“Yeah, well you’re forgetting I’m three-quarters human. I might be soulless, but I feel things. I feel a lot of things, and I would never do that to someone.”
Katy shook her head, giving Flint an “I dare you to deny the truth” look. “Every time the fae come into our world, that is what happens, that is what they do. You’re more human than most of them, so maybe you won’t hurt everyone around you. Yet. But you’re not done changing. When this is all said and done, you might not even care to know any of us anymore. You’re a black horse, Flint, and it terrifies your father what you might be turning into.”
Flint shook her head harder, wishing she hadn’t heard any of this. Why was Katy being like this, so cruel? And why would her father tell Katy these things and not Flint herself? The betrayal sliced her heart.
“I’m not a monster.” She fisted her towel.
Katy’s lips thinned. “No, you’re just a fae. Nothing matters to you guys, you superior, smug, too-good-for-us fae.”
Vibrating from her fury, Flint didn’t even trust herself to open her mouth and speak. How dare Katy come in here and talk to her like this? She didn’t know her. Didn’t know Flint, how she cared, how she loved.
And she did love.
She loved hard.
Flint snapped. “Was it all a lie? Do you even care for my father?”
The anger in Katy’s eyes softened for just a moment. “No, it’s not a lie. What I feel for Frank is very real.”
Then, turning, she left the room, and Flint couldn’t do anything other than stare at her bedroom wall with sightless eyes, terrified that the woman her father had decided to shack up with might poison his mind and turn her only remaining parent against her.
She’d survived the death of her mother, and as absent of a father as Frank DeLuca had been at times, he was all she had left.
Flint stared out the window as the rolling field of corn zoomed past her periphery. Numb inside. She wouldn’t be sure she’d even had breakfast this morning except for the fact that when she licked her lips, she tasted the zing of citrus.
Her father’s strong fingers gently threaded through hers, lifting her hand off her lap and onto the middle seat between them.
Thankfully Katy had taken her own car to work this morning. As if the very sight of Flint now offended her, the evil wench had kept her distance.
“I love you, Flinty,” he said in a voice that sounded thick and gruff.
Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she gave him a curt nod. Breakfast had been a nightmare to sit through. Katy hadn’t once looked her way, but her venomous words had rung like bells through her head.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been real—”
“Dad.” She turned to look at him head-on. “Do I freak you out now or something?”
“No.” He shook his head and dropped her hand to take a left turn.
Why were they headed to the circus? She frowned at the familiar gravel path they turned onto. If he kept this up, she was going to be late for her first official day back.
“To be honest, Flint, it’s hard for me, okay? Knowing that someday you might not love me anymore—”
“Did Katy tell you that?” she hissed. “Because that will never happen. I’m still me. I don’t know who me is anymore, but I’m still me. Katy had no right telling you these things.”
His jaw clenched, and the silence stretched thick between them. It wasn’t her intention to make her dad hate Katy. For whatever reason, that woman made him happy, but she refused to let Katy poison her relationship with her father. This couldn’t be true.
She wouldn’t accept that.
“Daddy, I love you and I always will.”
He gave a clipped nod, acknowledging her words.
More quietly now, she switched subjects. “Why didn’t mom tell us the truth?”
“I don’t know, Flint. I swear, she never told me any of this. Though now I wish she had, because maybe then I could have prevented any of this from ever happening.”
She knew he had to be thinking of his desire to join Carnival Diabolique in the first place, of placing her in a situation where her heritage would be forced out of the closet. As much as he loved the circus, she believed with all her heart that he loved her more.
If he could roll back time, he probably would. He had to be thinking about her pleas not to get involved with Diabolique. Because she was. But she wasn’t sure whether ignorance really was bliss. Knowing hurt, but not knowing seemed unimaginable at this point.
He swallowed thickly as they rolled past the Carnival Diabolique sign. The gates were thrown wide, and Flint’s brows very nearly touched her hairline as she noticed several people milling about.
