I give myself a hard mental shake and focus on staying in my seat instead, clutching the stake I actually don’t know how to use. This is pathetic. I watch him closely as he mutters something to the vampire standing next to him, a blonde with a swinging ponytail.
My blood boils. Is that his girlfriend?
Jesus. Focus, Danni!
She nods in response to whatever he said, and he sighs as he turns back to the crowd with an unreadable expression on his face. The rest of the vampires form a circle around the edge of the arena. The room seems to collectively hold its breath in anticipation.
Or maybe it’s just me.
“You are all here tonight because you wish for your dreams to become a reality, is that right?”
I close my eyes as the stranger speaks. Tingles flow down my spine from the sound of his low, authoritative voice. My body temperature seems to rise as the tugging sensation in my chest intensifies.
The crowd murmurs “yes” in response as his eyes continue to search the overflowing bleachers. My heart races when his eyes finally start to skirt over my section.
Any second now… he will see me.
“Your deepest, darkest desires are within your grasp. But I still smell fear on some of you. If you want to attain the unexplainable, you must fully surrender yourself to us. Release your fear and immerse yourself in the experience.”
The crowd around me cheers as his eyes finally meet mine. Time seems to stand still as I gaze deeply into his crimsonorbs. A lifetime of emotion floods in, overwhelming me. Terror flickers through his wide eyes before it’s quickly replaced with disgust.
Why would he look at me like that?
Shame burns my cheeks; in that moment, I decide it’s time to leave. Gone are the thoughts of avenging my mother. All that remains is the hurtful feeling of being rejected by a man I’ve never met, which makes no fucking sense to me. Finally, my body responds. I find myself able to move again, so I quickly rise from my seat and make my way through the crowd, muttering apologies as I accidentally trample over feet.
No one even acknowledges me as I shimmy past. I swallow down the lingering hurtful feelings and replace them with determination.
I will be back.
I now know how the circus works. I know what tricks the vampires will pull. I can come back with more training under my belt and better knowledge of how to kill them. I’m not giving up, just re-evaluating. Sure, I might be in my physical prime now, but if I come back in another fifteen years, I’ll probably be unstoppable.
As I turn towards the exit, however, iron gates begin to creep down from the shadows above.
No. No. No!
There’s nothing to do but break into a sprint down the aisle, desperate to put as much distance between myself andhimas I possibly can. But the gates seem to have minds of their own, coming down faster and faster until they’ve locked me in. Iron spikes sink into the earth, and a brief flash of gold film shines over the black metal.
“What the fuck?”
My feet come to a stumbling halt in front of the gate. That now familiar prickling feeling creeps up the back of my neck again.I whirl on the spot to find two sets of gleaming red eyes staring back at me.
How did they get over here so fast?
The woman with the high ponytail and the strange man, who my body seemed to crave like water in a desert, stand only a short distance away. He tilts his head in curiosity, eyes widening after he sniffs the air.
I should be afraid. My body should be moving of its own accord because this man just screamsdanger. But something in the way his eyes soften for a split second keeps me rooted to the ground. Now that he’s closer, his features are easier to see beneath the face paint. I’ve never met a man like him before. Tall—inhumanly tall—with short, jet black hair and high cheekbones. Charisma radiates off him like cologne. It feels like I’ve been waiting for him my entire life. All of the reasons I had for existing are cut by fate’s sharp knife and woven into a new thread that leads only to him.
“This one reeks of fear. She’ll be no good to us, Master.” The woman’s voice is shrill, like nails scraping across a blackboard.
The temperature drops but sweat drips down my spine despite the fog forming in front of my face. I blink in confusion. Was this part of whatever magic is housed here?
The woman continues, “The others won’t be happy if she’s brought down. Let’s dispose of this one now while the magic settles.”
I should focus on the absurdity pouring from her mouth, but I can’t. I can’t comprehend anything over the thundering sound of my heartbeat.
His jaw ticks and his gaze hardens before he finally turns to address the woman.
Only then, once free from his spell…
