I feel it at once, the tight tug of him, the vibration through the wire. Beneath that, the low hum of the carnival, different magics rippling through the town. Management have come back, and they and I will have words anon, for I never gave them permission to leave.

For now, however, I put on the body I burned for him once, in all its pale and untouched beauty, and I walk to where he is, my face lit up with the light of righteous fury.

He looks ever-more human now, smell of mortal work on him, body ageing in a way it did not, before. I hate it. From here I can hear his heart beat, and I think of taking his veins apart piece-by-piece so his blood will circulate no longer.

"You," I say, as I approach, and slap him in the face.