Page 33

Mags spots me and her withered face breaks into a kind smile. “Hello, sweetheart. Are you looking for Aiden?”

I try to bite my grin back. “He actually sent me to see you.”

Her watery eyes blink as she tries to process why. “Did you need something?”

I have no idea what I’m supposed to say to her. I’m not even sure why Aiden sent me to find her.

“I’m not sure,” I tell her honestly.

“Well, let’s sit for a bit while you think about it.” She moves past me to claim one of the two remaining chairs at the table. “I don’t want you wandering around right now. Some of the townie folk were by earlier this morning asking questions about two bodies they found torn to pieces in the woods.” She drops into the chair with a deep grunt. “The world is just not safe anymore.”

I try not to let it show on my face as I move to join her in the opposite seat.

“They were pretty close to the carnival,” Cook muses. “Probably on their way here to start trouble and some wild animal got them first.” He clicks his tongue. “Not saying they deserved it, but they probably deserved it.”

Mag shrugs a thin shoulder and fixes her gaze on me. “I saw your Mama make her way back. Did she make it to the trailer okay?”

I draw in a breath and give a small nod.

“You know, your mama and I go back a long ways. Long before Aiden came to join us. She was young herself when she—”

“Came to join you?” I interrupt without thinking, and wince. “I’m sorry. Did you say he came to join you?”

Mags hesitates but bobs her head down once. “That’s right. He was ... what? Three?” She darts a glance at Cook who shrugs and nods vaguely. “About three, I’d say. I thought you knew.”

How could I? Mama always made it sound like Aiden was her son. Birthed from her. Like I was.

“So, Aiden isn’t hers?” I press, ignoring the rising heartbeat between my ears.

The uncertainty is unmistakable as Mags exchanges glances with Cook before answering me, “I mean, not by blood.”

“Where did he come from?”

Mags shrugs. “Couldn’t say. It’s been so long. Twenty ... what? Six years? She just returned from town with this little boy. I think she said he was some family member’s kid, and she was tasked with watching over him.”

I’m trying my best not to leap out of my seat and run to find Aiden. I still have so many questions and more rolling in with every second that I’m worried I’ll forget them.

“No one questioned her bringing some random kid to the carnival?”

“Well, of course we questioned,” Mags huffs. “You and Aiden are the only children we’ve ever had here. But it’s not like we ever had a reason not to believe her.”

I have to remind myself that it’s not Mags’s fault. It’s not anyone’s fault, except Mama’s. I don’t know where she brought Aiden from, but I doubt he came from some long, lost family. It wouldn’t be possible. The carnival never makes repeat visits to the same towns. The likelihood of Mama finding a town with family is astronomical.

But the real question is, how am I supposed to tell him?

“Is everything all right?” Mags reaches across the table to set her small hand over mine. “Do you want some tea?”

Cook is already reaching for the kettle, and I don’t stop him.

“I’m sorry. I’m just...” I trail off, at a loss for words.

“We honestly thought you knew,” Mags stresses. “Given how ... close you and Aiden have always been, we thought you knew you weren’t actually related.” She lets the implication hang and my cheeks burn at the meaning behind the raised eyebrow she sends me.

“From the beginning,” Cook insists, saving me from having to answer the unspoken question in Mags’s prodding stare. “He wouldn’t let you out of his sights from the moment you were found.”

I jerk. It’s hard enough that I dislodge Mags’s hold on me as my entire body pivots to face the mountain of a man pulling two mugs from a nearby crate.

“Found?”