Gifted, A Donovan Circus Novel (36 page)

“Are you gonna follow those
rules or will you tell me what’s going on?” he pressed.

“I can give you a basic rundown.
I don’t know if I can tell you everything simply because I don’t think I have
all the facts myself. But I’m only telling you, not anyone else, okay? So if
you have to tell Nik anything, keep it simple. I don’t want anyone freaking
out.”

He nodded at me and as we headed
back to my camper, I told him what I could. I tried to stick as close to
Sheffield’s suggestion as possible. I talked about Felix, his obsession with
Firestarters and my dad, how he killed gifted to obtain their power for his own
experiments. I explained what happened to Mac and Felix’s plan to reveal us to
humans so he could get his life back. I left out how Felix was intent to use or
kill me. No need for that kind of worry, not when it couldn’t be helped. When I
finished the overview, we’d reached my front steps.

“Damn, Lucy. Are you okay? I
mean, after what happened in the tent?”

I swallowed the bile reserved
for that memory. “I’ll be okay. It’s not a moment to be proud of, but it had to
be done. I didn’t mean to kill him; I only wanted him away from me and he made
me so angry.”

“Bastard deserved it. Gabriel
said your fire turned blue. Any idea about that?”

“No clue, I’ve never heard of it
before. Maybe he imagined it.”

“What can I do to help?”

“Nothing right now. I don’t even
know if there’s anything I can really do. Sheffield will think of something and
if he wants to tell me, he’ll let me know.” I didn’t want to worry Keegan and
let him know I had such a heavy hand in all of this. I wouldn’t be able to live
with myself if something happened to him or anyone else because they tried to
protect me.

“If you think of anything, let
me know. I’m serious.” He took my hand in his and placed his free hand on top.
His hands were warm and steady and I didn’t pull away.

“I know. I appreciate it.
Sheffield swears there have been other crazy times and that he’ll get us
through it like he always has, so I have to believe it’ll be okay.”

“Yeah, I agree. I have one more
question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“Why was Gabriel with you in the
tent?”

There it was, the question I’d
been waiting on. It seemed like a hundred years ago that we’d been on the
Ferris wheel and I had to think back for a second. I didn’t want to lie to
Keegan, but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings either.

“You know how I’m training. He
watched me in the Big Top working on my shapes. We were talking when Felix came
in and lost his shit on us.”

He paused, took in my altercated
story and believed me. He hugged me and for a moment, I let myself be taken in
by his warmth.

“I’m so glad you’re all right.”
I breathed deep his cologne, felt his heartbeat underneath my ear and relaxed.
I was sorry when he pulled away.

“I’ll let you get to bed,” he
said. “I’ll see you tomorrow, though. Let’s go to the field and practice some,
keep you ready in case we need to do anything. I won’t say anything to the
others but if they ask I’ll make sure they know you’re okay.”

I nodded and he leaned down to
quickly kiss me. He gave me another brief hug before I stepped away and into my
camper. Delia wasn’t back yet and I took advantage of a hot shower to wash the
grime and memories off. The eggplant-colored bruise on my face practically had
its own zip code, but there was nothing I could do about it now. I’d go see the
Healer tomorrow. I crawled into bed, worried that I’d be awake for a long time
with my thoughts swirling in my head, but I slipped into a dreamless sleep in
no time.

Chapter
32

I tried to make the next day
continue as any other. Delia shot me curious looks at breakfast, but I kept my
mouth shut and she didn’t press for information. I saw the young Healer, pretty
and blonde, in her mid-thirties. She simply put her pale hands over my wounds
and closed her eyes; a soothing coolness left her fingertips and seeped into my
wounds. A minute later, I was good as new. After I left her, Keegan, Nikolas
and I met in the field for training. We threw fireballs and I practiced putting
theirs out before they reached a certain point. If Keegan told Nikolas what I’d
said, neither mentioned it.

I focused on my flames. I tried
to make more shapes; my ring grew better everyday, but it would be awhile
before I advanced to anything else. By the time we called it quits, we were all
sweaty and bright red. It seemed we all pushed each other harder and I took
that as a good sign of our strengths.

