Jerry disappeared inside a trailer and came back wearing a fresh shirt and carrying four glasses and a bottle of Jose Cuervo’s finest tequila. He poured four shots and passed out beers from a cooler to all present. Then he raised his shot glass.
“To family, and love,” he said, putting an arm around Lily’s shoulders.
Lila took Evan’s hand and looked into his eyes before raising her glass to clink against Jerry’s.
“To family and love.”
Everyone present echoed the toast and drank. Evan winced at the taste as it went down.
Lila smirked at him and opened his can of PBR for him. Evan took a long drink from the beer to chase the tequila and then assumed Lila’s favorite position, straddling her body sideways and putting one arm around her waist.
“Thanks Angel.” Evan kissed her temple.
Lily watched them, a small smile on her lips. She was so happy that her daughter had found love and that it looked like he was just as much in love as she was. Lily hugged Jerry for a moment, her heart full of love for her family.
The other family members began drifting outside carrying plates, and utensils. Someone had lit the coals in a large grill, and two of the clowns arrived carrying plates of hamburgers, hot dogs, and buns. They all listened to Lila’s talk about life up north in New Castle as they set the tables and began the grilling. By the time the meat was ready, everyone had arrived with sides and condiments and everyone except Evan dug into the meal. For the first few minutes the only words said were, “Pass the ketchup please,” and, “Mm, delicious.”
Evan glanced around the table, fascinated by the self made family before him. He never would have guessed that such a diverse group could live in harmony and in secret for so long.
“How did you manage to keep your magic a secret from Lila her whole life?” he asked the table.
He heard a few chuckles before Roy answered.
“We didn’t have to. We are circus folk. Just like gypsies, people expect us to practice magic. Especially children.”
Evan looked at Roy, not really believing him. Roy smiled and stood on the bench picking up his napkin and draping it over a hand. He pulled it away with a flourish, to reveal a bouquet of flowers.
“Ta-da, magic.”
“That was a trick,” complained Evan to more chuckles.
Roy pushed his sleeves up his arm halfway and waved his hands theatrically, showing both sides. He pressed his palms together and opened them. A dove flew out and away.
“Was that a trick or magic? Does it matter to a child?” he challenged Evan.
“What about when she got older?” Evan countered.
Roy smiled along with a few others at the table.
“All children eventually stop believing in real magic. Just like with Santa Claus, they find alternate explanations, such as assuming that a magician is merely performing a trick.” Here he leaned over to his wife next to him and pulled a coin from her ear. He flipped it across the table at Evan who was forced to catch it. It was not perfectly round, and when Evan looked down to see why, he saw that he was holding an ancient silver coin. The embossing was worn, but the face of King Henry V on one side was recognizable to Evan. Evan looked up at Roy who raised his eyebrows. The table erupted in laughter at the comic gesture. Evan smiled at the little man and tucked the coin away in a pocket.
Late in the evening the party broke up, everyone retreating to their own trailers. Lila took Evan’s hand and guided him into Lily’s trailer’s tiny bathroom. Turning, she kissed him, starting to unbutton his shirt. With a smile of understanding, Evan kissed her back and lifted her t-shirt over her head. Lila broke away and turned to start the water running in the one person shower.
“This is gonna be tight,“ she said.
“You wont get any complaints from me.” Evan said.
When she turned to look at him, Evan was already undressed and grinning at her.
She snorted with laughter and stripped the rest of her clothes off. Taking his hand again she stepped into the shower. The space was so small that they were pressed torso to torso. Evan wrapped his arms around Lila and held her close to him kissing her lips, ear, and neck.
“Still want to marry me?” she asked, a bit breathless.
“Nothing could stop me,” he answered, hands beginning to roam all over her.
“Really? They didn’t scare you off?”
Evan stopped and looked into Lila’s eyes.
“No,” he said with a smile.”I like your family circus.”
