by Candra Kylar
“Dimples will always have a home with me. No matter what she is.”
Rynna searched my eyes, “I believe you’re speaking the truth. Sadly, however, the truth doesn’t matter in the stark viciousness of reality. Please leave before Vander catches you and your shifted friend.”
This wasn’t over. It couldn’t be so long as Dimples was being held here, away from my ability to speak to her, without being able to see if this was all really just a misunderstanding. I wasn’t going to cash in on the whole demon destroying the world thing. Dimples had magic that could already flatline Cecilia on a good day but refrained from using it. That kind of restraint didn’t come from a demon. The Elder Fae created a lot of things without a good understanding of what any of it meant. They ruled with hubris and a surprising amount of hubris. It was possible that not even her creators could understand the full depth of who Dimples was before she found the body of a garden gnome statue to inhabit. I would unravel this mystery and bring my findings straight to the source. Dimples would not go down with this wretched circus.
I might have slipped away without a plan in the world if Braeden didn’t come charging through. Having shifted quickly back into human form, he barreled past Max and made a path right toward Rynna. I wasn’t good with rejection but I knew that Braeden would be even worse. He had that snarl curling his upper lip and that squint to his eyes. Danger was afoot and it wouldn’t take much to catch the attention of the circus owner. Still, I could use the distraction to my own advantage. If Braeden wanted to take Rynna on, I would happily shift and evade Max. He’d be too torn on protecting his friend and chasing me to be of any real help. Then I could try and sniff out a trail and find Dimples. Rynna put a stop to that train of thought immediately.
Her hand came up and she weaved a trail of stinging ice at the base of Braeden’s feet. He stopped dead and growled at her in defiance. That was my ex, my good friend, the alpha of the pack I slid in and out of. He would never go down without a fight. I pulled my wand out and aimed it at his feet, loosening them quickly with a simple push spell. Rynna was ready again and had the ice working in a lasso around Braeden’s knees. She jerked her hand up and hung him high in the air, upside down, his face dangling a mere foot from her own so she could see him. Strangely, there was a small smile on her lips as if she enjoyed the confrontation.
“Fast work between the two of you”, she circled Braeden, “and don’t try anything else. Max here can break your little witch pal in two if he’s protecting me. We take care of our own.”
“You’re holding a friend hostage and that doesn’t give you much leverage with me”, Braeden replied coldly.
“I don’t presume it would”, Rynna brushed her fingers under his chin, “and my are you a handsome one. Noble, too, that you would put yourself at such a risk to save your friend. She’s truly lucky.”
“Bring those fingers closer and I’ll snap them right off”, he barked.
I interjected, “No one needs to hurt anyone. We won’t give up, Rynna, so you can stop trying to convince us. Scare us.”
“Is that what I did?”, Rynna scoffed, “Is that why you became so quiet? You’re afraid of this circus and the things we can do?”
“No…”, I faltered.
Rynna sauntered forward, “Tell me, Abigail Everlaine, what are you most afraid of?”
Braeden struggled, “Come back and take me on, ice witch!”
“Vander’s gonna notice”, said Max before his voice snarled out a different tone, “let’s rip them to shreds and bury the evidence. They want to hurt us!”
Rynna reached out for her friend, “No one can hurt us on our stomping ground. They can’t save their friend and she wouldn’t go with them anyway. All of this is pointless.”
“They aren’t being honest. They don’t care what happens to us”, Max croaked out thickly before that tone switched again, “it’s survival of the fittest. Hunt instead of being hunted.”
“I need you to get Vander back to his office”, Rynna said kindly to her friend, “and keep him there. I’ll take care of these two. Easier to be diplomatic than violent.”
How she could switch on and off with her approach was amazing to me. Sometimes, she would realize her full power and taunt us with it. Other times, the ice would fill her veins and she’d be the calmest person in the room. There was more than one side to this Seer. She turned back to Braeden and released him. He leaned back, flexing his muscles to prepare to shift, and I put up a hand to stop him. Rynna was right. We could try and fight our way out of this but that might end up getting Dimples hurt. There had to be another way. Thankfully, Rynna spared me the worry of another plan.
