“No,” Evelyn answered. “I couldn’t care less about you, Mallory. Unlike my brother, I can’t overlook your parentage.”
“I know you disliked my mother—”
“I hated her and your father,” Evelyn said.
Mallory flexed her fingers. A strange pressure filled her, and the need to stretch out was akin to a full body cramp. “You hate your brother? Did you—”
“No,” Evelyn interrupted. “I hate your father.”
“You know who my birth father is?” Mallory stared at the witch as she confirmed the hatred Mallory had long suspected. “Who? And what does that have to do with Dad? And what are you doing to me?”
“Marchosias,” Kaleb answered quietly from beside her. “You’re his daughter.”
A horrible clarity hit her. She knew exactly what Adam had stolen, understood why he never told her, and she knew why he wouldn’t return it. With dread Mallory looked from Kaleb to Evelyn to Aya and Belias, who were standing on the other side of her now. Her gaze returned to Evelyn. “My father is a daimon? So I’m a half-daimon?”
“No,” Evelyn answered. “You’re all daimon. Selah was a daimon, a Watcher, and your father is a cur. You’re not half anything; you’re all abomination.”
The sensations in her body were foreign, as if parts of her were just now present. She lifted her hand to touch her teeth, but could only stare as she realized that her fingernails were gone. In their place were thick, curved talons like a bird of prey would have. She kept her hand upraised and stared at them as they shifted into something that looked more like claws.
Lips closed, she ran her tongue over her teeth. They felt different, longer and sharper.
Suddenly Kaleb stood behind her. He put one hand on her shoulder and the other on her hip. He whispered, “Concentrate on what you want to be, Mallory. Your teeth will not change unless you want them to.”
Mallory looked over her shoulder at him. “I’m a daimon.”
He nodded.
“You knew all along.” She didn’t wait for his answer; she saw it in his eyes. Slowly, she looked from his sorrow-filled gaze to Evelyn again. “This is why you’ve always hated me.”
“My brother has spent the last seventeen years hiding. At first, I accepted it. You were to be useful, a weapon against them.” Evelyn smiled as she reminisced. “He didn’t seek you out, but when I found the daimon who bore you, I sent her to him. He knew precisely what to do. He bound your nature, raised you to hate and kill daimons. Then, we would send you back—a perfect little killer.” Her eyes glimmered as she spoke. “My killer was already there, awaiting the time when she would know what she was. I planned. I bled. I killed for this . . . and then Adam announced that he would not send you back, that he considered you his daughter, that he loved you.” Evelyn stared at Mallory with eyes that were identical to Adam’s. “The spells kept you from being as strong as you are. They’re undone. You have guides. Go get my brother. He is in their world.”
She looked briefly at Aya, and then she spoke some sort of spell and disappeared.
Mallory didn’t know how to respond—not to Evelyn, not to the truth of where Adam was or what he had done. All she could do was stand there silently as the feelings in her body became clearer. Layers of witchery were being stripped away: Adam had wrapped her in magic, hiding her from even herself. It felt like waking up. She wanted to stretch until her body was alert.
I’m the thing that witches hate.
She turned to face the witch-daimon, her daimon familiar, and the daimon who had professed love to her. They knew. They had all known. She wasn’t sure if that meant she trusted them more . . . or less. The only thing that she was sure of was that she had new strengths that would help her retrieve her father from the daimon world—and from the daimon who apparently was her birth father.
“I’m going to find my father,” she said, as much to herself as to them.
VISIT
WWW.ENTERTHECARNIVAL.COM
AND CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES
ON THE SEQUEL, SNEAK PEEKS, AND MORE.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
GRATITUDE MUST GO TO the band Five Finger Death Punch. The phrase “carnival of souls” in their song “Far from Home” was the spark that started my blurry, no-sleep-for-days dive into this book. Thank you so much for that spark, the generous use of your art, and—most of all—for your trips to Iraq and Kuwait to play for our troops.
Equally important appreciation goes to my agent, Merrilee Heifetz, who barely blinked when I called and said, “I have a confession: I accidentally wrote half a novel,” and to the folks at HarperCollins US and UK who adjusted quickly to the sudden surprise of an unscheduled novel in a year I didn’t have one due.
Many thanks go to my writers/friends (Jeaniene Frost, Kelley Armstrong, Margaret Stohl, and Jeannette Battista), who read and discussed the book with me, and to my children (Dylan and Asia), who also offered insights.
Equal thanks to my assistant, Donna, who proofreads, schedules, and keeps me caffeinated.
Thank you to the Rathers, who helped me create the playlist for this book (especially Em, Kimmie, Matthi, and Zaira+Zire). I can’t write without music, and without your help, this book wouldn’t have unfurled as quickly as it did.
And continued thanks to all of you for reading the novels and for sending such lovely letters. Even though I don’t reply to all of you, I do read every email and letter I receive.
About the Author
Melissa Marr is the author of the New York Times bestselling Wicked Lovely series and GRAVEMINDER, as well as a manga series (Wicked Lovely: Desert Tales) and various short stories. She is also the coeditor, with Kelley Armstrong, of the anthology ENTHRALLED: Paranormal Diversions. When not writing, editing, or traveling, Melissa is buried under a plethora of books, dogs, and children in Virginia or online at www.melissa-marr.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The Lesser Key of Solomon was my foundational text for the binding used on Belias. I modified the language, but kept the general tone and some phrasing. Likewise, Marchosias is, according to the aforementioned text, one of the marquises of Hell.
ALSO BY MELISSA MARR
Wicked Lovely
Ink Exchange
Fragile Eternity
Radiant Shadows
Darkest Mercy
Wicked Lovely: Desert Tales
(Art by Xian Nu Studio)
Volume 1: Sanctuary
Volume 2: Challenge
Volume 3: Resolve
Faery Tales & Nightmares
Graveminder
Credits
Cover art © 2012 by Sean Freeman
Cover design by Ray Shappell
COPYRIGHT
Carnival of Souls
Copyright © 2012 by Melissa Marr
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.