by Claire Kane
Lacey considered, but upon seeing Zigmund’s disapproving glare, decided to stay just to irk him. “Thank you. I—”
A runner burst into the room, sweat pouring from his face. “It’s Felix and Charly! Felix and Charly!”
The performers were on their feet in a flash. “What’s wrong?” Zigmund demanded.
“They’ve gotten free.”
“Where are they?”
The runner gulped. “Um…”
Zigmund seized the man by his shoulders. “Where?” When an answer wasn’t instantly forthcoming, he shoved the man aside and raced out into the backstage areas, his footfalls echoing loudly down the corridors. Ross hurried for the door as well, casting a concerned look toward Lacey. “For your safety please stay here, Lacey. I’m sorry to interrupt our conversation.” Then he was out the door.
Lacey took a deep breath. Tigers? Loose inside the building? But then, she had nothing to worry about. There were cameras everywhere, and the tigers had probably already been located. She was certain that Zigmund and Ross weren’t the only trained handlers, and there were armed security guards as well. “You’ll be fine, Lacey,” she said airily, trying to get her racing heart to believe it as well. “But it might not hurt to just close the door—”
A shout echoed from nearby, causing her to jerk. Something about tranquilizers. She took a quick glance through the door, but saw nothing and quickly shoved it shut.
Four-hundred pounds of muscle and striped fur got in the way.
Lacey screamed and fell back, landing hard on her rump and scampering backwards, never taking her eyes off the big cat as it hungrily prowled through the door, eyeing her in return.
“Nice kitty,” she said, feeling stupid through the blind terror rising behind her eyes. “I’m just a reporter. I’ve been on the Slim Quik diet for a year, so believe me—I’m not very tasty.”
The tiger didn’t seem to notice. Instead it bared its teeth, stepping toward her. It opened its mouth, and she was stunned at just how large it was. It gave a barking roar—enough to hurt Lacey’s ears and stun her.
Please, God, don’t let me die!
*
Victor found Lacey, following the directions she’d given him. He could only imagine her distress, given how strange and strained her voice had become. When he arrived, he figured out why she sounded that way. Horrified, he found her recoiled against a wall, an angry tiger pacing before her, growling.
Jessica appeared beside him, and gasped. “Whose bright idea was it to put a walking petting zoo in a casino?”
“We should do something,” Victor said, turning to her. “What can we do?”
The blond demon slayer quickly replied, “And what’s a demon hunting angel and a dead beefcake supposed to do about a loose tiger?”
“I don’t know. Something. Quick, you’re supposed to be my trainer!”
“I deal in demons. This is out of my expertise.” Jessica’s eyes flashed with concern. “When all else fails, we should pray.”
That terrified voice entered Victor’s mind again. Possess the tiger, Victor. Save me.
“I’m here, Lacey. I’m working on it.”
The tiger took a couple more steps, slowly, like the natural predator it was, and wrapped its mouth around Lacey’s whole face. Victor had no time to pray, let alone think. The tiger snarled, and in an instant his jaw was crushing into Lacey’s forehead, and drawing blood from under her chin. His ex was shaking, lightly whimpering.
Possess him. Save me! An evil chill accompanied the command.
Victor ignored his gut feeling, caught up in the frightening moment. Having no idea what he was doing, Victor just did what came to him. He dove at the giant cat, like a man into a pool. His spirit entered with a sickening jolt, and suddenly he could smell the floral fragrance of his love’s hair. The excitement of that was dampened by the fact that he could feel her face between his monster jaws.
*
Lacey’s life flashed before her in an instant at the feel of the fangs on her skin, and the hot putrid breath that smelled like death itself. She wanted to run, to scream, to cry, but she knew that any one of those things would spell certain death. She envisioned her blood dripping into the cat’s mouth and onto its tongue. She tried to remember whether tigers reacted to blood the same way sharks did, but she could barely even manage the thought.
As if in answer to her prayer, the tiger convulsed, jerking her head violently, and suddenly the pressure released. The animal actually backed away.
