by Candra Kylar
“Yeah”, he cleared his throat, “maybe it will.”
How did I have so many people in my life willing to take care of me? I felt so helpless and I hated it, I was a grown woman, a capable witch, I shouldn’t need to rely on anyone to pick up the pieces for me. I hadn’t had it before and my father cut me off financially ages ago. It bristled inside of me that both Elizar and Braeden wanted to come riding in on their white horses to save the day. Poor Abigail Everlaine, so completely useless. I wouldn’t rely on their help. Dimples needed that. Ethan and Liam needed that. I just had to reassess my business plan and figure out a way to draw in new clients. I didn’t need their help. If I kept repeating that to myself, maybe I would come to actually believe it.
The ringmaster came out, mechanical and twitching in a rigid way that made me uncomfortable. His face was uncanny in some ways but the rest of him was so manufactured that I found it difficult to watch him for too long. Others in the crowd marveled at his life-like personality. I knew his words were scripted so couldn’t blame him for this harsh feeling they had. When he announced Dimples and unloaded the reel about her being some powerful demonic force, I had to swallow the bile rising. This time it was my wolf ready to tear through metal. He was doing his job, I reminded myself, he was performing lines written by Voldini. Everyone had a part to play here. Up in the private investors box, Cecilia had found a seat next to the circus owner and was talking his ear off. At least I could count on her greed for something.
“I control the elements to show you mercy”, came the voice of Dimples over an amplifier, “or else I would unleash them in a flare of my temper and kill everyone at this circus. Is that the show you came for?”
I hated hearing her say those lines. It was void of any humor that the Dimples I knew had, the zest for life and the optimism. Vander had manipulated her into becoming some other person. I wanted to kill him for that alone. When a spotlight appeared, Dimples had the same ridiculous costume on with the vicious paint smearing her cheeks. I wanted to go down and wash it all off, lecture her for even buying into this spectacle. I couldn’t. Even my older sister, who seemed afraid of nothing, worried over the power Vander Voldini held. That said something. I had to play this the way Rynna had instructed. I had to bide my time and speak to Dimples. All of this would make sense once I heard her side of the story, once she learned what our friends had found in their research. So many people loved her back in Crestwood. That was where she belonged.
“Did you think the Elder Fae corruption died with them? They merely sleep and wait to return one day, summoning more like me who can’t be contained. We have no hope to fight them and I will likely be twisted back into the nether of their dark embrace”, Dimples spoke sullenly with her light show at work, “if you’re not terrified by that inevitable future then you’re all blind.”
I could at least credit her for the anger she felt when she spoke. People were blind to the draw of the Elder Fae power and just how all consuming it could be. Most humans wouldn’t survive the slavery their minds would be put under. They all had faith in a Council that already dabbled in that magic. My father had stolen a journal and I was sure he spent his free time deciphering its secrets. None of us would be safe once that magic became a common practice. Casters would draw allegiances and those of us against the Elder Fae corruption would be destroyed. Dimples may have no choice if what she said was true. I couldn’t fathom fighting on a different side than her. I couldn’t let it come to that.
“It’s only a runic stone that contains me now. Burdened with the knowledge that my magic will grow into a destructive forth I can’t control, I’ll happily be caged here to spare those I love”, Dimples said suddenly.
I looked up with wide eyes and clutched Braeden’s hand. He squeezed it right back. We both discovered something in her words that terrified us: the reason she so willingly stayed. Dimples thought she would destroy us. I wanted to scream out how her kindness, her humanity, would never let her do that. Vander put words into her mind and poisoned her ability to reason! I would choke the life out of him, I would make him drown in his words and beg for his life. The shift was coming over me and I had to excuse myself. Slipping out, Braeden followed me into the night air. Don’t shift now. Don’t lunge for that investor’s box and ruin everything. My wolf snarled and I kept that side under control. We were one. I wasn’t helpless to it.
