My phone pinged and I found a message from Suzan.
Miss me?
“Who’s that from?” Dylan leaned closer to look.
“Suzan, she’s got FOMO,” I said.
We are all lost without you. I texted back.
“We’re all actually getting a word in,” said Rachel.
“I miss her,” moaned Sam.
“I’m sure your lips will enjoy the break,” said Ethan.
We all laughed and Dylan kissed my cheek, sending warmth through my body.
Another text and I looked down, expecting it to be from Suzan.
Meet you at the front gate after school?
It was from Mike.
“You’re meeting up with Mike?” asked Dylan.
“We have touch training. Usually Suzan walks with us but with her being sick,” I replied.
“I have nothing on this afternoon. Maybe I can come watch?” he suggested.
I shrugged. “It’s not very exciting.”
“Sounds like you don’t want me there?”
“Please don’t tell me you’re jealous of Mike?” asked Becca. “He’s Suzan’s brother for god’s sake.”
“I’m not jealous,” he argued.
“Dylan’s jealous. Dylan’s jealous,” sing-songed Rachel.
“You’re jealous?” I teased. “That’s cute. Must mean you like me?”
“Nope, not true.” He sat up, his chin raised.
“Fine, I’ll just tell Mike I can’t wait to spend time with him alone on our walk.” I shot him a smirk.
He relaxed his shoulders and wrapped his arm around me. “Okay, maybe I’m a little jealous. You have to admit he was being weird at the movies.”
“Suzan said he was being way too protective,” said Becca.
“I’d still like to come watch you train or play sometime,” he said.
“Maybe you and I could go watch them play Friday night?” suggested Sam. “That’s if Suzan’s feeling better.”
“We might come too, hey Becca,” said Rachel.
“Grounded remember,” replied Becca. “But you guys go. You should go too, Ethan.”
“Maybe I will,” he said.
“We usually grab shakes and fries at Big City Burgers after,” I said. “It’ll be fun.”
“Doesn’t Mike work there?” asked Dylan.
“Let it go, man,” said Ethan.
“What? It’s just an observation,” he said.
“Yes, but he plays touch Friday night so he won’t be working he’ll be eating. Eating with his girlfriend Charity,” I reminded him.
“It’s a plan, we’ll come watch you Friday night and I’ll leave you have your alone time with Mike this afternoon,” said Dylan.
The bell rang to sound the end of lunch and Dylan gave me a quick kiss before we rose from the grass and swung our bags over our shoulders, saying goodbye. I walked to biology class with a wide smile on my face.
As I approached the sidewalk, part of me contemplated skipping touch training and going on the bus. But Mike gave me a wave as I approached and I knew he’d never let me ditch training.
“Afternoon,” he said.
“Hey,” I replied. “Ready for training?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he said.
We headed along the path leading away from the school.
“Lucy!” I turned to find Dylan chasing after me.
He reached us, panting.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
“I wanted to say goodbye and tell you I hope you have a good training session,” he said.
“That’s a bit cute,” I replied. “Did you want to walk with us?”
“I promised Ethan I’d go round to his place, but I can cancel if you want me to?” he looked to Mike. “Hi.”
“Hi,” replied Mike.
They squared each other up for a moment before Dylan turned his attention back to me.
“It’s fine. You go have fun with Ethan. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
As though kissing him in front of Mike had proved to him that I wasn’t going to do anything he wouldn’t want me to, he gave my hands a squeeze.
“I’ll message you later,” he said. “Bye Mike.”
“Bye,” replied Mike.
I watched as he jogged away and turned back to Mike heat in my cheeks.
“Kissing in public? Must be serious,” he said.
“It was a peck on the cheek.”
“Don’t tell Charity. She gets annoyed if I won’t make out with her in front of people. I just don’t feel comfortable,” he said.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable,” I said.
“So things are going well with Dylan?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“But you don’t know him that well, do you?”
“Please don’t go all weird big brother on me again,” I said.
“I’m not, I promise. I just heard something about him and I think you should know.”
Did I want to know? My insides were alight with excitement and I didn’t want to hear anything that might burst my bubble. “It can’t be that bad, can it?”
“It’s okay, I won’t tell you.”
“Well, you have to now.” My curiosity was piqued and I was afraid if he didn’t tell me my mind would concoct a story much worse than the real one.
“Don’t shoot the messenger.” He held up his hands.
“What is it?”
“Trenton Hill told me Dylan had a girlfriend the night of the party and he was shocked to see him dancing with you.”
My stomach tightened, but I did my best to ignore it. “So you think he has some secret girlfriend?”
“I don’t know? But I think you should ask him. Trenton said her name is Melissa. She goes to Tapinton High.”
Swallowing hard, I tried to process his words. “Wouldn’t Sam and Ethan know if he had a girlfriend?”
Mike shrugged. “Like I said, I’m just repeating what Trenton told me. Maybe we can ask Charity when we get to training?”
“What? So they can all laugh at me for thinking a guy like Dylan might like me?”
“No, that’s not why.”
