“I have no idea.” That was the truth. “But it’s not normal.”
“Is it temporary? I mean … is it something you can correct?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what was done to him.”
“Well, we’ll focus on her for the time being. I … .” Kade broke off as an incoming text dinged on his phone. “Son of a … !” He viciously swore under his breath.
I was instantly alert. “What’s wrong?”
“Some guy is throwing punches on the midway. I have to head over there.” Kade looked torn as he glanced between the woman and me. “Try not to do anything with her until I get back.” He gave me a quick kiss and bolted in the direction of the games and rides.
I watched him go, flummoxed, and then followed. If the woman fled while I was helping Kade I would probably be furious with myself. I was in charge of the entire circus, though, and if a fight was breaking out I had to be there to stop it … or at least survey the damage when it was over.
Kade was quicker, his legs longer, and he disappeared into the crowd as I struggled to keep up. He was already in the thick of things, hands between bodies, by the time I arrived. I took a moment to survey the situation. Mark stood close to the ticket booth, fury evident on his pinched face as he planted his hands on his hips and yelled at the two men to stop fighting.
Madcap Marlene, one of the midway workers, screamed like a horror movie victim as she gestured wildly. Kade had one hand wrapped in one guy’s shirt and another on the second fighter’s collar and he was struggling to maintain control of the situation.
I decided to help and strode directly up to him, resting my fingertips on the arm of the guy who seemed to be foaming at the mouth as he lobbed obscenities at anyone who would listen. “Calm down.” It was an order, not a request.
Kade widened his eyes when the man ceased struggling and fell limp. “What did you do?”
I ignored the question and focused on the man. “What seems to be the problem?” I kept my voice calm.
“He shoved into me,” the man replied, vaguely gesturing to the other man Kade had in his grip. “He forced me to spill soda all over my wife.”
“That hardly seems worth a fight, does it?” I knew I sounded like a scolding teacher but I enjoyed being in charge so I didn’t mince words. “Did he apologize?”
“No.” The man’s eyes flashed. “He didn’t say a word. I would’ve been fine if he’d apologized.”
I arched a challenging eyebrow, dubious.
“Fine. I wouldn’t have been fine, but I would’ve gotten over it a lot quicker,” the man conceded, throwing up his hands. “He didn’t apologize. He just stood there like a robot and pretended he couldn’t hear me.”
An alarm sounded at the back of my brain. “What?”
“He stared right through me, as if it were a game,” the man replied. “He pretended I wasn’t saying a word, that I wasn’t talking to him. The more he did it the more it drove me insane.”
I flicked my eyes to the second man, taking in the lax way Kade held his shirt because he didn’t put up a fight, and his glazed eyes. “Oh, crap,” I muttered under my breath as I stepped closer.
Kade must have recognized my worry because he took control of the situation. He released the man I spelled to calm down and gave him a serious look. “No more fighting. If you get caught throwing punches again, you’ll be removed from the premises. Do you understand me?”
The man nodded, sheepish. “I didn’t mean to cause a scene.”
“Well, don’t do it again.” Kade forced a smile as he watched the man go. “Show’s over, folks. Go back to your regularly scheduled fun.” He sounded jovial, but I recognized the edge in his voice.
But I couldn’t focus on Kade. I had other things to deal with. I slammed my consciousness into the quiet man’s mind, not caring in the least who was watching. There was no way a random person in the crowd could identify what I was doing. It wasn’t difficult to slide through the man’s barriers – mostly because they didn’t exist – and once I had a chance to look around I understood why.
“There’s nothing here.”
Kade stared at my face for a long beat. “I don’t understand what that means. I know you tried to explain it to me, but … it still doesn’t make sense.”
I sucked in a breath as I tried to explain what I saw. “He’s like a droid that hasn’t gotten his marching orders yet.” My voice was barely a whisper. “He has an operating system, which means he can perform basic functions, but he can’t think or reason for himself.”
Kade frowned as he released the man. Sure enough, the blank individual didn’t do anything but stare straight ahead. “Okay, this is creepy. If there’s nothing in there, how did he defend himself? I saw him throw at least two punches when I was heading this way.”
“Maybe he has a suggestion implanted somewhere.” I got as close as I could to him and stared into his eyes. “Maybe someone is controlling him.”
“But … why?”
“I don’t know. I … .” I broke off, something occurring to me. “Oh, crap!” I started moving back through the crowd, heading for my tent.
“Where are you going?” Kade ignored the empty man and followed me. “Don’t you think we should deal with this?”
“What were we doing right before you got called away to handle a fight?” I challenged. “Who were we watching? Melissa is in that tent. That woman knew I was watching her and had no intention of leaving unless something bigger happened to draw my attention.”
Kade increased his pace. “This day just keeps getting weirder.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
THE LINE OUTSIDE my tent was gone. If I was worried before, I was downright panicking now. I barreled through the flap, absorbing the scene in an instant.
The first blank man stood to one side, not moving. His wife stood in front of the table, an evil look on her face. Melissa was also on her feet, the table serving as a buffer, and her features were ashen as she clenched her hands into fists at her side. That was a good sign; she was ready to fight.
