Luke on the Loose

by Amanda M. Lee

  That’s the exact opposite of how I live. I have fun, don’t get me wrong, but I have multiple cares.

  My care this afternoon was the main tent. I split duties with the ringmaster and take at least one show a day when we’re operating to give him a break. I love being in front of the crowd, serving as the center of attention. I also shift into a wolf for specific performances.

  We have no real animals at Mystic Caravan Circus. We pretend we do. We transport cages from location to location, but the cages are empty. The animals are all shifters and we change into our animal forms before each performance. We’re careful to keep the “animal” tents warded so nobody can accidentally wander inside and discover our secret, but we’ve come close to being exposed a time or two.

  Today, I left Seth — our tiger shifter — to handle the animal tents while I focused on the erection of the main tent. I liked to make sure it was perfect, the chairs lined up, before I left the everyday workers to handle ventilation and decorations. They understood their jobs and were quick about them.

  That’s another thing that’s valued in the circus business. Speed. Every week we move to one spot, set up our operation, perform several shows, and then pack up and leave again. Most weeks we have only about ten to fifteen hours of travel between locations (sometimes less) so we don’t spend long hours on the road. The set-up, however, can be exhausting. That’s why we take several days to make sure it’s done correctly. We’re definitely working on set-up days, but it’s a different sort of work.

  “What are you doing?” Nixie, her hair a wispy shade of pink today, stepped next to me and stared at the main tent as the workers toiled to raise it.

  “Debating the meaning of life,” I drawled.

  “Oh, yeah? What did you come up with?”

  “Peanut M&Ms are the only thing worth living for.”

  She snickered. “I beg to differ. I live for licorice.”

  That sounded about right. Nixie was the sweeter of the pixie twins. Her twin sister, Naida, had a temper that couldn’t be controlled. In fact, when she was in a mood — which happened at least once a week — she was known to set off weather sirens because she could conjure a tornado from thin air.

  “Do you need something?” I asked. As much as I found the pixie twins amusing, they often grated on me. Their ways were odd — like a Kardashian being nominated for an Oscar odd — and I preferred dealing with them in small doses.

  “Poet wants you on the east side of the fairgrounds. We’re about to tighten the dreamcatcher. If it works, it should draw the incubus to us right away. If it’s in this area, it will come hunting within a few minutes.

  “We don’t have any reason to believe it’s in the area just yet, but we want to be on the safe side and make sure no women are alone when that happens,” she continued. “Dolph will be with Naida, Nellie with me. Percival is with Raven. Poet wants you with her and Kade.”

  I was fairly certain there was an insult buried in there somewhere. “So you’re saying Poet wants me to join her so Kade can babysit me.”

  Nixie’s smile never wavered. “Exactly.”

  I was grouchy by the time I joined Poet and Kade near the woods. They were both focused on the dreamcatcher lines, which glowed as Poet used her magic to illuminate the intricate web of crossing lines.

  “There you are.” She shot me a pointed look. “I was about to come looking for you.”

  “Last time I checked I was a grown man,” I reminded her. “Is there a reason you’re infantilizing me?”

  She smiled indulgently. “Because I love my little Luke.” She grabbed my cheek and gave it a good jiggle, forcing me to take a step away from her and glare.

  “Knock that off.” I turned to Kade, who was watching the woods with overt suspicion. “How can you put up with her when she acts like this?”

  “She’s all sugared up from the chocolate I bought at the store,” he replied, blasé. “I enjoy it when she’s hopped up like this. It’s usually a benefit. My timing on this round wasn’t great.”

  I realized what he was saying and made a face “You’re pretty gross. You know that, right?”

  He shrugged. “I am a work in progress.” He shifted his stare to Poet. “We’re ready. Start your thing.”

  She nodded and raised her hands in the air, two faint sparks zipping off her fingertips. Only those magically inclined or of paranormal origin would be able to see the sparks. On the four sides of the fairgrounds, answering sparks hit the air. Then, at the same time, Poet started chanting.

