Page 9 of These Unhallowed Halls (Equinox Seasons Duet #2)
Six-Secrets Are Shrouded In A Bit Of Smoke & Mirrors
Caleb
W hat were the fucking odds? Had someone cursed me? Hexed me for the evening? Was this some godsdamn prank Elaina was pulling? Because what in the ever-loving hell could explain how I’d run into the only two people in town I was desperately trying to avoid on my way to a fucking sex club?
I fought back the urge to groan as I followed behind the two of them—Temps and Lizzie—as we made our way the few more blocks to the carnival.
I hadn’t wanted to go to the stupid thing from the moment it was announced, and now I really didn’t want to go.
Being shut in the dark with those girls was going to kill me.
Plus, explosions and I had a bad relationship, and gods knew the place was sure to have fireworks or some shit.
“Oooh! Look how fun!” Lizzie shouted ahead of me, yanking on Temps’ arm as she pointed off to the side. “There’s a house of horrors! Let’s go in after the show!”
“Lizzie, you know I hate that kind of thing. I don’t like being jump-scared.”
I hated to admit it, in fact, I wasn’t going to at all, but I knew somewhere in the back of my head I’d imagined being the scare actor chasing them both down through the haunted house. And that was way too appealing for my liking. Just picturing Temps screaming as she ran away, and I was ready to—
“Oh, come on. It was hilarious to watch you punch that one guy right in the face.” Lizzie snorted, laughing as she pulled Temps along as we closed in on the front entrance of the carnival’s circus tent, faded red and white stripes illuminated by glowing string lights.
Oh, well, that was not what I was expecting . “You punched someone?”
Temps turned over her shoulder toward me, and I quickened my steps, pulling up alongside her. The flush under her cheeks deepened as she looked sheepishly between Lizzie and me. That look of embarrassment had my cock kicking against my zipper.
“It was an accident! He jumped out from a corner, and my first instinct was to swing!”
I couldn’t help but laugh, smiling as we walked up to the ticket booth. “That’s not a terrible instinct. It might come in handy someday.”
“Huh,” Lizzie turned down the corners of her mouth, “that’s what I said.”
I nodded back at Lizzie, joined with her in a private understanding of each other, and I was smirking at her before I could think better of it.
Warning, Professor Harkert. These are your students. Pull up. Don’t get sucked in.
“Welcome, folks! Get ready for the show of a lifetime! Get your tickets here, and be entered into an exclusive giveaway for a behind-the-scenes look with Ring Master himself!”
Temps was already at the counter as Lizzie and I walked up behind her.
Lizzie squeezed in next to her stepsister, clearly not giving a single fuck about anyone who was standing in the other line.
I rolled my eyes, stepping to that other side and waiting for the next cashier to open up so that I could buy my ticket.
At least, this would actually be cheaper than going to the club, far less money spent on cover and drinks, even if The Knotted Broomstick did have a three-drink maximum.
We paid quickly enough, and then Lizzie was dragging Temps toward the popcorn vendor.
I could tell that Ms. Chamberlain pulling Ms. Montgomery somewhere was par for the course.
Still, there was something in the way Lizzie looked at Temps while they waited for their popcorn that struck me.
It was ridiculous of me to assume, but there was something familiar in that expression, in the way Lizzie tracked Temps’ movement, because I was guilty of it myself.
No. You’re seeing things. Just make nice and get the hell out of here.
And then the two of them were running back toward me, and it was Temps this time who I caught lingering her stare on Lizzie.
Am I seeing things? Jesus, do I need to get laid that badly that I’m turning the two girls I need to stay away from into a porn stereotype?
“Let’s go, teach.” Lizzie looped her arm through mine, surprising me and knocking me off balance just slightly. I corrected easily enough, and she grinned up at me as she pulled both Temps and me along into the tent. “Show’s getting started soon.”
I didn’t know what it was about her, but I found myself as helpless to resist the pull of this woman as she happily led me into the circus portion of the carnival, as her stepsister did. She was enigmatic that way, and I looked across her at Temps with a brow cocked.
“She’s rather demanding, isn’t she?”
Temps laughed, her stunning, sweet face lighting up. “Oh, you have no idea.”
Lizzie rolled her eyes. “You both love it. So shush.”
Oh, I like that. Note to self, make Temps smile more often, and make Lizzie act like a little brat, too.