Unfortunately for the woman who should’ve had the sense to run, I was in the mood to fight, too.
“And what’s going on in here?”
Melissa looked to me, relief flooding her features. “There’s something wrong with her … and him.”
“Yeah, I figured that out.” I glared hard at the woman, throwing out a blanket of powerful magic and watching with grim fascination as it settled over her. It was a net of sorts, just like the dreamcatcher, but on a much smaller scale.
As if in slow motion, the woman slowly turned to face me. She looked slightly different, somehow older, and my stomach clenched as she sneered. “Do you think you can control me?”
“I think that you’re under the mistaken assumption that you can control everyone else,” I countered. “That’s not going to happen on my turf.”
Kade appeared behind me, his breath heavy. He didn’t insert himself into the middle of things, instead opting to move to my right so he could take up position between Melissa and me. It was clear he was ready to throw himself into action should the need arise. Once comfortable with his stance, he asked the obvious question. “Why didn’t she run?”
“Obviously she doesn’t think we’re a threat,” I replied. “I find that … interesting.”
“I would use the word disturbing,” Kade argued.
“What is she?” Melissa asked, her anxiety high enough that I felt it in my bones. “I can’t see in her head … and he has nothing in his head.”
I briefly glanced at the unmoving man. He appeared to be lost and docile. I didn’t know what to make of the phenomenon. “I don’t know what she is.”
“I’m a woman visiting the circus.” The woman made a big show of smoothing the front of her blouse. It was an attractive ensemble, but there was something dated about it. “Why would you think I’m doing anything else?”
“We’re not stupid.” I saw no reason to play
games. “Were you controlling the man on the midway, too? Did you force him to cause a scene to distract us?”
“I have no idea what you’re referring to. I’m simply here with my husband. Who doesn’t love the circus?”
I took a menacing step in her direction. The small net I threw over her remained intact, but I could feel tears appearing in the fabric. As she talked, she simultaneously broke through the magic. She was powerful.
“What are you?” I tilted my head as I watched the net continue to erode. “Are you a witch?”
“I’m not a fan of labels.” The woman – or creature – made a big show of studying her fingernails. “I like to think of myself as a progressive. Although I’m also a Libra on weekends.”
I was guessing she didn’t mean “progressive” in a political sense. “And why did you want Melissa?”
“Who says I wanted the girl?” The woman’s lips curled into a sneer. “She’s not a regular in this tent, or hasn’t been since you opened. Why would I possibly want her?”
She was tipping her hand, but only enough to give me a few clues that didn’t make sense. “So, you’ve been watching us?”
“I think she’s saying that she’s been watching you,” Kade corrected, his expression unreadable. “This is your tent.”
The woman barked out a laugh. “I think you’re reading the situation wrong.”
“And how is that?” Kade challenged. “You were outside Poet’s tent. You created a distraction to get inside and take up residence. It seems to me you’re focused on Poet.”
“It seems to me that you’re the one focused on your little friend here.” She wiggled her fingers in my direction, as if I were nothing more than a pesky child annoying the adults. “Not everything is about her. In this particular instance, for example, nothing is about her.”
Something about the way she said the words set my teeth on edge. “Seriously, what are you?”
“Beyond your control.”
“If that’s true, why not tell me what you are? I mean … you’re not afraid of me, are you?” I was calling her chicken. That rarely works, but I had no idea what else to do. I was too leery to get close to her and I couldn’t rule out the fact that she could engage her human robot in the corner and send him in our direction. He probably wouldn’t put up much of a fight, but he was a distraction all the same.
“I’m not anything,” she replied calmly. “I’m nothing … and yet everything.”
“I hate it when bad things talk in riddles,” I groused, shaking my head. “That makes them all the more irritating.”
“What do you think we should do with her?” Kade asked. “I mean … should we take her into custody? We can lock her in one of the animal cages until we figure out what to do with her.”
The woman’s eyes lit with mirth. “Do you think I’ll allow you to take me, boy?”
Kade shrugged. “I don’t think you have much of a choice. You’re our prisoner. Poet has control of you.”
Ugh. I wished he hadn’t said that. At the exact moment the words escaped his lips the net I had thrown shredded and the woman – whatever she was – took control of the situation and lashed out with a bolt of magic that threw me across the tent.
I landed on the ground in front of her husband, my knees aching at the jolt. He was moving before I registered what was happening, his hand wrapping around my throat and causing my eyes to bug out of my head as my oxygen supply was cut off.
“Poet!” Kade turned in my direction, which was exactly what the woman wanted. She intercepted him, planting her hands on either side of his head and causing his eyes to widen.
“Kade.” His name came out as more of a gurgle than a gasp, but I fought the husband with everything I had, silently apologizing to him even though I knew he couldn’t understand before forcing a burst of scorching magic into his wrists.
He didn’t react to the pain. Not a blink, not a lessening of his grip, nothing. Crap!