  The words were in Latin, so I didn’t immediately recognize them. For some reason, almost all of their joint spells were in Latin. I didn’t know if that made them more powerful, but it seemed to be a regular occurrence these days.

  “Tell me if you sense something,” Kade instructed, positioning himself between Poet and me. Obviously he wanted to be ready if he needed to stop either of us from racing into another man’s arms. “If you smell anything, like cake, tell me that, too. Also, if you hear anything with your wolf ears I should probably be made aware of that.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Aren’t you feeling ‘alpha’ this afternoon?” I used air quotes because I knew it would annoy him. The area was quiet, even the birds weren’t stirring, and only once did I think I saw a hint of movement. I stared at that spot for a long time but ultimately came up empty. “I don’t think it’s out there.”

  “I don’t know if that’s good or bad,” Kade admitted as he watched Poet press her eyes shut. She was lost in the spell now, everything else forgotten. When the magic overtook her, it was almost breathtaking to watch. I was accustomed to the sight, but Kade still got entranced.

  Of course, he led with his hormones. He found the image of Poet throwing her magic around enticing. I just found it itchy. What? I’m a shifter. When I sense magic in my vicinity it’s almost as if someone tossed starch in my boxer shorts. It’s an uncomfortable experience all around.

  “Anything?” Kade asked when Poet finally lowered her hands and focused on him.

  She shook her head. “If the incubus is out there, he’s not close enough to call to us yet. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Incubi hunt at night.”

  “That makes sense because they’re sexual predators.” He rubbed his hand up and down Poet’s back. “I don’t know about you guys, but I could use something to eat.”

  “It’s kind of late for lunch,” Poet pointed out.

  “Then let’s have an early dinner,” he suggested. “Then we can go to bed early and ... read.” He shot me what I’m sure he thought was a guileless look.

  All I could do was roll my eyes. “Whatever. I’m up for dinner, too. Once darkness falls we’ll all have to be on alert — which means no hanky-panky ... for anybody — so we should load up on carbohydrates so we have the strength to patrol the fairgrounds the entire night.”

  “That’s a good idea.” Poet squeezed Kade’s hand before turning to me. “We bought burgers and potato salad. How does that sound?”

  “You know me. I’ll eat anything. I’m not picky.”

  Kade let loose a derisive snort. “Right. You’re not picky.”

  I balked. “I’m not. I’m easygoing.”

  “Yes, that’s the word that always pops into my head when thinking about you.”

  “Hey, I’m a freaking un-picky prince. I’m the most easygoing guy at this circus.” I looked to Poet for confirmation. “Tell him I’m easygoing.”

  She smiled. “Hamburgers and potato salad it is.”

  EVEN THOUGH WE STARTED dinner early, it turned into a late affair. We grouped around the bonfire after our meal and, before I knew what was happening, everyone was sharing their favorite incubus stories.

  “I swear the one I met in New Orleans was blind,” Nellie volunteered ominously. “He could hear really well and was attracted to the rustling of my dress. He was confused when he tried to mount me, though.”

  Poet’s mouth dropped open and I saw the horror washing over her. “Wh
o says ‘mount?’”

  Nellie shrugged. “I do. That was back in the days before I started shaving my back. I think he thought I was a wolf hybrid or something because he kept making odd noises.

  “I just waited for him to crawl all the way up me and then I showed him my ax,” he continued. “He didn’t even react to it. That’s how I knew he was blind, but I should’ve asked him before I cut off his head, though.”

  “Well ... that is a lovely story,” I offered, leaning back in my lawn chair and stretching my long legs out in front of me. “I can’t understand why that story isn’t included in some delightful children’s book. The illustrations would be works of art.”