Lila kissed Evan then with love and lust, lifting one leg around his hips to pull him closer. Evan kissed her back deeply and ground his long hard cock against her sex encouraging the lust as he ravaged her mouth with his.
“We have about five minutes.” Lila gasped out between kisses.
“Five minute of what?’
“Hot water.” she said as she took his cock in hand and guided it into her channel. They both groaned with the pleasure of her tightness enveloping his length as he slid all the way into her.
“So make this one hard and fast,” Lila panted.
“With pleasure,” Evan said with another grin as he began to pull nearly all the way out just to thrust in completely.
“Oh!” Lila exclaimed, throwing her head back in pleasure and gripping his shoulders to pull him closer.
Evan adored the sounds Lila made during lovemaking. He especially adored making her scream. As soon as she began to utter sounds instead of words, he knew she was heading towards climax. He reached under her thighs and gripped her ass, lifting her just enough so that he could drive into her, hitting all her erogenous zones and bringing her to a swift climax as he quickly approached his. He had her back pressed up against the wall of the shower as Lila gasped and cried for more. In another minute she cried out his name and he felt her inner muscles convulsing around his cock. He let go and came with her, loving how easily their bodies climaxed together.
Three gasping breaths later, the water began to cool. Lila turned off the taps before it turned to freezing and, still catching their breath, they got out and toweled dry, still standing close in their intimacy as well as the tiny space.
“Sorry about the accommodations,” Lila said.
“What are you talking about? They’re perfect.”
“They’re so tight and not luxurious,” Lila said apologetically.
“Angel, I don’t want a lot of space between us. I like having you close to me. And I was born in the middle ages, so indoor plumbing is a luxury to me.”
They both laughed at that and kissed as they dried off.
The kissing led to a new arousal, and soon they were making love on the bed, Lila doing her best not to scream as she knew how thin the trailer walls really were.
Chapter 15
November
The weekend went perfectly. On Thursday even more circus family members showed up for the thanksgiving feast, and all accepted Evan into the fold. The weather was beautiful, and Evan drove the Bell women to the beach on Friday where they walked a couple of miles until Lila noticed Evan’s cheeks turning pink from the sun. On Saturday after the morning cat feeding, Jerry joined them for a stroll through a nearby tropical garden and minigolf, where people could feed captive alligators.
Every night Evan made love to Lila for hours, and every morning she slept late. Being away from Sebastian and the team felt like a real vacation for Lila. So when she woke on Sunday and realized it was her last day, Lila was sad.
She spent the morning with Jerry and the big cats, feeding, examining, and talking to them. Evan shadowed them, remaining in the background as he did when on guard. Apparently, Evan the bodyguard had clocked in again.
Lily strolled into the Big Cat Sanctuary to find Evan leaning his back against a tree trunk and watching Jerry and Lila inside the enclosure with Jesus. Lily rested her hand on Evan’s arm and smiled up at him.
“Evan, I wanted to tell you before you leave that I am so happy you and Lila foun
d each other. I could not have imagined a better partner for her.” She squeezed his arm and looked into his eyes with a sincere acceptance. “Keep her safe for me, she’s my only connection to her father.”
Evan looked down at Lily and saw sorrow in her eyes. In spite of the years of separation, the family she had created for herself, and the love that Jerry gave her, Lily still loved her baby daddy.
“I will never leave her,” Evan told her, and putting an arm around her shoulders, held his mother-in-law close to ensure her of his oath. The two of them stayed that way for a while, watching Lila and Jerry and Jesus inside the enclosure. Finally Evan had to ask the obvious question.
“What’s with Jesus?”
Lily sighed loudly.
“He’s hiding from a South American drug cartel. It’s safer for him to stay in his panther form. Jerry talks to him so that he doesn’t lose his humanity, the way Abe did.”
“The lion is a shifter then?”