Her fingers outstretched, she brought into my vision two pairs of gleaming tickets. They were worn and looked old fashioned. When they levitated toward my reach, I got a better look at them. They advertised the circus and the location where the tents were located. It gave a time and the date of tomorrow. I reached out for them and could tell, by mere touch and the texture, that they weren’t holographic. This was the real deal. It was bizarre to see old fashioned tickets when everything was digital these days. Our own passes for the night’s show had been loaded onto our phones. These would be a keepsake of a time when I went head to head with a circus and a witch who had unimaginable power. I waved them in front of Braeden. Rynna crossed her arms.
“Come back tomorrow night and I’ll arranged to have Dimples hang out here in the residential tent”, Rynna brought her voice down, “don’t tell anyone else. I notice that you brought friends and they’ll only get in the way.”
“Why help us now?”, Braeden asked sharply.
“Maybe I was tired of waring you both down as you are so persistent”, Rynna met his glance, “or maybe I was impressed that someone could be loved so much that her friends would face such danger just to save her. Envious.”
“You’ve got the werewolf with two personalities. Looks like he’ll mess someone up for you”, Braeden crossed his own arms, challenger meeting challenger.’
“He grandstands too much. Max has such a gentle heart and has only let that second version of him, the more feral one, take over to protect himself. You aren’t very good at reading people for being a supposed alpha”, Rynna swiped her finger under his chin.
Braeden pulled away in irritation, “You don’t know a thing about me, lady.”
“Seems to be my loss. Now leave. Both of you”, she swiped her hand and a small trail of ice crystalized behind us, “I’ve even marked you a path out of the side exit. Vander won’t even know you were here.”
“Thank you”, I said quickly, “we’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“After the show as soon as the lights go down from the final performance”, Rynna instructed.
I grabbed old of Braeden’s arm and pulled him down the pathway that would lead us out of the tents. We may not have found Dimples but it looked like we had won over someone. Rynna had a sadness in her voice, in the way she became so withdrawn on witnessing compassion and kindness. She was trapped there as much as Dimples was. Using her gift to see, would she know if we would be successful or not? Was something like that ever set in stone or did our own small actions change it? I wanted to ask her about her powers and how they altered with those seconds of decision. I wanted to find out about a world of magic that I could only have dreamed about in my school days. As the ice melted away behind us, I knew she wouldn’t have any interest in that. My encounter with her would only ever be a fleeting moment as she disappeared into her own mist.
Elizar had been pacing outside and I saw worry in his eyes when he caught sight of me. He sized up Braeden and the two only briskly nodded to one another. The warlock with a penchant for style wrapped an arm around my waist and brought me close to him. I could smell the light cologne he had on, a mix of leather and something earthy, more rustic than I would have expected but so enchanting. It was so Elizar. My wolf senses drew it into my nose and I could tell that he was pleased. Braeden only stalked
behind us with an anger ebbing from his aura. He wasn’t satisfied that we’d have to wait another night to see Dimples. I explained it all to Elizar as we circled toward the front.
“And she just gave you these tickets out of the goodness of her heart?”, he asked incredulously, “Something doesn’t fit.”
“She said that Dimples won’t want to go with us.”
“Of course she would. We’re her friends and she’s put on spectacle here in front of a bunch of bloated rich bigots”, Elizar replied.
“How did it go with the investor crowd?”
His jaw stiffened, “They have ties that go deep into the Council. I recognized some of them but they were quick to fill me in on the ones I didn’t. Vander himself is shrewd about who he lets in on the whole circus thing. Like he knows the wrong voice could end him.”
“Did he take the bait you offered?”, I asked.
“Nope”, Elizar groaned, “and I might be losing my touch. First my club ends up in cinders and now I can’t even trick a greedy fool into letting me invest. He doesn’t trust me.”
