“But I work well with Gemma, and I’ve even performed with Khalid. It’s not impossible for me to cooperate with others.” Lilian giggles and I squint at her. “What?”
“You work well with Gemma and Khalid because they’ll obey your every command. This is the first time you actually have to deal with a personality as dominant as your own.”
Fuck me, why is she always right? “She claimed that I’m privileged because I’m an aerialist for a living.”
“Are we not privileged?” I don’t know how to answer that. Lilian is the definition of privileged. Raised in an upper-echelon half-demon family, she might as well have demoted herself by joining Hel’s Carnival. She’s well aware of how fortunate she was, and it’s clear she has a lot of empathy for those of us who struggled to get where we are.
Even with her cushier life, she too has baggage of her own.
“What do you mean?”
Lilian puts the brushes down and turns to face me. “You had an incredibly difficult childhood, much more difficult than mine.”
I nod, unsure of where she’s going with this.
“But there is another little girl, another felion out there who is still trapped, diving on Ira. There is a little wolf-boy somewhere on Avaricia without a home. One that never knew his parents, never even knew a hot meal. Am I wrong?”
“No. I know I’m not—I know there are others who have it much worse than I do.”
“So to them, you are privileged.”
I nod again, shrugging my shoulders. “Of course, but Tempest isn’t one of those people.”
Lilian cocks her head to the side. “How do you know?”
I don’t. I’m assuming.“She’s the daughter of an Alpha, isn’t she essentially a wolfy princess?” I ask, recalling what I called her.
“Princesses can get sick. Princesses can be beaten, they can be assaulted and abused. Instead of assuming she’s had it easier, why don’t you talk to her?” Lilian gives me a cocky grin.
“Ihatehow right you are all the time.”
“I know.” Her smile grows ear-to-ear. “Try to get to know her.”
“She’s such a bitch, Lilian. I’m seriously trying, but it’s like talking to a stone wall.”
At that, Lilian pushes my shoulder. “You were a bitch in the beginning too. Give her time.”
“Geez, tell me how you really feel.”
But Lilian is unfortunately right. I need to give Tempest the same amount of grace my friends here at the carnival gifted me, even if it kills me.
Movement No. 7
Tempest
Yasmeena has a lot of nerve. I originally thought the bad energy radiating off her was because I’m a lupion, or because she could tell I hate her, but now I understand she just thinks she’s better than everyone else.
And maybe she is—someone as talented and beautiful as her might typically be the best in the room—but her room just got a lot wider. They have to make space for the lupion.
Wolves don’t like to lose, and we definitely don’t back down from a fight.
Apparently this morning’s little scuffle was reported to Governor Raph, and Yasmeena and I have been separated. Now I’m being followed around by a disgruntled teenager who is even bitchier than I am. I’m surprised they trust me with the girl, but I also don’t know what she’s capable of. Maybe she can fend for herself.
We’ve been sitting in silence for about an hour as she paints her toenails before I finally decide to say something. “Is this all you do all day?”
Slowly, she looks up at me. “No, usually I work a stand or perform my act, but today I’ve been told to babysit you.”
My eyes go wide with surprise at her brashness. “Oh?”
