by Deanna Chase
“Ja, you have to believe me, I really didn’t think you’d mind. Especially considering you have a date. After what Cain said in the car, I was angry and dumb. Abel asked and he’s my friend. I told him so too—he knows we’re only going as friends. I don’t have any other kind of feelings for him.”
“Really? You told him just as friends?”
“I did. I swear.”
Her lips quirked. “Fine, I guess you’ll live. But don’t kiss him.” She wagged her finger.
Flint really wasn’t sure that was a joke and didn’t want to ask. “We’re just friends, I promise.”
Just then her phone rang. More than a little relieved, she answered it, hoping for a second it would be Abel just so she could just call the whole thing off. After Tamara this morning, she wasn’t even sure she wanted to go anymore.
“Hey.”
It was Cain.
Just the sound of his voice made her lashes flutter.
“Must be Cain, she’s gone tomato again,” Rhi sniffed.
Glaring at her friend, Flint turned in her seat. “Hey,” she breathed. “How’d you get my number?”
“Janet gave it to me.”
Janet shifted down in her seat, pretending to play with her perfect bangs.
“Ah, of course.” She narrowed her eyes at the silent brunette who refused to turn around. “What’s up?”
A lengthy pause rang in her ear before he said, “I was thinking about what the bug said to you today.”
“Tamara,” she automatically corrected.
“Whatever.”
She could almost picture him waving it off as unimportant. She smiled, wishing he were here right now. Yeah, she’d pretty much told him off in the car earlier, but that didn’t mean a girl didn’t have the right to change her mind.
“I’m going to take you to homecoming.”
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Flint fought the temper threatening to climb up her throat at the fact that he just assumed she wouldn’t have a date by now, that he could just tell her what to do.
“Cain,” she said slowly, calmly, knowing she wasn’t there to soothe the beast should it stir. “I’ve already got a date.”
“What?” His voice was low, but she wasn’t fooled into thinking he wasn’t angry. In fact, his soft question unnerved her more. “Who?”
Great, first Janet, now Cain. She squeezed her eyes shut. “Your brother.”
Her body tensed as she got ready to defend her case. But Cain surprised her yet again.
He sighed loudly, and there was the sound of some shuffling on the end of the line. “I guess I deserve that.”
“What?”
“You’re too pretty not to have found a date. If it wasn’t my brother, I’d probably kick his balls though.”
Smiling, she bit her bottom lip. “Well, I don’t know… he’s been bulking up lately. I think he could take you.”
Cain snorted. “Princess, I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that. So when you’re dancing with him… are you going to be thinking about me?”
A hot shiver trekked through her body and she gulped.
“I love him, but if he lays a hand below your waist he’ll be lame for the rest of his life.” His playful words rumbled with a throaty growl and she sighed laughed.
He made her make the strangest sounds.
“So are you?” he breathed.
“Cain.” His name trembled on her tongue.
“Oh la la, is this like phone sex or something we’re listening to, Ja?” Rhi said in a stage whisper.
“Shut up,” Flint snarled at them.
Cain chuckled. “All right, I’ll let you keep your dignity. Even though we already know you’ll be wishing it was me pressing you tight to my body.”
“Who are you? And what did you do with the jerk I can’t stand?”
“Princess, I’ve set my eyes on you. Get used to me, because I’m not going anywhere now.”
Oh em gee was right. Covering her face with her hand, she tried to ignore the fact that she wasn’t alone and was being studied like a bug under Rhi’s microscope. But it was hard. Really hard, because right now, if she’d been alone, she would have been squealing like a little kid in a candy store.
“Be right there,” Cain called to someone. “I’ve got to go. The guys want to scout a warehouse we’ve seen the bugs hanging around before. Oh, and just so you know…” She heard more shuffling, like he was putting shoes on. “Adam’s posted a set of eyes on Katy’s trailer. Just in case.”
“Thanks, Cain.”
He grunted.