  Kade snickered as I sipped a beer. Poet tried to put her foot down and demand no one drink while we waited for the dreamcatcher to alert, but Nellie and Dolph were having none of it. They argued that if it looked as if we were waiting to spring a trap the incubus would likely never approach. That didn’t make much sense to me because the magical quartet strengthened the dreamcatcher to specifically appeal to an incubus. In theory, the incubus shouldn’t be able to fight the attraction if he drew near enough. Beer or no beer, the creature was coming if the dreamcatcher ensnared him.

  That said, I like beer and was on the side of those who were fighting for foamy goodness. That meant Poet lost out. I pretended to sympathize with her ... while drinking beer and shooting Nellie a covert thumbs-up for his efforts.

  It was well after dark when the dreamcatcher alerted. We’d been having such a good time, relaxing and telling tall tales while steadfastly forgetting the imminent threat, I almost didn’t grasp what I heard. I was so surprised by the noise buzzing in the back of my head that I didn’t immediately put together what we were listening to ... and then I was on my feet.

  “Where?” I asked, narrowing my eyes as I stared into the darkness.

  “I’m not sure,” Poet muttered, looking around. “I ... .”

  “That way.” Raven pointed in the opposite direction I was expecting. She gestured away from the woods and toward an uneven field to the west.

  Kade was already on his feet. “Are you sure?”

  Raven bobbed her silver head. “Yes.”

  “We’ll go as a group,” Kade instructed. “Don’t let any of the women go off on their own. Someone needs to watch Luke, too.”

  I was offended by the comment. “I don’t need anyone to watch me.”

  Kade ignored the statement. “Let’s go.”

  It was a tense walk through the fairgrounds. We stuck together out of habit. Dolph and Nellie enjoyed hunting more than most, so they positioned themselves at the outside of the group. Kade did the same. The rest of us were focused on the noises produced by the night sky ... and the feelings deep in our guts when trouble was afoot.

  Oddly enough, I didn’t sense another being invading our territory as we approached the property line. I sensed ... something else.

  “I don’t know that we should leave the dreamcatcher,” I said, extending a hand in front of Poet before she could step over the protective barrier. “I think we should stay here.”

  She immediately started shaking her head. “No. There’s something out there.”

  She was making my point for me. “Then we should stay here.”

  “No.” She was firm as she wrapped her fingers around my wrist and pushed it away from her. “We have to see.”

  I looked toward Kade. If anyone would back me up, it should be him. He was belligerent when it came to Poet’s safety. He was focused on the field.

  “I think there’s something out there,” he noted.

  That’s all it took. Everyone stepped over the line together and kept walking. Some of our members were armed with actual weapons, like Nellie and Dolph, who carried an ax and knives, respectively. I was a shifter, so I was most powerful in animal form, which I would transform into if it became necessary. The rest of my friends were magical and didn’t need weapons other than their mouths or brains. Not for the first time, I envied them.

  “I don’t see anything,” Percival announced after a few minutes of silence. “I think we should head back.” He was neither armed nor magical. As far as I could tell, his only redeemable quality was the fact that he was sexually adventurous ... something Raven liked to brag about to anyone who would listen. Other than that, the dude was a first-class douche. He even talked in a fake British accent. We knew it was fake because he once let it slip during a tense situation.

  “I see something.” I wrinkled my nose and pulled away from the crowd, focusing on a mound of earth to my left. It looked to be freshly churned, but that’s not what caught my attention. No, what caught my attention was a familiar smell. “Holy ... !”

  “What is it?” Kade was immediately at my side. “Are you feeling an uncontrollable urge to disappear into the night and run into some random guy’s arms?”

  I made a face. “No, and you’ve been spending too much time with Poet.”

  “There’s no such thing as spending too much time together,” Kade shot back. “What do you see?”

  “It’s not what I see. It’s what I smell.”

  “Okay. What do you smell? Is it cake?”

  “No. It’s ... decomposing flesh.”

  Whatever he was expecting, that wasn’t it. Kade wrinkled his nose and glanced around. Finally, his eyes landed on the mound of dirt. “Are you saying there’s a body buried in there?”

