by Chant, Zoe
Merlin had meant to continue with, “but that’s no excuse.” Before he could, Roland said, “That’s no excuse!”
“I know,” Merlin said. “Seriously, Carter, I apologize. I can make you homemade truffles if you like.”
“Why don’t you make some homemade circus peanuts while you’re at it?” said Carter. Behind his back, Roland was giving Merlin an exasperated look and Pete was rolling his eyes. Even Tirzah looked disbelieving.
“You guys,” Dali broke in, stepping forward to stand at his side and glare at the lot of them. “Of course Merlin can make truffles! He has a tin of homemade marshmallows in his house in twelve different flavors. They’re delicious, too.”
Merlin’s heart warmed at her defense of him and his candy-making skills. And while he was apparently the opposite of convincing when he was telling the truth, everyone believed Dali instantly and looked abashed.
“Okay,” said Carter. “You’re on. I want one box of your best truffles, as soon as you get the chance. No banana, no white chocolate, no licorice.”
“Deal,” said Merlin.
“If you’re some kind of secret gourmet chef, why don’t you ever bring in homemade goodies for the rest of us?” Pete asked, aggrieved. “You sat there watching me eat an MRE for lunch last week because Batcat stole my sandwich.”
“I tried to bring cookies a couple times, but...” Merlin cut himself off before he could explain that he’d suffered a raptor-fueled failure of will en route to the office and eaten them himself. “Anyway, I will now.”
“I can’t wait,” said Roland, and this time he sounded sincerely pleased. “Merlin, do you have anything to report on your case?”
Run away, quick, suggested his raptor. If I get really big, I could carry Dali and Blue.
If only, Merlin replied silently. “Let’s go back to the lobby and collect Ransom. I think everyone should hear this.”
Ransom emerged from his office the instant they stepped into the lobby. He looked strained and pale, and took a seat in the corner without speaking. Merlin wondered what it was like to have his power. Had his power let him listen to their conversation in the break room, or showed them returning? Or did he simply know what was happening?
Ransom glanced at Merlin and said, “I heard everyone’s footsteps, and I knew Roland would want a report from you. That’s all.”
Which explained Merlin’s question, but raised the one of how Ransom had known what he was thinking.
With a faint smile, Ransom said, “I’m not using any powers. Your face is just easy to read.”
Which didn’t make Merlin feel any less unsettled. The memory came into his mind of the only time he’d ever seen Ransom’s hellhound. That huge black dog had literally stared down a dragon with his fiery eyes. What was it like to have that eerie presence inside your head?
Not fun, Merlin suspected. “Hey, Ransom, you were completely right that I needed bigger traps. I assumed you were pulling my leg, but obviously...” He waved his hand at Blue, who was making a determined attempt to climb into Merlin’s lap. “I found him when he got his head caught in a kitten-sized trap. Anyway, I’m sorry I doubted you.”
Ransom blinked. He seemed so startled by the apology that he was at a loss for words. Finally, he said, “He’s a bugbear, right?”
“Yes. He’s very friendly. Hold our your hand to him.”
Ransom offered Blue his hand. Blue sniffed it, then began to lick it enthusiastically.
“See?” Merlin said. “He likes you.”
“He’s testing to see if you’re edible,” Carter suggested.
Ignoring that, Merlin forged on. “I bet you’ll be next to get a magical pet, Ransom! You were there at the lab—one of them must have bonded to you.”
“Just because you’re living a boy and his dog story doesn’t mean we all are.” Ransom withdrew his hand and folded his arms. “I’m not the boy who gets the dog. I’m the boy who wasn’t even in the book.”
Roland cleared his throat. “Merlin? Your report, please.”
With no other alternative, Merlin plunged into his story. He didn’t tell them his entire background at the circus, but he did explain how he’d been adopted and how being named as his mother’s heir had forced him to leave. He had to, or else Dali’s theory that the falling trapeze was actually an attack on him would make no sense.