All of them people she recognized.
The fortune-tellers, a few of the flyers, some walkers, even the ringmaster, Adam, was present. And for once he wasn’t scowling. The one thing all the people walking around had in common was that they were all monsters. Or, as in the case of her father, a human in the know. She scanned the faces for the one she wanted to see most, but Cain was nowhere around and neither were the twins—Seth and Eli—his constant companions.
Rhiannon stood beside the main circus tent holding a sign that read: Welcome home, Flint!
She was dressed in her familiar circus attire of a tutu, tights, and spandex. And she wore a smile, but she didn’t look particularly excited, more like relieved.
Blinking back the tightness in her throat, Flint scanned the fairgrounds. Normally she’d be hard pressed to catch signs of life in this place until at least the sun had set. Her nostrils flared as conflicting scents washed over her.
Pine. Pizza. Greasy sausage. Sugary cotton candy. Ozone. Spring rains. Warm chocolate. Clean linen. Blood. Absinthe… and the list went on and on.
Groaning, she pinched her nostrils shut, overwhelmed by the intensity of the smells. Stomach twisting with more than just a case of nerves, she closed her eyes.
“If this is too soon for you, we can—”
“Daddy, I just want to go to school. Just take me to school.”
“This is school, Flinty. You’re”—he cleared his throat—“different. And facts are, your grandmother showed me that allowing you to continue to live in ignorance of everything isn’t an option. I love you, which means”—his jaw worked furiously from side to side as he parked the truck and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel—“I need to let you go.”
“Daddy.” She grimaced, that had sounded so final. Grabbing his hand, she jerked on it until he took the silent cue to look at her. When he finally did, she scooted into him and wrapped her arms tight around his waist. “I love you too, and you have to believe me when I say I’m not going anywhere.”
And finally she got the hug she’d desperately needed.
“Oh God, baby, I’m sorry.” His voice shook with tears.
“Just don’t shut me out anymore.” She sniffed, knuckling the tears from her own eyes. “Because I’m scared too.”
Bloodshot eyes stared lovingly into her own, and he gave a jerky nod as his thickly padded thumbs brushed beneath her eyes. “Promise, little monkey.”
She smiled. Little monkey had been the name he’d first given her at age five when she’d crossed a tightrope suspended ten feet off the ground, with no prior training.
She’d always been different. Always special. She should have known. Maybe not the particulars, but she should have known that what she could do wasn’t normal.
By the time they broke apart, she felt ten times lighter.
Things hadn’t exactly been roses between her and her dad lately, but she was hopeful that maybe, just maybe, they were finally turning the corner.
With a final kiss on her forehead, her dad waved and hopped out of the truck, heading toward the flyer’s tent with Katy swooping in to catch up with him.
Just the sight of that woman caused Flint’s blood pressure to rise. She hated Katy. Maybe that wasn’t the PC thing to think, but she didn’t care. Katy was bad for
her dad. She couldn’t prove it yet, but she would.
Flint never noticed her friend creeping up on her until her door was practically torn open, and then soft, girly hands were latching onto her wrists. Rhiannon dragged her out.
“Oh em gee.” Rhi laughed and choked back a sob, hugging Flint tightly. “I was so worried.”
Flint rubbed Rhi’s back as the slight kanlungan trembled in her arms. Once, she’d only smelled ash on Rhiannon’s skin, but now it was deeper. Richer. Not ash, but soot mixed with ozone and a smoky hint of burning peat. It was kind of pleasant actually, made her think of a bonfire in the woods.
Giving an embarrassed-sounding chuckle, Rhiannon finally stepped back, swiping at her tearstained cheeks, which forced Flint to stop thinking about fairy things.
“You look awful.” The svelte blonde grinned cheekily, but Flint could hear the effort that pitiful joke cost her.
“Where’s Janet?” Flint asked swiftly, looking around, trying to figure out which trailer she’d been taken into.