Braeden’s arm went around my shoulder and he growled, a warning growl from an alpha, blunt but not without reassurance. He was warning that primal side of me to keep my emotions in check. I naturally fought back with my own growl, the alpha in me not wanting to submit. But then the human side of my reasoning took over, the dominant side in control, and I remembered that Braeden was keeping us safe. He was protecting us from blowing our cover and ruining our plan. I took in a deep breath of cold air and pushed down the sounds of the rickety roller coaster still running behind the tent. The lights were a little brighter and I had to adjust. I barely saw Amaris before she materialized in front of us.
“You two need to get out of here”, she ordered, “mommy dearest has been drawing attention with her own investigation. Did you give her the idea?”
I shook my head, “I didn’t want her to come. Or you.”
“Sorry to rain on your parade. You’re handling it so well it seems”, Amaris brushed past me, “at least your hooker friend has Vander twirling around on her finger. She’s good. Don’t trust her, of course.”
“You don’t trust anyone.”
Braeden added in, “That isn’t a bad thing where Iverli is concerned.”
“Your alpha friend is right”, Amaris sighed, “I’m going to get our mother and make an escape. Your slip up was noticed and it won’t take a bouncer with two brain cells long to put the pieces together. I’m sure they memorized your face.”
“I have an appointment with Rynna! She’s letting me see Dimples.”
“The garden gnome with the feathers? She’s too far gone to have any reasoning sway her. Don’t waste exposing yourself trying to convince her otherwise. You heard her dismal speech in the ring. As contrived as it was, she’s set on staying. How am I a better detective than you?”, she jabbed.
“Just go get our mom and go back to your lair. I can see that having any human decency is far beyond your capability.”
Amaris tightened her jaw and disappeared without a remark. I had hit her where it hurt and it somehow felt unsatisfying. This wasn’t the relationship I wanted to have with my older sister. The crowd cheered from inside of the tent and I knew Rynna must be on with her act. She was the highlight of the show with her conjuring of a past others had only read about. What she brought to life was a miracle. Even though it immersed the audience, they were still terrified of her. There was no place she could go and feel accepted. I understood the hollow truth of what she said. I disagreed, wanting to help build a safe haven right in Crestwood, but knew it was a pipe dream. Lately, I had been filled with those.
Braeden released his grasp on my shoulders and we readied ourselves to go back inside. To our surprise, two bouncers stood in our way. We showed them our tickets and they proudly pointed to a flashing arcane sign that burst with the “No Re-Admittance” words etched in red flare. We knew better than to create a scene so waited outside for the show to finish. Circling around the tent perimeter, I knew that there had to be an entrance. Braeden could shift, distract, and I could slip right in. Rynna was expecting me so I wouldn’t be attacked on sight. Cecilia had Vander’s ear and hopefully a date that would get me a formula to remove the binding stone on Dimples. This could still go according to plan. As the show ended and people filtered out into the carnival portion of the night’s entertainment.
I couldn’t see Amaris or my mother but knew, at least where my sister was concerned, that she’d have no trouble getting out. We located the direction of the residential tent and I saw a seam that could be forced open with a quick flick of my own magic. Braeden nodded and shifted into his wolf form,
barking and running around the tent to draw a bouncer away. The one guarding the residential area was a human so would have a lot of trouble keeping up with my friend. I moved inside before I could be seen. Dimples was being guided through by Rynna and the two were conversing in a low whisper. I made my way over only to hit a barrier head-on. Rynna looked up in surprise and I saw Dimples, hands extended. She was keeping me from moving forward! The look in her eyes, pain mix with something else, kept her resolute. I pushed against the barrier to no resolve.
“Just let me talk to you!”, I cried out.
Rynna spoke up, “I tried, she won’t. You need to leave now.”
“I’m not leaving until we talk! That’s what friends do, Dimples, they talk things like this out!”
Dimples sniffed, “Don’t ever come back.”