At the end of the story, Roland turned to Merlin. His steady gaze made Merlin feel like a kid in the principal’s office—a regrettably familiar experience. “So, you’re the heir to a shifter circus, and that’s a position that’s important enough that someone might try to kill you over it.”
“I can’t believe anyone in the circus would go that far,” Merlin protested.
Ignoring that, Roland went on, “None of which you ever mentioned before.” He held up a hand, silencing Merlin before he could point out that none of them had ever asked, and also that they never believed anything about the circus anyway. “I’m not criticizing you for that. But given how serious this has gotten, is there anything else about you or your past that we might need to know?”
Everyone’s gaze felt like a weight on Merlin’s shoulders. He wished he’d already told Dali about his other power. He would, as soon as they got out of the office. He felt confident that it wouldn’t change how she felt about him. And he felt the opposite of confident about his teammates.
Tell them why the barista tossed a watermelon frappuccino in your face, his raptor said. And then we can all go steal back her sofa!
For a beast with a short attention span, his raptor could have an annoyingly long memory.
Say, ‘I have this other power I’ve never told you about,’ his raptor suggested.
“I have...” Merlin began. Then he imagined what would happen if he finished that sentence. He could see his teammates’ expressions as they stared at him in horror or disgust. And those would be the looks he’d always remember when he thought about them, because it would be the last time he’d ever see them.
“...a lot of things I haven’t told you,” he continued smoothly. “Did I ever mention that when I was a kid at the circus, I once had to stand in for one of the performing seals? I even balanced a ball on my nose! I got a standing ovation. But it ended up causing trouble between the seal family and the cat family, because...”
“Never mind,” said Roland hastily. He steepled his hands together. “So, we have three incidents. The theft of Dali’s necklace by pigeon shifters, Dali or Cloud or both of them getting tranquilizer darts shot at by an unknown party that’s most likely the wizard-scientists, and a sabotaged trapeze falling on you both. I could believe that any one of those is unrelated to the other two, but it’s stretching it to believe that all three are.”
“I think they’re all directed at Dali,” Pete said. “Just because someone might have a motive to get rid of Merlin doesn’t mean they actually tried to do it.”
Merlin couldn’t help reading some subtext into his last sentence.
Carter put in, “Or the pigeons and the trapeze were both the crime circus going on a crime wave, and Dali just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when the wizard-scientists tried to retrieve Cloud.”
“Do you know why the wizard-scientists even had the magical animals?” Dali asked.
“No, not yet,” Roland said. “It’s one of the things we’re looking into, but not at a high priority. They’re unusual, but, well, they’re pets. Compared to the other mysteries surrounding the wizard-scientists, the magical creatures aren’t that important.”
Merlin petted Blue under the table, murmuring, “You’re important to me.”
Roland glanced at his watch. “Let’s move this along. I’m expecting a prospective client any minute now. Merlin, I assume you’re going back to the circus. Do you need any backup?”
“No, not like that.” The last thing Merlin wanted was his teammates wandering around the circus, grumbling about everything. “I’d like some help information-gathering, though.
Tirzah, anything you can dig up about any of this would be great—news stories about birds stealing necklaces, conspiracy theories about the wizard-scientists, anything.”
“Ransom?” Dali said. “Your power is getting information, right? Could you find out who sabotaged the trapeze?”
“I could try,” Ransom said cautiously. “But that sort of question—detailed information about a specific thing—is one of the hardest for me. I might not get anything useful, and even trying would put me out of commission for a while after that. Days, maybe.”
“Don’t,” said Roland. “I’d rather reserve that for emergencies. Merlin, see what you can find with ordinary detective work first. Tirzah, get on the research.”
The buzzer sounded. Roland picked it up, waving everyone into silence. “Protection, Inc: Defenders. How can I help you?”
A nervous-sounding man said, “This is Andrew Oliver. We spoke on the phone about you protecting me from a disgruntled ex-employee who’s been stalking me...?”
“Of course,” Roland said. “Come on up.”
He hung up and snapped his fingers. “Merlin, get rid of those traps and stash Blue somewhere! Everyone else, tidy up!”
