Before I could say anything, the cage door was opening again and Syxx was there, urging Arina out of the sphere. She slipped on the last step, nearly toppling into the pink-haired assistant, before disappearing into the darkness. Then, three more dirt bikes joined us in the cage.
I tamped down my desire to check on Arina, to make sure she was okay after being shoved into the cage with us, but we had to finish our act. Beating back my internal turmoil, I motioned to the other riders once we were all settled, and we took off again.
For the first time ever, I couldn’t get out of the cage fast enough.
I led my stuntmen around the arena one final time out of habit, then whizzed off to the backstage area. My eyes were already scanning the space for any flash of a frilly red dress by the time I parked and pulled off my helmet. There was no sign of Arina.
A twinge of annoyance tightened my chest. I didn’t know why I cared if she was upset—I’d been trying to run her off since she showed up in Dallas—but… I did. A little.
“Revel?”
It was Blaze. He’d parked beside me and taken off his helmet, leaving his red mohawk plastered to his head with sweat.
“You good?”
“I’m fine,” I gritted out, though that wasn’t entirely the truth. I was… irritated, to say the least. Conflicted? Angry?
My jaw clenched.
Definitely angry.
I was mad at Zero for fucking with my act, at Arina for agreeing to it, and at myself…
She wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for me. Zero had called it out to my face, but I denied it.
I could deny it all I wanted, but that didn’t change the facts. I’d brought Arina straight to the caravan, even if I never imagined her wanting to join. I was the reason she was here, stuck like me, in this whimsical, obnoxious hell.
It was my fault, which only fanned the flames of my rage.
With a growl, I shoved my helmet at Blaze and stormed off, anger and confusion fighting for dominance. My alpha instincts urged me to find the beta and see if she was okay, while my logic said it was a waste of time.
“Syxx!” I barked when I caught a glimpse of hot-pink hair. She was hurrying across the space, looking determined as usual.
At the sound of my voice, she jumped to attention, whipping around to meet my eyes.
“Where’s Arina?” I demanded, making it over to her in a few, quick strides.
“Gone,” she answered with a frown. “I tried to calm her down, but the poor thing took off.”
“Excuse me? Gone?”
Her eyes drifted over to the exit and mine followed.
Fuck.
Maybe my act had been the straw that broke her back, the thing she needed to realize she didn’t have what it took to be part of the Knotty Sideshow after all. And as relieved as I should have felt, I was… numb.
I stared at the exit, silently at war with myself, wondering why I wasn’t happy that I’d gotten exactly what I wanted. If she was leaving, all the better. One less useless beta to worry about?—
“Revel,” Syxx said, her voice piercing through my internal turmoil. I reluctantly looked down to meet her eyes, annoyed by the judgement in them. “I won’t say a word if you go after her. At least to make sure she’s okay.”
I opened my mouth to ask her why the hell she hadn’t run after her, but I knew the answer to that. Syxx floated around the performances, helping and ensuring everything went according to plan. Since I was technically finished until the finale, it would make more sense if I went and checked on her, even if I didn’t want to.
I growled, my annoyance flaring. “You better not.”
Before she could reply, I took off toward the exit, wondering how far Arina could have made it on her short legs. I emerged into the hall that wrapped around the backstage area, whipping my head both ways. No sign of her.
With another growl, I went left and took off toward the parking lot. If she wasn’t hiding somewhere in the building, which was still a possibility, she probably went back to the clown bus. To calm down? To pack her things?
