"You knew that when you agreed to be ours," I countered, using my thumb to trace a small circle at the base of her spine.
Flush spread across her cheeks. The sight of it stirred primitive, possessive need inside me. She was my reason to make it back to solid ground. Dammit, I wanted to stay with her, but I needed to make sure Fallon and Kane were good to go. They were riders too, whereas Asher and Nitro flew solo. I knew jack and shit about fire and knives.
"Come on," I said, fighting every instinct that wanted me to stay with her. "Asher's show starts soon, and he'll give me hell if you miss it. I’ll walk you there.”
I kept my hand at her back as we moved through the throngs of spectators, feeling the heat of her body against my palm. The rush of the jump had already faded but touching her was enough to sustain me. I'd jump a hundred crocodile pits to keep Lucy with me.
ASHER.
I ran my thumb over the striker wheel of my favorite lighter, the small flame dancing to life then dying with each flick.
The big top’s backstage area was a labyrinth of equipment, props, and performers in various states of preparation. I stood near the heavy curtains, one hand pushing between to form a gap, my eyes fixed on the entrance to the stands.Where was she?Lucy had promised she'd be here for my show. I’d spent a lifetime avoiding emotional attachments, but now I found myself counting the minutes until a silver-haired Omega appeared. The flame sparked again between my fingers, its warmth a poor substitute for what I was really craving.
"Fifteen minutes, Mr. Asher." One of the stagehands said as she walked behind me.
“Got it.” I nodded absently, still scanning the crowd filtering into the main tent. The massive structure loomed above us all, crimson and black fabric stretched over metal bones. Every performer had their ritual. Mine usually involved burning something to get in the mood. But right now, I only wanted to see the woman worth burning for, the woman who saw beauty in fire.
"Where the hell are you, Lucy?" I muttered, widening the gap between the curtains, hoping I’d missed her coming in and she was now somewhere in the stands.
No luck. Disappointment flooded through me. Tired of keeping my arm up to part the curtains, I walked through them to stand just inside the performance area. Absentmindedly, I adjusted the straps of my fire-resistant undershirt. The material hugged my torso almost too tightly, its specially treated fabric a necessity beneath the more elaborate performance costume I'd don later.
My three assistants were all experienced fire manipulators, otherwise I’d never work with them. They were already on stage, running through final safety checks. They moved with practiced efficiency. The youngest of them—a guy with a wicked scar running down his forearm, courtesy of an ill-advised experiment with alcohol-based accelerant—caught my eye after placing a prop on the stage. He approached cautiously.
"Gear's been checked twice. Everything's ready," he reported.
"Nothing's ready until I say it is," I replied, but there was no real bite to my words. I raised my voice when I spoke again, projecting to the stage and the other two performers. “Finish getting dressed, we start in ten!”
My eyes continued their restless search of the filling stands.Come on, Lucy.I realized, to my surprise, that I didn’t feel like burning anything if she didn’t show up.
The thought of her missing my performance shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did. Yet here I was, feeling like some lovesick teenager rather than a hardened Alpha.
I checked my watch. Six minutes to go now. The audience had grown, their combined voices creating a steady drone of anticipation. The scent of buttered popcorn carried to me, along with notes of liquor and cotton candy. So many bodies, most of them Beta, otherwise the swirling air would be a noxiouscocktail. I closed my eyes, trying to find the desire to perform. As I searched, I kept flicking the lighter. Hot. Cold. Hot. Cold. By the time I opened my eyes, I’d convinced myself to just get on with the damn show, because I was a professional.
Then I finally saw her.
Lucy stepped into the tent, Xander at her side, his hand possessively at the small of her back. Even from this distance, I could see her searching, those remarkable green eyes scanning the stage area. Looking for me. Xander said something to her, then walked out.
Something loosened in my chest, a knot I hadn't even realized was there. Her platinum hair caught light, turning her into something ethereal among the mundane crowd. She was wearing her Venom jacket and the sight of it sent a thrill through me.
"There she is," I said to myself, a smile tugging at my lips despite my best efforts to remain stoic. I was no longer flicking the lighter off and on. I felt settled. And ready.
The memory of her holding fire in this very tent sprung to mind. God, the way she’d looked at the flame—like a woman seeing light for the first time after existing in the dark her entire life. Such a familiar expression. She'd looked at me that day like I’d offered her life’s great mysteries. The same way she was looking toward the stage now, anticipation written in every line of her body.
I turned around, pushing back through the curtains and walking over to the bench I’d left the rest of my costume atop. My co-performers were nearly ready—their outfits on and faces coated in deep red fire-resistant paint that transformed them from men to demons. I made quick work of pulling on my outer costume and slapping on the same paint.
"Let's give her a show worth remembering," I said to myself. The other performers heard me, responding even though the words weren’t for them.
“Show time!” A stagehand shouted.
As we moved in a group out into the performance area, a spotlight flashed to life, landing right on us. My eyes locked on Lucy immediately, and she was already staring at me. When she smiled, I felt like I was already on fire.
"Remember, when as we build to the end, the timing has to be perfect," I instructed, mounting the steps up to the stage. "Too early, and the effect is wasted. Too late, and we risk genuine burns."
They nodded.
The second we stood in the middle of the stage, the lights dimmed, plunging the tent into momentary darkness. The crowd's excited murmurs faded to hushed anticipation. This was the moment between breaths, the pause before the plunge.
Then another spotlight glowed to life.
