by Candra Kylar
Even though his eyes gave me the once over, I knew that Elizar wouldn’t have some lecture about my quick fall from grace. He knew better than anyone how much stress I had been under. He didn’t know about the nightmares that I face alone, running in a forest of darkness as it chased me, giving up right as it crept closer. It enveloped me and I would wake up in a cold sweat. Whenever he stayed in bed, whenever his arms were around me, I didn’t have those nightmares. Maybe I never would again. Elizar brought me the bleach blonde lock of hair and I formed it automatically into a ring to tie around my finger. I could enchant over it to look like some loud piece of costume jewelry she would flaunt around. I would have to become Cecilia.
“If you ever feel that rising again, just come right to me and I’ll help you get rid of it”, he said from the bar, “because I don’t want you afraid of something that you don’t ever have to face alone. I’m all in, baby.”
The warmth returned to me, “We will get Dimples to come with us tonight. I’ll do it all by becoming what she treasures most in the world. It’s a bit of a show for me and I don’t know what Voldini will do but that can’t matter.”
“I’ll be constantly moving in the shadows and ready to defend you the second he springs into action. He may be powerful but he hasn’t come up against me when I’m pissed off”, Elizar promised.
“Braeden will be in his wolf form and try to rally Max to our side. The two have a small trust established and I think Max could even find a home in our pack. I just need to talk to Rynna and get her to remove the binding stones. I’m not sure she’ll do it but I think a piece of her heart wants that freedom she’s so afraid of.”
Elizar recounted the rest of the plan, “Then, with the monsters dispatched by the two werewolves, you show up in your new costume and entertain Dimples with what happened at the end of the story just as she walks into the ring. The timing needs to be perfect but we can do it. Is your sister or mother coming?”
“My mother is bringing Frankie because I think that Dimples needs to see her face. Amaris may show up with Livia if she can figure out a way to slip in unnoticed. She isn’t very sneaky with her magic”, I said with my fingers weaving a spell over the lock of hair.
“It’s not like we’ll have another chance to go back after this. We’ve dealt out every hand and watched the chips fall where they did. Royally screwed us but you’re bent on this one last spur of action. We can make it count”, Elizar sounded so smooth as he built me up, his perception of what I needed was near miraculous.
“Promise not to be instantly turned off when I change into her”, I waved the ring and started the enchantment weave over my body, “I picked up a real tasteless piece of fabric to drape my body in for the initial entry into the investor’s box. I can pick out whatever sweaty gold mine she found in the parking lot and go with that approach to get inside.”
“We should head out and get ready. It’s a drive to the circus and we have to get this timing right. I’m all about organized schedules and have a flow chart ready for you to check off”, he informed me with pride.
“I get inside and then slip away to the bathroom. Max comes on and Braeden heads into the ring to help him. That’s when I change back and convince Rynna that what we’re doing is the only way forward. If she doesn’t help us, then I’m not sure that I could hold my own against her. She barely lifted a finger and had Braeden hanging by his ankle in the air”, I recalled with each image flashing into my mind.
“Then you keep the hair color and enchant over your dress. I slip into the crowd and wait for my signal to play the diamond diving Duke”, he said as his eyes lit up, “and it leaves me wondering if you’re a diamond kind of woman. I’ll give you anything that you want if it’s in my power.”
I never knew what to say to that. Elizar had come to my aid time and again while being straightforward the entire time. He now openly spoke about his feelings when he would joke about them before. Flirting changed from a teasing game into pure intent. He had let himself fall for me while I could barely tell him about the werewolf bond that drew me in to his feelings. He could be turned off by the prospect of some kind of mating ritual that belonged in the wolf world. Elizar was a man in charge of everything around him. I didn’t want to lose him out of some aversion to “belonging” to some hybrid. It was the smaller alpha in me, the one Braeden said that made me so resilient, and something that could clash with everything that Elizar stood for. I refrained from telling him about the bond because I didn’t want to lose him. How could he understand if he wasn’t a werewolf?
Ethan and Liam made it work without any issues. They complimented each other better than anyone that I had known. For their young age, they took a stand to show that a human and a werewolf could have a wonderful mateship bond. A famous caster and his hybrid mate may be able to do the same. Elizar didn’t run from my darkness so why was I so afraid that the information of my bond with him would end things? To his credit, Elizar let me have my silence as I sat with that discomfort. Suddenly breaking up with Elizar after he opened up to me, after he had swept in as the kind of boyfriend material romantics would dream of, would hurt me in ways that I may never heal from. I needed Elizar like I needed the beats of my heart to keep me tied to this life.
“There are so many things that I want to tell you but we don’t have time right now. After tonight, no matter what happens, will you come back to my apartment with me? I want you to know something”, I managed to get out.
Elizar put his leather jacket over my shoulders, “I can never resist waking up next to you in the morning. Let’s go mess up Voldini’s circus and show him that we don’t take too well to raving narcissists poaching from Crestwood. He kidnapped Dimples against her will. That’s not a crime that can be ignored.”
“And Meredith Marble will convince her to turn him in for it!”