“Be safe, okay?” She gripped the phone until her knuckles turned white.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m the big bad wolf.”
She could just picture his cocky leer.
“And, princess—”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll see you tonight.”
That had sounded like a promise. She held the phone to her ear a while after he’d hung up.
Janet looked back at her. “Told you.”
~*~
“Yup.” Rhiannon’s blue eyes gleamed as she stared at Flint in the mirror. “That’s it. That’s your dress. You’re going to make Cain regret not asking you first.”
Flint’s knees trembled as she stared at herself in the floor-length mirror.
The dress was black, more of a cocktail dress with a heart-shaped bodice. It was strapless and sparkled as she turned and twirled. She tugged at the hem.
“Don’t you think it’s too short?”
Janet was standing next to her in a bright orange gown that gleamed with hints of gold as she moved. She looked really beautiful, and Flint could only hope that when Abel saw her he’d realize he’d been secretly in love with her the whole time.
“As much as I wish you’d look like an ugly hag that night…”
“Gee thanks.”
“Anytime.” She grinned. “But… you do look really hot and you’ve got great legs. Plus, I can’t wait to see Cain’s face.”
Flint barely recognized herself. Her cheeks were flushed, her skin pale and pearlescent. Grabbing her hair, she held it up and preened.
Rhiannon studied her long frost-blue nail polish. “Yup, I’m good. Now let’s go eat, I’m starving.”
The mere mention of food made Flint’s stomach growl. “Let’s eat!” Her words rang with more than just the need for sugar. She was happy, really happy.
~*~
Abel rolled over on his bed. The girls were gone and he was bored. He tapped his pencil on his open book. Sitting reclined on his bed, he stared at his door, wishing someone or something would knock and come hang out.
Taking a deep breath, he tossed the math book off his lap to the floor and, placing his fingers behind his head, lay back on the pillow. The low hum of his AC unit lulled him into a sleepy stupor.
Before he knew it, his eyes slammed shut.
Drifting into a fog of somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, images floated through his mind’s eye. The first day he’d met Flint. How she’d sometimes lean on him when she was making a joke. What color her dress would be. Maybe red. Or his favorite color. Orange. She’d look really good in orange. How hot she’d looked at the hole wearing nothing but short shorts and a green bra, her wild mane of red hair sliding across her pale shoulders like fire.
How she’d looked that day in the trailer, studying his mom’s science experiments. And then the screaming.
The sound of it still haunted him. There’d been panic and soul-sucking fear. He’d been on the ground, arm distorted and twisted, snapped in so many places he still couldn’t understand why he hadn’t needed physical therapy, why it was already nearly healed.
It took days to heal what should have taken weeks, maybe even months. His bone had been like sand. But to look at him now, you’d never know it. There was still a slight ache, but nothing worse. Physically anyway.
That woman… dressed in black, coming at him with death in her eyes. He’d not even been
prepared. There’d been no ruse, she’d come at him with single-minded determination. A second before she’d touched him though, she’d called him a name that’d sent ice through his veins. Then she’d grabbed and snapped.
He’d howled, screamed like a coward.
His heart pounded as he remembered the bitter taste of fear and self-loathing that a woman had unmanned him like that.
She’d moved like shadow. A dancing swirl of death, and he knew he’d been lucky.
If she’d wanted to kill him, no one could have stopped it.
Sweat peppered his brows, coated his chest and back.
The eyes had been red. Like blood.
Breathing increasing harder and sharper with each inhalation, he twisted on his bed. Fiery tingles worked up through his toes, his legs, across his torso, increasing in intensity and making him clench his molars as the pain overwhelmed him.
Eyes snapping open, he sat up in bed, grabbing his skull as a vicious throbbing lanced through it. Arms and legs trembling, he fought the panic, the overwhelming fear clawing at his throat.