With that, she pushed her hands forward and the barrier sent me back out of the tent. I had hit solid ground with only a few spectators taking notice. I got up and pulled out my wand, ready to break down a magical barrier, but stopped. This was magic that Dimples drew deeply from. There was no way I could break it. Could she really not be reasoned with? I couldn’t believe that this was happening. Rynna promised that I would get to speak to her but Dimples didn’t want to deliver on her end. She wouldn’t even explain things to me. She wanted me gone. She didn’t want to see me again. I felt the wolf take over and, without Braeden to still me with that growl, I shifted in front of everyone. I ran circles through the carnival, I barreled through the audience who wanted a freak show, I ran so the tents were only an outline by the parking lot. My muzzle let out a howl that got a response. Braeden, in his own dark wolf form, was right my side. He could sense my pain.
We stood like that, watching people shuffle to their cars, seeing the lights of the circus dim. When I was able to gather myself and walk back, two human legs unsteady and shaking, I had a clear mind. Cecilia would hopefully have a formula for me and had gotten out undetected. I knew she wouldn’t be caught dead talking to me now, not in front of the investors, not when she could find new wealthy clients. We would have to meet up back in Crestwood. For now, I needed one last look at the tents before I came back. This time, I would end the circus and Dimples would have no choice but to come home. It was reckless but I was feeling like it was the only option. There was no other way to solve this mystery on how Vander held them in his spell. How he got the information on Elder Fae origins that he shouldn’t have.
The tent was close to my reach when a twist of fate took my hope away. Before I could touch the fabric, it vanished in front of me. All of it. The tents, the roller coaster, the concessions and the games. Only flickers of light in a large perimeter existed before they, too, started to vanish. Right before our eyes, the circus ceased to exist. It was a grander magic than I had ever thought possible. Braeden rushed to my side and sniffed around, the scent gone. Just like that, the circus had disappeared into some unknown corner of Iverli where we would never find it. I had lost my only lead.
Nine
“I can’t believe she had the nerve to banish me from her tent prison!”
Elizar winced, “She’s there voluntarily so she isn’t actually imprisoned by Voldini. Much as I want to zap him into a shapeless void of chaos for eternity. Will you please sit down?”
I was pacing and refused to stop, “And the way she addressed me! Talked to me like I was some slobbering fan scoping out the circus show and wanting an autograph. Like we aren’t best friends!”
“You don’t know what things Voldini filled her head with. She could be acting on auto pilot to cope with it all”, Elizar soothed.
I narrowed my eyes, “You don’t know Dimples like I do. Like I did.”
The notion made me sink onto the couch next to Elizar and sigh loudly. There was so much about Dimples that I just didn’t know and that no longer made sense. It was like someone took the essence of what made her up and turn on an automaton in her place that could hash out the lines without feeling. The real Dimples wasn’t there in her eyes. Something else had replaced them and I recognized the look...shame. She was ashamed of this secret of her identity that the circus allegedly put into perspective for her. Rynna may be able to visit ancient worlds and project them, but she wasn’t a scholar on the Elder Fae. I had an appointment with one in Azuris the following day to get some serious answers.
Next to me, Elizar sat stiffly as if he were nervous. His fingers brushed my side and his jaw was set in a clenched position that signaled stress. I could read him well now. It was as if our instincts were in sync in a near perfect harmony. I knew he was sitting on something and didn’t want to bring it up. I slid next to him so that our thighs were brushing, the bare leg exposed from my skirt against his leather clad one. He wrapped an arm around my waist and, just like that, our lips met. This had a habit of happening lately. Moments of silence ended with a kiss because he couldn’t get the words out. Right now, it worked. When I managed to come up for air, I was somehow less tense. Elizar had that magic about him.
“Why don’t I order us dinner and we pour over the information we have on Voldini? I did a full background search and I think I’ve got something that could really slip a dagger into him if we play our cards right.”
