’m leaving Nobel later today to let my aunt in Sorel know about Juniper and to prepare a burial for her body once it’s released from the coroner’s,” he said softly. “My aunt never tried to take us from the carnival when we’d chosen to stay with Mistress Eliza, and I haven’t talked to her in a long time, but I know she cared about Juniper.”
“Do you think if Mistress Eliza’s necromancy returns, or we find another with the ability, that you would want to try and bring her back?” Cricket didn’t know if she should give hope, but perhaps it was something good to hold on to.
Zephyr shook his head. “Juniper had a harder time than me when she was first revived, and I don’t want to pull her away from peace. She once told me if something happened to her again, just to let her be.”
Cricket thought about her family years ago. Her playing with Felix, the sickness spreading through their household, worsening for him. “I had a little brother once. He died when he was four from a plague. I still miss him and wonder what he would be like now if he had lived.”
Zephyr circled his arms around her, holding her tightly as he rested his chin on top of her head. “Maybe Juniper found your brother in the afterlife and is telling him all about his wonderful sister.”
The thought made her chest swell. “Once this murderer is brought to justice, I should find my parents and let them know I’m alive. Just like your aunt, they deserve that much.” Tears pricked Cricket’s eyes as she wrapped her arms around him, finding comfort in his touch. “There’s one other thing I need to do before returning to Anika’s—I want to talk to Mistress Eliza. Not that I need you attached to my hip to do so, but I was hoping you could walk me there?”
“I’ll walk you anywhere you want.”
After Cricket placed the locket back around her neck, she grabbed Zephyr’s collar from the bedside table. She trailed a finger across his scar, beautiful even though it held a horrific memory. He closed his eyes, inhaling softly at her tender movements. Gently, she reached to buckle the collar around his throat. “There,” she whispered.
“Thank you.”
Before leaving the inn, they ate breakfast downstairs, a bowl of oatmeal and strawberries, along with chamomile tea. The day was bright, and the warm rays crept across her bare arms. As they walked the path toward the carnival, Cricket tried not to let her nerves take over. But if this was the last she would see of Mistress Eliza, she wanted to offer the necromancer the locket back and thank her once more for giving her this second chance at life, even if the woman wasn’t pleased she’d given Cricket life after death. From what Bram and Zephyr had said, Mistress Eliza hadn’t thought Cricket would run off and would’ve just been out of her sight for a little while.
Not too far from the caravans, Autumn and Wilder carried armfuls of logs. Autumn looked toward them and stilled, a smile spreading across her face. She dropped the logs and ran in their direction.
“You’re back.” She grasped Cricket’s hand and pulled her away from Zephyr. “Everyone’s been wanting to make sure you’re all right. Hearing that you’re safe isn’t the same as seeing it for oneself.”
Cricket blinked away tears. “Thank you for standing up for me that day. It means a lot.” She was frustrated with herself for not giving Autumn a chance at first, for being more envious of her and Zephyr. But the truth was, even though they hadn’t been close friends, Autumn had stood up for her before anyone else.
“Mistress Eliza knows what she said was wrong. Juniper was like a daughter to her. We all are family. And sometimes families get along, and sometimes they don’t, but we have one another’s backs.” Before Cricket could respond, Autumn leaned in closer, whispering, “Take care of Zephyr. He needs you.”
Cricket’s heart clenched. “I promise. I hope I see you later.” She went back to Zephyr, and they trekked toward the caravans. Her gaze fell to Juniper’s home, and she wondered what would happen to it now. Who would fill it? And what about Cricket’s? Had anyone cleaned it? Even if someone had wiped away every drop of blood, she could never step foot inside there again. She kept her thoughts to herself because they didn’t matter at the moment—she would be at Anika’s after talking to Mistress Eliza.
“I need to do this alone,” she told Zephyr when they approached the necromancer’s home. “Can I meet you at your caravan after?”
Concern filled his eyes. “Are you sure?”
“I’ll be fine.”
Zephyr nodded, walking backward and watching her with an intensity that made her want to press her lips to his to calm her nerves. But instead, she stayed glancing over her shoulder at him as she took the steps to Mistress Eliza’s home. Once he disappeared from view, she knocked on the door. She waited a few moments, and when the necromancer didn’t answer, Cricket knocked a little louder.