“Was. In human years he’s around 250 years old. He came to Jerry’s mentor asking for sanctuary a long time ago. He claimed a mate not accepted by his family, so he and Sheba decided to abandon their human sides to stay together. Alice is their only surviving cub. After witnessing her sibling’s murders, she also chose to forget her human form and live here as a lioness.
“These lions are the reason why the Finkle Family Circus lasted as long as it did and is still famous. I can’t tell you how many times Ringling tried to buy the Lion act that Jerry’s teacher developed with Abraham’s pride at its center.”
Jerry and Lila stepped out of the enclosure then, and seeing Lily, walked over to join her and Evan in the shade of the tree.
“Hi Mom, what’s up?” asked Lila.
“Nothing really, I just wanted to watch you help Jerry one more time before you leave.”
“I already promised to come for Christmas.”
“I know, but I’ll still miss you. And now I’ll miss Evan, too,” she said, giving Evan a little side hug before letting him go and embracing her daughter in a bear hug.
“Seriously, Mom, it’s only one month away.”
“I know, but that doesn’t make me miss you any less.”
Lila hugged her mom back.
“I love you, Mom.”
The two men looked on indulgently as the women embraced.
Even though they were departing from the small private airport, Evan had his shades on indicating to Lila that he was in work mode, and on high alert. Lila rolled her eyes, wondering what on earth could go wrong in a tiny building on a tiny airfield. Granted there were a number of people there waiting to board their private charters, but nothing looked suspicious to her. Even so, Evan held her hand tightly and studied the other travelers.
“I have to pee,” Lila whispered in Evan’s ear trying to let go of Evan’s hand.
“Can you wait till we’re on the plane?”
“I’d rather not. Is there something that’s making you nervous?”
“Everyt’in’ and not’in’.”
“Two minutes, Baby, I promise.”
Evan reluctantly let go of her and sat on a couch within view of the bathroom door. As soon as the door closed behind Lila, a large family group entered the building. Young children started racing around bouncing on the chairs and couches. A slightly older child chased them, making them scream in delight. A baby was crying loudly, it’s mother trying to calm it. Evan didn’t turn his head away from the ladies room door, but he was amazed by how much noise the group was making. He never heard the person walk right up behind him and use a dart gun to shoot a sliver of paralyzing wood into the muscle between his shoulder and his back. A hand touched his other shoulder, probably making sure he didn’t tip over.
Evan was a trapped prisoner inside his own body. He could see, hear, and feel, but he couldn’t speak or move. Someone bent over him and whispered in his ear.
“I’m sorry for this, but my wife has cancer, and I need the money to pay for her treatment.”
Then the person moved around Evan. All he saw was the back of a tall man in a pilot’s black slacks and white shirt. It might have been the same pilot who flew them to Florida, but his back looked like so many others. The man entered the ladies room, and never came out.
Hours later travelers and pilots were still filing through the small private charter building, and Evan sat on the same couch, stone still while he screamed inside his head. Lila had been taken. He could feel it. With every minute that passed, she was moving farther away from him, and he was helpless to do anything about it. There must be a door or window in the bathroom that his attacker used to get Lila out of the building, since he’d never seen either of them exit. The more time he had to think about it, the more he was convinced that it was the pilot of their plane who did the kidnapping. He probably had an accomplice, most likely the co-pilot, and between the two of them they got Lila onto the plane alone and flew away as if nothing was amiss.
Now Evan was stuck until Sebastian noticed that something had gone wrong and raised the alarm. How long would it take for someone to notice the staked vampire? With that thought, Evan started studying the people who moved through reception. Most were human. Here and there he saw a Special, but not one full blooded Magique walked by him all afternoon.
Six hours after they were scheduled to take off, Evan’s phone began to vibrate in his pocket. That would be Sebastian. Why had it taken him so long? The phone practically vibrated for twenty minutes straight before it paused for ten minutes, and then only vibrated every five minutes a few times. Then the time lengthened to ten minute intervals. An hour and a half later Jerry appeared kneeling in front of Evan.
