[Mystic Caravan Mystery 04.0] Freaky Games

by Amanda M. Lee

  Raven scorched him with a look. “Whatever. I’m going to use Nixie’s shrinking dust to shrivel your balls when you’re sleeping one night. You’ve been warned.”

  It wasn’t the first time Raven threatened his manhood, so Luke wasn’t particularly bothered. Of course he knew he had me to back him up should it come to a slap fight. “Put your face in your armpit and inhale until you pass out,” he ordered. “I’m talking to Poet.” He turned to me. “What’s going on?”

  I pressed the tip of my tongue to the back of my teeth and shifted on the bench. Kade and Luke arranged things so that everyone in our immediate group faced in my direction. This was the exact opposite of what I wanted.

  “The thing is … .”

  “Oh, it’s too late to cover it up now.” Naida heaved out a weary sigh. “We have to tell them or they’ll imagine the worst. They’re prone to dramatic fits.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Nellie shot back, shifting the spaghetti strap on his summer frock so the dress didn’t dip in the front. He preferred evening gowns, but Vegas was hot enough that he couldn’t run around in taffeta without abusing the fabric, so he had to make do. “I’m the least dramatic person here.”

  “You screamed bloody murder when you thought someone stole your new Spring Step summer sandals just two days ago,” Luke reminded him.

  “Those shoes were expensive.”

  “And they were under your couch.”

  “No one asked you.” Nellie rolled his neck and the movement caused me to focus on the dark hair that matted his shoulders. He needed a wax, which was something else he got dramatic about. He went on and on about how he was the bearded lady and waxing was out of the question. When you can braid someone’s back hair, it’s time to take matters into your own hands. We would have to wrestle him down before the month was out. “I was talking to Poet.”

  “It seems everyone is talking to Poet,” Kade said, cupping the back of my head so I had nowhere to look but in his eyes. “I need you to tell me what’s going on. I’m bordering on freaking out myself.”

  He said the last part as if he was joking, but I knew better. “Well … .”

  “We found weird prints in the sand out by the dreamcatcher line,” Naida volunteered.

  “I found them,” Raven corrected. “Me. I’m the one who found them.”

  “We’ll have a plaque made up in your honor tomorrow,” Luke said dryly. “What kind of tracks?”

  “Oh, man.” Nellie made a face. “Are the mummies back? It’s no fun chopping off a mummy head because they instantly turn to sand. There’s no blood or gore. You know I like the blood. It keeps me feeling young and spry.”

  Oh, yes, we knew it a little too well. “It’s not mummies,” I said, licking my lips.

  Kade’s eyes were keen. “What is it?”

  “We don’t know.” I opted for honesty. It was too late to hide any of this from the histrionic crowd. “Whatever it is … well … it has webbed feet.”

  “Ooh.” Dolph, our resident strongman, leaned forward. “Is it like that thing from the Creature from the Black Lagoon?”

  Hmm. That was an interesting question. I’d never considered that. “We haven’t seen the creature, only the footprints. I’m not ruling out that theory, but the problem is there’s no water around here. Why would a water monster hide out in the desert?”

  “Why would anyone visit the desert?” Naida asked, flicking her fingers at a bug only she could see. “I hate it when we come to the desert.”

  “I don’t think it’s a highlight for anyone,” Raven muttered.

  “Speak for yourself,” Luke shot back. “I happen to love Vegas.”

  “That’s because you like to go to the shows and imagine yourself in sequins and feathers,” Raven snapped. “It’s pathetic.”

  “You’re pathetic.”

  “You’re the thing pathetic creatures are afraid to see when they look in the mirror,” Raven growled.

  “Okay, that will be enough of that,” Kade barked, holding a hand up between Raven and Luke in case they decided to launch themselves at one another across the table. “There’s no reason to make this worse than it already is.”

  Raven snorted, settling back in her spot at the table. “That’s easy for you to say,” she said. “You didn’t spend an hour wiping yourself out by exerting magic to double up on the dreamcatcher.”

