by Jaden Wilkes
“Do you not care about girls who have been torn apart, regardless of their gifts?” I asked, appalled at the casual acceptance of his statement.
“We refuse to feel guilty about something we had nothing to do with,” one of the contortionists said, her eyes blazing as she stared me down. “Where have normals been all these years while we were being persecuted?”
Cairo put his arm around me and glowered at the group. “Olivia is right, this is a Cirque thing more than a shifter thing. Once somebody joins the Cirque, they join our family, and I am disgusted at those of you who think otherwise. If any of you has any information about these girls, please come forward. Otherwise, keep your mouths shut.”
We exited the meeting after that, Orion was long gone and the group seemed to drift apart as we walked away.
“Is it always that harsh?” I asked him, looking up at his face as we walked.
“It’s been worse,” he said, “believe it or not. There’s always been a rift between us and them, and in times of crisis, it just gets wider.”
“I hope we can work to bring them together,” I said and pressed against his massive body, feeling protected and loved.
“I’m sure we can,” Cairo assured me.
If only I knew the price my wish was going to cost, I would have walked away then.
*****
Orion was nowhere to be found that night, so I was off the hook. Literally, I supposed.
Mila joined Cairo and I for a late night drink out on the grass past the tents. She had some more information to go over before she flew back to Europe in a couple days.
We sat on the grass, the cool earth sending undulating waves of energy up my body and back down again, a constant thrum of connection between me and the ground.
It was comforting, as if now that I knew about my powers, I was able to sense it continually, like peripheral vision.
Cairo handed me a beer, and one to Mila. He kept one for himself and stretched out on the grass next to me, his long legs splayed out casually. I couldn’t help but sneak a glance at how muscled he was, and feel a sort of pride at his perfection.
“Let me dive right into this and tell you what I’ve found,” Mila said, leaning towards me and speaking in a low tone.
“Go right ahead,” I replied, easing back into Cairo’s arms, feeling him wrap them tightly around me.
“I was on the right track,” Mila said, “You are a daughter of Brigid, the ancient goddess of beasts. Your kind was created to assist shifters, to help them control their natures to best avoid detection among normal folks.”
“And we all know that works,” Cairo said, squeezing me tight. “I can feel her power, and I’m sure everyone in Cirque knows about it now.”
“It’s something intoxicating to our kind,” Mila smiled. “It’s like calling moths to a flame. I’m sure you heard the call earlier, when Orion wanted to meet, that’s what you feel like to us.”
“Yikes,” I said, feeling a little self-conscious.
“If you stay with Cirque, you will attract shifters and magicked folk from all ends of the continent,” she said, “It’s in your blood. But the thing is, you will lead them with Cairo by your side. Eventually, you will be able to harness the energy of the earth to heal and protect your people. This is the course you are on, they will obey you.”
“Will they though?” I asked.
“They will. As Orion once held them in his thrall, you will hold them. You will lead them, and they will follow you to the ends of the earth if you deem it so,” she said, taking a long drink from her bottle. “And if you don’t like it, that’s too bad. They’ll find you no matter where you are now, Olivia. This is your destiny, and the more you use your power, the more it draws us in.”
She had an almost manic glee in her voice when she said it. I felt anxiety bubbling up from deep inside, and it threatened to boil over and make me act out, run from the new responsibilities being thrust upon me.
“I didn’t ask for this though, how did it happen?” I asked quietly, my subdued nature belying the growing maelstrom of emotions inside of me.
“Cairo happened,” she smiled, not a kind smile, but one that implied all of this was matter of fact, and I’d better get used to it.
“Oh, don’t put this on me,” Cai chuckled and put his hands up.
“When you coupled with her the first time, it unleashed something. You two can’t deny it, it’s written all over your faces. You are entwined and twisted together as surely as you live and breathe,” Mila told us. She seemed delighted by this, as if being around my power made her a little high.
“Does it feel good then?” I asked.
“Fuck does it ever. I can’t tell you how addictive it is, being around you. To go my entire life knowing that the moon controlled my fate, and to find you, to be able to bury my toes in the dirt and decide on my own terms when I’m going to shift. It’s amazing,” she said. “I would stay, but the texts I’ve read indicate there will be more of you in the world. At least three, and I intend to find the other two.”
“How do you know there will be three?” I asked.
“I read an old prophecy, just a scrap of something from the dark ages. Magic was being threatened, and we all know how the world changed after industry took over and such. It was being leached from the world and the old paths were being closed off, one by one.”
“What paths?” I asked.
Mila looked slightly annoyed at my interruption, but hid it well. “Paths to other realms. Faery, the down below, things like that. Surely you’ve heard of them.”
I nodded and she looked relieved. She continued on her explanation of the prophecy. “So the time has apparently come, or is coming, for magic to return to the world. You being here is an indicator, but I’m not entirely certain if it’s happened before. It might have, and failed, but I have a good feeling that you’re pretty fucking special and will make it work this time.”
I exhaled slowly and downed about half my beer in one gulp. This was so much to take in, especially to somebody like myself who hadn’t necessarily believed in magic before a short time ago.