  “There’s more than one body,” Poet said quietly as she joined us. “Look.” She threw her arm into the air and sent up a series of sparkles. It was enough to illuminate the area, and that’s when I realized there had to be at least twenty mounds of dirt spread across the field.

  “What the ... ?” I almost tripped over my own feet as I took in the scene. “That can’t be right.”

  “How did no one see this until now?” Kade asked, dumbfounded. “I just ... are all of these mounds bodies?”

  Poet nodded. “Yeah, and I don’t think they were all killed recently. This has been going on for some time.”

  “How long?”

  “I don’t know, but we need to start figuring it out. This is a graveyard.”

  And that was enough to suck the fun out of everyone for the rest of the night.

  Six

  Graveyard was the appropriate word.

  It was also the only word that spiraled through my head as I slowly paced the field.

  “Here’s another one,” Nellie called out from the far side of the clearing.

  I moved toward him, frowning when I realized he was right. “That’s twenty-two.” I looked at Poet. “What are we going to do?”

  She looked as lost as I felt. “I don’t know. Can you get a feel for how long they’ve been here?”

  “It can’t have been long,” Raven answered for me, hands on hips. “We would’ve noticed a cemetery on our boundaries if the bodies were here a year ago.”

  She had a point, but still ... . I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I said. “I would have to say the freshest one has been here only a few days. The oldest ... more likely a good nine months or so. My nose isn’t exactly as educated as a medical examiner’s.”

  “It’s our best guess.”

  “Yeah, well ... .” I was in the middle of debating what we should do when Kade stepped forward.

  “We need to call the police,” he announced.

  Instead of everyone jumping up and down and agreeing that his idea was brilliant, a multitude of dubious eyes rolled in his direction.

  “We have to call them.” He was firm. “They’re better equipped to investigate this. I mean ... it’s a serial killer.”

  I had a few snarky things I wanted to say. Thankfully Poet stepped forward and took hold of the conversation before that became necessary.

  “We can’t call the police.” She looked to be struggling with her tone. “They’re not equipped to deal with this.”

  “Um ... last time I checked it was their job to deal with things exactly l
ike this,” Kade argued. “This is too big for us to handle alone.”

  “I hate to break it to you, Sparky, but this is exactly the sort of thing we handle on our own,” Nellie countered. “The police can’t handle an incubus. They don’t even know creatures like that exist.”

  “Yeah, but ... .” Kade turned to Poet for help.

  “We can’t call the police.” She was gentle this time when she said the words. “That will create more problems than it will solve.”

  “I disagree.”

  Poet licked her lips and glanced at me, as if expecting me to swoop in and offer help. I was fresh out of ideas on that front. All I had was anger.

  “Dude, you don’t seem to grasp the obvious,” I announced, straightening. “An incubus is a demon. It’s supernatural in origin. Bullets don’t kill it. Even if the cops managed to track it down they would be woefully out of their depth fighting it. Most cops don’t take a ‘behead first, question later’ approach. Do you have any idea how many of them would fall during a fight? I don’t know either. I just know it wouldn’t be a number you’d be happy with.”

  “We can’t leave these girls out here.” Kade was adamant. “They have families looking for them, loved ones who are probably holding onto hope that they’re out there somewhere waiting for a rescue.”

  “I’m sure some of them do,” Poet agreed. “We’ll make sure they get home.”

  “We will?” Kade was understandably dubious. “If we can’t call the police, how will we see to it that happens?”

  “We’ll track the incubus,” she replied without hesitation. “We’ll take it out. We won’t leave until that’s accomplished. I promise you that. After — like, months from now — we’ll place an anonymous call, one that can’t be tracked no matter what, and tell the police where to look for the bodies.”

  “They’ll start a search for a human serial killer at that point,” Raven volunteered. “The community will panic and the girls will be sent to their families for burial. The cops will waste their time chasing their tails looking for a killer who doesn’t exist. It’s the safest route.”