  Kade raised an eyebrow, surprised. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “I don’t know, but it sounds interesting.” Nellie rubbed his hand over his chin. “How did you double it up?”

  “We created two of them,” I explained. “Raven and Naida have been theorizing about it for some time. They thought now would be the time to drag out the more powerful version. The problem is, we haven’t tested it yet and we all know Vegas is not the spot where we want to test it for the first time only to have it fail.”

  “I hear that.” Dolph bobbed his shiny head. “So what did you do?”

  “We put up both,” Naida answered. “We put up the regular dreamcatcher first and then we did the second over top of it. We extended the second dreamcatcher out farther, so anything that passes the borders will hit it first.”

  “It should alert when something crosses, but if it doesn’t we have the original dreamcatcher as backup,” Raven added. “It should be stronger, but we’ll have no way of knowing it’s working the way it was designed until something crosses the border.”

  “I guess that explains why you’re so pale, huh?” Kade rubbed the tender spot at the back of my neck. “You drained yourself with the dreamcatcher. You should’ve told me what you were doing.”

  “I had every intention of telling you,” I offered. “I wanted to wait until we were alone.”

  “Why?” Nellie asked, oblivious. “Who didn’t you want to tell?”

  “You mostly.”

  Nellie stilled. “Me? Why?”

  “Because you tend to freak out and turn hyper-vigilant,” Raven supplied. “We didn’t want to find you hiding behind the trailers with your ax. The odds of you accidentally beheading someone are fairly high when that happens – especially when alcohol is a factor, which it always is in Vegas.”

  Nellie balked. “I’ve never accidentally beheaded anyone.”

  “That clown Max picked up in Boise two years ago?” Raven challenged.

  “He was a wendigo.”

  “He was a drunk who didn’t shower enough,” Raven corrected. “We didn’t want to tell you until we knew what we were dealing with. It’s too late now – everyone knows everything – so I guess we’ll have to suck it up.”

  “Oh, whatever.” Nellie risked a glance in my direction. “I don’t freak out.”

  “Duly noted,” I said, mashing my hamburger so I could fit it into my mouth.

  “I’m sorry,” Kade whispered, brushing his lips against my cheek. “I should’ve realized you were keeping that a secret for a reason.”

  I forced a watery smile as I swallowed. “It’s fine. It’s done now. Don’t worry about it.” I wiped the corners of my mouth and chuckled as Kade kissed away a glob of ketchup. I was so lost in my own little world I didn’t notice that Luke’s attention was fixed on the adjacent parking lot until the table lapsed into silence. “What’s going on?”

  “We have company,” Luke replied grimly, causing me to glance over my shoulder and cringe at the sight of two uniformed police officers heading in our direction. They were accompanied by a third man, also clearly a police officer, although he wore jeans and a blue button-down shirt. “What do you think they want?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s never good when the cops show up before we’ve done anything to be nervous about,” I replied, climbing to my feet. “I’ll handle them.”

  “We’ll handle them,” Kade corrected, grabbing my hand before I could move too far from the table.

  “Oh, that’s kind of sweet.” I smiled. “We’re a unit.”

  “That and I’m head of security,” Kade said.
“If they’re here for a reason, I should know what it is.”

  “Oh, right.” I was mortified that my gooey center came out to play and he had witnessed it. “Of course.”

  Kade leaned closer and smiled. “The us being a unit stuff is also important.”

  I didn’t bother to hide my smile. “Whatever.” I combed my fingers through my hair, hoping I looked presentable, and then pasted a quizzical and yet welcoming expression on my face as the officer in plain clothes closed the distance. He didn’t stop until he was four feet in front of me. “Welcome to the Mystic Caravan Circus. Is there something I can help you with?”

  The uniformed officers remained silent, although I didn’t miss their interested gazes as they looked over my shoulder and took in the seemingly well-behaved circus workers. My Mystic Caravan brethren know how to conduct themselves when law enforcement comes around – sadly, it happens quite often – so I wasn’t worried they’d do anything freaky until after our visitors left.

