Page 29 of Runt's Haunted Ride
Jack looked at me with enormous eyes. "I smell like dirt?"
"Yes, and I adore it. You smell like a long, leisurely drive on county roads." I looked at the ground. "Is that insulting?"
"No." My cheap twin metal bed creaked as Jack took a seat next to me. "If you want, we'll take lots of rides like that."
I raised my eyes to him and smiled. "Thank you for this." I held up the bag. "I haven't had cinnamon since I was in our cave. Jack, to me—" I held up the cinnamon. "This is... this is better than diamonds. Well," I blinked a few times, "almost." I winked.
His laugh in response was surprising and warm.
I set the bag carefully on the small table, reverently placing the cinnamon sticks beside it before unwrapping one of the chocolates. The moment it hit my tongue, I moaned. Rich, dark chocolate with a hint of raspberry—it was heaven after years of bland meals.
"Good?" Jack asked, and his voice had gone rough again.
"So good," I mumbled around the chocolate, then swallowed. "Have one." I tried to hand him one, but he refused. "Thank you. Really, Jack, this means the world to me." I clutched my precious cinnamon.
"Easy to please. I like that," Jack nudged me. "Kai, you deserve more than cinnamon sticks and chocolate," he said, his eyes intense on mine. "But we don't have time for that. Listen, I have a plan."
The weight of his words sobered me instantly. "Tell me." I shoved another chocolate into my mouth and listened.
"Alright, tonight."
"Tonight?" I gasped. "Like tonight, tonight?"
He glanced toward the tent entrance, then back to me. "Is there another tonight meaning I don't know about?"
I shook my head and gave a little giggle. "No, I'm sorry. Go ahead, I'm listening."
His eyes swept over me again, and I saw him swallow hard. "Focus," he blew out a breath. "Last night after the carnival closed, all of us went back to the clubhouse to give our reports, like we do every night." Jack started. "Everyone was giving their usual updates when Fang made an announcement. He said that tonight there are VIP guests coming for a special show. Some sort of big ultimate act is supposed to happen, but he didn't know what it was. Just told us to stay sharp around the rich assholes."
My stomach clenched. "Mortis told me I'm the ultimate act, the pay-to-see act."
"That's exactly what I thought." Jack took my hand in his. "The moment Fang said it, everything clicked. I knew it had to be you. So, I took a gamble."
"What kind of gamble?"
"I stood up in front of everyone—the President and all the members. I told them I knew what the final act was." His eyes met mine. "I had to tell them about you, Kai, to make the plan work." He looked nervous, as if he were worried about what I would say.
"It's alright. If you thought that was best, I trust you." I touched his forearm. "Tell me the rest."
"I told them that Wednesday night, during my patrol of the lodging area, I saw Mortis go into that weird red tent set apart from the others. When he left, I did a perimeter walk that tookme behind the tent, and I heard crying." He paused. "I said I found a woman sitting behind the tent. She begged me to take her away from the place. She said she would pay me in gold. I told her I was just there to work. I explained that I figured she was another one of the weirdos working at the carnival. You know, waiting for someone to feel sorry for her, then bam, she sucks the blood out of you. That sort of thing."
"Sucks the blood out of you?"
"Yeah, that sort of thing."
Smiling, I urged him on. "Please continue."
"I had to embellish it a little, get the guys hyped. Anyway," Jack said, "for the record, all the guys agreed with me. So, I kept going. I told them that later I saw a lady take a tray of food to the tent. She stayed only long enough to drop it off and leave. I got curious and followed the lady. She went through the door on the side of the practice tent. The window was open, so I stepped closer and overheard voices. Two women. The first asked if the phoenix was sitting up in the poles again. The other said she was but came down to eat. Then she said it's easier to feed her when she's a chick in the cage. Then she can leave the food in a dish and go. The first lady agreed with her, saying it's all a pain, but they have to take care of the money maker."
"You made all of this up?" My heart was racing now.
"Yes, I had to."
"I'm impressed. Keep going. What did the club think?"
"They scoffed at me and made their usual crude humor jokes. But I stopped all that when I looked the President in the eyes and told him he wasn't listening. I repeated the part about the money maker. I then told him that some phoenixes produce gold when they rejuvenate. That got his attention. He told everyone to shut the fuck up and had me repeat myself."
"I would imagine he would," I said, riveted to my seat. "And then?"