“On three. One. Two…”
The tiger looked at her with an expression so strange that Lacey let out a strangled little laugh, as much out of sheer relief as because the tiger looked… goofy.
“Three!”
Several popping hisses sounded, and the tiger screamed. Not just roared, but screamed in an almost human fashion. Lacey seized the opportunity to dive into the tiny closet across the room and slam the door shut, hoping the tiger hadn’t seen her in its distraction. The sounds of struggle continued outside. She resisted the strong urge to peek out and look; she’d seen enough movies to know how stupid that move would be.
At last, the ruckus calmed and Lacey could hear the men breathing relieved sighs and congratulating one another. Zigmund’s shouting broke the relative quiet. Sensing things were safe, Lacey eased out of the closet, straightened her clothing, and hurriedly made herself as presentable as she could for a woman whose head had just been in a tiger’s mouth. She’d want to get the bite wounds checked out soon. Striding to the door, she hoped her shakiness wasn’t as apparent to everyone else as it was to her.
“—which is why we had triple locks and security cameras in the first place,” Zigmund all but shouted at a guard. “This was no accident. This—” He cut off as his eyes caught Lacey.
“Fräulein Ling,” he said, shoving past the guards. “You are hurt.” His strong hand gently inclined her chin and she didn’t resist. He peered at the wound and frowned, then locked eyes with her. “Charly did this?”
She nodded slowly. “I don’t think he meant any harm,” she said, half lying. “He could have killed me, I’m sure, but he stopped. Maybe he was just… trying to warn me?”
Zigmund eyed her dubiously. The security men didn’t look any more convinced, and carried on binding the tiger’s feet.
“Ziggy? Ziggy!” Ross, flanked by another security officer, burst into the corridor. “Have they found Cha—” The blond-haired man caught sight of the fallen tiger and skid to a halt its side. Dropping immediately to his knees, he stroked the animal’s face with what Lacey could tell was real affection. “Charly, what happened?” he asked.
The big cat stirred and made a noise that sounded like a drunk man with a mouth full of gravel muttering, “Dudes shot me.” The room went silent, and everyone traded looks.
“Did he,” a guard asked, “just... talk?”
The tiger coughed weakly and made a noise that Lacey heard as, “Umm… rawr?”
She felt the blood drain from her face as a bizarre thought hit her. Victor?
Unngh, he replied mentally.
Victor—is that you in the tiger?
The cat coughed again and weakly turned its head toward Lacey and nodded slightly, raising murmurs from the assembly. “Charly” rested his head against the floor again, then appeared to fall asleep, his striped torso rising and falling in slow, heaving swells.
After a strained pause, the crew resumed their work securing the animal. “Aside from that little… episode… he’ll be okay,” a guard said, looking between Zigmund and Ross. “My team reports your other cat it still loose in the casino, though. We may have to—” Zigmund spitted the man with a glare, actually earning a gulp of nervousness from him. “We may have to, um, tranquilize him as well.”
“These animals are not merely our show, they are our family,” Ross said. The meaning of his words was not lost on the group.
The security guard that had accompanied Ross stepped up to Lacey. “Ma’am?
If you’ll come with me, I’ll escort you to the nurse’s station.”
Before Lacey could thank him, Ross interjected. “I will accompany the good fräulein.”
“As will I,” Zigmund said, stepping up and placing a hand in the small of Lacey’s back. A strange look passed between them, and Lacey blinked, unable to make out quite what she’d missed. “You,” he said, gesturing at the guard his brother had rebuffed, “will ensure your friends treat my family well.” He pointed at Charly.
The guard nodded curtly. “Yessir, Mister Zigmund. Just need to grab something from my office.” With that, he turned and hurried away.
“Now, Lacey,” Ross said quietly, taking her hand and leading her away from where Charly slept, “that was exciting, wasn’t it?”
Lacey wasn’t sure whether to laugh or roll her eyes, but she chose to laugh when she saw the glint of real concern in his eyes and realized he was just trying to ease her mind. “That’s not quite the backstage show I wanted, but I promise you I’ll never forget it.”
