“That seems smart,” Nellie said.
“Nellie, can you handle pushing everyone out of here?”
“Can I be mean?”
“No.”
“Fine.” Nellie’s exhilaration was waning. “What are you going to do?”
I glanced at Kade, who was still staring at the headless body, and exhaled heavily. “I’m going to … monitor … this situation.”
“That’s a nice way of putting it,” Raven snorted.
I shot her a look. “I need you to go get Max while Nellie is emptying this place out.”
Raven didn’t offer a hint of argument. “You’ve got it. Do you need me to bring anything back?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know,” Raven hedged, her gaze falling on Kade. “How about a sedative?”
I wasn’t going to rule it out. “Just get Max for now,” I said. “Bring as many of the troupe back as you can. Make sure this place is locked down first, though.”
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
KADE was unresponsive during Nellie and Raven’s absence. I gave up trying to talk to him as I watched the circus grounds clear from afar. It was almost an hour before eager Mystic Caravan employees converged on the area behind the House of Mirrors.
“Wicked,” Seth said, studying Morgan’s bloody stump of a neck. “Where’s the head?”
I pointed to the brush as Luke rushed to my side and gave me a hug. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “He never got close to me.”
Max’s face was drawn as he moved toward me. “How did he get past the juiced dreamcatcher?”
“The same way he got past it before,” I said. “We can’t cast the dreamcatcher so it alerts on humans. You know that. We did the best we could.”
“This is a nightmare.”
I couldn’t argue with that. “We need to take care of it,” I said, lowering my voice. “Someone needs to talk to Kade, too. I think he’s … freaking out.”
“Wouldn’t you be?” Seth asked. “His whole world has been upended, and that’s on top of watching a dwarf in a dress chop off this dude’s head. By the way, have you noticed the lack of blood here?”
I hadn’t been paying particular attention to that. “No. Why?”
“It’s weird,” Seth said. “There’s some blood, but there’s not enough to go along with a beheading. Do you remember when Dolph ripped that Wendigo’s head off in Idaho two summers ago? That was a bloody mess. There was blood spurting every which way. It was like fireworks on the Fourth of July. This? Not so much.”
“I’m not sure that matters,” I said. “He wasn’t a full Wendigo. Now that he’s dead we can’t get a history on him. I don’t think this is something we want to dwell on.”
“Sorry, Miss Sassy Pants,” Seth grumbled. “Some of us are interested in science.”
“Yes, but this seems more like mortuary sciences than anything else,” I pointed out.
Seth shrugged. “Whatever. Are we burning him?”
Kade had been quiet for so long that when he finally found his voice it jolted all of us. “You’re going to burn a body?”
“How are you feeling, son?” Max asked, his tone gentle as he shuffled toward Kade. “Do you want some water or something?”
“I want answers,” Kade said, pushing himself off the ground and glaring at the bevy of faces circling him. “I want to know what’s going on here.”
The time for lying was over. “We’re … monster hunters,” I said.
“Surprise!” Luke jumped up in the air and extended his arms.
Kade shot him a death glare and then focused on me. “What does that mean?”
“Well … you see … um … .” I was at a loss for words. That almost never happens to me.
“Everyone here is supernatural,” Nellie supplied, climbing up on a tree stump and spreading his hairy legs so everyone could see up his pink dress. “I’m not really a bearded lady. I’m a dwarf.”
“I thought that was a derogatory term,” Kade challenged.
“Oh, I’m not that type of dwarf,” Nellie said. “I’m a real dwarf.”
“Like Lord of the Rings,” Luke supplied
“You know I hate stereotypes!” Nellie bellowed. “Real dwarves don’t hoard money in mountains.”
“They don’t generally run around in dresses either,” Luke pointed out.
“That’s enough,” Max snapped, stepping between Luke and Nellie before they could come to blows. “Kade, I understand that you’re trying to wrap your mind around this. Maybe we should go to my trailer and talk. I can answer any questions you might have.”
