Page 36 of Circus From Hell

“Well, yeah, it was hot. And he’s not my boyfriend,” he answers quickly, and my heart cracks.

“No, you’ve made that perfectly clear,” I mutter.

“So are you my boyfriend?” he asks. “I never asked you, and you never asked me.”

I wave him off. “I don’t want to talk about this right now.” Besides, if I were to magically become Micha’s boyfriend, do I have to stop liking Karma? Micha is possessive, territorial, jealous. How would he cope with that? “You don’t need to be nasty to her. She’s clearly chilled out now.”

“She said she doesn’t want to eat us as much as anyone else, Arlo.”

I shrug, taking a step away from him and towards Karma. “I trust her.”

Karma’s stitches pull as she smiles wider.

“Trussst me?” I nod and open my arms. She frowns. “What are you doing?”

“Waiting for you to accept my hug.”

Her green eyes widen in surprise, like a hug is such an abhorrent thing for anyone to want from her. She tentatively leans into my embrace but doesn’t wrap her arms back around me. That’s okay; I do the hugging for the both of us, squeezing her against my chest.

“See? That’s nice, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I can feel your heartbeat. You are the only perssson to feel calm around me, Arlo.”

“You’re not so scary when your teeth aren’t bared, Karma.”

She pulls away quickly, like she’s not sure what to do now. “I have to get back to the circus. Ssspiral will be wondering where I am.”

“The clown you were hiding from? Are you safe around him?”

Bells jingle as she nods, and I finally understand where they’re coming from—her hair. In the pink balls that clamp the big green and pink pigtails together at the ends.

“Ssspiral can’t kill me. No one can. Not even your sssoul guardian.”

Micha groans. “I’m not a soul guardian. I’m a security guard.”

“Tomato, potato.” I wave him off. “Will you come and see us again, Karma?”

She looks behind her, deeper into the alleyway, and I notice her ear twitch like she’s heard something. “Yesss, I will. But someone’s coming. I have to go now. Come on, Ssssnake.”

Karma and Snake are off in a flash, leaving me and Micha dumbfounded.

“That was strange.”

“Do you have to be so horrible to her?” I ask, marching off back to the apartment.

“I’m sorry, but she’s⁠—”

“A monster? She’s different. But I like her. And I want you to give her a chance.”

He chews his bottom lip, looking down at me like he’ll find the answers in my eyes.

“Fine. But if she tries to eat either of us again, it’s off. Got it?”

I smile and pat his cheek. “Got it, Soul Guardian.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

SOREN