There wasn’t another second to wonder what was happening; it was like someone had poured battery acid into his brain. With the next blink, he passed out cold.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lights blazed through the liquid blue night. A cool breeze sifted Flint’s hair as she exited the car with her dress draped over her arm, and anticipation rode her hard as she made her way through the busy circus. It still amazed her that a night circus did so well, especially during weekdays.
But it did. And it seemed to be busier than ever—maybe because Halloween wasn’t so far off and the strange, almost creepy vibe of the place was suited to the time of year. But Flint didn’t think that was really it.
It was the performers.
The nonhuman ones anyway.
They dripped some sort of animal magnetism that made humans weak in the knees and desperate for more.
And now that she knew the truth, she finally understood why she’d always felt the place was off. Her dad was one of the rare humans performing.
Laughing groups of people ran between tents. Some looked scared, others nervous but excited. Some even appeared angry and confused, ready to leave. Why?
Crazy, but the whole time her dad had been working here, Flint really hadn’t gotten to know much of the circus. Apart from the big top, she was clueless about what happened in the smaller tents. She’d always just assumed it would be like any circus, maybe a small tent for the “freaks.” The bearded lady and snake man, et cetera…
But what if that’s not what it was?
And as she was thinking this, a heavily bedazzled pair of performers tossed aside the flap opposite her and stepped out, one a girl, the other a guy. They wore matching stage makeup. The pale blue and purple paint cascading from the corners of their eyes down their cheeks almost seemed to glow from the reflection of the blazing lights all around them.
The guy ogled Flint with eyes the color of molten gold. The woman hissed, her glass-green eyes lighting up as she yanked his arm to her.
Easily one of the best-looking males she’d seen, which… around here, they were pretty much a dime a dozen. Dusky-skinned, with long black lashes that fanned his cheeks when he blinked. Wiry and not incredibly muscular, there was still the sense about him that he was powerful.
“She does not concern you, Icarus,” the girl said in a voice so rich and dulcet Flint felt herself strain forward to hear more.
Icarus patted her hand, his eyes never leaving Flint’s. “Human.” His hypnotic voice drew her to him as if someone had attached a string to her waist and was slowly pulling her in. “Do you want to know your future?”
Intense and frightening emotions swirled through her. Her fingers curled over the hanger in her hand, bending the soft metal in her grasp. She wanted to please him. Fall to her knees and beg him to tell her. To touch him. Hold him. Melt in the heat of his embrace. Take off her clothes. His.
“Y—”
“Icarus!” Janet slapped a hand over Flint’s eyes. “Back off!” she growled. “Not with this one.”
The moment Janet broke the man’s eye contact, Flint could reason, and a sick, churning bile worked its way up her throat. What had she been thinking? Getting ready to do?
Her body trembled, every muscle spasming as the reality of what she’d almost said, done… began to dawn on her.
When he’d spoken, she’d forgotten all about Cain. It’d been Icarus and it’d been all consuming.
A hot chuckle greeted her ears and made her shiver. Then Janet removed her hand and worried eyes peered at her.
“You okay?”
Rhiannon was patting Flint’s back. “Freaking Pride, they’re always doing crap like that. You good, babe?”
Blinking, Flint looked for him. “Where’d he go?”
“Away,” they said at the same time.
“What was that? What did he do to me?”
Rolling her eyes, Janet huffed. “He’s a Pride demon.”
“A what?”
Rhi popped a lollipop in her mouth. “Pride demon, those bastards. Dated one a couple hundred years ago. They’re like ubertoxic, even to my kind. They feed on your desire for them. The more they know you want them, the stronger their glamour becomes.”
“He made me…” Flint squeezed her eyes shut, unable to put into words what looking at him had done to her. She was a virgin, but for a wild second, she’d been ready to throw it all away for him. It made her sick.
“They do that to all of us. Don’t worry.” Janet patted her arm.
“Look, I’m gonna go put the dresses away.” Rhiannon slipped Flint’s dress from her hands, staring at the twisted hanger with a half-amused smirk. “Why don’t you go to Abel’s? We’ll be there in a sec.” She pointed to his silver-bullet trailer in the distance.
