Sing For Me

by Ellabee Andrews

  When he starts laughing, a deep rich sound coming from his lithe frame, I can’t stop my own giggle from escaping, and I lean up against the van next to him and look out across the open space of the small airport.

  “I understand why we couldn’t stop on the way here. Bailey may have kept me pretty sheltered, but I know that people paid a lot of money to come to the circus. To come watch me perform. I know I should hate it too, since he used it as a way to keep me away from home, but I don’t. Being up there, on that stage with the blurred faces of the crowd screaming my name was exhilarating.”

  This time when I smile, sadness keeps my lips from stretching wide as I think about my nights under the lights, and reacting to that sadness, Daruk brings one arm around my back and pulls me into a hug. It takes a second of him holding me for my body to relax, but eventually, I release my held breath and unclench my fists.

  “It’s okay to miss it, Lorelei. Nobody would blame you for that.”

  When I scoff, I feel his arm tighten around me, but it’s not painful. So I look up at his face, and discover him gazing down into my eyes with a questioning stare.

  “I don’t think you or Arius would. But Kendric? I’m pretty sure he hates me already. This would only make it worse.”

  I try to act like I don’t care, but now that I’ve regained some of my memories of us when we were children, it hurts more than I care to admit.

  “He doesn't hate you. He just deals with things… differently. Give him time. He’ll come around,” he says, and with one last gentle squeeze, releases me and steps back, leaving me missing the warmth of his arm.

  Lost in my thoughts of whether or not Daruk is right about Kendric, and I’m leaning more toward him being wrong, neither of us says anything else until Arius walks up, his brown and blue eyes dark with some emotion I can’t decipher.

  “I spoke with Snype. The plane has been here for hours. Supposedly they’re inside one of the hangars because they are trying to remain unseen,” Arius says, disdain clear in his voice. Whoever is on that plane is going to get an earful when Arius gets to them.

  Walking up and joining us, Kendric looks as angry as Arius, so I assume he overheard. “Those lazy assholes! Why didn’t they have someone keeping watch for us? We could have been halfway to Aviary by now!”

  I don’t think he’s asking a question, rather, just needing to vent, but Daruk, ever the mediator, lays a hand on his shoulder.

  “I’m sure they have their reasons. Let’s head over and load up. They can explain once we’re in the air,” he says, and after grabbing our bags, well their bags, from the van, we walk over to the closest hangar. Hangar 3, if I’m to believe the big painted number on the side.

  “Yea, I’m very eager to hear their reasons. They can start with why the hell they don’t have a perimeter set up out here. We have their future queen, and they aren’t even competent enough to handle the most basic procedure? I’m going to have to have a talk with Snype about the quality of their recruits!”

  Kendric continues to rant the whole way there, but since he’s walking to my left, it’s easy enough to tune him out. Instead, I focus on forcing myself to keep placing one foot in front of the other. This is the last leg of our journey, and once we land, everything will change.

  Since the large hangar door is closed, Arius uses the small door on the side, and we all step in behind him, moving slowly as there are no lights turned on.

  Fear causing my stomach to knot, I reach out my hands, and when I brush up against someone, I feel a bit better when I feel their fingers intertwine with mine.

  “Jax! Turn the damn lights on. We can’t see shit back here,” Arius calls out, as we continue to shuffle forward, but as the lights suddenly flare to life, I have to close my eyes against the sudden brightness.

  “Oh fuck!”

  “Get the princess out of here. Now!”

  My eyes crack open when the hand I’ve been holding is wrenched away, and I’m surprised to see that it had been Kendric’s. Looking around to see what the cause of their alarm is, I can’t stop the gasp that leaves my lips as I see the bodies strewn across the floor. Limbs missing from some as the blood begins to congeal around their broken bodies.

  “We need to go now, Lorelei. Come on,” Arius says, taking my arm, and I go to turn to leave, but stop in my tracks as I find someone standing in front of the door we just entered through.

  “No, I don’t think anyone is leaving yet. We’re going to have some fun first.”

