She was a nuisance, one we couldn’t afford.
If I was going to take over the circus one day, the last thing I needed was some pain in the ass beta woman who challenged me. Everyone else in the troupe knew their place, and they respected me… for the most part. If they didn’t respect me, they feared me, and that was close enough.
Fear, I could work with.
But whatever stubborn ass, prove-herself-to-the-world thing Arina had going on, I couldn’t.
My eyes found her once again, this time laughing it up with the aerialists on the other side of the room. Daze had an arm draped around her shoulders, and he threw his head back as he laughed, the sound echoing through the room.
My jaw hardened.
That wasn’t good.
She was making herself at home, mingling with the other troupe members, and they seemed to welcome her with open arms.
No, that wouldn’t do.
It was difficult enough plotting right under Hallow’s nose, but with the rest of the circus performers watching out for her… I needed to come up with another planfast.
My blades clearly weren’t going to work. I could throw a thousand of them at her, but if I didn’t hurt her, she’d keep standing there. And I couldn’t hurt her because of Hallow; they’d have my head, accident or not.
I could throw her into Night’s act.
I rubbed my chin thoughtfully but quickly dismissed the idea. Night’s act was the most complicated, especially since he refused to talk to any of the assistants. She’d have no idea what she was doing, and she’d ruin the whole thing. Then, it’d be Night with my head on a platter instead of Hallow.
My eyes caught on Arina high-fiving one of the aerialists, and I rolled my eyes. It was annoying how much everyone seemed to like her. If we didn’t do something soon, she’d have the entire troupe eating out of her hand, minus the alphas.
Revel’s act might work…
I rubbed my chin at the thought, excitement sparking under my skin.
The stubborn dickhead refused to work with her—he’d said as much—but he was the one who really wanted her gone. He might just have to suck it up.
It was a risk to directly defy Hallow’s orders. They said she was going to perform in my act tonight, and if she did well, we’d add her to the other alpha acts at our next stop.
But what was the difference between mine and Revel’s acts really?
She’d be standing still the entire time. As long as she didn’t move, she wouldn’t get hurt…
With a determined smirk, I kicked off the wall and strolled across the room with my eyes peeled, searching for Syxx or Sevyn, two of the assistants we passed around between shows. They both rode the clown bus, but they avoided me as much as possible.
I found them sitting together in a pair of folding chairs in the corner. They were both dressed in a fresh mess of colorful tulle like normal, somehow matching and clashing with each other all at once. Syxx was braiding Sevyn’s vibrant purple hair, her own hot-pink curls twisted up on top of her head and pinned beneath a crown of tulle.
As I approached, their wide eyes found me, and they stiffened.
They were both short, pale, and petite, but that was where the similarities ended. It was also where I stopped paying attention. I knew they’d come into the circus together, but like most of the other betas in our troupe, I didn’t bother to learn their backstories.
“Hey, Zero,” Syxx said, her gaze bouncing between me and her tedious work on Sevyn’s hair.
“How are my two favorite assistants?” I grinned at the way they froze.
“Oh no,” Sevyn said.
Syxx cocked a perfectly drawn pink eyebrow at me. “What do you want?”
There was no point in beating around the bush; we didn’t have much time until the show started. If I expected either of them to help me, I needed to cut to the chase.
“A favor.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Which one of you is helping with Revel’s act tonight?”
