by Renee George
Adam stroked her hair from her face, and once again, the world melted away.
I AM not strong. My mother died during my birth, Adelaide’s mother Rose Ann is barren now, and my father will no longer see reason. He worries that I will challenge him when I have reached maturity. I have heard him say as much to Rose Ann, who has cared for me since I was an infant. She called him crazy last night and he beat her unconscious. After he left, I cleaned her up as best I could and dragged her to bed. She is leogenus. She will heal, but I am afraid he is breaking her in other ways.
My father believes more sons will prevent me from ascending to his place. He is our king, our master, and he is not kind or good. My little sister weeps as she curls up in the curve of her mother’s side. If Rose Ann would shift, the healing would be faster, but I can’t make her.
I am not strong.
Unreasonably, she thinks if he sees what he has done, guilt will stop him from doing it again. He has no remorse.
She stirs, stroking Adelaide’s blonde curls. “Son,” she says, her voice weak.
I cross the room and sit beside her.
She takes my hand. “You’re father cares for you. For all of us. He is a great man. He knows that only a true mating can produce a child. As it was with your mother when you were created. As it was for me with Adelaide. Don’t forget that.”
I am only twelve, but even so, I know she is lying. He does not care for anyone but himself. I am twelve, and I know my father will try to destroy me—destroy all who love me. He is a tyrant King who will brook no challenge to his throne. I am twelve, and I know one day I will kill him.
MADDIE snapped back again, scrambling a few feet away from both men. Seeing the vision from Adam’s perspective, hearing his most private thoughts, gave her better insight into this man she planned to take as a mate. Unlike Cage, Adam, even at twelve, had been poised and in control. He’d tried to take care of the woman who raised him and bore his sister, all the while fighting for his own survival. His strength and focus, even as a youth, held her in awe. She hadn’t thought she could love him more, but she’d been wrong.
However, she worried she’d see nothing of Zaria, only more Adam and Cage if they kept touching her. She suspected their strong emotions were making their tragic pasts take over her visions. If she wanted to use her ability to find Zaria, she wouldn’t be able to do it with either of her men so close.
Adam’s dark, blue eyes were rimmed with exhaustion. “What? What is it?”
“I can’t focus. Not with the two of you near.” She rubbed her arms, soothing the gooseflesh produced by the vision. Cage held out his hand to help her up, but Maddie shook her head. “Touching you both, being so close, all I’m getting up here—” She tapped her head. “Is Adam and Cage. And because you’re scared for Zaria, I’m seeing other times in your life when you were afraid. If I’m going to help, I need to do it with you two standing way over there.” She gestured to the other side of the arch.
Adelaide turned to Maddie. “What are you talking about?”
“She’s got the gift of sight,” Adam said, before Maddie could answer.
“Like Clary?” she asked. Her voice trembled. Hope, maybe?
“Yes, but Clary saw the future, while Madeline sees the past.”
“Well, I’ll be,” Marlena said with a whisper.
Adam took his sister’s hand. “We will find Zaria.”
“Yes.” Maddie said, sensing a growing tension in the group. “We won’t stop until she’s found.” She gave Alice a knowing look. The petite blonde jerked her chin back, startled at Maddie’s hard stare. After what Alice had tried to do to Cage, it wouldn’t have surprised Maddie one bit if she’d done something to Zaria.
She shook her head, and shifted her focus to Adelaide. She was Adam’s sister, and even if she hadn’t been, Maddie wanted to help put her at ease. But when Maddie took a step toward her, Adelaide took a timid step back.
Maddie didn’t try to touch her. She was a stranger to Adelaide. She knew that several of the carnival folk, especially the dwarf, Carl, thought her no better than an outsider. So instead of trying to get closer to Adelaide, she simple said, “I will do everything in my power to get Zaria back to you.”
Adelaide cast a shy glance downward. “Thank you.”
Alice Deckard snorted. “Damn Rube thinks she’s all high and mighty.”
“And you’re a selfish bitch,” Maddie retorted.
Alice hissed and took a step toward her.