  Staring into the face of a monster, I move in closer to Arius’ side, as my eyes take him in.

  At least seven feet tall, with blood pouring down from the hat on top of his bulbous head, the redcap smiles toothily at me, meat and bones stuck between his cracked teeth as memories of throwing up all over his shoes come back to me.

  Uh oh!

  Fear chokes me as three more step out of the shadows and join their friend, leaving us surrounded by a wall of muscle and blood. Their hats are dripping with what I’d bet is the blood of the men lying in mangled pieces across the floor, and none look as if they can be reasoned with.

  Feeling Arius shift at my side, I run my eyes across our group and try to calculate our chances. But, my body goes rigid as I realize that we’re actually outnumbered, because Daruk is nowhere to be seen.

  “Don’t sing,” Arius mouths to me before turning away, and I tramp down on the urge to defy him.

  Besides flying away, singing and forcing them to back down is my only defense, and now he’s telling me not to use it. I understand that doing so will enchant everyone in hearing distance. Not just the redcaps. But I still struggle with the decision on whether or not to defy him.

  Trying not to make it obvious that I’m frustrated by his command, or that I’m looking for the missing part of our group, lest Daruk has some type of plan, I force myself to look back at where the redcaps still haven’t moved.

  “We’re not looking for trouble, but if you and your men do not stand down, then we’ll be forced to defend ourselves. I’m sure you’re just doing your job, but it was very unfair for your boss to send you here to your deaths. If you live through this, I’d start looking for a new job. But if you try and fight, you’ll not get the chance. So, what do you say? You and your boys clear out, maybe grab some dinner? Or are you ready to die?”

  Arius doesn’t raise his voice, or even try to make it sound intimidating. He just says this all in a matter of fact tone, like it’s common knowledge, and I silently applaud his confidence while simultaneously cursing him for provoking the giant beasts surrounding us.

  Proving that they aren’t moved by his words, the three throw their heads back and laugh so loud that I’m grateful for my muted hearing.

  “This will be fun. Remember, the girl lives, but the rest are fair game. I call the mutt with the fucked up eyes,” the redcap by the door says, but before he can charge forward, Daruk is just suddenly there, like he materialized out of the shadows, and within a blink, he’s driven twin curved blades into the bowels of the redcap, and spilled them along the floor in front of him.

  Stunned, the redcap doesn’t cry out. He just tries to hold his stomach together with one hand while pulling up his intestines with his other until he drops to his knees, and with a disbelieving look, falls face forward into his own guts. His hat now drenched in his own blood.

  “You assholes are going to pay now! Kill them all,” another yells, this one smaller than the one disemboweled on the ground, but not by much.

  He starts to charge us, but Kendric calmly steps forward and dodges his first blow, his movements deliberate and effective as he misses every single one of the hits aimed for his head, while returning them, solidly landing blows of his own.

  “Start moving toward the door, Lorelei,” Arius whispers into my ear, and though it’s faint, I can make out the command.

  Doing as he says, I slowly start to move backward, as I watch the last two redcap goblins begin to march in our direction. “Arius,”
I warn, but he must see them and releases me, and steps between me and the incoming men, shielding me with his own body.

  Not wanting to get in the way, I move a few more steps back and turn in time to see Kendric send a well-aimed kick at the goblin he’s fighting, and catch the glint of a blade protruding from his prosthetic foot as it connects, landing in the neck of his offender.

  “Two down. You sure you want to try?” Kendric says, taunting the remaining goblins as he stands over their fallen brother’s body, but a voice I know as well as my own answers, and it’s enough to make my blood run cold within me as the two redcaps stop in their places.

  “My dear Nightingale. You’ve been a very, very, naughty girl. Just look at what your behavior has caused. All of this blood spilled because of you. I have to say, I’m very disappointed.”

  Hate for Bailey courses through me as he walks out of a backroom, as my dread mounts when I find he’s not alone. Bear shifters, elves, and even a centaur are with him, drastically decreasing our chances of making it out of here.