Anger bubbled in my chest. Why couldn’t he just let me be happy? “What are you trying to do? Why are you trying to ruin this for me?”
“I’m not, I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
I’d been so happy. Was I stupid for thinking Dylan might actually like me and only me?
“How about you stop worrying about me and worry about your own relationship?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You and Charity. All you do is complain about her. If you don’t like her, why are you with her?”
“I do like her. It’s just, complicated.”
“How is it complicated? She likes you, she wants to spend time with you, and you’re being a complete douche about it all.”
“Right. It’s all my fault,” he said. “Maybe when you have a boyfriend that isn’t dating someone else at the same time you can start giving me relationship advice.”
We reached the training oval and the team spotted us.
“I think it’d be best if we both stayed out of each other’s way. I’ve spent the past sixteen years without a brother I definitely don’t need one now.”
“I’m trying to be a friend, not a brother,” he argued.
“I have enough of those right now too,” I bit back.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Charity jogged over and stood beside Mike, hands on her hips. “What’s your problem?” she bit at me.
“My problem?” I asked.
“Yeah, this weird thing you have going on with my boyfriend. Your stupid little crush. It needs to stop. He’s with me.”
I looked to Mike who opened and closed his mouth like a damned fish out of water.
“My crush? You’re the one who crashed my date night. I want nothing more to do
with him, he’s all yours.” I stormed off towards the group where Tilly saw me approach and ran over to see if I was okay.
“What was that about?” She put an arm around my shoulders.
“Those two need to keep me out of their messed up relationship,” I said. “I’m not training today. I’m going to call Dad to come get me.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
I looked back to where Mike and Charity were arguing. Charity trying to hug him and him pushing her away.
“Yes, very sure.”
Lucky for me, Dad was already in town and it didn’t take him long to turn up.
“You okay, Champ?” he asked as I climbed into the ute.
“Just feeling a bit sick. Suzan was home with a tummy bug today, maybe I have a touch of it too?” I suggested.
“I hope not. You know I’m not good with vomit,” he said.
I closed my eyes and exhaled as we pulled away, hoping Olivia wouldn’t be home late so I could tell her about my afternoon.
19
Olivia
THE FLYING PHOENIX
There wasn’t time to think about my hot air balloon let alone see it while we were docked at Skycliff. We rose with the sun, checking over the ropes, canvases and equipment and ensuring everything was ready for the midday and night performances, only stopping to have a quick pastry and piece of fruit before going again. During each break I would seek out Adrena and Calix, but each time I’d seen Blaze he’d disappear as though he was no more than a ghost and everything that transpired during our first night celebrations was something he regretted so much he couldn’t look at me.
Pulling up my glittery gold shorts, I admired my arms that’d not only tanned under Skycliff’s sun, but become more defined with the work. Each night my muscles ached and cramped and I’d worry the following day I’d awake and not be able to move, but with the help of Adrena’s elixirs I woke each morning fresh and healed, ready to start again.
“Why is Blaze avoiding me?” I asked Adrena as I pulled on my tiny shorts, ready for our final show.
“I didn’t realise he was,” she said.
I shot her a side glance. “Don’t lie to me. He spent plenty of time with you and Calix until the other night.”
She sighed, tugging her purple and silver crop to make it straight. “Okay, I may have noticed.”
“Is it because I made a fool of myself?” I plonked down onto my cot.
“No, you didn’t make a fool of yourself and he knows my horrid sister spiked your ale.” She leaned into a small mirror, applying dark makeup around her eyes.
“Then he’s just in deep regret about kissing me,” I said.
She turned her gaze to me, putting down the charcoal she’d been using. “It’s complicated.”
“Why? We had so much fun, and I kind of liked him. But ever since… nothing. Not a word.”
“He knew Lukah was perusing you, he should never have let you think you were more than friends,” she said.
I hadn’t seen much of Lukah since the morning I’d bathed in front of him. My cheeks flushed warm as I thought about it, how comfortable I’d been being naked around him. But now, there was nothing but embarrassment.
“Lukah doesn’t own me,” I said.
“Not yet,” mumbled Adrena, looking back to the mirror.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Nothing. He might not own you but we are all on his ship and in his circus and if he tells Blaze to stay away from you Blaze would have no choice but to do as he was told.”
Lukah had told him to stay away. I gritted my teeth. “What hold does he have over you all?”
She stilled for a moment, her shoulders stiffening before she let out a quiet breath and relaxed them again. “He’s our boss and we love our work.”
I eyed her, sensing there was more to the story but decided not to push.
When all the tickets were sold out for the third night in a row, I pulled on a light black robe and made my way into the back of the main circus tent. Blaze was on stage and he spun sticks with fire burning at either end before putting one to his mouth and blowing, the flames shooting out towards the audience. But they were not normal flames. They changed from red, to orange, yellow, to green, blue to purple and back again as they spun. He wore a sleeveless gold vest with nothing beneath it, the flame’s light dancing over his sweat slicked muscles.
As he finished his performance, he bowed low and held his hands up to the roar of the crowd before jogging off the stage towards me.
