Page 159 of Rattle the Cage

With that assurance, Tess stormed off into the crowd. Every once in a while as she stomped off, she would glance back, her face all pouty. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. “God, she’s adorable.”

“She’s a fucking brat.” Cyrus grumbled.

“I know. Isn’t it awesome?”

Cyrus made a noise of irritation, but for once, my smartass comment wasn’t met with one of her stoney glares. She wouldn’t dare take her eyes off of Tess in the crowd.

Locking the car door, Nash stepped in line with us, clapping a hand over each of our shoulders. “That seems like enough of a head start to me. Ready to head out?”

“Born ready,” I laughed, slipping into the stream of the crowd.

As we walked, I could see Tess perfectly. But the widening of her eyes on her next glance back told me that she’d completely lost sight of us.

Sweet thing.

It had been a long time since Tess had been this far from my reach. It was equal parts agony and exhilaration. I wanted to hold her, to play with her myself. But it was fun to know that she could feel my eyes on her without knowing exactly where I was.

I’ll be your shadow for tonight, Trinket. But enjoy it while it lasts —- this monster won’t wait in the dark forever.

77

TESS

I tried to shake the feeling of being watched.

But the truth was, it wasn’t just my Freaks who were keeping an eye on me. Rubin’s cronies were everywhere, their eyes peeled on his supposed-wife.

The thought made my skin crawl.

Fucking incel creep.

Despite my initial protest, knowing that my three clowns were here, somewhere, made a part of my brain quiet.

Looking over my shoulder, I couldn’t even see them anymore. The sun was sinking below the Valemont mountains, making everyone’s costumes harder to see in the dim light.

My skin crawled. No one in this crowd would know that the clown masks lurking among were splattered in real blood.

It was dangerous. If someone had escaped them and recognized the masks, they could be found out.

Every part of me wanted to freeze at the thought. I couldn’t stomach anything happening to them.

But I forced myself forward, scanning the crowd for Lola and Chrissy as I walked.

A high-pitched squeal told me that my tiny friend had found me first.

Following the sound of Chrissy’s screech, I spotted her in an adorable fuzzy blue costume. A matching hood covered her head, purple spots speckling the entire furry outfit.

“Oh my goodness! Who is that scary monster?” I gasped as she ran toward me, holding out my arms to wrap her in a hug.

She giggled as I tickled her belly. “I’m gonna have to take this big scary monster down!”

Between laughs, Chrissy squeaked, “It’s me, Auntie!”

As Lola walked over, smiling down at us, I took a closer look at Chrissy. “Wait a minute! This isn’t a monster, this is Chrissy!”

Chrissy stood up and immediately showed off her orange, plastic jack-o-lantern bucket. Bragging about filling it up with candy, she grabbed Lola’s hand and mine to lead us onto Valemont’s quiet neighborhoods.

“It’s good to see you, thanks for coming.” Lola wrapped her arms around me as we walked.