  “You shut your fucking mouth! You don’t even get to talk to her you teabagging, traitorous son of a bitch! I’ll fucking kill you if you go near her!”

  I’m stunned by the venom in Kendric’s voice as he defends me, until I remember that he has his own score to settle with Bailey, as he’s the one that cost him his leg, but Bailey doesn’t even appear fazed.

  Taking a step toward me, his ringmaster outfit shining in the hangar lights, he does a dramatic twirl before meeting my eyes as a lascivious grin spreads across his face. His mustache twitching in amusement.

  “Do tell, did the senator fuck you before these fools showed up? Did he get to play? I must admit, it was never my intention to sell you. That had been the senator’s idea. I’d originally planned to keep you as my own plaything. And every night when I fucked you hoarse, I’d do so knowing how bad it would hurt your parents to know. It would have been easy, too. You practically vibrated with need for me when I was around. So eager to please,” he says, ignoring how the guys have tensed around me. “By the way, did you enjoy my gift? Catrine was a naughty girl too and let you escape when she showed up to my little soiree. She simply had to be punished for that, when I had warned her to keep an eye on you. I’m going to miss her mouth though. She was especially skilled at rolling her tongue.”

  Nausea rolls over me as I try to ignore him, but he only seems to grow more psychotic the longer we stand here, and I wonder if this is new, or if this is the true face of Bailey Augustus, traitor of the Aviary Kingdom.

  “I’m going to kill you,” I say, and he quirks an amused brow. “One way or another, I will.

  You’ll pay for everything you’ve done to me, my family and my friends.”

  My wings have slowly begun to stretch out to either side of me as I’ve talked, and a rage unlike I’ve ever known before settles over me.

  Laughing, he spreads his arms wide and gives me a wink, which makes me so angry that all rational thought goes out the window, and I forget about the repercussions of what using my magic could do. Instead, my vision goes red, and only one thing matters. Revenge.

  But as I open my mouth and sing, a new song trailing across my lips that is as dark as my wayward thoughts, Bailey doesn’t even appear fazed as everyone around me, including my friends, drop to their knees and begin to cry out in pain.

  I ignore their cries, the sharp prick I feel in my leg, until darkness begins to creep in, and I too, join them on the floor. The last thing I see is Bailey’s mouth going wide in an ‘O’ shape, before a flash of blinding light encases him.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Shaking from terror, I cry as I wake alone in the dark. It’s cold in this big trailer, and even though I begged Mr. Barney to let me sleep in one with the other girls, he refused.

  “You cannot sleep with the other children, my little Songbird, because they don’t want you to.”

  I start to cry when he tells me this, since all I want is a friend, and he wraps me up in a hug. “Hush now, little one. You don’t need them anyway. They’re just jealous of you. That’s why they won’t speak to you. I tried to tell them to be kind, but alas, I failed. That’s okay though. I’ll be your friend. You’ll never be alone as long as you stay with me. Can you promise me you’ll do that? Promise you’ll never leave? I only want to keep you safe.”

  I nod that I will, vowing never to disappoint him because he saved me. He’s my friend and the only person that will ever care about me.

  Satisfied that I’ve agreed, he sends me out with the circus tailor to be fitted for my costume. I’m going to be the star of the show. So I need to look my best.

  Disoriented, I try to push away the last dregs of my dream, unsure if I like the return of my memories, as I blink into the dim light. Not knowing where I am, or even how I got here, I sit up in a large bed, noting that the room is done in shades of black. Other colors may be mixed in too, but without more light, I can’t make any out.

  I rub my eyes with a yawn, and feel an ache in my body as I start to become more aware.

  Straining my ears, nothing reaches me, which doesn't tell me much. I could be alone, or someone could just be sitting silently, waiting. Either is a possibility, so I force myself to focus as I look for something to defend myself with.

  I move as quietly as I can around the dark room, and finally settle on a heavy brass bookend that sits on a shelf. My curiosity is peaked when I see a Stephen King novel there, but I make myself keep moving instead of scanning the other titles like I want.