  The non-uniformed officer was the one to speak. “I’m Detective Lance Dorsey. We heard you folks arrived a few hours ago. I wanted to stop by and have a discussion with you.”

  “Certainly.” I beamed as if I had nothing to hide. “We’re just sitting down to dinner. Would you like to join us? It’s just hamburgers and potato salad this evening, but it’s good.”

  “Thank you for the invitation, but we’re not staying long,” Dorsey replied. “Actually, I’m here on specific business.”

  “Okay. What can I do for you?”

  Dorsey’s eyes momentarily landed on Kade, as if feeling him out, but he returned his focus to me. “I don’t want to alarm anyone, but we’ve had some weird reports coming out of this area over the past two weeks. I tried to get my boss to contact you, perhaps put your visit off for a bit, but he said the city signed binding contracts so there was nothing to be done.”

  “Okay.” I wasn’t sure what to make of his demeanor, but he seemed serious. “What kind of reports?”

  “That’s the thing.” Dorsey kicked some dust from the sole of one cowboy boot. “We’re not sure what to make of the reports. We discarded them at the onset because the first witness was … um … less than reliable.”

  Kade spoke for the first time. “How so?”

  “He was drunk and paid a stripper from one of the less regulated clubs for something extra,” Dorsey explained. “Instead she drove him out here, stole his wallet and abandoned him to find his way back to the city. Officers found him running down the main road screaming shortly after midnight. He was drunk enough that he could barely talk without slurring, so we didn’t give much credence to what he said.”

  “What did he say?”

  “That he saw a monster.”

  I kept my face placid even though my heart rate sped up. “I see. Did you find a monster?”

  Dorsey chuckled, somehow amused by the question. “We did not. We didn’t find anything. That’s why we thought he was crazy.”

  “Something must’ve changed between now and then,” Kade noted. “You didn’t come out here to relate a drunk’s tall tale.”

  “No, I didn’t. It’s just … we’ve heard three other stories. One from a teenager, and I’m pretty sure he was stoned at the time. The other two came from tourists, and they didn’t have any drugs or alcohol in their systems.”

  “And what did they see?” I asked, legitimately interested. I wasn’t afraid of a monster. We could handle a monster. Dealing with the unknown was an entirely different prospect. It’s always scarier when you don’t know what form the creature in the closet takes.

  “We got varying descriptions,” Dorsey replied. He looked uncomfortable but resolute. “The kid claimed he saw a zombie. The tourists claimed they saw something that looked like the Hulk, but covered in scales.”

  “I see. What do you think they saw?”

  “If I knew I’d have the situation in hand,” Dorsey answered, looking off into the desert. “I don’t know. I’m worried enough to warn you folks, though. I wouldn’t go wandering in the desert after dark if I were you.”

  “Well, thank you for the warning,” I offered. “We’re a close-knit group. I’m not overly worried about running into something in the desert. We have animals.” I pointed toward the tents at the back of the grounds. “They’ll alert us if something is close, and their scent is often enough to scare off other … wild animals.”

  In truth, we didn’t have animals. We had empty cages and we pretended to have animals. We had shifters, and they could take the form of some pretty big animals. With their heightened senses of smell – like Naida – they’d know if some hulking creature with scales approached.

  “I will definitely take special care to warn everyone to watch the shadows,” I added. “We have a very good security force. I’m sure we’ll be fine. Thank you for warning us.”

  Dorsey smiled, although the expression didn’t hit his eyes. His eyes looked somber … and a bit suspicious. “It’s my job, ma’am. I understand you folks are used to taking care of yourselves. I don’t want to diminish that. I’m simply … worried.”

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about us,” Kade interjected. “We’ll be fine. I can promise you that.”

  4

  Four

  “We’re going to the casino! Are you game?”

