Freakshow (40 page)

Our sister...the final piece of the puzzle and we will bring the old ways back.

The gears of the earth are turning, the prophecy already in place, the inevitable will come to pass. Our sons will rule, our hearts will break, and us three will bring the goddess back to the land.

And some time in the future, when Sea is an old warrior, and I am myself an ancient crone, I will lie down on my soft bed, close my eyes, and find my heart again.

I know he waits for me, and that’s the only way the pain of this life is manageable.

He waits, and I bide my time, and we will be together again in the galaxies between our bones, until the stars burn out.

“Liv?” Lara, the giantess, broke through my flights of fancy.

“Yeah?” I replied and opened my eyes. My friend was standing in the entrance to the tent, hunched over to accommodate her large frame. I smiled to think that Lara had seemed so strange at one time, now she was family as much as a friend and I was so pleased to call her both.

“You coming for dinner? We’re all waiting,” Lara said and pushed through the entrance, walked towards me and looked down. “You’ve got him on your mind again, don’t you?”

“It’s getting close to the anniversary,” I said, meaning his death. What I didn’t tell Lara was that today was another anniversary, four years since we’d fled the circus and planned our future together. Four years since Sea was conceived in that cozy hotel room by the water.

“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Lara said and held out her hand. I took it and let my friend pull me up. “We all miss him, if it’s any consolation. We’re all still so happy you decided to stay, it feels like we get our Cairo back every time we see Sea running around like a crazy man. He’s so much like his father.”

“That he is,” I said, “Lucky guy.” I shook off my moody thoughts and decided to save them for later, when I was alone, when the day was done and my son was tucked away safe in his bed.

Then I could remember Cairo, talk to him and tell him about my day, as I did every night.

But until then I put on my public face, my smile, my cloak of happiness, and followed Lara to dinner. To those who needed me.

My family.

Every last one of them.

Jaden Wilkes lives on the prettiest farm in BC. She shares her space with her husband, three sons and menagerie of animals.

To follow her publication schedule, purchased signed books or just stalk her, visit:

www.jadenwilkes.com