“She’s not good, Flint. Really, no one is. Everything is just sort of screwed up right now.”
She’d expected that, but she’d hoped otherwise. “Can I see her?”
“Yeah, in a minute.” Rhiannon’s smile grew broad once more. “It really is good to see you, girl. Last time I saw you, you were passing out on the forest floor and looked about ready to give up the ghost. You look good.” She playfully punched Flint’s left shoulder.
Flint spread her arms. “Well, I thought I’d channel some Ja style this morning.”
Desperate to not be caught dead in the princess attire, Flint had grabbed the only non-pink things she’d been able to find, which just so happened to be a pair of black spandex pants and a white three-quarters-sleeve top with chunky black lettering that read Normal is Boring. And instead of her typical Chucks, she now wore a bright pair of neon-green jogger’s shoes.
With her flame-red hair caught up in a tight ponytail, she probably resembled a clown, but she hadn’t much cared when she thought she’d be going to a school with kids she hardly knew.
Now she cared.
The idea had been to get sent home because of inappropriate attire, however she seriously doubted anyone here would give her clothes a second glance.
She tugged at her shirt, feeling all sorts of stupid.
Rhiannon’s lips twitched. “You’ll do.” She slipped an arm around Flint’s shoulder. “If you want to see Janet, I can take you to her first, or we can just head over to the big top now, your choice.”
The way she said it made Flint think she should probably give Janet some privacy. At least for a little while longer.
“I guess we can just head to class.” She glanced around, looking for Cain and frowning when she didn’t find him.
“If you’re looking for Cain, he’s not here right now. He and the boys are out doing another sweep of the woods. They’ll be back later today at some point.”
Flint nodded, more than a little disappointed. “Okay.” Squeezing her friend’s hand until she looked at her, Flint asked, “How are you?”
“Better than Janet, though that’s not saying much.” She tucked an ash-blond hank of hair behind her pale ear.
Their footsteps slowed the closer they got to the tent.
“Things are so bad now.” Her shell-pink lips tugged down at the edges, and her blue eyes shimmered with pent-up tears. “Adam’s pissed at me.”
“Hey.” Flint stopped, turning so that she could look her friend head-on. “I’m sure he’s not. The queen tricked us all.”
“She almost killed you, Flint. Cain went half out of his mind when he picked up your blood trail. And then we couldn’t find you. You disappeared for hours. We scoured those woods. You weren’t there. You were just gone.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?” Rhiannon grumped. “You didn’t do anything wrong. We used you as bait, and it’s all our fault.”
That part was mostly true. Flint didn’t blame any of them—the idea to be used as bait had been her own. She just wished she could go back in time and fix things, or at the very least realize the trap they’d all fallen into.
She had so many questions, but a golden-eyed female performer whom she knew had to be a Nephilim pride demon was gesturing at them both to hurry up. Other performers were headed in the direction of the tent as well.
Most of them carried on heated, whispered conversations amongst themselves, sparing her passing glances every now and then.
Clearly she was at the top of their gossip.
“Do you have any idea where they’ve taken Abel?” Flint asked, determined to ignore the pointed stares from the performers.
Rhiannon sighed loudly. “No. We’ve all taken shifts going out there, looking for him in the obvious places. But it’s like they’ve all vanished. We can’t find a trace of the hive anywhere. Janet’s going to go nuclear soon if we don’t find him. Cain blames himself for this whole mess. And Adam—” She shuddered. “He barely talks to any of us, which is probably a good thing when you think about it.”
“Hey.” Flint grabbed her arm, giving it a quick squeeze. “Don’t forget that we all thought it was the right idea to go to that dance. I know it didn’t turn out the way we’d hoped, but no one was expecting Layla to be the traitor.”
“Girls, come!” The pride Neph all but snarled at them, gesturing forcefully in their direction.
“So this is class now, huh?” Flint asked when they got to the flap.
Rhiannon nodded. “Yup. But, it’s not exactly what you’re used to.”