Everyone jumped to work, shoving papers and other clutter into their offices and closing the door on them. Merlin gathered an armful of traps and called, “Blue!”
Blue looked up at him and panted, making no move to follow.
“I’ll get him,” Dali said, and coaxed Blue out the door.
“I’ll make sure the kittens aren’t escaping,” said Tirzah.
Merlin dumped the traps in Pete’s office. When he came back in, the prospective client, Oliver, had arrived and was showing Roland photos on his phone, while Pete and Ransom and Carter looked over his shoulder.
“And that’s my front door with a stake hammered into it,” Oliver was saying.
“That’s a statement, all right,” remarked Carter.
Roland glanced up at Merlin. “Oh, meet—”
Oliver looked up at Merlin and screamed, “That’s him!”
He hurled his cell phone at Merlin’s head. Instinctively, Merlin caught it.
Oliver’s eyes bulged as if he was about to have a heart attack. With a shriek, he bolted out the door, letting it slam behind him.
“What the hell...?” began Pete.
“Oh,” Ransom said, sounding enlightened. To Merlin, he said, “So that’s what you’ve been doing.”
“Merlin’s been moonlighting as a stalker accountant?” Carter asked. “Why?”
Merlin felt like the floor had dropped out from under his feet. And also like the ceiling had fallen on his head. Or maybe a trapeze. He felt his mouth open and close like a goldfish that had jumped out of the bowl.
He had to tell them everything. He also had to catch that poor guy before he called the police. And he had to send someone else, because he sure couldn’t go himself. Carter would argue with Merlin rather than just go, Pete was too intimidating, and Merlin felt bad about making Ransom run after someone when he probably felt like his head was about to explode.
“Roland, can you please run after that guy and explain that it was a chance resemblance and I’m not his stalker?” Merlin spoke so fast that his words blurred together. He shoved the phone at Roland. “Here!”
Ominously, Roland said, “He emailed me a photo of his stalker. There’s no resemblance. Do you still want me to say that?”
“Yes,” Merlin said. “And hurry? He’s probably about to call the cops.”
“Good thing he threw his cell phone,” Carter remarked.
Roland stabbed a finger at Merlin. “Don’t go anywhere.” With a startling grace for his stocky build, he spun around and ran after the man.
As if things couldn’t get any worse, Dali burst into the lobby, followed closely by Tirzah. Merlin saw Dali’s gaze go straight to him, and the relief in her expression when she saw that he was unhurt. Normally, that would have lifted his heart, but under the circumstances, it made him feel like he’d swallowed a rock.
“We heard screaming,” Tirzah said breathlessly.
“What happened?” Dali demanded.
Everyone looked at each other.
“I’m really not sure,” Carter said.
Pete said, “Ask Merlin.”
“I can explain,” Merlin said, hearing how exactly he sounded like a murderer caught standing over a corpse and clutching a bloody knife. After a silence that felt like it lasted for an hour, he said, “Um... How about when Roland gets back? So I don’t have to do it twice.”
The silence in which they waited for Roland to get back felt like it lasted for a year. It was only broken when Merlin, fidgeting nervously, knocked over and broke the last remaining intact coffee mug.
His raptor had no shortage of suggestions, each more appealing than the last, from Point over everyone’s heads and say “Look! A pteranodon!” and run away while they’re looking to Shrink to the size of a mouse and hide in Roland’s desk to Bite Pete on the ankle and run away to Propose to Dali and run away to Las Vegas with her and get married by Elvis and start a new life where nobody knows you.
That last one sounded incredibly good. Merlin was only stopped from getting down on his knees by a glance at Dali’s eyebrows. Those were not the brows of a woman who would say yes to a proposal. Those were the brows of a woman seriously considering a break-up, depending on what Merlin said once he said something.
Run to the bathroom and throw up, his raptor suggested. After a pause, he said, Then climb out the window.
“No!” Merlin said. “Stop telling me to run away! I’m staying here and facing the music!”