“Oh, no, I think the time for that is over,” Kade said, his tone grim. “What kind of … beings … are you people?”
“I’m a Sagittarius,” Luke said, earning a withering glare from Kade.
“I’m a Lamia,” Raven offered.
“You need to tell him what that means,” I hissed.
“Yeah, he’s going to think you’re a llama,” Luke said, chuckling.
“All it really means is that I’m a modern witch,” Raven explained. “In folk tales, the Lamia were child eaters. I don’t do that. Don’t worry.”
“Oh, well, I’m so relieved,” Kade deadpanned.
“Forget about eating children,” Luke said. “We all want to know if you can conjure a snake tail. The stories say you can.”
Raven narrowed her eyes. “You’ll never know, wolf.”
“Wolf?” Kade’s voice jumped. “What does that mean?”
“It means I can shift into a wolf,” Luke replied matter-of-factly. “As far as gifts go, it’s a pretty boring one when you consider that the pixie twins can control the weather and shrink bodies until they look like voodoo dolls.”
“The pixie twins?” Kade turned his attention to Naida and Nixie. “You can control the weather?”
“Only when I’m having a bad day,” Naida said, shooting a bright smile in his direction. “It’s okay. I haven’t done anything truly awful in months.”
“I think that depends on your definition of the word ‘awful,’” Nellie countered. “Personally, I wasn’t a big fan of the tornado touchdown in Ohio last month.”
“That was you?” Kade’s eyebrows flew up his forehead. “The weather forecasters were talking about that for a week. They said it was statistically impossible for a tornado to crop up at that time and place.”
“I’ve always been a statistical impossibility,” Naida smiled.
“You should put that on your business cards,” Seth suggested.
Kade snapped his eyes to Seth. “What about you?”
“I’m the tiger.”
“You’re the … tiger.” Kade mulled it over before glancing at me. “That’s why you weren’t afraid to pet him out in the open. You knew it was a man.”
“I knew it was Seth,” I corrected. “That is why I didn’t want you searching the animal area, though. We don’t technically have any real animals.”
“Oh, my … .” Realization dawned on Kade. “What about you, Poet? What are you?”
“I’m Romani.”
“What does that mean? Are you an evil witch?”
“Be careful,” Luke warned, jumping to my defense. “Don’t take out your frustration on Poet. She wanted to tell you the truth from the beginning.”
“Why didn’t you?” Kade pressed.
“Because I told her not to,” Max said. “I didn’t want to scare you off.”
“So, you wanted me to take a job at a circus where you guys double as monster hunters and pretend to be animals for human entertainment, but you didn’t want to tell me the truth? Is that the gist of it?” Kade was barely hanging on.
“I thought the truth would be easier to digest when you got to know everyone and realized that they’re normal … other than the fact that some of them have invisible wings,” Max said, making a lame joke that went right over Kade’s befuddled head.
“Invisible wings?” Kade looked m
e up and down as if he was seeing me for the first time. “Do you have invisible wings?”
“I’m not a pixie.”
“I do,” Nixie chirped, hopping from one foot to the other. “I can show you.”
“Not now, Nixie,” Max chided. “In fact, why doesn’t everyone go back to … whatever it is they would do on a Saturday night and leave Kade and me alone so we can talk? How does that sound?”
“That sounds great except for the body we have to get rid of,” Seth countered.
“Oh.” Max furrowed his brow. “Kade, why don’t you come back to my trailer and we’ll leave everyone to … handle this situation without us getting in the way.”
“I don’t want to go anywhere with you,” Kade spat. “Not right now, at least.”
Max’s face fell. “But … we’ve known each other a long time, son. I’m sure you’ll see – if you just give it some time – that things will fall into place. This isn’t quite the catastrophe you’re envisioning. I promise you that.”
“Maybe,” Kade said. “Maybe I will be able to wrap my head around tiger and wolf shifters, witches, pixies, dwarves in dresses and Romani … voodoo princesses. That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen right now.”
