Page 5 of Smoke and Mirrors
Only because of Connor’s strict but encouraging coaching did I discover my love to perform. Nothing was as thrilling as walking onstage and commanding a crowd. By some kind of miracle, I became ringmistress when we ended up here in Crying Falls. I still couldn’t believe we were selling out tickets. Connor, Razvan, and Hunter were all brilliant of course, I just hoped to do them justice by hyping them up well enough.
And still I couldn’t ignore the fact that shifters were being captured and forced to perform as exotic freaks. It sickened me, and did more than shatter my dream of the carnival as a happy escape from my home life. Hunter and Razvan were just the two that happened to be in this area. How many more could there be?
My dream returned to the forefront of my mind like a punch to the stomach. I was an animal behind bars. Predatory rage flowed through me like an overdose of adrenaline. I never wanted to kill someone so badly in my life. But what stood out the most right then was the Ferris wheel peeking out over tops of tents.
I wrapped my hands around my coffee cup and closed my eyes, trying hard to grasp any more details of that place but they were already fleeting as dreams tend to be. I was so deep in my own mind, I didn’t even realize Hunter came to sit beside me until I heard his soft, “Hey.”
“Oh shit!” I shrieked, nearly jumping out of my skin. “Hey!”
“Didn’t mean to scare you,” he laughed softly.
“You didn’t. I was just… thinking about something,” I said lamely, then looked over to where the guys were sitting before. “Where’d Con run off too?”
“Said he had to take a shit, so he’d be a few minutes or thirty,” he smirked.
“Of course,” I groaned.
Hunter’s gaze dropped to the ground. He licked his lips, an act I wished my mind could record and play it back slowly.
He cleared his throat. “So hey Mel,” he began, lacing his fingers and then undoing the motion. Then his hands closed into fists.
Oh god, he’s nervous, I realized. I found it endearing and utterly adorable.
“Do you want to check out the carnival together?” he asked with a lopsided smile. “You know, like normal people.”
“Just you and me?” I blurted out. Even though Connor told me this was coming, it did nothing to stop that rush of jittery nerves and pure glee when a crush asks you out. My pulse jumped to a racing beat while my stomach made victorious flips.
“Yeah, if that’s cool with you.” He swallowed. “ Connor can come t—”
“No no, that’s okay.” I placed a hand on his forearm to reassure him. “I’d love to. Just you and me is totally cool. I’d, um,” dare I say it? “I’d love to get to know you better.”
His shy smile broke into a full-out grin. “Me too, Mel. And seriously, like,” he ran a hand through his hair again and how the fuck was I supposed to resist him when he did that? “Absolutely no pressure or anything. We can just eat horrible food and shoot wooden ducks or whatever. I know you’re with Con and this whole situation is just kind of weird.”
“I know you two have been talking,” I said. “And it is weird but so far, I’m feeling okay with it as long as you two are.”
“The feeling is mutual,” he replied, his shoulders sagging like a weight was off them. “And if this makes things tough for you two, just say the word and I’ll back off. You two are my friends first and I don’t want to hurt either one of you.”
“I appreciate that,” I said sincerely, even though I felt in my heart it would never be an issue. Hunter was on the short list of people that Connor trusted.
The thoughts weighing heavily on my mind were the ones I was still too scared to ask. Like, what would we tell his kids if things went really well between us? And before Hunter spoke to me and Connor, I had dreams about him much like the one I had last night. I still had no idea how to tell him or even if I should.
Even more, I was scared of what those dreams actually meant. I wasn’t a shifter, I knew that. Both Hunter and Razvan said I smelled human but slightly different. I had a strong suspicion both bits of information were connected, but how?
“Want me to come get you when the carnival opens?” Hunter asked, oblivious to my internal conflict.
“Sure!” I beamed at him. “It’ll be less crowded that early.”
“My thoughts exactly,” he grinned as he rose to his feet. “See you in a bit, Mel.”
“See you,” I said, looking up at him dreamily. “Oh, and thanks for the bacon!”
“Any time.” He paused, lingering as if he wanted to say or do something else, but then kept on moving. “Tell Connor I said bye.”
“Will do.”
I watched him walk away on his tall, lean frame toward the woods. Only when he was behind the dense brush did I catch a glimpse of his platinum hair turning into snowy white fur.
I curled back up in my chair, unable to keep the ridiculous grin off my face. I had a date with a sexy wolf shifter today!