Zigmund growled. “It was those insane activists again, I am certain of it. They penetrated security at our show, and somehow, they must have done it again to release our children. Do those fools not realize how they’ve endangered our little ones by setting them loose in this place?”
Ross placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder, but the other man shrugged it off. “There, there, Ziggy, we don’t know for—”
“Then how do you explain this?” He thrust a glistening, multi-carat ruby ring toward Ross. Lacey gasped, and the magicians halted and glanced her way.
“I—I think I know this ring,” she said. “The first night I was here, those activists at your show. They stopped me outside. The guy was wearing something just like that. It’s so huge I’d never forget it.”
Still glaring, Zigmund nodded curtly as if Lacey had confirmed his suspicions beyond doubt. Ross, however, still looked dubious. “Rings do not simply fall off fingers, dear brother,” he said gently. “And only a fool, or someone with ample wealth to spare would leave such a treasure lying about. Perhaps… perhaps it is a plant? To misdirect our suspicion?”
Zigmund grunted and shook his head, but said nothing more as he resumed his hurried pace down the corridor.
Lacey’s head was spinning. The activists certainly had passion, but were they really so competent as to defeat hotel security? It was one thing to sneak into a show with a banner, but to breach a secured area inside the hotel? If that was the case, then this thing was bigger than she’d suspected.
Just to check, Lacey glanced back at the tiger to see how it was doing, only to see the shape of her deceased ex-boyfriend literally emerge from its flank. She halted, and the two magicians stopped abruptly in turn.
Zigmund scowled. “Is there a problem, Fräulein?”
Lacey raised her eyebrows at Victor, who shook his head, then materialized next to her before waving her forward.
“We’ll talk later,” he said, sounding dazed. “I’m still in shock that even happened. That was quick thinking on your part, asking me to do that. Are you alright?”
Lacey bit her lip, then faced forward again, slightly ignoring her ex. “Just… surprised, is all,” she said to Ross. “Surprised that things didn’t go worse than they did.” She resumed walking, and Victor and the pair of showmen moved on with her.
She switched gears, and sent her thoughts toward Victor. I didn’t ask you to do anything.
Victor squinted. “Yes, you did. You clearly told me to take possession of that cat.”
Lacey frowned. No. I didn’t.
Victor began to protest, then reconsidered it. Finally, he asked, “So, why did I keep hearing you calling for help?”
I only called once, Victor, right when my head was in its mouth. You must be imagining things. Maybe it was just your “spider sense” going off.
Victor frowned in turn. “Something’s fishy here. And I don’t mean cat breath.”
Lacey sighed, but let it drop. She wasn’t in the mood to think about it right now.
“That’s really not like Charly,” Ross said quietly. “And they couldn’t have simply escaped.”
“That’s what I kept telling the imbeciles at security,” Zigmund growled. “Someone is trying to ruin us.”
Lacey mulled her thoughts for a moment. “Have either of you seen those animal rights activists protesting your show, recently? My grandmother and I were accosted by some just before we entered the grounds.” Zigmund growled in response. Ross merely sighed.
“Could this have been an inside job?” she mused.
Zigmund and Ross shared a look, then Ross frowned. “What are you implying, Lacey?”
She massaged her throat where the teeth had punctured skin. “Think about it,” she said. “Unless those activists are like the guys in that movie where they robbed three casinos at once, then they probably couldn’t get past security… unless someone let them past. Maybe… maybe that ring wasn’t a plant, or an accident, but a payment.”
The performers both looked pensive for a moment. At last, Ross nodded slowly. “We… shall look into the possibility. I do not prefer to cast aspersions on our staff, but I must admit this situation is most bizarre, and your theory could explain many things.”
Zigmund snorted. “You trust too easily, brother.”
Ross simply shrugged. “Everyone has their own perspective on the world,” the blond brother said, with a timbre of frustration. “Though if they actually knew how we treated Felix and Charly I don’t think they would continue accusing us of abusing animals.”