“What is going to happen right now?” I asked, fearful of his answer.
“For now I’m going back to my trailer to get drunk,” Kade said. “I’m going to drink enough that I won’t be able to dream about the creepy guy trying to choke me … or the way his face looked when the little dude in the dress chopped off his head.”
“You need to get over the dress,” Nellie said. “It’s just clothing.”
Kade ignored him. “I think I’ll leave you guys to your body burning … or whatever it is you’re going to do … and say goodnight.”
“Adieu,” Nixie said, her heels tapping together as she saluted.
“I might drink even more now,” Kade muttered.
I started to follow him, concern about his emotional well-being getting the better of me. I stopped long enough to focus on Seth. “Get rid of the body.”
“I always love a good ceremonial burning of the Wendigo.”
“Don’t forget his head.”
“I would never.” Seth mimed crossing his heart. He was having a good time. “Anyone want to make s’mores?”
I couldn’t focus on Seth’s party plans when Kade’s mind was such a mess. I scampered after him. “Kade, wait.”
He stilled, his shoulders stiff as he glanced at me. “What do you want?” His tone was positively venomous.
“I want to make sure you’re okay.”
“Do I look okay?”
He looked as though he’d been run over and then backed over again for good measure. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For … all of it.”
“I’m sure you’ll understand that doesn’t mean a heck of a lot to me now,” Kade snapped.
“I do. I … if you need to talk … .”
“I’ll know where to find you.” Kade didn’t bother waiting to see whether I had more to say. He turned on his heel and stalked toward the trailers.
My heart pounded as I watched him go. I could feel the betrayal and pain wafting off of him. I wanted to go after him, but knew it would be a mistake. He needed time alone to digest the evening’s events.
I wasn’t surprised when Luke moved up beside me and slung an arm over my shoulders.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m not the one who was hurt in all of this,” I said.
“Are you sure? You look pretty miserable.”
“We did what we had to do,” I said. “Kade had to know what was going on.”
“I’m not sure Max is going to see it that way,” Luke said. “He seemed as rattled as Kade.”
“He’ll have to get over it,” I said. “I wasn’t going to risk Raven because Max was adamant about keeping a secret.”
“Well, one thing is for sure, Kade’s not going to be assaulting you with a friendly weapon any time soon.”
I elbowed Luke in the gut, causing him to cough and sputter as he doubled over.
“Sometimes I’m not even sure why we’re friends,” I muttered.
“Your life would be empty without me.” Luke’s face was red and his eyes watered. “I, on the other hand, might be better off without you. At least I wouldn’t be a walking bruise any longer.”
“You also wouldn’t be fed regularly,” I pointed out.
“I see where you’re coming from,” Luke said, rubbing his chin. “Speaking of that … .”
“You can’t be serious,” I groaned. “You’re hungry? Now?”
“My stomach isn’t influenced by the emotional upheavals of others.”
“Oh, good grief,” I snapped. “Come on.”
Luke fell into step next to me as we headed back toward the trailers. “What are you going to cook for me?”
“A spit burger.”
“Can I get pickles on that?”
“Luke, don’t push me,” I warned.
“Poet?”
“What?”
“I love you.”
I sighed. I knew Luke was doing the best he could. I leaned into him, resting my head against his shoulder briefly. “I love you, too.”
“I really am hungry.”
“I’m going to lick the bun before I put your burger on it,” I threatened.
“Yum.”
Seventeen
I barely slept.
I tossed, turned and stared at the ceiling for the better part of six hours before I crawled out of bed to face the day. I opted for a cold shower, hoping that would shake me out of my melancholy. All it did was make me grumpy, tired and cold. That’s never a good mix.
We still had one day left in Des Moines. Thankfully, that meant only one show and an early Sunday shutdown. I had no idea how I was going to make it through the day. Instead of worrying about that, though, I made breakfast.