Cage snarled and moved quicker than Maddie could track. In two beats he was on Alice, his fingers closing around her throat.
She made a strangled sound as she tugged at his tightening fingers.
“You’re choking me,” she managed to say.
If she could talk, then Cage was showing considerable restraint. Maddie didn’t want Cage to hurt Alice—No, she wanted to do it herself. Cage was hers now, and Alice better watch her back.
Alice shifted her gaze to Adam, her face red and her eyes watering. “Are you going to leash your animal?”
Adam arched his brow. “You are talking about your king, Alice. My co-ruler. And Madeline is no rube. She’s our queen, and you’ll treat her and Cage with respect or find another home.”
Maddie’s heart swelled to near bursting. She fought back the tears she couldn’t keep from her eyes. Adam’s declaration in front of his troupe swelled her with pride. She knew when they’d asked her to be their mate, they’d been serious, but it hadn’t felt real yet. Now, surrounded by Adam and Cage’s people, their intentions clear, it all felt hyper-real. Adam had made a public announcement, and all of them—except Cage and Adam—stared at Maddie as if she’d grown a second head. She was their queen, or at least would be when the ritual was complete. Adam saying it out loud meant everyone would have to get used to the idea. She glared at Alice. Everyone.
“It’s all right, Cage,” she said softly. “I think Alice has gotten the message.”
Cage curled his lip and chuffed a hot breath in Alice’s face before he let her go.
Adam moved to stand next to his brother. “Let’s step back, so Madeline can work.” He nodded to the group. “Start with everyone here, then we’ll move through the carnival in a grid.” His tone was certain, but Maddie could see the doubt in his eyes. He worried he would fail Zaria. Fail Adelaide. Fail them all.
He was not his father.
Maddie took a deep breath. She drew near to Adam without touching him. She poured all of her love for him into her expression, and hoped it would bring him some comfort. “You are a good man, Adam. Good and kind.”
Almost instinctually, Cage wrapped his arm around Adam’s shoulder and began to stroke his hair—the same gesture of calming affection she’d seen Adam use many times with Cage over the past couple of days. She could see the tension in Adam’s eyes ease a bit. She held his gaze for a couple more seconds before turning to Cage. The younger lion shifter’s warm-amber eyes telegraphed his apprehension. His jaw flexed visibly, even beneath his beard.
Now that she’d accepted her fate, to be their queen, she couldn’t stand the idea of not touching them, not giving them comfort. She wanted to stroke and caress every inch of them and lay her naked skin against theirs. She shook the thought from her head—not productive! Finding Zaria took priority over her emotional and physical needs.
A quirk of a smile from Cage sent a thrill through Maddie. Not productive at all. She narrowed her gaze at her other mate. “Stop that.”
Adam shook his head. “Start with Adelaide.”
Adelaide shook her head. “Me?” she said to Adam.
Maddie held up a hand. “I’ll start with her.” She narrowed her gaze at Alice, and resisted smirking when the bitch nervously stepped back.
Maddie walked straight to Alice and took her hand before the woman could jerk away. She leaned in close. “I know what you did.”
Alice’s green eyes grew wide, but she didn’t try to jerk out of Maddie’s grasp. “I’ve got noth
ing to hide,” she said, regaining her composure. “If it’ll help find Zaria, I’ll do whatever Adam asks.”
Woo-ee, Maddie thought. This hag is really pouring the sugar on for Adam’s sake. She wanted to gouge out her catty-eyes. “Think about Zaria.”
Her ability didn’t always mean she saw things from the perspective of the person she was near or touching. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have seen Clary’s memories. But actually trying to have one of these episodes, seemed to go against everything Maddie had ever known. She’d always fought to be normal, and here she was giving in to the side of her that had made her an outcast. Funny, in this world, Maddie found a home. A home where differences were valued, even celebrated. She’d found her place … so now she needed to use her gift to find Zaria
Alice nodded, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips as if she sensed Maddie’s lack of confidence. “Go ahead then,” she said, her tone mocking.
Maddie focused her thoughts and energy on Zaria.
