Page 5 of Backstage at the Freak Show
“Nothing out of the ordinary,” I plopped down on a corner of the bed. “Colt is lovely. Gabe is a stone wall. You know, the usual.”
“So dump his ass and just go steady with Colt,” Mel’s sister and maid of honor, Jeanie May, suggested, putting their youngest sister Riley on the floor so she could crawl around. “You know, like normal people,” she teased.
“It’s not that simple,” I sighed. “I’ve fallen for Gabe too, and I justknowhe has feelings for me. He does little sweet thoughtful things for me, but getting him to express anything is like pulling teeth. I think it’s just hard with how he was raised.”
“Hunter and Colt were raised in the same way too, you know,” Mel took a seat in the makeup chair while Lara set up her kit. “At some point, you’ve got to put your foot down, Mir. He’s allowed to feel conflicted but that doesn’t give him a pass to make you feel like shit.”
“I know,” I sighed, running my hands through my long, dark hair. “Did you get the same kind of shit from Hunter?”
“No, it was actually Arjun who gave me the most shit,” Mel smirked, closing her eyes as Lara began her work on her face. “They’ve all been pains in my ass for various reasons, but I’ve learned to deal with them all. Sometimes it took patience and compassion, other times I had to stand up and tell then when shit wasn’t acceptable. Such is life when you’re marrying four men,” she sighed.
“I don’t know how you do it,” Jeanie chuckled.
“It’s work but it has its perks.” Mel’s grin grew broader. “Loving so many different personalities and feeling how much they love you back all in their own unique ways. There’s nothing else better in the world.”
“Where do I find men who would be willing to share?” Lara joked.
“I don’t recommend traveling and performing in carnivals run by shady humans,” Mel laughed. “Even if you find good men, you’re bound to find lots of trouble along the way.”
“Don’t feed hungry wolves meat scraps either,” I added. “Then you’ll be in my situation.”
“This wedding seems like a good place to start,” Jeanie scrolled through her phone while keeping an eye on Riley. “The guest list came out to fifty people. Nearly all of them shifters.”
“Any shaman RSVP?” I asked.
“Doesn’t look like it, though not everyone specified.”
I hesitated before asking my next question. “Any unusual or mythical shifters?”
“You mean like dragons?”
“Yeah, just curious.”
Mel’s eyes slid over to me, but I kept my gaze trained on Jeanie as she scrolled through the list.
“I don’t think so. A lot of these look pretty standard. Lion, wolf, bear, an arctic fox, a few elk, eagles. Oh, an elephant! And uh,” Jeanie frowned. “What’s a cassowary?”
“A flightless bird from Australia,” Lara said. “Mean motherfuckers. Hopefully they behave.”
“Oh, we’re pretty well prepared for scuffles,” Mel laughed. “The security team’s been hand-picked by Connor and you know how he gets. Short of a bunch of dragons torching the place, I think we’ll all make it out alive.”
“Interesting choice of words on your wedding day,” Jeanie snorted.
Mel shrugged. “Making shifters feel like they’re included and belong somewhere is important to me. I’m not naive enough to think that everyone will get along swimmingly, but I want them to see this wedding as bridging the gap between humans and shifters. If they go home after enjoying a party with humans in the mix, I’ve done what I wanted.”
We small-talked and speculated more about the guest list as we each took turns getting our makeup done. As I sat in the chair, I was dying to tell Mel about what I saw. She had the same Sight ability, and would know where I was coming from. Our abilities weren’t a secret to her sister or most shifters, but I itched for a private conversation with my fellow shaman all the same.
But this was her wedding. She would be surrounded by loved ones constantly, as she should be. All I could do was hope the gigantic, mysterious shifter on his way here wouldn’t pose a threat. And if he did, that the security team would be ready for him.
A headache flashed across my forehead as I zoned out in the makeup chair.Shit, right now?I thought, trying not to move my head.
Here was where my Sight ability was different. These headaches marked when I would see events that had not yet come to pass.
In my head I saw Mel smiling in her wedding dress, tears glittering in her eyes as her four men looked at her like she was the only woman in existence. Looking past them and at the rows of wedding guests sitting in attendance, one man stood out.
Even while sitting, he was shoulders taller than most people. Standing, he had to be at least 6-foot-seven. A broad, muscular body strained under his suit. He gazed straight at me with one brown eye and one pale grey eye, black eyebrows quirked as if amused. His clean-shaven face carried a bemused smirk on full lips, a straight nose and strong jaws. Black hair pulled back into a tight topknot completed his look.
The flash of his face was gone in an instant but still left me breathless, as all my future visions did. My heart drummed like I just sprinted up a flight of stairs as the echo of the headache slowly faded away.