“They are fools,” Zigmund retorted. “So blinded by their narrow-minded agenda that even if we showed them how well our friends lived they would assume it were a lie, or assume it would have been better had we left them there to die as cubs, all ‘free and wild’.”
“You—you found them yourselves?” Lacey asked, truly surprised.
Ross nodded and smiled. “Yes, but that is also a story for this evening. First, we must attend to your wound.”
Lacey didn’t protest. If she ever wanted to play a damsel in distress, now was the perfect time.
ELEVEN
“Well, Lacey, I’ve got a little surprise for you,” Nainai said from the living room. Lacey glanced at her grandmother’s reflection in the mirror as she quickly touched up her makeup and worked on smoothing a bit of bangs over her light bite marks. She had to ensure she looked… professional… for tonight’s private interview with Ross. She crossed her fingers that Nainai wouldn’t try marrying her off to the entertainer, or otherwise spoiling the evening.
“What’s your surprise, Nainai?”
“We’re going to have visitors!”
Lacey dabbed at her cheek with a brush, then stood up and straightened her blouse.
“You look good, Lacey,” Victor said from just beyond the doorway. “I just wish you weren’t doing it for Mister Magic Hands.”
Lacey pretended not to hear his comment and looked over her shoulder. “I know, Grandma. I already told you that Mister Ross is coming. He’ll be here in ten minutes.” That earned a grunt from Victor.
“No, no,” Nainai said, waving in annoyance. “I could hardly forget that you got a date with that stud. I mean… your parents. They’ll be here in a couple of days.”
Lacey spun, frowning. “Wait—Mom and Dad are coming? They didn’t tell me.”
Nainai smirked. “It was my lucky pineapple. It got me that jackpot I was chasing. We have more than enough space in this room for all of us. Mei Hua would love this place. I called them earlier tonight and told them to come.”
“Grandmother, you can’t—”
“Can, and already did. I booked the plane tickets before I even called them. I even remembered to give them the name and address of the hotel, and our room number. The concierge is expecting them. And don’t call me ‘Grandmother.’ It was my money, and if I want to show my daughter a good time, that’s my business.”
“But Nainai,�
� Lacey said, trying not to sound petulant. Out of all the things her grandmother couldn’t remember, she somehow managed all of that? How could she bring herself to break Nainai’s heart by telling the old woman just how much she wanted to leave this place? How could she tell Nainai about the attack in the bathroom? How could she—
A knock sounded at the door. “Lacey? Hello?” It was Ross.
“Oh my gosh. He’s early.” She rushed around the suite, making last minute adjustments to everything. The music was set, crystal glasses were out on the table, her tablet was set to record, and the fire in the hearth was just small enough to be “cozy” without being “too inviting.” Victor scowled at the whole scene, but she gave him a look she knew he couldn’t mistake.
Lacey, flanked by Victor, opened the door to see the performer dressed in business casual attire, yet still looking impeccable. His face, however, was considerably paler than usual, and she thought she heard a strange hitch in his breathing. Despite that, Lacey licked her lips, thinking how perfectly hideous she looked in comparison, what with the bandages and light-duty neck brace she wore; no amount of makeup could hide that. Thankfully, Nainai made some noise about going to bed for the evening, and wheeled herself out of the room with only a single comment about Ross’ “hot tush.”
“If I could still smell,” Victor said in Lacey’s ear, “I bet I’d be gagging on the aftermath of his cologne bath.”
Hush, Lacey chided, pasting her warmest smile over the glare Victor warranted. “Good evening, Mister Ross,” she said, stepping back to let him in.
“Please,” he said, “call me Pietr.”
“Here we go,” Victor murmured, throwing his hands in the air. “I’m glad I wasn’t this cheesy when we started dating.”
You were worse, Victor, Lacey retorted in her mind. And you’re starting to get on my nerves. Mister Ross is being a perfect gentleman and, for your information, I don’t smell any cologne.