At first, nothing happened. She could feel everyone staring at her, judging her as inadequate. Maddie closed her eyes to block them out, concentrating on the warm hand in hers. What had Clary done when she had played Madame Devine?
The memory tickled at the edges of Maddie’s mind. She turned Alice’s hand palm up and traced a circle first, and then touched the middle of her hand and followed the lines.
Zaria. Where are you? She opened her eyes when a warm feeling started at the back of her neck and worked down her spine. The welcome arch, Adam, Cage, and the rest of them vanished as the scenery changed around her.
THERE is enough light in the dimly lit room to see Alice lying on the bed. She is lovely but her beauty barely moves me. She spreads her legs, in invitation. I shake my head. It is over between us. Even if there was no animosity between her and Cage, I know she’s not my true mate. Besides, now that Cage and I have bonded, we will have to choose our mate together.
Still, she has been more than a warm body. We have been lovers for a long time, and she doesn’t deserve to be thrown away. I don’t want to hurt Alice.
Her smile falters. She knows something is coming. For a moment, I see the wounded, bleeding creature she was when I found her dying on the side of the road. My poor Alice. She is mine, just not in the way she wishes. We will never be a true mating. She will never rule my heart. It is impossible. But she is still mine.
I hold out my hands. A prelude to an apology. Tears shimmer in her eyes, and her lower lip trembles. I don’t have a gun, but I know my words will hurt her as much as the hunter’s bullet. She is mine, but I am not hers.
MADDIE stumbled away. Her heart aching with the pain of loss, even by choice. Adam and Alice had been lovers, but he hadn’t loved her. The knowledge made her sorry for Alice, and she didn’t want to feel bad for the woman. She’d hurt Cage. She’d trapped him down a hole, but after seeing her from Adam’s perspective, a tiny part of Maddie understood what made Alice hate Cage. She would blame him for losing Adam, even if losing him had been inevitable. He hadn’t loved her.
Alice smiled, her expression vindictive. She leaned close to Maddie and whispered, “I hope you got a real good view of Adam in my bed.”
Maddie saw Alice as a woman to be pitied. She didn’t like her, or trust her, but she knew Alice would never come between her and her Lion Kings. “Adam saved you,” Maddie said. “You are his, but he is not yours.” She put steel in her eyes. “He is mine.”
Alice looked stricken. She pulled up her hand as if to slap Maddie, but stopped herself.
Maddie could hear Cage’s warning growl. “It’s all right,” she told him. “I didn’t see anything about Zaria. I should try with Adelaide.” She’d been stupid not to start with Adam’s sister in the first place. But her vision about Cage and the well had made her brash and made her want to believe that maybe Alice had done something to Zaria, too.
“I don’t know,” Adelaide said. “I think we should be out looking for her, not standing around hoping for a miracle.”
“I know you’re worried. I am too.” Adam put his arm around her and rubbed her shoulder. “Let Madeline try. If she doesn’t see anything that helps, we’ll burn this place down along with the town if that what it takes to get my niece back.”
Reluctantly, Adelaide nodded. Her fair hair blew in a fan across her face, giving her face a ghostly appearance. She held out a shaky hand. Maddie took it, gently, and touched her palm.
“Concentrate on the last time you saw Zaria.”
“Okay,” Adelaide said quietly.
Adam’s sister was so skittish, Maddie worried what memory would come. It was obvious she’d been abused or traumatized by something in her past, and the last thing that Maddie wanted to do was bring up more bad stuff for Adelaide.
She closed her eyes and once again put all her concentration on Zaria.
The warmth flushed through her again, and she knew the vision would quickly follow. She opened her eyes long enough to see an almost terror in Adelaide’s eyes before she found herself peeking through a small slice in a tent.
MAMMA says I need to stay out of Uncle Cage and Uncle Adam’s way, but she just don’t understand. When I grow up, I’m going to be strong just like them. I don’t like the way men look at Mamma when she dances. It’s not right. A queen should be respected. When I’m queen, no man will look at me funny unless he’s my king. Which is why I won’t dance.
