Gifted, A Donovan Circus Novel (14 page)

“He wouldn’t take his eyes off
you the entire night,” Keegan commented.

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I
think he was trying to push everyone’s buttons,” I said.

“Nikolas and the others noticed
it, too. They mentioned it after he followed you up to the bar. I can’t say
anyone cared for it too much.”

“Maybe it’s because we’re both
new,” I suggested. “You know, we should stick together or something.”

“Maybe.” He sounded doubtful.
“Who even told him where we were tonight?”

“I invited him, but no clue who
told him about that bar. Of course, it’s a small town, maybe he figured it out
on his own.”

“He seems pretty determined to
get to know you.”

“I don’t know, Keegan. He’s a
weird cat. I only know that he did a huge thing for me tonight.”

“I know. I guess I’ll have to
thank him,” he said, giving me a sideways smile.

We came up to my camper. He
still hadn’t released my hand. I looked up at him.

“Thanks for everything you did
tonight, too. Getting me back to the car safely. Hell, getting into the fight
at all. It was because of me that the whole thing happened.”

“Stop saying that. It happened
because his drunken ego couldn’t handle the rejection. And then of course
there’s the prejudice of his world versus ours. We were more than likely doomed
to that fight from the moment we walked in the place.”

“I still feel guilty. I will for
a long time,” I said.

“You’re being silly. You had it
worse, by far. What happened to you…god, Lucy, I don’t even know what to say.
I’m just plain sorry.”

He stopped talking and instead
put his arms around me. I buried my face into his warm chest. He smelled like
dirt and blood, but also of woodsy cologne. He pulled me in tighter and put his
hand on the back of my head to caress my hair where it had been pulled.

I breathed him in and suddenly
the night’s events hit me again. I needed to get inside before I broke down in
front of Keegan. I couldn’t risk losing it in front of anyone.

I reluctantly pulled away from
him and met his gaze.

“I need to get inside,” I said.
My voice still shook.

“You need anything at all, I’m
here,” he whispered.

I nodded and he took a step
back. I opened the camper door and stepped through the doorway.

“Good night, Lucy. I’ll see you
in the morning.”

I raised a hand to him but
didn’t turn around. “Night, Keegan.”

I shut the door. I walked in a
daze to my bed and curled up into the fetal position under the covers, not even
bothering to undress. The night had finally gotten to me. It was over and I was
okay. That was all that really mattered. It didn’t make the knot in my stomach
go away. Slowly, the tears fell.

Chapter
9

Aside from a few flesh wounds on
us (which a Healer took care of in no time), a few whispers amongst the troupe,
and a dent in Brooklyn’s bumper, the next week or so went by without trouble.
Delia said after they explained the situation to Sheffield, he agreed we acted
in our best defense. If anyone came asking, he would back us up. They were drunk,
violent townies that nearly killed us all. Delia said he was as angry as she’d
ever seen him. He specifically told us not to go into town again unless
absolutely necessary. No argument from me.

No one came to the grounds
threatening us, either. The general public never complained of anything more
problematic than cheating at the games booths. I’d fully anticipated the
pitchfork and torches crowd scenario. Maybe the men were too embarrassed to
come forward or didn’t want to get in trouble themselves. Sheffield never so
much as cocked an eyebrow at me when he saw me backstage. He must have known I
wouldn’t discuss it. And I didn’t, not with anyone. I suspected that had my
mother been alive, I wouldn’t even be able to tell her the horrific event. I
planned to push it so far down I forgot it ever happened.

I took the next week to memorize
the grounds, set up hoops and stands for tricks, lit torches when the jugglers’
lighters went out, and other relatively simple tasks. None of it was difficult,
but as expected, there was always a lot to do and people to help.

I also spent time hanging out
with my new friends, asking lots of questions about them. They accused me on
more than one occasion of being too quiet about myself, but I admitted I’d
always been more of an observer than participant. I’d adapted to being an
introvert. Keegan sat next to me when we were together and occasionally brushed
his hand against mine. My palms got all sweaty and my pulse raced a little
faster whenever he smiled at me. Delia just laughed at me when I told her.

