Free Night of the Tiger (Hades' Carnival) by N.J. Walters

mouth and roared before returning to his original position on the carousel.
    The wolf howled, the bear growled. Aimee wanted to cover her ears but didn’t dare let go of the tiger. If she lost her grip, she’d be thrown from the ride. At the speed she was traveling, she’d at least break a limb or two, if she weren’t killed outright.
    The crowd began to yell and then they began to chant. They were all crazy. She was crazy. Because they all began to change before her eyes. Whether it was a trick of her eyes because of the speed she was traveling or whether she was seeing them as they truly were, she had no idea. Their faces changed, their skin growing leathery and their eyes glowing like red embers. Some of them seemed to have horns. They morphed from people into the demons from her nightmares.
    She couldn’t understand what they were chanting at first, but their words eventually came into focus. “Roric! Roric! Roric!” Aimee had no idea what the word meant, and she didn’t care. All she wanted was to get out of this place and go home to her familiar, two-story cottage just outside town. She would be safe there. If only she could get home.
    Closing her eyes, she leaned down and wrapped her arms completely around the tiger’s neck. “Please. Please take me home,” she pleaded.
    Laughter mocked her as the ride whirled at an impossible speed. A female voice seemed to whisper on the wind, but she couldn’t make out what the woman was saying. Maybe it was hope . Or it could be help . The voice was familiar, like something she’d dreamed once before.
    Aimee couldn’t think. The speed and the constant circling were making her dizzy. She was close to passing out, and if that happened she would fall. Memories of the car accident that took her parents’ life assailed her. It was much the same—the feeling of being totally out of control, of being unable to stop what was happening even though you knew it would end badly.
    Terror shot through her body and struck her soul. She was going to die.
    Her vision began to dim. She closed her eyes and prayed for the madness to stop. In her dreams, the tiger always protected her. With her remaining strength, she pressed her lips against the carved tiger, ignoring the warmth and the brush of fur.
    “Protect me, tiger. Take me home.”
    The world around her exploded in a mass of lights and screams. A kaleidoscope of color surrounded her. Even with her eyes shut tight, she could see the brilliant flashes of red, orange, yellow, green, sky blue, indigo and violet, as well as a multitude of colors she couldn’t name. She wanted to reach out and touch the colors. They were so beautiful they brought tears to her eyes.
    Her grip grew weaker and her body shifted. Her fingers and legs were numb from holding on so tight. She felt herself falling, but there was nothing she could do to stop it from happening. Her strength was gone.
    She slipped, her fingers dropping away from the tiger’s neck. A mighty roar split the air, the sound filled with anguish and anger. Aimee wanted to scream but the sound caught in her throat.
    The world went black and silent.

Chapter Five
    Aimee moaned and rolled over onto her back, flinging her arms out by her sides. She was falling, flying through the air. There was nothing to stop her from hitting the hard ground. She could break a bone or worse. “No!” she cried, knowing words were useless. Nothing could stop her inevitable fall.
    “I’ve got you,” a masculine voice murmured into her ear. A strong arm wrapped around her waist, catching her, anchoring her.
    Dreaming. She was dreaming. Sighing, Aimee began to relax, much happier with this turn of events. She shuddered, hating the sensation of falling through the air, the pure helplessness of it.
    There was something niggling at the back of her brain. Something important. Like an itch she couldn’t scratch, it irritated her. She could almost remember but the next second it slipped away. It was totally