I had no doubt Luke, unlike me, was snoozing the morning away. I put his pancakes into the oven to keep them warm, left a note on the counter and piled a heaping mound of buttermilk goodness onto a plate and trudged to Kade’s trailer.
The morning was quiet, the only sound interrupting the bleak solitude coming from the chirping birds as the sun began to climb into the sky. The gates wouldn’t open for two hours. I had time to check on Kade.
I told myself I was doing it because I was a good person and I was worried about his emotional well-being. That was partially true. I was also terrified he’d fled in the middle of the night. Why that prospect bothered me so much – especially since I’d only known Kade for a week – was baffling.
At his trailer, I lifted my hand to knock and then thought better of it. I pressed my ear to the door, and when I didn’t hear anyone stirring inside, I pushed it open. It was an invasion of privacy. I knew that. I didn’t want to recreate a scene from this week’s General Hospital for everyone to see, though. I thought we would save that for private.
Kade was on the couch when I entered, his chest bare and his arm resting over his eyes as he slumbered. His body was just as I imagined – darn it – and I had to check the edges of my mouth to make sure I wasn’t drooling over the eight-pack abs and rock-hard chest I couldn’t quite manage to drag my eyes from.
He was clad only in a pair of plaid boxer shorts, and that realization was enough to make my head spin.
“Are you going to stand there and stare at me all morning?”
Well, crud. I guess I wasn’t so stealthy after all. “Did I wake you? If I did, I’m sorry.”
“I was awake.”
“How are you feeling?” I asked, glancing around the sparse trailer. There was nothing to hint at his personality – good or bad – or the comforts of home he brought with him. Maybe he’d already packed and was waiting for the sun to flee. That was a sobering thought.
“I have a mild headache,” Kade said. “I didn’t have enough to drink last night to give me a ha
ppy hangover, if that’s what you’re worried about. I didn’t have enough alcohol to manage that and I didn’t want to borrow any from a tiger … or dwarf … or female snake.”
I pursed my lips as I moved in his direction, gently setting the plate on the coffee table next to the couch and studying him for a moment. Seriously, it should be against the law to look that good without a shirt. Wait, what am I doing here again? “Raven isn’t really a snake,” I said. “I don’t think she is, anyway. I’ve never seen her naked. Luke has these weird fantasies about her stripping down and whipping people with her tail. That doesn’t mean they’re true.”
“That Luke is a funny guy,” Kade said, his eyes still hidden by his forearm. “Or, actually, a funny wolf. He’s a funny wolf. Wow! There’s a sentence I never thought I’d say.”
“I know you’re still upset,” I said, fighting to keep my hands to myself even as my fingers twitched. They had a mind of their own and the only thing on their mind was touching those fantastic abs. Criminy, could my timing be any worse?
When I shifted my gaze back to Kade’s face I found him staring at me, his arm resting behind his head. “Do you like what you see?”
My cheeks burned. Uh-oh. He’d caught me. “I … wasn’t staring.”
Whether he wanted to or not, Kade smiled. His dimples peeked out. They didn’t stay long before retreating, but they were still nice to see. “You’re a horrible liar.” Kade pushed himself to a sitting position, his face contorting as his body adjusted to its new reality. “My head might hurt a little more than I realized.”
I dug into the pocket of my lavender skirt and pulled out a bottle of aspirin and handed it to him.
“Thank you.” Kade took the bottle and downed four tablets before I could get him a glass of water. He handed the bottle back wordlessly.
“I made you pancakes,” I said. “I … don’t even know if you like pancakes, but I was worried you would need something to absorb the alcohol in your stomach. I’m glad to see you didn’t go crazy last night.”
“Yes, we both are,” Kade said. “I mean, ignore the twin pixies of doom and the dwarf in a dress, the real crime is a normal guy with a bottle of whiskey. Everyone run for your lives.”
I sighed, the sound escaping before I could think better and pull it back. Sarcasm is an unfortunate weapon when someone else is using it against me. “Do you want to talk about this?”
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