“You’ll ware him down. You always have a way of doing that”, Braeden piped up.
“I’ll take that as a compliment”, Elizar answered him.
“If Dimples doesn’t want to come back”, I said quietly, “then I’ll need another plan. A way to get her out of there, to remove that stupid binding stone attached to her, and then have a serious intervention.”
“Then I’ll need to go into serious business mode. The thing is, I’m not too thrilled about you going back to the circus on your own. I don’t trust Vander or anyone that willingly works for him”, Elizar confided.
“She said that we can’t bring friends. Braeden and I will have our guards up.”
“And now I know what to expect from that messed up wolf. Don’t know why his wolf ended up being an entirely different person. From a mending standpoint, that doesn’t make sense”, Braeden mulled it over aloud.
“I can answer that!”, my mother practically skipped over to us, “My looks still turn some heads and one of the circus janitors gave me the dish on it. Such a spicy morsel!”
“Mother, you didn’t have sex with a carnie janitor, did you?”
Elizar laughed, “Good on you! Had to be a step up from your ex-husband.”
Braeden cheered, “Stick it to Grant Everlaine and shame that bastard up!”
“I didn’t have sex with him”, my mother wrinkled her nose, “but I did my fair share of flirting. He knew a lot about the circus and I found out what makes all of the acts so special.”
“I really wish you didn’t put yourself in danger and risk getting us exposed…”, I started.
My mother wagged her finger at me, “I’ve been in danger since you were still in diapers, Abbie. Don’t tell me what to do when my daughter and her friends are at risk.”
“So what did you get that was worth the risk?”, I asked.
“They’ve all got Fae blood running in their veins”, Holly revealed, “and that’s why you see such differences in their mechanics. The Fae blood out ratios the human blood so it dominates with strange magic.”
Braeden scratched the scruff on his chin, “That would explain why the dual werewolf established that second distinct personality. One is human blood and the other is Fae. I don’t think that mix has ever happened before that we’ve been aware of. At least not publicly.”
“And Seers belong in legend for their historical rarity”, Elizar added in, “which is why she was able to conjure up images of the past that involved the Fae. It all has to do with their blood. But...not everyone with Fae blood has those twists.”
I was reminded of Elizar and the confession he had once given me about his own nature. He had a trace of Fae blood in him and that had been a distraction since his childhood. The earth would call out silently, in ways he had trained himself to ignore, warning him about something that he could do nothing about. This had become personal for him and I needed to say something to reassure him without telling everyone else about his secret. This was something that he trusted me with and I was far past betraying anyone of their trust. What was I the most afraid of? Rynna had asked me that and I didn’t have an answer. Now, seeing Elizar worried about the implications of Fae blood gone awry, I knew the answer. I was afraid of losing someone that I loved and being powerless to do anything about it.
“Their Fae blood is dominant in them and probably outweighs any human blood”, I said simply, “so they don’t have control. There are probably thousands of people in Iverli who have small traces of Fae blood in them. We practice magic which is part of their world.”
My mother agreed, “I think there’s a lot that the Council has historically swept under the rug to keep from us. They’re afraid of panic and losing control. Your father always wanted to exploit that.”
“Well we have to come back tomorrow and talk to Dimples”, I said, “and that’s the next step. I’ll spend the rest of the night figuring out what to say to convince her to escape.”
“I already sent a text to your sister and had her look up ways to remove a binding charm”, my mother said happily, “she’s so knowledgable. Did you know that she studied several dead languages and can speak them all flawlessly?”
“I don’t need her help”, I said.
Elizar spoke soothing words into my ear, “It couldn’t hurt. Gives you some time to rest up and not put so much pressure on your shoulders.”
