“We should get going. I have work to do tonight, so you can sit in the audience until Yasmeena is done performing.” Reina stands up and crosses out of the room, Absinthe following shortly behind her.
Great.Just what I wanted to do.
The Sinner’sCircus is a spectacle like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Everyone wears masks and elaborate costumes, even the attendees, and it’s hard to tell what people actually are. There could be lupion sitting next to felion and depending on how much perfume someone is wearing to mask their scent, they might not even notice each other.
It’s borderline overstimulating as I make my way to my designated seat in the audience. I was given a plain, slate gray satin slip dress to wear with a wolf-inspired half-mask.
It’s not something I would’ve chosen for myself, but I love the way it accentuates the muscular planes of my stomach, while also showing off my back and biceps.
The lights are dimmed and Governor Raph—also known as The Phantom—takes center stage, a spotlight shining down on him.
“Come one, come all, if you dare—” Raph begins, reciting the sign from outside the front entrance of the big top. “Our first performer is sure to throw someone for a loop, please welcome The Sphinx.”
Through clouds of smoke coming out from the floor,Yasmeena enters the center seemingly out of nowhere, dressed in an all-black sparkly bodysuit. It showcases every curve, every flex of her muscles, and I have to stop myself from drooling.
Nobody would think anything of it, but something twists in my gut at the thought of lusting over her. It’s not even that she’s a felion or that our people hate each other. No, it’s deeper than that. It’s stronger than that.
No matter what good we do together, I could never care for someone who participated in the murder of Tyrus. It was an attempt at destroying my pack, and it was a betrayal of the pact Luc Morningstar made with my father and Alpha.
Truly unforgivable.
The lyra comes down and Yasmeena grabs the hoop and performs a flare before getting into her first pose. Her body moves with undeniable fluidity—she might as well be made of water.
Just as I think that, water starts moving up and down her limbs, wrapping around them much like my aerial silks do. It’s entrancing and downright mesmerizing to see it flow around her as she continues to make new shapes on her hoop.
She’s beautiful. A beautiful fucking nuisance.
When Yasmeena jumps off and poses, the audience stands up in applause, and Governor Raph comes on to introduce the next performer.
“Give it up for The Pretzel, who is sure to twist your arm off!”
Lilian makes her way into the center, placing her hands on a handstand cane, and getting into her first handstand before contorting her figure into unique shapes.
She could easily use her wings for balance, or even to cheat, but she doesn’t. If anything, her wings seem like a hindrance to what she’s trying to do.
“Hey,” someone whispers from beside me, and I turn to see Yasmeena in her performance bodysuit, but wearing a mask I’ve never seen before. It looks like the skull of a cat. “Mind if I take this seat?”
“Nope,” I say, not that it would matter. I’m stuck in a demoncircus being babysat by strangers. What a fucking disaster my life has become; I should be preparing to lead my pack, but instead I’m playing house with a cat. She’s lucky she’s cute.
Once Lilian’s act is complete, Raph introduces Taryn and Rowan’s joint act. Taryn is placed into a giant martini glass and performs a series of poses before Rowan comes on in a Cyr wheel. The two continue performing together, interacting as they move their bodies to the music.
I can’t help but wonder if when I’m instructed to finally take Draven out, if Rowan will be one of the people I’m forced to face, or if he’ll be too busy with his own family. Maybe I can find a way to ensure most of the carnies aren’t home. I could freeze camp, or find some other way. Send them on vacation—somethingto ensure there are no more casualties than there needs to be.
“When were you going to tell me you have access to magic?” I ask, and Yasmeena doesn’t respond for a few beats.
“All of The Devil’s Masquerade have access to magic, and not that it’s any of your business, but the king is planning on rolling out magical access to citizens of Haeresis in the next few years,” she finally answers.
No wonder they were able to kill Tyrus.
“When were you going to tell me?” she asks, “I learned when we were out hunting.”
I roll my eyes. “I figured you read it in my file.”
Though it’s up to me to execute Draven, my entire pack will be fighting Yasmeena and the others. They need to know they all have magic, and I need to find out exactly what kind.
“Do you not realize how asinine that sounds? He’s going toroll outsomething everyone should already have?” I say, my voice barely above a whisper.
“I know you’re an expert inwolfy politics, but you can’t even begin to comprehend the complexities of something as large as running an entire planet,” Yasmeena bites back.