“I know it’s overwhelming,” Mila said, reaching out to touch my arm, to reassure me. “You’ll have help though, once you find your sisters.”
“And I’ll be here for you,” Cairo said, running his hand up my back. “You know that, I’ll never leave your side.”
Mila’s face darkened, and I felt a flutter in my stomach at her expression. “What?” I asked. “You look like you know more.”
“No,” she said, but I could sense a lie in her words, “That’s all. That’s all I’ve got. Now who’s up for some fun?”
“Would you like to shift tonight?” Cairo asked her in a low, lazy voice. I felt sometimes as though I were his new toy and he was showing off. Tonight wasn’t any different, but I did want to see Mila transform.
“Fuck, yes,” Mila said with a wide grin. She downed the last of her beer and stood in front of us. She peeled off all her clothes, her beautiful naked body gleaming in the light from the Cirque.
“I think I’ll join her, if you don’t mind,” Cai said, finishing his beer too. He looked twitchy, as if seeing her naked made his own clothes too tight.
“I don’t mind,” I said, “Should I wait here or go back to my trailer?”
He stood and looked down at me, his face gorgeous in the light, his eyes bright with excitement and fevered energy. “I want you to come with us,” he said and extended his hand.
I reached up and let him pull me to standing. I looked up again and watched his wicked grin grow wider as he stripped.
“I would fuck you tonight, right now,” he said, glancing at Mila, “but let’s run first.”
“Don’t let me get in the way,” Mila laughed, “I might not mind watching though, I’ll warn you now.”
Her laughter was light and airy and a little intoxicating, it made me feel like I wanted to fuck in front of her, I wanted to give her a show. I felt d
runk, but I looked at my bottle and still had half my beer left.
Where was this heady feeling coming from?
I decided I didn’t care when Mila and Cairo dropped down in front of me and began to shift.
There were bigger things to consider tonight, and riding my werewolf boyfriend was first and foremost.
Chapter Twenty Nine
I kept my clothes on, but midway through our run, I wished I’d stripped naked.
It was empowering, the feel of Cai’s muscled wolf body between my legs, me tightening my grip on him and hanging onto his shaggy coat with both hands.
I felt at one with the entire world, the power surging through me felt like I was fucking high, and the connection I had to Cairo made it feel like the best hit of E I’d ever had.
He chased Mila, who turned out to be a light coloured, smaller wolf. She looked almost like a Greyhound with a massive ruff of fur around her neck. She was more elegant than Cai’s massive black form, and could apparently run like the wind.
She didn’t seem to have any set route in mind, she’d never been there so it was all random, but her leaps and bounds appeared to have a purpose.
I remembered what Cairo had told me about his senses being extremely heightened, and wondered if they were following something I couldn’t detect.
I felt a pang of envy at their transformation, I was so completely locked inside my body. I could sense the power at my feet, and see it in action when I used it, or watched Cairo shift, but it was inaccessible to me on this level.
Mila took a high leap over a six foot chain link fence, and I braced myself as Cai followed.
I let out a shriek, it was so startling to be that high off the ground with the wind whipping my hair around in my face.
He landed softly, without a sound, and I marveled at the absolute control he maintained even in the form of a beast.
Mila paused and sniffed the air, turned to look at Cairo with her amber eyes, and made a noise in the back of her throat.
Cairo responded, and once again I felt left out. I envied their bond in this form, their easy communication. I was grateful that Mila wasn’t interested in marrying Cai, and now it would be forbidden because of our bond, but it still bothered me that I was on the outside.
They turned and bounded across a junk yard, a wide industrial space stacked with cars and crushed vehicles of all description.
Mila came to a sudden halt, making Cairo pull up hard enough that I almost slid off his back over his head.
He turned and whined, I readjusted to get a better grip on him and he walked forward, watching a small dark space as intently as Mila.
It occurred to me that I didn’t know if they ate in wolf form. I assumed they did, but I hadn’t asked what?
I saw a flash of movement in the dark, the glimpse of grey fur.
Mila leaped forward, her paws pressed on something and I heard a yelp.
She chomped with her jaws and dragged a wiggling coyote out of the hole, chomped again and it stopped wiggling.
Blood stained her mouth and teeth and she gave us a toothy grin, exposing her red canines.
I shuddered at the sight, and prayed Cairo wouldn’t join in.
She seemed submissive to him, dipping down and wagging her tail with her ears pressed back against her head.
He nodded and stepped back, giving her free reign to devour the carcass.
It was over in a moment, crunching and fur flying was all that indicated what she was eating.
When she was finished, she sat on her haunches and panted, her tongue lolling out. I could still see chunks of meat in her teeth and grimaced, trying not to judge but feeling a little sickened nonetheless.
Cairo turned and bounded back out of the junk yard. Mila followed close behind, I could hear her breathing and occasionally feel the heat of her breath.
I considered the fact that she could crunch me in half if she wanted to, and I thanked my lucky stars I was meeting werewolves like this, not alone in the dark, facing a pack of them.