She didn’t get a chance to ponder that before the Nephilim was shoving them through.
The chatter inside was a low hum of several voices talking all at once. Adam stood front and center in the ring wearing the red ringmaster jacket and black silk pants. As always, he commanded all eyes to him the moment he lifted his hand.
Once his gaze alighted on hers, he dipped his head and thundered, “Stop talking, all of you. Thank you all for coming. What I have to say won’t take long, but it is something you’ll need to hear.”
Rhiannon yanked Flint down in the seat next to her.
Flint quickly glanced around for her father, he wasn’t there. But she did spot a slight shadow sitting behind Adam.
The shape and size of it was familiar enough to let Flint know it had to be her grandmother.
“For the past week we’ve come up dry in our search for drones.” Adam’s voice was big and booming and easy to hear, even without the benefit of a megaphone behind it. “Staying here for much longer isn’t going to be a suitable option.”
Rhiannon’s fingers gripped the armrest.
“Layla knows our habits, and I’ve no doubt she’s got her spies on us. I’m giving us a few more days to scout out any places we’ve not hit yet. That means double duty for most of you. We’ll be switching our show hours from midnight showings to morning showings. Any and all available monster bodies will join up ranks in the evenings and go in search of drones. Even rumors of drones will be investigated. We will find Abel, and we are going to bring him back.”
Flint released a sigh of relief she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, but then his next words broke her out in a wash of goose bumps.
“Because of limited access, we’ll have to outsource our food for now. I’ll be lifting the no-feeding-outside-the-fairgrounds rule for the foreseeable future. Only make sure to keep things under wraps. No bodies that can be traced back here. This town is now on high alert, and we don’t need to bring any heat down on ourselves. Got it?”
Heart fluttering violently in her throat, Flint clenched the edge of her seat with a white-knuckled grip. She still didn’t know much about the people who lived and worked in the carnival, but she did know that when Adam had said feed, he’d meant feed off the humans.
She shivered.
The shadowy figure stood and shuffled slowly over to where Adam was. Grace glanced once at Flint befor
e turning her steely gaze to the crowd.
“Allow me, Adam, if you will.”
Dressed in a frilly blue-and-white muumuu that fell to just below her ankles, her grandmother stood out like a sore thumb among the beauty and glamour of the creatures around her. But her bearing was just as confident as the rest of them.
“I am Grace—”
Strong inhalations and whispers rolled through the crowd.
Frowning, Flint leaned toward Rhi. “Why is everyone suddenly acting all weirded out by my grandma?”
Rhiannon gave her a disbelieving snort. “Girl, your granny’s infamous among our kind. She’s kind of what you’d call a living legend.”
“—and I’ m sure many of you have heard of me,” Grace continued, silencing the murmuring crowd with a lift of her liver-spotted hand. “As to why I’m here, the Order’s sent me to assess whether or not you’re a security threat.”
Flint could practically feel the collective breath the crowd took.
“I leave this afternoon with my report. But know this: you’re on their radar, so tread lightly, my friends.”
Adam’s jaw clenched, and Flint felt fear and anxiety punch through her in waves from those surrounding her.
“The type of damage control we had to do in this town…” Grace twisted her lips. “It won’t come without great cost.”
Rhiannon trembled violently beside her. Flint frowned. “You okay?”
“No, Flint.” She gave her the side-eye. “I’m not okay.”
She didn’t say more and Flint didn’t ask. She felt like she should feel a lot more scared than she was—everyone around her was seeping fear from their pores—but she really didn’t understand why a bunch of monsters were so afraid of humans. Look what’d happened to her when the queen had cornered her. Flint had gone down without much of a fight—and she wasn’t even totally human.
“Which is why,” Grace said, “we’re going to make this right. We’re going to make them see that you all did everything you could.”
“Why do you care?” Someone to the right of Flint called out to Grace.
The Complete Tempted Series Page 39