The next bolt of magic I sent out was ten times stronger than the first. It was full of electricity and I watched with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as the man’s eyes fluttered back in his head and he released his hold on my throat. He fell backward, hitting the ground with a loud thud. I couldn’t waste time checking on him; I had other things to deal with.
With the first breath, I blinked back the fog threatening to overcome me. With the second, I swiveled toward the woman and Kade. They were locked in some sort of mental struggle, the woman’s eyes bulging as she tried to do … something.
“Let me in,” she growled, spittle forming at the corners of her mouth as she fought for supremacy of Kade’s mind. “I want to get in there and see.”
Kade didn’t respond, instead remaining still. I forced myself to my feet despite the pain shooting through my body and took two long strides toward them. As I approached them, Melissa slammed a chair into the back of the woman’s head. The blow didn’t dissuade her, but it was enough to cause her to turn and growl.
“I’m going to eat you, little girl,” she hissed. “I’ll eat all of you.”
I had a limited opportunity, so I embraced it. I slapped my hands on either side of her head, mimicking the position she took with Kade, and poured everything I had into her.
Her eyes widened further, which seemed impossible, and then they rolled back into her head. She was dead before she hit the ground. I wasn’t far behind her, my strength flagging as I slid to the ground.
Thankfully I didn’t lose consciousness. I saw stars floating through my eyes and my breath came in ragged gasps. I was alive, though, and all three of us were standing.
“Well, that was fun,” Melissa said blandly. “And here I thought the circus would be boring.”
21
Twenty-One
We had a dead body and what appeared to be an empty-headed man to contend with. Those were the only two things going through my mind when I swiveled to shift my legs out from underneath me and sank to the ground.
“Close the flap, Melissa,” I croaked as I rubbed my hands over my face and forced myself to focus. I’d expended a fair amount of energy killing the woman. It wasn’t so much that it would throw me for a loop for an extended amount of time but it was enough that I was a bit shaky.
Melissa did as I asked without comment or complaint, allowing me to focus on our really big problem. Unfortunately for me, all Kade could focus on was what almost happened.
“Why did she do that?” He looked a little dazed.
“Because she was evil and crazy and thought it seemed like a good idea at the time,” I replied dully, patting his arm. “We can’t focus on that right now. We have to make sure no one realizes she’s dead, which means we have to be proactive.”
Kade stirred, flicking his eyes to the woman on the ground. “She’s dead? But … how?” He seemed surprised by the news.
“I exploded her head.”
“You exploded her head?” Kade remained unmoving but incredulous. “May I ask how you did that?”
I blinked several times in rapid succession, biting back a curse so hot it would’ve singed his hair. He didn’t understand what had happened. It wasn’t his fault. Even though he seemed to fit into our group seamlessly, I often forgot that he wasn’t always a part of it and still had a lot of learning to do. This was one of those instances, but I was on a timetable and I didn’t know if I could spare the time to teach him.
“That woman was trying to get inside your head,” Melissa supplied as she returned to us after closing the tent flap. “My guess is she was trying to either absorb whatever magic she thinks you have or trying to turn you into a mindless zombie like her husband.”
Speaking of her husband … . I flicked my eyes to the corner and found the man in exactly the same spot he’d stood during the fight. He didn’t so much as stir when his wife died. In fact, he showed absolutely zero emotion.
Kade was incredulous. “Is that what she was trying to do?”
“I think she was trying
to absorb your magic.” I was calm but firm as I replied, grabbing the woman’s purse so I could root around inside. “She seemed to recognize you were special. She went for you rather than me, which means she thought she could get more out of you.”
“But I can’t do anything.” Kade’s eyes flashed with impatience. “Right now I’m nothing but a man.”
“You’re more than that, but we don’t have time to deal with your emotional breakdown right now – and I am sorry about that – but we have to focus on the fact that we have a dead body and need to get her out of here.” I tugged the driver’s license from the woman’s wallet. “Erica Claire. She lives in Eureka.”
I left the woman’s license on my table before moving to the man and pawing through his pocket for a wallet. I read out loud when I found his license. “Stanley Claire. I guess that answers the question about whether or not he was her husband.”
“So, what do we do?” Melissa asked. She was surprisingly put together given what just happened. She was probably running on adrenalin. Since she was more useful than Kade at this point, though, I would take it.
“I need Nellie and Dolph,” I answered without hesitation. “Go get them and explain what happened. Make sure you pull them away from guests before you say anything. They’ll know what to do.”
Melissa bobbed her head. “Okay. I’ll be right back.”
Kade waited until it was just the two of us to speak again. “They’ll know what to do?” He was incredulous. “Has this happened before?”
“Has this exact scenario happened before? No. Have we had an instance where an attack left us with a dead body when the circus was full of people? Yes.”
“And what’s the plan?” Kade sounded stronger as he fixed me with a curious look. “How are you going to handle this?”
“It’s pretty simple.” I was grim but determined to get it out. “We have to get the woman to her house so it can appear she died in her bed – the medical examiner will find nothing suspicious about her death as long as it happens at home – and then we need to get her husband into the right hands so he can get some help.”
Freaky Rites (A Mystic Caravan Mystery Book 6) Page 19