We got to the field where they’d shifted, and Cairo came to an abrupt stop. I slid off his back, immediately missing the feel of his powerful body between my legs.
It was almost sexual, that feeling, hundreds of pounds of savage beast propelling himself through the night air, my thighs gripped tight, my fingers curled in his massive coat.
I turned in time to see him change, the air going almost liquid around him like an old time Star Trek transporter, the cracking and meaty sounds of his body shifting making my stomach leap.
Mila shifted behind him, but my eyes were on Cairo, he was bent over as if in pain, his hand on his legs.
“Is something wrong?” I asked, running my hand along his back, feeling the ridge of his spine in the divot between his strong muscles.
“I feel sick,” he said, “remind me not to drink and shift.”
“Is that it? Alcohol makes you ill when you’re in wolf form?”
“That and watching Mila eat that coyote. What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was hungry, he was being cocky,” she quipped from behind me. “What’s the big deal?”
“We don’t eat scavengers here, we stick to prey,” Cairo said, easing up to his full height. He grimaced and nodded towards his clothes. I snuck a peak downwards and once again wondered how his piercings managed to make it through the entire process still attached to his body.
I grabbed his bundle of clothes and tossed them to him. He caught it in midair with one hand, even when he was sick, his reflexes were inhuman.
I admired his body as he pulled them on, the way his muscles worked under his flesh, the way his hair hung loose around his face, his beard jutting out proudly. I pondered if I’d ever see him with a bare face, and if I would like it as much.
He caught me watching him, unable to disguise my naked hunger, and almost seemed to blush. I didn’t think he was used to a woman like me, so freely ogling his fine ass when he bent over to do up his boots.
“You like the view?” he asked, standing up with a grin.
“Yeah, I might,” I replied and crossed the space between us to smack his rear while he zipped up.
“Hey there, woman,” he laughed, “I’m going to catch an important part in the zipper here if you don’t watch it.”
“Oh dear god, I’ll back off,” I grinned, holding my hands in the air.
“You two are so cute, I could puke,” Mila said, then paused, put her hand on her chest and let out a loud burp.
“Ugh, I smell coyote,” Cai said, screwing his nose up. “I’m sorry, Mila. Not only do I want to get Liv alone to fuck her like a savage beast, but I can’t be around you tonight with those burps.”
She broke out laughing and said, “Sure, sure, whatever. You two go off and do your thing. I’ve got some more reading to do before I leave anyhow.”
“Let us know if you find anything good,” I said, laughing as Cai wrapped his arms around me from behind and started nibbling my neck and ears, making mock growling noises.
“Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?” he snuffled against my flesh.
“Not I, said the horny girl who wanted to fuck the big bad wolf, like, now!” I giggled as he tickled me.
“Then let’s make that happen,” he replied, dropping me to the grass, careful to hold me in his arms and set me gently at the last moment.
“You jerk, I thought you were dropping me,” I cried out, my heart pounding.
“Never,” he said, hovering over me, his loose hair hanging down and tickling my cheeks. “I will never let you go. And I will never hurt you. In fact, I would never let you get hurt.”
“That’s a convenient thing to say to a girl who can’t feel pain,” I quipped, raising my brow sarcastically.
“You know what I mean,” he said, his tone low and serious, his eyes deep with the love that resided there. “I wouldn’t want to live in a world without you in it,” he continued, “That’s what I mean.”
I felt th
e sharp tingle of tears behind my eyes, thinking the same thing as he, but unable to voice it.
I’d long believed that if you gave words to your fears, the Devil would hear and make them come true.
Instead of agreeing with him, I pulled him down for a kiss, and to drink my tears and love.
*****
“Get in here,” Orion hissed. It was several nights after the run to the junkyard and he’d fully recovered from his booze induced bender.
And I was nervous tonight for some reason. Although I had been living as though encased in bubble wrap, Cairo’s intoxicating presence creating that detachment from reality, I was worried about my safety. It was if I could taste danger on the wind and it was coming for me.
After Dark was busy, over crowded if the fire inspector did a late night visit, but they rarely came around after the sun went down.
The energy was different though, it felt more savage, as if they were demanding blood tonight and would get it.
Mine, of course, but more. Something more visceral and raw, exposed meat and guts, that kind of thing.
Cairo put his arm around me and whispered, “You don’t have to do this, Liv. You owe him nothing.”
“I know,” I replied, gathering courage from his embrace. “I feel like we’re this close to figuring out who’s taking the girls. I’m sure they’re here tonight, let me perform and watch the crowd for me, okay?”
“You amaze me,” he said and leaned down to kiss me fully. “I’ll be right here for you, you’ll be okay.”
It almost hurt to break away when I heard Orion hiss my name again.
I walked to the staging area and felt his hand dig into my arm, it would have hurt if I could feel it, I could see the red marks he was leaving in my flesh.
I followed him to the main stage when we were given our cue. Alexi joined us again, and I caught a glimpse of Carl exiting stage left.
It seemed everybody was out working After Dark tonight.
My stomach felt fluttery, nervous, and I tasted sour bile in the back of my throat. Something was off, and everything was screaming at me to get out, but I had no evidence.