Chelsea Fine - Awry

Tristan.

It was Gabriel’s face and Gabriel’s body, but the boy shoving his way through the exodus of people, covered in dirt and sweat, was Tristan.

And he was coming for her.

Scarlet’s mouth parted. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

Tristan was alive.

Gabriel spoke to Raven, “Yes. I love her.”

“Are you sure?” Raven asked.

Tristan was alive.

Scarlet couldn’t control her thoughts. Or her singing soul, coming back to life. Whole. Complete. No longer broken.

“I am sure,” Gabriel said.

Just as Tristan reached the altar, his eyes shot to Raven. Scarlet’s eyes shot to Raven as well.

“Then may you never know love without her,” Raven said wickedly.

And the crazy witch readjusted her bow and aimed at Scarlet.

Gabriel charged at Raven, Tristan closed in on Scarlet, and Scarlet watched Raven release her arrow.

Before Scarlet could move, Tristan threw his body in front of hers to shield her from the arrow.

Scarlet watched in horror as blood poured from the back of Tristan’s shirt. Then she felt a stabbing pain enter her body.

Looking down, Scarlet saw the arrow sticking out from her chest.

Tristan’s body fell limp to the floor in front of her, she heard Gabriel yell, and then Scarlet fell to the ground as well.

Blood filled her mouth, pain filled her body, and sadness filled her veins as she watched Tristan’s head turn in her direction.

His eyes, looking at her in sorrow, turned a brilliant, magical shade of green, before the life drained from them completely and they went dark.

Scarlet went cold and numb as she watched her hunter die.

She choked and gave herself over to death as well.

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.