  I barely had time to relate Dorsey’s warning to the group before Luke announced he was ready to ignore everything but his childish impulses. He wasn’t worried about a monster … or webbed feet … or my desire to do nothing but climb into bed. He had big plans for other excursions.

  I stared at him for a few beats, conflicted. “Seriously? I just told you that there’s probably some weird monster running around and you want to take off to the casino on your own? What’s wrong with you?”

  Luke was blasé. “Actually I was hoping you’d come with me.”

  I blinked several times in rapid succession as I reined in my temper. “What about the monster?”

  “The monster that a drunk, a stoner and two tourists saw?” Luke didn’t look particularly worried. “Isn’t that what we have the dreamcatcher for?”

  “The dreamcatcher isn’t a weapon or a trap,” I reminded him. “It’s an alert system. Granted, it’s a powerful alert system, but it’s an alert system all the same. Someone has to be here to handle the problem should the dreamcatcher alert.”

  Luke pressed his lips together, his expression serious, although I didn’t miss the way his lips curved at the corners. “Well, I think that sounds like a job for a diligent individual. You’ve always been diligent, Poet.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.” Luke patted my head as if I was a puppy and had relieved myself outside for the first time. “You’re the responsible one. I’m the fun one.”

  “I am not responsible!” I was scandalized. That was the meanest thing he’d ever said to me. “I’m fun.”

  “Of course you are.” Luke made a face as he flicked his eyes to an amused Naida and Nixie. “Tell Poet she’s fun.”

  “You’re tons of fun,” Nixie enthused, her aquamarine head bobbing. “I always have fun when I’m with you.”

  “And that’s not always because she’s laughing behind your back,” Raven interjected, grinning when I scorched her with a dark look.

  “Do you think this is funny?” I asked. “What happens if we’re attacked?”

  “If we’re attacked we’ll handle it,” Raven replied, refusing to join me in my righteous indignation. “That’s what we always do. Mystic Caravan is more than just one person fighting multiple evil entities. We’re a team and we’ll figure it out … like we always do.”

  I opened my mouth to argue, but Kade stopped me with a small headshake. I was incredulous. “You want to go to the casino, too?” He didn’t seem like the casino sort. Maybe I’d been reading him wrong from the beginning.

  “I do not care about the casino,” Kade replied. “Luke obviously does, though.”<
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  “Naida, Nixie and Nellie are coming, too,” Luke said. “We’re the fun crew.”

  I fought the urge to kick him in the shins and ask “Who’s fun now?” when he started crying. “I’m fun.”

  Kade ignored my petulant tone and kept his attention on Luke. “If you go to the casino, stick together. Don’t separate. And make sure everyone is coherent and watchful when you guys come back.”

  “Yes, Dad.” Luke flashed a smile that was smarmier than anything else. “I don’t know how we survived before you joined our idiotic troupe.”

  Kade pretended he didn’t hear the dig. “While I’m reminding you of things, we have a lot of work tomorrow to set up the circus. I don’t care if you’re hungover. You’ll still have to carry your weight. And I’ll let Poet sing whatever loud chick anthem she’s enjoying these days if I figure out you have a headache.”

  Luke’s mouth dropped open. “Now that’s an effective threat.”

  “I thought it would be.” Kade grinned until he saw me glaring. “What? You have a lovely singing voice, honey. I love it when you sing.”

  I extended a scolding finger. “I am fun, dammit!”

  Kade’s worry shifted to glee. “Do you want to prove that to me?”

  “Oh, I’m so glad I’m leaving for the night,” Luke complained, stalking toward his truck. “You guys are so sickeningly sweet you make me want to puke.”

  “Just remember that her singing will make you want to puke tomorrow if you drink too much tonight,” Kade called out. “Keep your wits about you.”

  Oh, that was the last straw. “I heard that!”

  “Did I mention you’re the most fun person I know?” Kade asked, his handsome face lighting with mirth. “Of course, I have a terrible memory. You might have to remind me.”

  I WOKE WITH a start, bolting to a sitting position and cocking my head to the side.