“No”, Elizar brought me against him, “Abigail Everlaine will. Let’s do this so we can get back home to my favorite part of the night. We can celebrate by breaking your bed.”
“Let’s hope that Voldini likes the theater”, I brimmed with hope, “because he’ll be starring in this performance. I can’t wait to see him become the heiress.”
Meredith Marble had wielded a magnifying glass to show a befuddled town the truth of their prejudice. I would have a gallery of minds unsure of how they felt about Fae magic being mixed into the blood of others. It would be a harsh reminder that we could never be fully free of our past. It wouldn’t have the same idyllic victory that Marble had. I would take what acceptance they gave with a grain of sand. I knew who I was - despite my face being changed over to Cecilia’s sultry stare – and that was enough. Hybrid or not, freak to some or many, I was Abigail Everlaine. If I was good enough to come to with their problems then I was good enough to make a stand in a circus of mockeries. Three rings set on fire with a detective of magical means standing at its centre. I wouldn’t be alone. Next to me, listening as I poured my heart out, would be Dimples. I hoped she would reach for me.
My voice elevated in pitch as I mimicked my new look, “It’s time to shake up Iverli once again.”
Eighteen
Being Cecilia Blaine was one of my worst gigs yet. My dress was too tight, my heels too high, and I had to mimic a mocking laugh that just wasn’t in my nature. I had found her investor goon in the parking lot wiping the sweat that dripped down his neck. He looked flustered merely from the short walk from his car to the main entrance. Elizar was somewhere in the shadows of his teleporting magic – made efficient with the dice he crafted – and had a constant eye on me. Ian had also wanted to come along. To my surprise, Frankie and my mom arrived early. My cell kept going off alerting me of constant updates that I didn’t need.
“The food is good and definitely not poisoned.”
“They need better heat because it’s cold inside.”
“Four tickets to ride the roller coaster! I thought I would die.”
“Honey, don’t do anything dangerous. Promis
e?”
“Do you promise?”
“Abbie?”
“Abbie this is your mother, call me ASAP.”
I shot her a quick text and told her I would be on silent mode until it was my time to turn the tables in the ring. We had gone through my plan and she agreed to ignore me in my Cecilia form to not draw attention my way. It wasn’t a perfect enchantment. My nose was a little larger, her eyes a little wider, my cheekbones more defined. To the sweating investor who poured gold into the circus because he had nothing better to spend it on, I was a dead ringer. His breath told me that some kind of ale was consumed to muster up his courage. I switched over to the more rigid and calculated posture that Cecilia was known for with a smile plastered on my lips. He was drawn in like a dragon to a treasure trove.
“Now I didn’t think I’d see you again”, he drawled with a giddy air.
“I couldn’t resist seeing you and wanted to pick up where we left off. I don’t have a ticket to get in, though. Could I maybe sneak in on your arm and sit on your lap?”, I asked, my eyelashes batting profusely and bile rising in my throat from the forced flirtation.
The bags under his eyes turned tomato red, “I like the sound of that. Just don’t get mean like you did last time. I heard you spent some alone time with Voldini and I’d rather have you all to myself.”
The way his wet lips smacked together was unnerving to me. I tried to get into the headspace of someone like Cecilia who had only seen a business opportunity in a rich man. Everything had a price and everyone had a purpose. I would ditch him once the lights went low and we would never cross paths again. If he ran across Cecilia and gave her an earful? Even better. I waved my fingers through the blonde hair that I had enchanted over my own. It was the kind of blonde that could never be natural. Teetering on heels that made me grow nearly four inches, I looped my arm in his and didn’t bother to ask his name. It wouldn’t matter in twenty minutes anyway. He practically glowed with deep satisfaction. Considering he thought I was a high class hooker, his reaction felt tinged in a sad desperation.
A flick of a chill and a moving shadow told me that both of my friends were on watch duty. Braeden had already shifted into his wolf form and was prowling around the perimeter. He would easily blend in with the surrounding canopy of trees. We had went over this multiple times on the drive over. There wouldn’t be another chance and I carried the only ammo I had inside my head. My immediate reactions meant everything and could give me away as an imposter. I had to act like the happy hooker that was hungry for a bathtub full of gold. I put my head on the damp shoulder of my temporary date as we walked into the main circus tent. It was a challenge to hide my revulsion.
“Don’t get too star struck by Mr. Voldini again. If you ask me, he’s a weasel of a man. If he didn’t provide such good entertainment and dig up the best freaks, then I’d have ditched the investment ages ago”, my investor told me.
“I don’t care if I ever see him again”, I said truthfully.
The disparaging remarks the investor made toward the circus performers made me feel less guilty about tricking him. He just wanted to throw around money to get involved in a contest of the elite. I hoped that, somewhere, there was a small group within the Council that actually cared for the people of Iverli. My father and this man didn’t make a good example of it. When we got to the investor’s box, I had to follow through on sitting across his lap. I’d need a long shower at the end of the night. The other investors casually flirted and I laughed with a newfound aloofness that embodied Cecilia. I was fooling them all. The tension in my chest eased up and I became comfortable in the role. Then, Vander Voldini took his seat just down the row from mine.
