Three
BRENTON
My scream piercedthe air as I jumped back, pulling one leg up and nearly falling over myself trying to get away from the bed. If I could, I would’ve disappeared entirely.
Not because of the way Teddy and our friends laughed at me. No, that didn’t bother me. It was the cutout figure of the demented clown strewn atop my bed that nearly killed me. It wasn’t an ordinary clown either, but the very evil we’d just finished watching in both parts of the movieIt.It loomed stiff in the center of my mattress, his white-gloved hand frozen mid-grab.
For one wretched beat, I was certain it was real.
My legs refused to move. I was stuck there in some frozen, terror-ridden state where each breath wheezed from my constricting lungs while Elias and Teddy’s pet rocks stared at me from across the room. Probably judging me as harshly as my friends did.
The bastard clown had red hair far too similar to George’s and unnatural eyes that stared right through me. And his smile...dear gods, his curled smile that exposed sharp teeth kept me in place.
Vith.I half expected him to get up and dance.And here I would die, at a mere one hundred-twenty-eight years of age.
The cutout wobbled. A thin stand was visible behind its legs.
Cardboard. Fake. Very, very fake.
It didn’t matter.
I pursed my lips, ready to whistle for Luana to rescue me, but thought better of it. She was tucked beneath the crib the twins shared, keeping watch over them while the other two dogs and donkey slept with the girls.
As much as I loved my nephews, I was certain I’d never be able to sleep over again. The vision of Pennywise draped across my bed and pillows would haunt me for hundreds of years. It may even follow me into the afterlife.
I screamed again, jumping even higher when Elias clapped my shoulder.
This time, it wasn’t only my friends’ laughter I heard but also Hoshiko’s.
“Traitor,”I muttered to my dragon.
“I hope whatever dangers we may face in the future, they do not come in the form of a clown,”he said.
I shuddered. “If clowns ever invade Niev, I’ll find a new realm to call home,” I said aloud so that everyone, including Elias, the king of Niev, heard me.
Teddy tapped Elias’s chest, drawing him out of the room while everyone followed. I moved to leave as well when George shut the door in my face. Just as I wiggled the doorknob, Everly whispered those heinous words about floating. I pictured the clown and his red balloon, which was the same color as blood.
I stumbled back, drawing far too close to the clown on my bed.
“Ha, ha,” I said, my legs weak and knees wobbly. “We’ve all had a good laugh. You can let me out now.”
“Sweet dreams,” Ryenne singsonged from the other side of the door.
“Really? I thought we were friends.”
“Ah, my friend, didn’t you know?” Ryenne said. “The butt plug of life doesn’t arrive lubricated.”
The butt plug of life . . . I threw my head back with a raucous laugh. But this female, gods, she was insane.
Teddy snickered, but I heard the way she told the others to back off and let me out. I had enough dignity left that I didn’t immediately rush out of the room, but I did make sure to turn on every sphere of fae light I came across on the way back to the living room.
Just as I went to sit on my regular spot on the couch, a tentative knock echoed in the room. I stilled, but the racing of my heart was too loud for me to make out whoever was on the other side.
George, the fool, grinned while he waggled his brows at me. “Looks like Pennywise is making house visits now.”
I knew it wasn’t Pennywise. Of course, it wasn’t him. Yet my poor, overcharged heart didn’t listen to reason.
“Javier is at the door,”Hoshiko said, his tone uncharacteristically serious. At the same time, Elias let out a heavy sigh.“Something’s happened.”