He only realized that he had spoken aloud when he saw everyone’s expressions change from This better be good, Merlin to Maybe we should call the men in white coats with the butterfly nets.
“Everyone” included Roland. Merlin had been so preoccupied with what his raptor was saying that he’d missed his boss coming back in.
“I was talking to my raptor,” Merlin said. Nobody’s expression changed.
Roland folded his arms. “I convinced Mr. Oliver that we’re not actually harboring his stalker inside our office. And I referred him to another security agency, because he wanted nothing more to do with us. So. Merlin. What would you like to tell us?”
Merlin braced himself and told the truth. “I have another power. It doesn’t work on people who know me well, just on strangers and acquaintances. It’s to make people see me as whoever they expect to see. Mr. Oliver was scared and expecting to see his stalker around every corner, so that’s exactly who he saw.”
Roland slammed his fist down on a table, making Merlin jump. “Why on earth did you use it on him, then?”
“I didn’t mean to. I can’t control it—I can’t even tell when it’s on.” Merlin took a deep breath and went on, “It took me a while to figure out that I even had it. I had to deduce it from people’s reactions to me.”
“Is that why you asked me the color of your hair when we first met?” Dali broke in.
“Yes. I wanted to make sure you were seeing me, not...” A better version of me, he thought, then said, “...someone else.”
Dali looked relieved. Ransom had that satisfied expression he got when he figured something out. Everyone else looked massively pissed off.
“And why didn’t you tell us about it?” Roland asked.
“I...”
Run, suggested his raptor.
But with Dali’s gaze on him, he couldn’t do anything but tell the truth. “It’s a power that tricks people—that lies to them. I didn’t want you to think I was a liar at heart.”
“Oh, Merlin, no one would think that,” Dali said. “You didn’t choose it. You can’t even control it.”
“Yes, but our powers express who we are,” Merlin said. “Ransom, for instance. Look at who he is, and look at the power he got.”
It was the worst possible thing to say. He realized it as soon as he’d spoken. Ransom’s expressio
n froze over, and Merlin suddenly remembered that in the Marines, Ransom had been a sniper.
“You think my power expresses who I am?” Ransom spoke in a deadly cold voice.
“And mine?” Roland looked as stricken as he had when he’d been told that the woman who’d saved his life had died.
“How dare you!” Carter yelled suddenly, making Merlin jump. His fists were clenched at his sides.
Dali grabbed Merlin’s hand. “I don’t know what’s going on, but Merlin has a job to do. For me. Tirzah, we can leave our pets here, right?”
Tirzah, looking bewildered, said, “Sure.” Then, glancing around the room, she added, “You don’t have to come back to the office today to collect them. If you don’t, we’ll take them home and you can pick them up whenever. Right, Pete?”
“Sure,” Pete said. His agreeable tone had to be for Tirzah and Dali, not Merlin.
“Merlin, let’s go,” said Dali.
They left in record time. When they got to his car, he opened the door for her, and they both collapsed into their seats.
“Whew,” Merlin said. “Thanks for rescuing me. I’ve never been more glad to leave a place in my life. Except maybe the wizard-scientists’ lab. And my parents’ home when I was a kid.”
Dali put her arm around his shoulder. “I don’t blame you.”
As he pulled out of the parking lot, he asked, “You really don’t think my power says anything about me?”
“I don’t think it says anything bad. I see now what you mean about it matching something about you. But I don’t think it means you’re a liar. Maybe it’s because you grew up in a place that tricks people, so you got the power to trick people. Or you’ve had a lot of different roles in your life, and now you get seen as a lot of different people.”
That had never occurred to Merlin before. “You’re so smart. And you’re not mad at me for not telling you about my power?”
“Well—” She rubbed her forehead, clearly sorting through her feelings, then said, “Not really. If you’d let me make any decisions when you weren’t sure I was seeing you clearly, you’d be out of my life like that.” She snapped the fingers of her right hand. “But you didn’t. You were very careful about that. It seems to me that you dealt with your power as ethically as you could.”
