Page 89 of You Can Make Me

She sighs and nods. “Okay, kiddo. Up you go.”

I hug Granddad, and as I stand, my attention is caught once more by the scene on the television. A group of men pulls a truck driver out of his cab and onto the ground. They kick him and beat him and there’s blood?—

“Come on, Coop. You’ve had a big day.”

I say good night to my grandparents and follow Mom up the stairs. I look back, and the scene is pulled away once more like a rubber band.

When it snaps back, it’s the carnival again, but it’s nighttime…and there’s one man standing at the gate.

“So good to meet you, Cooper Harris. Not quite face-to-face, but close enough for now.”

A scent hits me in the face so strong it knocks me back a step.

Death.

He’s a deathbringer, an evildoer, and he shall not pass.

“Virgil Evans.”

He smiles, but the act looks painful. He’s not much more than a skeleton, his skin pulled tight over his bones. He’s not at all like the pictures I’ve seen of him. In the flesh, he’s nowhere near as menacing as he was in my dreams.

He’s a weak old man with not much time left.

“You’re right, Truthseeker. Time is of the essence, and you are going to get me to this carnival or people you love are going to die. I know, so cliché, but desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“If you have Denny, how are you here?”

“How areyouhere if you’re locked in that house? It’s all in the mind, and you have an active one, yes you do. I’ve enjoyed visiting yours, but now it’s time to meet in the flesh.”

“Where?”

He shrugs and gazes longingly at the tents a short distance away.“Right here, of course. You’ll get me to the carnival. Your friends can bring you. The three of you are tied by a common magic, and you’ll use it to get here. Once you’re at the carnival in the waking, I’ll find you. They will take me; I’ll make them an offer they can’t refuse.” He chuckles. “I’ve wanted to use that line for so long. Cheesy, huh?”

“You have to let Denny go.”

The light dims in his dark eyes. “He was a gift to an old friend. A debt I had to settle. ’Fraid I have no control?—”

“Bullshit. He’s mine, and if you don’t set him free, there’s no way I’m going to take you anywhere.”

“Oh, but you will. You have much more to lose than I do. Your parents, your dear friend Samantha and her bundle of joy. Oh! Did I spoil the surprise?”

He cackles, and it makes my stomach turn. Sam? Could it be true?

“I’m near my expiry date, see,” he continues. “But with every last ounce of energy I have, I will torture you and your friends—hello, Dane. Yes, I see you, too. You can’t find me this time, I’ve made sure of that. But you know what I’m capable of, don’t you, my sweet? It’s too late for me to finish what I started with you, but I’ll makeallof you suffer unless you get me to the carnival.

“Your detective,” he says with a nod to Dane, “your rock star,” he adds, looking at Kal, “and everyone else you love. I’ve still got enough power stored inmy psychic bank to wreak a little havoc before I go.”

“You can’t go to the carnival, man. They don’t want you.” Dane’s voice is shaky but he stands his ground.

“You leave that to me.”

“We’ll never reveal the carnival’s location to you,” Kal says. “Never. We are its protectors.”

Evans’ eyebrows raise at Kal’s pronouncement.“That your final answer?”

I look to my new friends, and I feel the pull toward them. They’re strong, pure, good. They need to be protected. It’s my duty, my purpose to seek the truth, to witness.

The carnival must be protected, or people just like them will be hurt.