Swinging my legs off the bed, I sat on the edge, staring at the floor between my feet. Maybe I could just hide in my trailer and pretend to be sick. Then I could avoid everyone and maybe, finally, get some sleep.
I sighed, knowing it wouldn’t work. Zero would probably come to drag me out of bed if I didn’t show up after breakfast.
With a groan, I massaged my temples and got up. I stretched and trudged to the tiny counter in the corner, rummaging for pain killers and popping three pills before I tossed the bottle back.
The sooner we got this over with and hit the road, the sooner I could head back to bed.
If I was lucky, I wouldn’t even see the beta woman. Maybe Bobbitt would have something tedious and menial for her to do far, far away from the arena.
Not counting on it.
With the way my luck had worked recently, it made more sense that she would be there, staring at me the entire time. I’d just have to do my best to ignore her.
I dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, wearing running shoes instead of my riding boots, and gave my reflection a once-over in the mirror hanging by the door. Then, I headed to the convention center, squinting against the glaring morning sun.
Dozens of bodies, both troupe and crew members, were bustling around the performance floor when I arrived. Most of the larger equipment had already been broken down, aside from the mirrored carousel in the middle of the floor. Once it was disassembled, all the individual pieces had to be loaded carefully into its trailer. Definitely not my favorite part.
“About time you showed up, Revvy.” I froze at the sound of Zero’s voice and spun to find him heading in my direction.
Fucking great.
An obnoxious grin was spread wide across his face, which wasn’t promising. Any time that demented psycho was fucking chipper was a bad sign for the rest of us.
“Don’t call me that,” I gritted out.
“Revellious does have a better ring to it, doesn’t it? Revington?” Zero rubbed a hand over his unpainted chin in thought before his golden eyes popped open wide, and he snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it! Happily Rever After.”
“I swear to fucking Christ?—”
“Why are you so boring?” He rolled his eyes.
I ignored him. “Did you just come to annoy me? Or did you have something to tell me?”
“Can’t it be both?”
God, I hate this fucking clown.“Spit it out then.”
“Hallow left for Santa Fe this morning,” he said, his voice suddenly serious. “I’m in charge.”
“Of fucking course.” I didn’t bother to keep the annoyance out of my voice.
I shoved past Zero without another word and marched toward the carousel. As I walked, my eyes flitted around the arena, darting between troupe members as they worked. I didn’trealize what I was doing until a brown ponytail caught my eye, and my heart bottomed out.
I froze, watching and waiting for the person to turn around to see if it was Arina.
It wasn’t.
The constriction in my chest disappeared, and I breathed a little easier. Then I scolded myself for even looking for her in the first place. I could hardly ignore her if I was actively trying to find her.
I growled, forcing my attention back to the carousel. It didn’t matter if she was here or not. It didn’t matter if she even made it to Santa Fe with us. She was a useless beta who weaseled her way into the circus and who I accidentally fucked.
She was nothing and no one to me.
Keeping myself distracted by breaking down the carousel and getting it loaded onto its trailer, I did my best not to think about Arina. Not to search for her in the crowd. And then, once everything was loaded and ready to hit the road, I hurried back to my trailer and waited for the caravan to roll out.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
ARINA