Uncle Cage really scared that dark-haired woman. She ran off almost as fast as Mamma had. I watch as Uncle Adam shouts at Uncle Cage. It is over the lady. I don’t like her already. Not if she’s making them fuss at each other.
Uncle Cage isn’t our blood. Mamma told me that a long time ago, but it don’t make me love him any less. He’s good to us, Mamma and me. I hear Uncle Adam tell Uncle Cage that the Madeline lady was their second chance, maybe their only chance for a queen, a true mate for them. Mamma told me that only a true mating brings a baby.
Suddenly I don’t like this Madeline at all.
Uncle Cage is standing now, and he and Uncle Adam are moving toward the field where the woman ran off. They want to find her and ask her to come back. It makes me not like her even more. I hope she tells them no.
I have to know her answer, so I wait for them to get to the tree line before I follow after.
MADDIE sucked in a deep breath as the vision faded. “Oh my God,” she finally said.
“What?” Adelaide asked, worry heavy in her voice. “What did you see?”
“Zaria wasn’t kidnapped.” She pursed her lips and stared at Adam and Cage. “She saw you both talking about me, and when you left to find me, she followed you to town.”
“Where is she now?” Cage asked.
“I don’t know. The last thing I saw, she was headed away from the carnival toward the woods.”
13
“CARL and Alana can search the midway, just in case Zaria comes back on her own. Marlena, Darren, and Alice, I want you all to do a fine-comb search of the surrounding woods. The rest of us will go to the motel, and if Zaria isn’t there, we’ll split up and search the entire town.”
Maddie nodded. “I’ll take the car. I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up with you all on foot. Adelaide can come with me.”
“No,” the blonde woman insisted. “I want to stay with Adam.”
Adam gave her a hard stare. His sister had the oddest reactions sometimes. He understood some of it had to do with the abuse she suffered at the hands of their father after Adam had been thrown out of the pride. Her mother hadn’t been able to protect Adelaide well, and after she died, not at all. Adelaide had been so very young. If Adam could go back in time, he’d have taken her with him. He’d have figured out a way to make sure she hadn’t had to suffer.
When he’d become strong enough to return to challenge his father, he’d been surprised to find his sister heavy with pregnancy and no mate. She’d told Adam that the father was dead, but she wouldn’t say more. He suspected her mate had been killed by their
father. Knowing his father, he’d probably tortured the poor soul first.
“You should go with Madeline,” he told her. “Zaria could be somewhere close to the motel, and Madeline’s not a shifter. She won’t be able to track the child like you can.”
Uncertainty weighted Adelaide’s expression, but she nodded her agreement.
“Good,” Adam said. “We’ll meet up in two hours at the big top regardless and assess the situation from there. Hopefully we’ll find Zaria before then.”
“We’ll find her,” Cage said. His confidence bolstered Adam.
He worried his nine-year-old niece wouldn’t fare well without protection. She was too carefree, the perils of growing up in the carnival. Of course, her uncles were Kings of the Pride, and which meant she was usually the safest cub around. In the human world, who her uncles were didn’t matter. Would she be smart enough to stay out of sight? To stay safe?
And why had she followed them? No. The why didn’t matter right now—only the where.
His chest tightened, and it was hard to breathe. It was his job to keep his people safe. He was failing. He felt Cage’s hand lace through his hair again, and he eased out the air from his lungs. Madeline, their Madeline—their queen, put her hand on Adam’s chest. He saw that her other hand rested on Cage.
Adam and Cage both inclined their heads to Madeline, and Adam sighed when she rose up on her tippy-toes and touched foreheads with them. Her small hands caressed their faces. Adam felt some of the stiffness leave.
They hadn’t mated yet, not fully. Zaria’s disappearance had brought the ritual to an abrupt halt, but in his heart, she was already completely their own. He loved her, and the realization, made him ache.
“You ready?” she asked. “Zaria left of her own will. That’s a good thing. Now we just need to go get her.” Her voice calmed him. He could feel some of Cage’s tension easing as well.