The thought was so unbelievably wrong, and I had to shake myself, pulling myself upright as the three of us found our seats in the front row of the tent, much to my chagrin.
“Lizzie, the front row?” Temps cocked her head, obviously just and thrilled about the choice as I was.
“I want to be able to see.” She squinted, pretending like she was an elderly woman or something.
I couldn’t stop the laugh, and we all sat down on the wooden bench, Lizzie in the middle, and our feet resting on a layer of straw that had been put down over the top of the parking lot’s asphalt.
We were in an unused property at the end of Water Street, and this was a common spot in town for traveling events to set up, the city renting the space to make a little money.
“Welcome, everyone!”
The overhead light in the tent went dark, a spotlight finding an empty spot inside the ring where I had to assume the infamous Ring Leader would appear.
“We are so glad that you have joined us for an evening of death-defying stunts and awe-inspiring tricks in our circus here at Illusion de Lumière! We kindly ask that you avoid flash photography as it interferes with our acrobats, and we don’t want any accidents, now do we?”
The crowd answered with a resounding, “No!”
“Excellent! Then do sit back and relax, enjoy the show, and be sure to scream loud for our amazing performers as they test the limits of physics and reality!”
Deafening cheers roared out of the crowd, Lizzie putting her hands around her mouth to amplify her shout as Temps and I clapped quietly. The room went dark again, not a single light in sight, and a low, music box-like melody began to play from somewhere unseen.
It continued for several moments, the people inside the tent growing a little restless as the darkness persisted. Next to me, I could sense Lizzie shifting in her seat, and her hand patted around on the bench between us.
“Ms. Chamberlain?” I whispered. “Did you lose something?”
I squinted to see in the dark, and her fingers wrapped around the edge of the bench, squeezing.
“No, I…this is dumb, but the emotions and energy. It’s a lot. I just needed to ground myself.”
It occurred to me that I hadn’t asked what their specialties or natural proclivities were yet.
The stepsisters were not only new to the school, according to the dean, but also new to exploring magic at all.
Many of the students at Night Grove came from families of practitioners, but these two, well, their guardians were mundane.
“You’re psychic?”
Lizzie nodded, the music swirling louder as brighter notes and cymbals were added to it. “Yes. And empathic to a degree.”
Swallowing, I understood why she was likely feeling overwhelmed by all the stimuli, but it was also a bit problematic to be seated so close to an empath—of any degree—when you were presently fighting back your own emotions. I needed to lock down my mental barriers all the more.
“Lizzie,” Temps cut in, “are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She waved off the concern, barely visible as orange lights began to glow from somewhere behind stands across from us. “I want to enjoy the—”
A massive crash sounded from the cymbals, an explosion of light and sparks shooting out of the middle of the ring that made everyone jump.
I reflexively grabbed for the bench, the shock igniting my hypervigilance.
My hand landed on Lizzie’s, but before I could apologize, the spotlight centered on the Ring Leader now standing where smoke was still billowing around the ground.
“Welcome, one and all, to the Illusion de Lumière circus!”
All eyes, even my own, were transfixed on the lengthy man standing in the center of the large ring, delineated from the rest of the tent by a short circle of red wood, the edges chipped and scuffed.
“In a time of such darkness,” the Ring Leader continued, his voice deep but scratchy, like it was playing through an old radio, “we, the Children de Lumière, bring you the light!”
Gouts of flame erupted from both sides of the ring, fire breathers either kneeling on the ground or perched on wooden boxes, creating blazes that illuminated the ring. Subtle house light came on as the flames died down, and performers of various types came in from places hidden by the stands.
The Ring Leader wore a large black top hat, a bit dingy and worn, and carried a black cane, the head of which was decorated with a large, red knob.
He sported the usual tailcoat and vest, with white detailing across the front accenting the oversized golden buttons that ran down the lapels and closed the vest.
“Feast your eyes, mortals, on the daring tricks of the Children de Lumière, and remember to never try this at home.”
More fire burst from the breather’s lips, and several acrobats leaped into the ring, flipping this way and that as a pair of performers swung back and forth from the trapeze that slowly descended into view.
Each person doing tricks in the ring appeared to be a contortionist of some sort, and as a woman flew past on the trapeze, she gripped the bar with just a finger.
That’s not possible.