As usual, the show continued
without any problems. No fights or screaming, no angry looks in my direction.
At least I could call that a successful night. We cleaned up after the crowds
left and Gabriel caught me alone on the way back to my camper.

“Hey,” he greeted me. He pulled
out two cigarettes; I accepted one and lit both of them with my palm. I took a
deep breath and he remained quiet as I let the nicotine buzz quietly through my
system. Without another inquiry, I told him everything Sheffield and I had
discussed the night before. I knew it was unfair to Keegan to share more
details with Gabriel, but even Sheffield seemed to know Gabriel knew most of
the situation.

“I think that’s everything,” I finished.
I’d practically smoked the cigarette down to the filter. I chucked it into a
nearby trashcan.

“So you really don’t have a
plan?”

“Sheffield seems to think we do,
but I’m not so sure. Distracting Felix long enough for Sheffield to shake hands
with him doesn’t sound like a viable option. Felix is smart; surely he’d expect
it He won’t let Sheffield near him. What are our other options, though?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure.
Felix is bound to have more than one gift and you’re right, who knows which
ones he’ll pick. All I know for sure is, guy and his cronies are assholes. I
felt like I’d been run over by a truck this morning.”

“I guess I shouldn’t have killed
him, but Mac deserved what he got.”

“Oh, absolutely he did. I’m
thinking about reviving him from the dead just to watch you fry him again. That
sadistic son of a bitch got every bit of what he deserved. I can’t wait to see
Sheffield sic you on Dr. Assface.”

“You said my flame turned blue.
I thought I saw that too, but at the time I wondered if I was crazy.”

“I’ve never seen anything like
it. You must have been pretty pissed off.”

“Keegan said he’s never heard of
it either. With no Firestarters knowing about that, maybe we just thought we
saw it. It was a trick of light or something.”

“Maybe.” He sounded doubtful.
“You talked to Keegan about last night?”

“Bits and pieces. Sheffield told
me to keep most of it to myself, which means you need to shut your face about
it, too. I do agree that I don’t want anyone panicking or trying to take Felix
on. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt. He can come after me, but I won’t
let him kill anyone here.”

“He’s not getting anywhere near
you,” Gabriel said in a threatening tone.

“Easy, killer. I won’t give him
the chance. At least, I don’t think I will. Sheffield promised me it wouldn’t
happen. I trust him, although I don’t want anything happening to him, either.
What the hell would everyone here do if he got killed?”

“I expect someone would step up.
Sheffield’s probably got a system in place in case that happens; I’ve told you
the rumors. Surely he’s thought ahead in that regard so no one has to leave.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what
the hell we’re gonna do, but I want it to be over. I’ve got enough to worry
about without a mad scientist on the loose.” I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah, I get that. Hey, don’t
want to cut out on you, but Uncle Rick mentioned wanting to see me earlier.
Probably a letter from my mom or something.” He grimaced and I couldn’t help
but chuckle. “I’ll catch up with you later?”

“Sure. I can find my way back
from here. You know where to find me.”

He gave me a faint smile, lifted
his hand as though to touch me, but paused. I didn’t move and he instead
dropped his arm, turned and walked away. I shook my head, not daring to watch
him leave because I didn’t understand any of my feelings on it. I walked the
path to my camper and noticed orange lights coming way behind the living area.
I wandered towards the fireworks; I had a guess as to what was happening. Sure
enough, I came up to the field where I’d met my friends that first day. They
were illuminated in moonlight.

No sparring tonight; Nikolas and
Keegan shot flames into the night sky and attempted to see who could throw a
fireball the highest. The girls—Delia, Brooklyn, and Bianca—laughed
and egged the boys on. I could tell Nikolas tried to make them dance, as I had
done, but to no avail. Keegan juggled three small fireballs—a fun trick I
learned as a child, but I could see the strain on his face from where I stood.

