Page 49 of Circus From Hell

“See? I told you she wouldn’t eat me.” Arlo tucks his cock back into his jeans and holds out his hand to lift Karma. He presses a kiss to her cheek, which takes her by surprise, but when he pulls away, she leans in for him to do it again. He laughs and presses a second and third to her skin, and her smile grows. That’s kind of cute.

He wraps an arm around her shoulders and holds her to his side, and the room turns to focus on Spiral. If he was a cartoon, smoke would be blowing out of his ears right now.

He wasn’t able to prove his side of the deal; he can’t even pretend to not be jealous.

“What’s wrong, Ssspiral? Jealous?” Karma mocks.

He grits his teeth as he says, “I’m telling Kreo.”

I laugh. Clowns really aren’t as scary as I was forced to believe; in fact, this one’s pretty pathetic.

“Running to Daddy, ‘ey?”

Spiral narrows his eyes on me. “He’s not Daddy, and you need to stay out of this, bitch boy.”

I stop laughing and raise an eyebrow. “Bitch boy?”

Karma snickers and looks around, moving away from Arlo when she spots her jumpsuit on the floor. I track her body, the lithe way she walks, the control she has over her movements. And I’m not ashamed to admit that I can’t look away when she bends over, revealing her ass and a sneak peek of the stitched-on pussy between her legs. My cock twitches, betraying me as much as my eyes do, and it’s the biggest mistake I make because it severely distracts me.

I don’t catch Spiral take a step forward. I don’t catch his arm swing back. I don’t catch Arlo’s face as his fist slams into it.

I only catch the sound of my little brother’s head slamming into the edge of the metal cage as his body falls unconscious to the floor.

“Arlo!”

Karma is the first to reach him, but I’m there a millisecond later, cradling his bleeding head. Karma pins Spiral with the angriest look I’ve ever seen, but Spiral is turning and leaving without another word, and I’m too busy staring at Arlo’s unconscious face to care.

“I can take him to Kreo’s tent,” Karma whispers, tracking the rest of Arlo’s body. “Hisss heart is still beating, but Kreo will have things to⁠—”

“No,” I snap. I ignore Soren’s fixated gaze as he watches the scene unfold and drag Arlo up into my arms. “I’m getting him home and away from this fucking place.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

MICHA

I’ve never felt so sick with worry.

Karma followed me home and refused to clear off, but I didn’t argue. I needed to get away from that place. I hate the circus. I hate clowns. And now I have more of a reason to.

I lie Arlo down in his bed. Karma stands in the doorway like a lurking demon. She kept informing me that she could hear his heart beating; I didn’t admit that every time she told me, a wave of relief washed over me.

“Still beating,” she says from behind me.

I bring the sheet up to his chest. He’s breathing, he’s alive, but I don’t know what the damage might be. I’ll be checking on him every hour for the rest of the night. Perfect way to spend my night off.

I shut the door quietly and ignore Karma as I retreat to the living space. I crash down onto the couch, threading a frustrated hand through my hair and sighing.

She tentatively follows me, and I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen her so unsure. Normally she’s confident, focused, intentful. Now she looks lost. Maybe that’s what getting involved with humans has done to her.

“You can sit down.”

“I don’t like thisss,” she whispers as she creeps through the dark room to carefully sit cross-legged on the other end of the sofa, leaving the middle cushion barren. I didn’t think to turn on the light, and Karma’s green headlights do a good enough job at illuminating the space in front of us.

I shut my eyes and lean my head back. “Don’t like what?”

“Feeling… nervousss.”

I let my head fall to the side and open one eye. She’s looking at the door to Arlo’s room with furrowed brows. “Do monsters not get nervous?”