Page 81 of Circus From Hell

“When you tell me the truth. I’ll sit here all day if I have to, but you won’t get a drop.” I consider taking a swig of it to make a point, but alcohol tastes like what I imagine fermented cat piss to taste like. I think I’d rather drink the cat piss.

“It hurts, okay?” He looks away like it pains him more to say this than whatever’s going on in his freaky little brain.

“What hurts?” I ask, but I don’t give a shit if he’s hurting—it’s well-deserved pain.

“Everything. Everywhere. All the time. My brain is on fire, and that—” He nods to the bottle. “—is the only thing to numb it.”

“Can’t your oh-so-wonderful ringmaster conjure up something from his tent-lab?”

Spiral’s lip pulls back with a snarl. “He was… Until Karma came along.”

Oh.

Oh.

“You’re jealous of Karma?”

He slams his hand against the cage.

“I was his star,” he screams, spit flying from his lips to land on my nose, but I don’t grimace, don’t look away. “He tested on me. He gave me a second cock and examined my reproductive system. He fixed me up with my hypnotic eyes to see if it was possible. And he was going to fix my brain.” The fight leaks out of him as he stares at the bottle of alcohol. “Karma became his new fixation, and he’s not bothered with me since.”

The anger that vibrates from him is telling of the anger he feels around Karma, but if he hates her so badly, why does he care who she sleeps with?

“Why do you have the pain?”

“Haven’t I answered enough of your questions?”

“No. If you want the bottle, you’ll answer any and all of them.”

He groans out loud. “I don’t know! I’ve always had it. It’s never left. It’s gotten worse and worse with every passing year, but do you know what stops the pain?” I wait, and the smirk that grows on his face still has a hint of fury behind it. “That dead girl’s magical pussy.”

“Let me guess. You want to live inside of her, but only if she’s well and truly dead?”

He swipes away the black and white hair dipping over his eyebrows. “Bingo, tentacle boy.”

“Good luck with that. She has three men protecting her now.”

Spiral rolls his black eyes. “Arlo will be easy to kill off. Micha would put up a fight, but it’s doable. And you?” He eyes me up and down. “Well, I’ll figure something out.”

“You couldn’t kill me.”

“You’re like triple my height and body weight. That’s an unfair fight.”

“There is no fight. Just you attempting and failing to kill me. There’s always the option of not trying to kill me, you know?”

He shakes his head theatrically. “Uh, no, that’s not an option. All three of you have been with Karma now, which means you all have to die too. Sorry, tentacles. I don’t make the rules.”

“You’re quite literally making those rules up right now.”

“Did Karma eat?”

I’m not expecting the sudden conversation shift. “Yeah, she did.”

“Huh. I didn’t think those two boys would go through with it. That’s a shame. She would have eaten one of you soon enough and taken a job off my plate. But it looks like she nearly got to you first.” He pointedly looks at the scratches across my chest.

I play it off in a way I know for sure will anger him. “Karma loves using her nails when she’s got a cock stuffed in her pussy.”

“Prick,” he hisses, and I chuckle. He’s so easy to toy with. “When will you let me out? I really need a piss.”