Keegan, Nikolas, and I trained
in the fields where I taught them what I knew. They could pull fire into their
hands quicker than I could, possibly from their aggression, but I trumped them
in skill and strength. I could throw more fireballs, command them properly, and
absorb them without being thrown back, though Nikolas did manage to knock me
over once. They pushed me, urged me to let go of my thoughts more as they felt
I held back.

One night after the show, we
practiced for a while in the field. Nikolas caught a glance at his watch and
halted his moves, the red sparks dying from his hands.

“Hey, it’s midnight, let’s head
over to Angel’s,” he called to us.

“Yeah, okay,” Keegan replied.

I gave a little wave. “See you
guys tomorrow.”

“You’re coming with us,” Nikolas
said to me. His head motioned towards the campers. “Let’s go.”

“I thought Angel’s was a guy
thing—poker, cigars, cheap liquor.”

“Usually it is,” Keegan said. We
followed Nikolas back to the grounds. “He’s having a small party tonight. His
divorce went through yesterday, so he’s in a good mood. Delia and the others
are invited, too.”

Nikolas lit a cigarette in his
palm. “Finley carried the beer straight to Angel’s.”

“Oh, we don’t have anything in
our fridge,” I said. “I don’t want to take anyone else’s beer.”

“Don’t worry, we all chipped in.
Finley went and got it. I covered you since Delia refused to steal from your
wallet,” Keegan said. He grinned at me and I swiped my hands at my sides to
keep them dry.

We walked back to the campers,
towards the last one in the far back corner of the living quarters. My jaw
almost dropped at Angel’s luxury camper. It was huge, twice the size of Delia’s
and mine, with an oversized canopy porch. People played a beer pong game on the
long foldout table, while others sat in the scattered camping chairs, drinking
beer and laughing.

Delia waved us over to where she
stood with Bianca, Finley, and the massive beer pile that towered from the
ground.

“Wow, we could build a fort with
the cases,” I said as we each grabbed a can from Finley’s outstretched hands.

“How did training go?” Delia
asked me.

“Gets better every day,” I said.
The boys and Bianca got into a discussion, turning their attention and giving
Delia and I a quick moment to catch up.

Delia gave me a little smile,
instantly jumping on the one topic she loved to discuss with me lately. “And
how are things going with Keegan?”

I bit the inside of my cheek to
keep from grinning. “Fine as far as I know. Nothing new to report.”

“You may need to make the first
move. He does not seem the type.”

I glanced over at the guys and
caught Keegan looking over at me. Delia didn’t miss my blush as I turned back
to her and spoke. “Maybe, but I doubt it. By the way, I feel like I’m way too
old to be this giggly over a crush.”

She shrugged. “It does not
matter how old you are, a possible new romance is always exciting, I think. Is
it not nice to have a person show interest in you?”

“Of course it is, but I think I
should be more concerned with getting my shit together, right? Making sure I
know the acts and having priorities or something.”

Delia rolled her eyes at me.
“This is your life now, not simply a job. Priorities are listed within
groups—you have a list for work and list for outside of it. They might
overlap, but you need to remember it is different for you than ever before.
Provided it’s not in the ring, you are allowed distractions.”

“Maybe you’re right, but I still
plan on letting him make the first move.”

Delia and I joined the rest of
the group and I noticed a new person—a short, very handsome Latino who
raised his beer bottle at me in greeting.

“This is Angel,” Keegan said,
motioning as he spoke to me.

Angel had the prettiest brown
eyes I’d ever seen, with a gold ring circling each iris. They paired nicely
with his smooth, deeply tan skin and gelled coif. His height matched mine but I
could already tell his ego gave him a few extra inches in confidence.

“And who might you be,
chica
?” he asked me in low tone
accompanied by a strong Spanish accent.

“I’m Lucy. Nice to finally meet
you.”

I held out my hand but instead
of a shake, he took it with the gentlest touch and kissed the top of it. I
glanced at Delia, who hid her smile behind her hand as I raised an eyebrow.

“Lucy,
estas muy bonita
. It is a pleasure to meet you as well,” Angel
said. “I’ve heard several things from Nikolas and Keegan.”