“Shouldn’t I go with you?”
Rhi laughed. “No one’s gonna hurt you. Just keep your eyes on the ground. We gotta go tell Adam we’re back and see if he’s got anything for us to do before we can properly veg.”
Not wanting to appear any more tragic than she already did, Flint turned on her heel, casting her eyes straight at the ground, ignoring the delicious scent of sizzling meat and fried breads, and winding her way toward Abel’s trailer.
“Princess.” The deep voice she loved listening to rumbled in her ear. Then his scent wrapped her in a fierce hug seconds before she was enveloped in Cain’s arms.
Still feeling raw, she clung to his waist and squeezed her eyes shut. A sense of right eased the strain from her muscles.
“Flint?” He kissed the top of her head. His eyes were worried. “What’s wrong?”
Rubbing her fingers along his lightly stubbled jaw, she shook her head. “Nothing, I just… I missed you.”
His smile was huge and she couldn’t help but return it.
“You’re done hunting?”
He nodded. “For now. Queen’s smart, she knows we’re looking. They’ve gone deep underground, at this point I’m thinking we’ll just have to wait for her to make the first move.”
It was really hard to concentrate when he kept strumming his fingers along the tiny sliver of exposed skin between her jeans and sweater. It made her feel hot and cold all at the same time.
“My dad,” she whispered, dreading stepping out of Cain’s arms but knowing she couldn’t afford to be caught with him like this. Not to mention the fact that the Order, whoever they were, forbade this sort of thing.
“Is busy,” he finished.
“But the Order? Janet told me we have to be careful.”
His look was thoughtful. “The Order won’t be a problem.” But he didn’t elaborate further. She shivered at the intensity of his heated stare. “Where you headed?” he finally asked.
Tongue swollen, it was hard to corral her thoughts. “I was umm”—she scratched the back of her head—“going to Abel’s trailer.”
“Come with me.” He knuckled her c
heek softly.
“Where?”
“The hole.”
She laughed. “I’m not swimming, it’s freezing.”
“Hmm. That’s too bad. Was hoping to see that sexy green bra again.” He plucked at her top and she smacked his hand.
He laughed, stepping back. She hated being out of his arms, but when he wasn’t touching her she didn’t feel quite so light-headed.
“No, really.” He held up his hands and then stuffed them into his pockets. “No funny business. I just want to hang out away from all this.” He gestured at the thick crowd.
“I don’t know.” Not that she didn’t want to. Because she did, but being alone with Cain wasn’t a smart idea. It was getting harder and harder to remember why she was even a virgin anymore, not to mention that more than half the time Cain still pissed her off and she wasn’t sure she was ready to get in such a messy relationship. Sex only seemed to make things worse, not better. Her mom had told her a million times only do it with the right one and for the right reasons.
Was Cain the right one?
“Hey.” He cocked his head, tipping her chin up to stare deep into her eyes. “We don’t have to go. I don’t want to do anything you don’t want to do. If you’re not comfortable, then we can stay.”
Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.
It was on the tip of her tongue to say yes, when Janet’s loud shrill broke the mood.
“Cain. Flint. Hurry up, come quick!” Janet waved her hand.
Frowning, Cain turned and Flint looked up. Frantically waving, Janet stood inside Abel’s trailer.
Cain was turning and running, Flint not a second behind him. They reached the trailer in no time.
“He’s passed out and pale.” Ja’s voice quivered as she ushered them inside the cramped trailer. “I was going to look for Adam, but I saw you. Help him.”
Cain knelt beside his brother, cradling his upper body in his arms.
Abel was breathing very shallowly. Flint’s heart clenched as she sank to her knees beside them. His skin was clammy, his muscles like limp noodles as his head flopped against Cain’s chest.
Hefting his brother in his arms, Cain stood and then gingerly placed Abel in the center of the bed.