“Fuck,” was all he said before he pulled his phone out and texted someone. Then he texted someone else. Then Jerry looked into Evan’s eyes.
“Where were you hit?” he asked.
He ran his hands over Evan, not unlike the way he did with the big cats in his care. He stood and walked around to Evan’s back and felt along his shoulders and neck. When his fingers passed over the spot where the spike penetrated, he must have felt a slight bump, because his fingers backtracked and passed over the spot again. This time Evan felt the bump. No bigger than a bug bite. Thank Christ Jerry was used to feeling for anomalies.
“Okay Evan my man, all we have to do now is figure out how to get you out of here without bringing a whole lot of attention to you.”
Jerry walked back around the couch and sat next to Evan while he thumbed through his contacts and murmured to Evan.
“The wood is close enough to the surface that I can probably pull it out myself, but the skin has healed over, so I’ll need to cut the skin. All I really need is to get you to my truck. It’s getting dark outside.”
Jerry looked up from his phone to see that the lounge was empty, and the receptionist was talking to a couple of travelers. No one was looking their way. Jerry took Evan’s arm and pulled it over his own shoulder while leaning them forward to get his other arm around Evan’s waist. He stood, pulling Evan up with him and started walking towards the front doors. He was holding Evan up off the floor as much as he could so that if anyone walked in they would not notice that Evan’s legs were dragging behind. The less they had to play the drunken buddy routine, the less likely they’d be remembered.
Luckily, the automatic doors slid open and no one was walking in at that moment. They were far enough away from the other people in the parking lot that no one looked twice at them. Jerry got Evan to his truck and opened the passenger door. He laid Evan face down across the bench seat and ran around to the driver’s door. He had parked off to the side of the parking lot where there was little light from the lamps overhead. He doused the compartment light and used the flashlight on his phone instead.
Evan heard the snick of a pocket knife opening, and then he felt Jerry’s fingers at his nape. Jerry found the small bump again, and then Evan felt the pressure of the blade opening his skin. Then more pressure as Jerry attempted to pinch t
he sliver with his fingers. Jerry cursed when his fingers slipped, and Evan heard another snick. Then he felt something hard edged dig into the wound and pull. Once Jerry started pulling, Evan could feel how long the sliver was. Slow and steady, Evan thought, don’t leave a splinter behind.
Jerry pulled slowly with even pressure until the spike was protruding an inch out from the wound. Then he used his fingers to grasp it, but continued the slow steady pull. It still broke, and Jerry cursed before using the sharp tool again to fish for the sliver. He managed to get another half inch piece out, but it had broken off, so now what was left inside Evan was a half inch or more down. Jerry let go of an exasperated breath before making a larger incision so that he could dig deeper. After twenty more minutes of digging, he finally got all of the wood out of Evan’s body. Evan sucked in a long breath and got his hands under himself to push upright.
“Thank Christ!” he murmured.
Jerry handed him a tissue from an open box on the floor, and Evan wiped at the wound. It was already healing, but Jerry had made a mess by digging around. Blood had dripped to the front of Evan’s neck and onto the seat. They cleaned up as best they could.
“I owe you a bottle for that Jerry, thanks. Do you have any tricks up your sleeve for findin’ the only woman who means somt’in’ to me?”
Jerry gave Evan a sympathetic smile when their eyes met. Then he reached out and tapped Evan’s chest.
“That’s your job, true mate. In what direction do you feel she went?”
Evan closed his eyes and felt for Lila. She was just a faint echo now, she was so far away. He would lose the feeling all together soon. It made Evan’s heart sink.
“South and west,” he answered. He opened his eyes and studied Jerry.
“How do you know so much about true mates?”
“My parents were true mates,” he said with an indulgent smile. “My Dad told me what it was like.”
“But you’re only half shifter, no?”
“Correct. It’s a well kept secret that Magiques can find a true mate among humans. My Dad made me swear to keep it.”
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