“Are you looking for Mistress Eliza?” Stormy asked, and Cricket whirled around to face her, unable to hide her frown. “She’s inside her tent.” The performer stood there, looking as though she hadn’t changed her clothing or brushed her hair since Cricket had seen her last.
“If Mistress Eliza was going to yell at anyone, it should’ve been me,” Stormy said, tears filling her eyes. “Yet, I ran, even when I could hear her shouting at you. But I did tell her what happened, how I shouldn’t have hurt Juniper, how I at least should’ve made certain she’d gone to stay with you and wasn’t alone somewhere.”
Cricket’s face remained hardened. “Juniper loved you, you know. You’re the only person she’d ever felt that way toward. You weren’t the one who murdered her—however, you were the one who left her alone. I don’t hate you, Stormy, but I hate what you did.”
“I hate myself, and I knew Juniper was special, that she was more special to me than Louise ever was. That part frightened me most of all, so I turned my back on the one good thing in my life because I was afraid. Now that she’s gone, I’ll never get to tell her how I feel, how sorry I am, how this was the biggest mistake of my life,” Stormy sobbed, then took off running. Before Cricket could call her name, she was already gone.
Cricket didn’t want to have sympathy for how Stormy felt, but it was there. Pushing her emotions away, she skirted around the caravans toward Mistress Eliza’s tent.
Standing at the entrance, she could hear the necromancer shuffling her cards. Cricket inhaled and exhaled through her nose before she spoke, “Mistress Eliza? May I come in? It’s Cricket.”
The sound of the cards stilled. “You can come in, child.” Her voice didn’t sound angry but more resigned.
Cricket pulled back the fabric of the tent and entered the small space. The necromancer sat in her chair, smoking her pipe with several decks of tarot cards in front of her. At each of the corners of the table rested a crystal and a lit candle.
“So, you finally decided to return home?” Mistress Eliza said, leaning back in her seat.
“I took your words as though you wanted me gone from here.”
“From my sight. Not the carnival.” Mistress Eliza sighed. “Regardless, I shouldn’t have yelled at you the way I did. But out of everyone I’ve ever brought back to life, Juniper was different. She clung to my skirts as a child, so shy at first, frightened to live again. My heart has always held a special place for her. Juniper was the one performer who always listened, always did what was asked of her, never argued back with anyone. She was like my own. But all of you are. And yes, so are you.”
“I miss her too,” Cricket said softly. “And I understand why you shouted at me. I’ve blamed people for things before when I shouldn’t have.” She thought about Zephyr, the carnival, how she never should’ve blamed either one when her death had been because of Clancy.
“Stormy told me what happened, and she’s working on her punishment to continue to stay.” Mistress Eliza paused, inhaling smoke from her pipe. “There’s still been no sign of the murderer, and these authorities haven’t done a damn thing. We’ll be leaving in a few days since the land in the next town will be ready for us.”
“It’s better I not linger around then … so the carnival can continue. But I did want to show you something. That I wasn’t a failure when you reignited my heart.” Cricket held up her hands and kept her breath even, focusing on her curiosity until the prickling sensation stirred beneath her flesh. The buds rose, and a garden of red blossomed across both arms, not a hint of darkness to be seen. “Your vision, it was real.”
Mistress Eliza’s lips parted, and she stood from her chair, limping toward her at a brisk pace. She lifted Cricket’s arms and ran her finger across one of the roses. An appreciative look formed on her face. “They’re beautiful as I always knew they would be. I do want you to stay, Cricket. To travel with us, to perform, to dance, to blossom. I’m not the only one here who wants that.”
Cricket blinked, surprised by her words. This was what she’d always wanted, to dance on the carnival stage, yet something more important needed to be done first, so for now, she would put her dream aside.
“I’ll come and stay as long as you’ll have me, but I will remain here until the authorities don’t need me. And if the murderer is found while we’re traveling, you’ll allow me to leave so I can see them hang. For Juniper and the other victims.”
“As you wish, child.”