Lukah pranced on stage, his long purple coat trailing to the backs of his knees and his top hat tilted to one side as he announced the final act. Ember and her dragon. I’d watched their act the night before. Ember so tiny beside her beast.
Part of me thought to leave before Blaze saw me as he grabbed a towel off a crate and whipped his face, but I found a flask of water and held it out to him instead. He stopped in his tracks, eyes shifting side to side, checking who might see us.
I swallowed hard. “That was a fantastic performance tonight. How do you make the flames change colour?”
He took the flask from me and took a swig. “Thank you. For the compliment and the water. Magic. Lukah’s magic makes the flames change.” He looked around again, as though the mention of Lukah’s name would summon him. “I better go get changed.”
“Can I walk with you?” I asked.
He thought for a moment. “Okay.”
Before he could change his mind, I made my way out of the tent into the cool fresh air. The purple elixir Adrena had been giving me twice a day doing its job to keep me warm. Blaze took the lead and I remained a few steps behind as we left the noise of the big top and made our way to the performer’s tents.
Blaze turned toward me so fast I ran smack bang into his chest.
“Sorry,” he said, but he didn’t make a move to push me away.
“It’s okay.” I took a small step back.
“This is my tent.” He gestured to the flap with number ten printed on it.
“Okay,” I replied.
He scanned the area around us, void of people. “Would you like to come in?”
Relief spread through my body and I managed a smile. “Yes, I’d like that.”
The corners of his mouth quirked up in return and he let me enter the tent first.
Inside, it was much like the tent I shared with Adrena, two cots and a small cupboard for clothing.
“You share with Calix, don’t you?” I asked.
“That’s his bed.” He pointed to the one on the left.
“Do you think he’ll mind if I sit on it?” I asked.
“Not at all. He talks about you so much I think he’d be honoured.”
“What does he say?” I sat on the edge of Calix’s bed.
Blaze pulled off his vest revealing his broad, smooth, muscular chest. I clenched my teeth to stop my jaw from dropping open. “He’s been trying to convince me to stop avoiding you and to talk to you. I guess he got through to me.”
“So, why are you avoiding me?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.
He sighed, pulling on a white t-shirt before sitting on his own bed across from me. “It’ll just create trouble. This right now, if Lukah found out…”
“Lukah doesn’t own me,” I told him.
“He owns me. He owns Ember.”
“Owns you? What do you mean?”
“I wish I could tell you everything, but I can’t. But, I want you to know I had a great time the other night, and I'm sorry I can’t spend time with you anymore.”
“I had a great time too. Maybe if I talk to Lukah?”
His eyes widened. “No. That would make things worse. I like you Olivia, I really do, but Ember always comes first.”
“Of course she does,” I said. “So, what now? We just ignore each other and pretend the other night didn’t happen?”
He sat in silence for a moment, rubbing his hands over his face before his damp golden eyes met min
e. “This is so messed up.”
I moved from Calxis’ bed to kneel in front of him and took his warm hands in mine. “Talk to me. I know there’s more going on here, but no one will tell me what.”
“It’s like I’m not allowed to be happy. My job is to keep my sister safe, but it means neither of us have a life of freedom.”
My heart crumbled watching such a strong man be so broken. I took his face in my hands and pressed my lips to his. He leaned into it, and my entire body warmed as he kissed me harder, as though savouring every moment of it. When he pulled away, tears ran down his cheeks, but his eyes didn’t leave mine.
A rustle outside had us both standing, Blaze wiping at his cheeks with the bottom of his shirt before Calix sprang into the room. His eyes widened as he beheld both of us standing on opposite sides of the room. A smile relaxed his gaze. “I see you took my advice. About time.”
He sauntered over to his bed and grabbed a t-shirt. “I’ll leave you two alone.” He gave me a wink before leaving.
Blaze and I turned to each other and he took both of my hands. “I wish there was a way I could make this, us work. But being involved with me will get you tangled up in Lukah’s web. You need to get out, Olivia. Get in your hot air balloon and never look back.”
“Why? Why can’t anyone tell me what’s going on?”
“Please, trust me. You need to go before anyone else see’s you in here. But I’ll get a note to you once we’re back on the ship.”
He released my hands and I made my way to the tent’s flap, turning to say goodbye as Blaze’s lips crashed into mine again before he pulled away much too quickly. My head was dizzy as he stepped back.
Turning to leave, he called after me. “Don’t take the purple potion anymore. And be careful what you say to Adrena.”
I nodded and stepped outside into the brisk breeze.
20
Olivia
THE FLYING PHOENIX
The crew of the Flying Phoenix stood along the deck on the starboard side of the Flying Phoenix waving to the Skycliff locals who’d crowded on the wooden docks as the ship lurched sideways, forcing me to grip the railing tight, and glided away from the cliff side village. I stood between Adrena and Calix watching until the town and its people were washed away by thick white clouds bringing with them a chill that raced over my skin. I hugged myself tight as Lukah’s voice bellowed towards us.
Circus in the Clouds (The Balloonist Chronicles Book 3) Page 15