Was I really more talented than
other Firestarters? Felix insisted so, but I thought part of his ploy to get me
on his side was to trick me. Sheffield remained adamant about it as well,
though, so perhaps there was some truth to it. What would I do with this
information? Maybe I could defeat Felix on my own. I took another look at my
friends as someone shrieked in laughter. They were so good to stay quiet, so
trusting of Sheffield to protect them. What if he couldn’t?

I couldn’t let these people die
for me. They hardly knew me, yet accepted me as one of their own. If I didn’t
stop Felix, he might go after one of them. Hell, if I didn’t beat him, he would
go after all of them. Not one of them would side with his opinions. I had to
stop him. My friends had saved me once, had already been hurt rescuing me. Now
I would save them. I made a split-second decision before I could change my
mind.

Chapter
33

I crept away from them in hopes
they wouldn’t see me. I successfully navigated to my car and hopped in, began
my drive to the school Sheffield told me about; twenty minutes later, with one
main road and a battered old sign that instructed me to take a right turn, it
wasn’t hard to find.

On the way over, I contemplated
different endings to this situation. My stomach churned and I ignored the
little voice in my head that screamed obscenities at me. My hands stayed tight
on the steering wheel as I considered the possibility that I was making a
terrible choice. If this went badly, I could die. I hadn’t said goodbye to
anyone…or Gabriel. I shook my head and pushed my foot on the gas pedal.

I had no plan other than to
sneak in and see if I could find anything to help us. I didn’t know what I was
looking for, but I couldn’t let Sheffield go in blind. Then there was the other
option. I didn’t want to make it so easy for Felix, but I considered it anyway.

If I gave myself up, would Felix
let my friends live? Would he let me live? Maybe, but probably not—I knew
he would never let Sheffield survive, so why would I be any different? He would
bottle up our gifts, kill those who opposed him, and expose us to the world.
Whoever Felix didn’t experiment on would be attacked by humans or be tested on
by the government. Humans would fear and hate us, or try to pull Felix’s move
and be like us for their own greed.

I arrived at a building that
despite being inactive for so long still had electricity. Some streetlights
were lit up but the windows all remained dark. I parked as far back as I could
while still giving myself an exit strategy and snuck up to the front doors. I
tugged at them, but they were locked. How did Felix get in and out of this
place?

I crept around back; still no
lights or sound from any of the rooms. I tried every door I found and still
nothing. What the hell? Did Felix also steal the gift of walking through walls,
if such a gift existed? So Felix wouldn’t enter through a main door…would he
stay underground? Surely he’d be able to hide any lights downstairs. I finally
found a walkway that led to a red basement door. I tested the knob and sure
enough, it opened without any problems. Well, okay then.

I shut the door behind me,
careful not to make any noise. I found myself in a storage room, surrounded by
desks, fans, and other school furniture. The door to the hallway had been left
open. I slid between the open space to prevent any creaks. It was so dark I lit
a small flame in my palm to see a few feet in front of me. The storage room was
at the end of a hallway, so I went left and crept down the hall.

Assuming I came to the right
place, and I couldn’t imagine I hadn’t, Felix’s space lay ahead of me. Darkness
filled the empty hallway; one lone door at the end was ajar, with a sliver of
light peeking through. I closed my palm and put out my light, then snuck
towards the door and heard voices float out behind it. I ceased breathing for a
moment to listen.

“I couldn’t just let you walk
out of there, with or without her,” Felix said. “I’m only sorry Sheffield got
in the way. I almost had her off the grounds.”

“I think she got the point. You
didn’t tell me you’d already acquired a Firestarter power, though,” a voice
replied.

“Can’t share all my plans with
you. You might accidentally say something to her or Sheffield. I wanted to surprise
everyone.”

“You sure as hell succeeded. But
if you already have that gift, you don’t need Lucy anymore, right?”

“I thought we’d been over this.
She has no idea how much she is capable of; she is the most powerful one of her
kind. Other gifted who might challenge me will never do so if I have
her
gift. No other Firestarters will be
able to win against me, not when I could kill even them.” Felix sniggered and I
could picture him pushing up his glasses in his nerdy way.