Awry

75

Gabriel shook his head at Heather.

“What if I give you twenty dollars?” Heather challenged Gabriel with a smile.

He sighed. “I’m not going to ride a pony, Heather.”

She scrunched her nose. “You’re such a bummer.”

“Hey guys,” Scarlet said, smiling at the two as she walked up to them. “What’s up?”

“Well, Fierce Jaguar over here,” Heather pointed to Gabriel, “is being a big, whiney baby about the fair. He refuses to have any fun at all and his pouty face is scaring off the customers.”

Scarlet puckered her lips. “Fierce Jaguar?”

Heather nodded. “That’s Gabriel’s Team Awesome code name.”

“That’s not my code name,” Gabriel said.

“Oh, B-T-W,” Heather said to Scarlet. “I told my parents I’m staying with you all week because of the fair stuff. No school!” she reminded them with a smile. “Yay.”

Gabriel shook his head. “What kind of town shuts down all week because of a fair?”

“The same kind of town that celebrates a Kissing Festival every year,” Scarlet answered.

“Heather!” Clare called from the other side of the stand as she pointed to the Millhouse shop across the street.

Heather looked at her boss before turning back to them. “I gotta go grab more coffee from across the street. I’ll be right back.”

As Heather shuffled out from behind the booth and headed across the street, Scarlet turned to Gabriel. “I haven’t seen Laura anywhere, have you?”

“Nope.” He took a sip of the coffee cup in his hand as he looked around. “It’s so weird that Raven was able to deceive all of us. Especially me.” Gabriel shook his head. “I knew her so well, but Laura…Laura is nothing like her. She doesn’t act like Raven, she doesn’t look like Raven….”

Scarlet shrugged. “She’s been lying for half a millennium, Gabriel. She’s good at it.”

He nodded, but his gut didn’t feel settled. “Maybe you’re right.”

A shadow creeping up from around the corner of the gazebo caught Gabriel’s attention. It moved with stealth and slowness, deliberately trying to stay hidden, which sent a chill up Gabriel’s spine.

He watched until the shadow became a figure crouched between two bushes with dead eyes set on Gabriel.

“Stay here,” Gabriel commanded Scarlet, and shot a look to Tristan.

Tristan caught his gaze, spied the Ashman, and made his way across the park, just like Gabriel. They’d approach the Ashman from two sides; corner him, kill him.

Simple.

Making brief eye contact with Tristan, Gabriel casually marched around the gazebo and yanked the Ashman back further into the shadowy cover of the dark trees. The Ashman struggled, but Tristan came up beside Gabriel and caught the Ashman’s hands behind his back.

Another Ashman appeared in the darkness beyond Tristan.

“Watch your back,” Gabriel said, and Tristan whipped around.

In one fluid movement, Tristan pulled a dagger from his coat—because, apparently, Tristan carted bloody weapons around in his coat—and cut through the Ashman’s skull with forceful movement.

Without missing a beat, Tristan turned back around and helped Gabriel pin the Ashman that was struggling beneath Gabriel’s grasp. Gabriel punched the Ashman in the face, giving Tristan an opportunity to restrain the Ashman’s hands behind his back.

Gabriel pulled Scarlet’s butcher knife from his coat—okay, so maybe they both carted weapons around in their jackets—and with silent movement, he thrust the blade directly into the Ashman’s heart and twisted.

Stiffness, cracking, crumbling…then ash.

Murder accomplished.

Gabriel tucked the blade back into his coat and dusted off his hands as he looked at the two piles of ash on the forest floor. “See how simple that was?” He looked at Tristan. “You hold him down, I stab him, end of threat. With Nate it’s all weird battle cries and plastic hammers.” Gabriel shook his head. “Fighting with you is much less dramatic.”

“Yeah, well.” Tristan stretched his neck. “We make a good killing team.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes as they headed out of the trees and back to the fair. “What is with everyone wanting to be on teams?”

Scarlet stood by Nate and watched him lick the last of the blue cotton candy sugar off his fingers. A clown beside them was making animal balloons and a man on stilts walked past them throwing confetti.

It was so…jolly.

You would never know there were Ashmen and immortals lurking about with deadly weapons.

Scarlet looked across the street at the Millhouse doors nervously. “Heather’s been gone a long time, don’t you think?”

Nate’s tongue was dark blue as he licked his lips. “Yeah.” He scratched the back of his head. “Should we go check on her?”

“Check on who? Heather?” Gabriel asked as he and Tristan joined them.

“Yeah,” Scarlet said, running a hand through her hair. “I’m worried. It’s taking her a long time to get coffee.”

Gabriel nodded. “I’ll go check it out.”

“I’ll go with you,” Scarlet said.

Tristan’s eyes were fixed on something at the far end of the park. “Nate and I will be right back,” he said as he began walking toward something no one else saw.

“Okay.” Nate shrugged and followed Tristan.

Scarlet turned and followed Gabriel.

Gabriel walked across the street as fair music floated in the air. Scarlet came up beside him as they reached the coffee house doors. Inside the windows, chairs were stacked on tables and only a single light was on.

“I’ll be right back,” Scarlet said as she let herself inside the shop to find Heather.

Gabriel moved to follow after Scarlet, but paused, suspicion crawling up his spine. He looked around, but saw nothing unusual.

Huh.

Stepping back to the door, Gabriel grabbed the handle as he saw Scarlet head to the back of the shop. A heavy thud, a sharp pain, and Gabriel was gasping for air.

What the…?

Stiff hands wrapped around Gabriel’s throat, yanking him backwards into the shadows of a deserted side street. With a swift movement, Gabriel unlatched his assailant’s hands and spun around, grabbing the knife from his coat. Again.

Avalon was crawling with Ashman tonight.

He thrust the knife at the Ashman and cut straight through the creature’s chest. As the Ashman fell to the ground, another Ashman came from behind and stabbed Gabriel’s shoulder.

With a grunt, Gabriel turned around and proceeded to take on the second Ashman. He fought and wrestled, being careful to stay away from his attacker’s weapon. Gabriel backed him into a nearby alleyway and jabbed him in the throat with the butcher knife.

Another Ashman appeared and Gabriel pulled the butcher knife from the dead Ashman’s throat and made contact with the next Ashman’s gut, slicing him straight through. He watched as the Ashman fell to his knees and began to crumble.

Gabriel kept his knife poised, breathing heavy as he looked at the crumbling bodies around him. They had almost turned to Ash when a noise caught Gabriel’s ear.

He turned around to see three more Ashmen headed toward him.

Ah, hell.