I shouldn’t have looked away so quickly. He eyed me like any other man in the private investor’s box and it was all lust. He had Cecilia in some kind of way before and knew her a little better than the rest. He was also not an idiot. His calculating eyes gave me the once over and I did a little wave with my pinky to throw him off. It worked, thank the invisible gods, and I eased back onto the uncomfortable lap of the sweat machine. For as much gold as he had, the man really could have invested in some medical care to fix that problem. I’d even settle for a better cologne. My arms wrapped around his neck and sitting side saddle to see the show, I said a prayer of relief when the lights dimmed. It was time for phase two.
“I need to use the restroom. Be back soon”, I whispered in his ear.
His arms wrapped around me, “Aww, the first act is that Seer lady with the freaky ice magic. She’s a looker, too. You don’t wanna miss that.”
“Then I’ll be quick. Unless you want me to ruin your expensive looking suit?”
“I don’t mind that level of entertainment. Will it cost me extra?”, he asked with arms tightening around me a bit more.
“Let’s discuss it when I get back.”
His arms weren’t moving and I was glued to him. I didn’t expect this part of the plan and the show was already started. Conjured trees that twisted into carved faces came out in a blue sheen from the center ring. Rynna liked to evoke a sense of the past before she got to her ice weaving. I was locked to the investor and Voldini kept looking my way. What would Cecilia do? I had been to her bedroom before and remembered the riding crop. She would take control of the situation without breaking her calm. I’d have to change my strategy.
“If you don’t let me get to the bathroom”, I whispered tantalizingly into his ear, “then I’ll use one of my harder crops and you won’t be able to sit for a week. How ever will you explain that to your friends on the Council?”
“You wouldn’t hurt a lucrative client”, he protested.
“I have plenty more where you come from. How many beautiful blondes do you get across your lap? Trust me, darling, I can get ugly”, I winked condescendingly.
He bought the act and released me. Before Voldini could look my way again, I slipped out of the private box towards the bathroom. I exited the main tent and circled around to the residential one where Rynna would return after her act. Max would come next to fight the monsters of the abyss and then it would be Braeden’s chance to distract. Voldini would recognize him but that would be alright. By then, I’d be ready to bring the circus to a close. We wouldn’t get another chance. I found the entrance to the residential tent and stopped in my tracks when I saw two human guards blocking the way. I couldn’t sense magic in them and figured they got the job based on muscle alone. Time was running out and I couldn’t go back now. I thought about Elizar and Ian hiding out of sight and spoke under my breath.
“El and Ian, I need you to get rid of these guards so I can get through. Make them run for it so Braeden can use the entrance after me.”
I didn’t have to worry if they were in hearing distance. Elizar and Ian wouldn’t leave my side at a time like this. With a poof of smoke, Elizar appeared toying with his dice. Ian materialized behind the two guards and they said something to provoke them. The guards were off and I wasted no time slipping inside of the residential tent. There were no arcane barriers from stopping me further. Voldini must have had an extra overdose of arrogance before this morning. He must have thought that my brief capture would have deterred me from coming back. It was a good thing that he didn’t know how persistent I could be.
Rynna was putting out the grand finale of her performance for the evening with the lights show. All of her flora and fauna from a time lost to history moved together in a beautiful dance. I was amazed at how real it had all felt. She created something truly special from nothing. I couldn’t imagine a world where she was derided as a freak instead of marveled at as a talented historian. She apparently couldn’t imagine a life like that either. It was time to change that. I kicked the hooker heels off and removed the enchantment over me. Cecilia’s lock of hair – formerly wrapped and tied around my finger – went with it. I couldn’t do much in this dress and it was too tight to enchant into a more elegant vintage number like Meredith Marble would wear. That was where Braeden
would first come in.
I heard his paws behind me and felt the knapsack thud near me. Rynna came back into the residential tent and he darted past her. Max had nervously made his way out and looked forward with unseeing eyes. His own Wolf had become a waking nightmare for him with no hope of control. With time, Braeden could help him get more of an inner collaboration going. Max would have to leave his fear behind but, as I knew well, that wasn’t an easy feat. My heart broke to see him preparing to fight the abyss monstrosities without knowing what was in store. Braeden would bring him hope.
Rynna caught sight of me and took a step back. Ice still tipped her fingers and her dress trailed partially back into the main tent. Now out of braids, her thick and beautiful dark hair fell in waves down her back. She had a mix of frustration and sadness in her eyes. As much as we had gotten to know one another during my brief time there, she still wasn’t sure if I meant her salvation or her doom. I couldn’t blame her for it. I held up my hands in a peaceful gesture before letting my mouth run. I only had one shot to convince her now. Dimples may have her freedom from the binding stone but the others didn’t. Only one person would know how to get into Voldini’s office for the rest of them and she was already working up more ice to defend herself.
“I didn’t come for a fight”, I kept my hands raised, “but I did come to do what was right.”