I trailed my lips along his shoulder, “I don’t think anyone cares about his past so long as he has the Council investing and can put on a good show.”
“No one is truly invincible”, Elizar tilted my chin up to softly kiss me, “and it gives you something to focus on.”
“I was going to follow up on the Livia lead and the quick downfall of that Portal Dust ring. Amaris had some breakthroughs and it can at least put the leader behind bars.”
“Yeah, I’d put a pause on that. Amaris kidnapped her and took her into the spirit world after the whole circus thing. She said they don’t get reception there so it’s no use trying to contact her”, Elizar rubbed my side comfortingly, “looks like she’s on the case.”
“Can people just go into the spirit world like that?”
“Amaris is a necromancer and Livia is technically undead as a vampire. They don’t have the limitations we would”, he reminded me.
“That just leaves me here moping about Dimples and finding a way to punish Voldini.”
“A good goal to have. I’ve found that keeping small goals is a solid way to make a business successful. We can revive your investigative agency and drum up some new clients until the circus resurfaces”, he said.
“Why is it that you always solve my problems? You have so much on your plate already and you just take on my issues without hesitating.”
“Do you want the truth, Abbie?”, he asked with a gleam in his eyes, “The serious, thrown out in front of us, badly timed because of everything that is going on kind of truth?”
I looped my pinky in his, “Yes, no going back. Promise.”
He sighed and slapped his leather clad knees, standing up and swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat. This was serious business. Elizar could flirt innocently – or deviously if he wasn’t playing fair – but all of that was tossed aside. In his button down shirt and dark leather pants, Elizar was a sexy and elusive warlock that had always excelled at his own game. He had brought many lovers home and had whispered things in their ear so tantalizing that they couldn’t resist him. Then I came along like a brick and the vibe changed. I didn’t understand why I mattered to him, why my problems should be so important, but I knew why he mattered to me. I knew what I felt and why it wouldn’t work with anyone else. Looking into his eyes, I could feel the words coming from his mouth wash over me in a warmth I never thought I would deserve.
“I love you, Abigail Everlaine. I have for the past year since you arrived on my doorstep wanting to make a deal. When I saw that you weren’t the Abbie I knew by affiliation in the past, how you were this new...incredible...woman. Someone who would roll her eyes at my gestures and would make me work for it. Someone who truly made me feel like a man”, he said solidly, “you’re t
he one I want in this life. I couldn’t be happy with anyone else.”
The words were out there and they couldn’t be taken back. I knew how I had felt, realized that something had been growing between us that wasn’t just friendship. I also knew what happened with Braeden, how we ended up being friends that slipped into bed, how it made a mess of things. Could I live with myself if Elizar got hurt by my actions? Braeden and I hadn’t made a bond together as werewolves. We weren’t compatible on many levels. With Elizar, something deeper inside of me growled to life. Something beyond the carnal desire to push him onto the couch and give myself into him fully. I was just holding back. What am I most afraid of? Maybe it was losing someone who could be my soul mate.
“I don’t want you to say anything right now”, he followed up, “I just want you to think about it. Take in what I said and process it. You’re not obligated to be with me just because I help you out from time to time or because we’re friends. I want to be your choice. Just...understand how I feel. All of my past? That changed when I decided you were the one I wanted. You made me this responsible, protective, monogamous warlock. My mother would die of shock.”
“You don’t really mention your parents.”
He sat back down next to me, “They’re a handful and haven’t been impressed with my social life. I’m sparing you the hassle of having to sit down to dinner with them.”
I looped my pinky in his again, “Thank you for telling me, El. I want to be in a better place when I respond. I want Dimples back and my world to have some semblance of sanity. Right now...I’m in pieces. My best friends rejected me, I can’t solve what’s probably my most important case, and now Amaris is taking control of another case that I’m ultimately responsible for.”
“She’s only helping because you asked her to. She has a different method in place and maybe it will work with someone like Livia. Those two share similar tastes”, Elizar said.