  As I arrive at the door, glad that there is nothing on the floor to trip me, I hesitantly reach out and twist the cool knob, hardly breathing as it swings inward.

  When no one immediately comes running, I release my breath and poke my head out to scan my surroundings, but the hall I see does nothing to tell me about where I have ended up. I search my memory as I begin to creep along, turning right since I see more light that way, and freeze when I recall what had happened in the hangar, and my loss of control. Worried for the guys, and concerned about where Bailey is, I start moving again, the bookend held aloft and ready to strike.

  As I make my way down the hall, the plush carpeting silencing my footfalls, I finally hear a murmur of voices coming through an open archway, and my whole body freezes. I take a moment to settle my breath and move through the open frame to figure out who brought me here. Why? Are they friend or foe? But as I'm about to go through the entryway, I collide with what feels like a brick wall covered in human flesh. The impact sends us both off kilter. My body working off instinct, I bring the bookend down without hesitation and swing it as hard as I can.

  “Shit, Lorelei, calm down! It’s me, Arius!”

  Hand held firmly in his grip, brass bookend only an inch away from doing blunt force trauma to Arius’ head, I meet his eyes, and slump in relief. Fear and adrenaline drain from me and leave me tired.

  “Sorry,” I murmur, and when he drops my hand, I lean against the wall and stare at him out of the corner of my eye, my gaze taking in his wary face.

  “You okay?” he asks, gaze fixed on mine, and when I let out an unladylike snort, he smirks. “Well, you did just try to go Babe Ruth on my head. I think it’s a fair question.”

  Smiling sheepishly, I straighten and look him head on. “I said I was sorry. Besides, I didn’t know where I was. Actually, I still don’t know that. And since the last thing I do remember is passing out in a hangar filled with Bailey and his thugs, I think I had a right to be cautious.”

  Face turning serious, he nods. “That you do. I know you probably have a lot of questions, but uh, do you think you could put some clothes on? Yours were soaked in blood, so Daruk’s sister changed you…”

  As pink rises to his cheeks, he looks away, and I look down and take stock of what I’m wearing. Dressed in only a long black shirt, that reaches mid thigh, I wonder how I didn’t notice sooner. Especially since a draft down below warns me that the shirt is all that I’m wearing
.

  Chalking it up to being more tired than I thought, I cross my arm across my chest, cheeks heating as I look down at the floor. “His sister didn’t happen to leave any clothes for me, did she?” I ask, still looking away, but a gentle touch to my chin draws my attention up and into his bi-colored eyes.

  “Hey, don’t be embarrassed. The shirt covers everything. I only brought it up because I thought you’d be more comfortable getting dressed. After everything that happened… well, I don’t want you to feel awkward with us.”

  His voice is sincere, so I hold his gaze and smile shyly. “Thank you. I think I’d like to get dressed first. Kind of drafty in here,” I say with a nervous laugh, mentally smacking my head for basically admitting that I’m sans underwear, while my cheeks flame hot.

  Arius’ eyes immediately dip down to my bare legs and then shoot back up again. Coughing, he quickly spins away, but not before I catch a strange look on his face. Unable to decipher it; I just walk behind him quietly as he leads me back into the bedroom I awoke in, and over to a dresser I hadn’t noticed before.

  Now that I’m fairly certain I’m safe, I finally satisfy my curiosity by going over to the bookshelf from before and glancing over the titles. Narcissus In Chains, Obsidian Butterfly, and Danse Macabre, are on a few of the spines, but having never heard of them, I grow bored and walk away.

  “Lorelei.”

  I turn at my name, and the expectant look on Arius’ face tells me this probably isn’t the first time he’s called for me.

  Having given up a long time ago apologizing for things I can’t help, I say, “What?”

  Face softening, he steps in closer, holding out the bundle in his hands. “We can get you some clothes that actually fit you later, but for now, these should work okay. Daruk isn’t weak, but he’s the smallest of us, so his clothes are going to be the closest fit.”