He kept a hold on my hand and
those golden brown eyes met mine. For a moment, I felt transfixed, like I was
being eased into a bowl of hot chocolate and golden sunshine. Then the hairs on
the back of my neck stood up; was he using a gift on me? I reacted without even
trying, my skin growing so warm that he instantly dropped my hand. He examined
his fingers, gingerly touching each tip as though making sure he hadn’t been
burned.

“You are a rare one.” He looked
up from his hands to grin at me, showing off a gold tooth. “It’s always unusual
when I can’t work my magic on a woman.”

“I didn’t mean to burn you,” I
tried but he waved me down.

“Oh, I know,
chica
. It was your instinct to shut me
down. I’m impressed, though I won’t be trying it again.”

“What were you trying to do,
anyways?”

“Angel’s an Influencer,” Keegan
said. “He can affect people with his touch, like hypnotism.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s with his
touch so much as his eyes,” I replied.

“
Es verdad
. I can sometimes…encourage others to do what I want,”
Angel said.

“Is that how you got your
divorce finalized?” I asked.

Angel laughed a hearty, deep
chuckle from his belly. “No, but it is why I got married in the first place.
Tonight, however, we celebrate that nightmare’s end.”

“You have a finely tuned
bullshit mechanism, Lucy,” Nikolas said with a raise of his beer can at me.

“She is good,” Angel admitted.
“Be right back.
Necesito mas tequila
after that rejection. And to celebrate, of course.”

Angel went inside his camper and
Keegan and Nikolas followed after him. Delia talked to Bianca and Finley while
I observed everyone. I took a sip of my beer and watched the beer pong game for
a moment.

“What he means is that he tricks
women into sleeping with him,” a deep voice slipped in my ear. I almost crushed
my beer can in surprise, but I made a show of sighing loudly instead. That
voice loved to sneak up on me and I would not give him the satisfaction of my
shock.

The first few days after the
incident at the bar, I’d done my best to avoid Gabriel. With him, I didn’t know
whether to say thank you or never mention it again. Then out of the blue, he
started popping up everywhere—at lunches and dinners, passing me between
tents, always with a smirk or smartass remark about whatever I was doing.
Perhaps that was his way of making friends, but it mostly just irritated the
shit out of me. I’d told him so, too, but it only encouraged him.

“I don’t really care what he
does if it doesn’t directly involve me,” I muttered back to him.

“Sure you do. It’s like lying to
a woman to get her into bed.”

“Like your approach is any
different,” I said. I turned to face him and he lifted a beer in greeting,
smiling at my reply. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Don’t worry, I brought my own
beer.” He took a long sip from his can. “Looks like you and Boy Wonder are
getting along well.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” I
felt a blush creep underneath my skin and I looked down, hoping he wouldn’t
notice.

“I’m surprised. You seem like
you’d want more of a challenge.”

“Excuse me?” Blush forgotten, I
jerked my neck upwards to glare at him.

Gabriel shrugged. “You strike me
as the type to move on if things are too easy. You need stimulation to keep
your interest.”

“I don’t even—you don’t
know anything about me,” I sputtered.

“I’m decent at reading people.”

A small smile twitched his lips
as he put a cigarette to them. Before he could reach for his lighter, I threw
my palm out, nearly catching his eyebrows on fire with the flame in my hand.
Satisfaction coursed through me as his head jerked back in surprise. After a
split second, he composed himself, his right eyebrow raised at me as he leaned
in to light his smoke. I gave him a tight smile, the flame sizzling as I closed
my hand into a fist.

“I wouldn’t waste too much time
reading me. I’m not big on jumping to conclusions,” I said.

Gabriel shrugged, putting his
cool demeanor back on. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s a swell guy. Bit of a bore,
though, don’t you think?”

“Even if I was having this
conversation with you—and I’m not—Keegan is not a bore and you are
extremely rude.” I tried to sip my beer without rolling my eyes and failed.

“Yeah, okay. I think—,” he
tried to say, but Nikolas and Keegan’s reappearance interrupted him.