There he was...right again. He could read me so well, knew exactly what I needed before I could give voice to it. Is this what it felt like to connect to someone? Is this how Liam felt when he had found Ethan? I didn’t know what was going on inside of me but it came from an Abbie that hadn’t existed before. The old me would have wrapped him around my finger and bent him to my will for fun. The old me would have never challenged the magical outcasts of a circus to save a friend. The old me never had real friends. So much of that would rise up to remind me just how far I could fall with a single stumble. The uncertainty and fear would rise up and I could lose everything I had spent the past year building up. Abbie had to die to make a change. Catharsis came only in the heat of battle. I couldn’t quell some parts of the old me.
Elizar wrapped his arm more tightly around my waist and it calmed me. We were heading back to where we parked and would leave this awful place for the day. Come tomorrow, I would have to think quickly and say the right things to reach Dimples. Rynna had only promised to give me an audience with her. I needed an audience now to get a few minutes alone with my best friend. She had spoken such dark words during her act, told a story that couldn’t be true about monstrously demonic origins. That’s what I would have to do. I’d need Ethan and Frankie to pull some serious research so we could get the truth behind her origin. I just prayed to the silent gods that it was a truth we could handle.
Seven
“She’s not doing the drugs but is definitely involved in a cult”, Amaris said after waking me up at three in the morning by pounding on my front door.
“I can’t tell if that’s good news.”
Amaris handed me a few photos, “And there’s the junkie fanged trash she’s currently salivating over. Bet he’s older than he looks and she’s just getting used again. This girl can’t make a good decision to save her life.”
“So she’s brainwashed by another creeper.”
“Teenagers are stupid like that. Some teenagers. I was exceptionally observant when I was her age”, Amaris boasted.
“I wouldn’t know”, I replied flatly.
We didn’t spend much time catching up. Amaris had surprised me by arriving at my doorstep to deliver a prompt investigation that had only taken her a night. Ian was nowhere to be found and I refrained from asking. At this point, I had to focus on one thing at a time or else I would let it break me. Livia wasn’t in danger of doing the Portal Dust she peddled so that was a start. She was, however, wrapped up in the lies of another male vampire. It had become a personal pass
ion of hers. Deep down inside, I knew it stemmed from a want to be loved by someone. She had found boredom in the age old traditions of Lysander’s court and had to break free for excitement. I used to chase dangerous thrills like that. As a part-time private investigator, I technically still did.
Standing a foot taller than me in a pair of unforgivingly sharp stilettos, Amaris made a striking figure in the shadowed doorway. She had on all black, as was her fashion appetite, and her cheekbones were particularly defined. She had sculpted the kind of look that women poured over online but couldn’t afford to replicate. Everything my older sister – formerly my brother – put together was a masterpiece. I could never showcase such flawless features or harness that amount of grace. Jealousy surged up in me. A lingering fatigue from being emotionally drained didn’t help.
“There’s also another point”, Amaris brought up, “they didn’t start the fire at the club. I’m confident of that.”
“What makes you think that’s the case?”
“Talan, their pasty leader with too much vinyl and fishnet accessories, has a loud voice. It carried to my spot within the veiled nexus and showed how furious he was to have a spotlight on their operation. There’s more to this story and I look forward to prying it out of them.”
“Could be a false lead because they knew they were being spied on.”
“I never get caught. Our father still thinks I’m dead”, she said tersely, “and I plan to keep it that way. Necromancy already earned me a few enemies. The last thing I need is the might of the Council bearing down on my hideaway.”
“You can’t run from him forever”, I said.
She stepped back, “Watch me.”
As usual, I couldn’t comment. She stepped into her swirling purple nexus and used some obscure tunnel in the spirit world to head back to her lair in Azuris. This was about as tender as our sisterly conversations could go. She had delivered on her promise to my mother and had solved at least one mystery. I was relieved to hear that Livia hadn’t been roped into arson as well as drug dealing. She hadn’t handled her new life as well as I had hoped. I couldn’t shake off my own blame on resuscitating her using Braeden’s mending magic only to write her off with Lysander’s court. It was irresponsible. I needed to have a one on one with Livia in a public setting without her new cronies of sombre rejects.
