The Fortune Teller's Daughter (21 page)

“My, aren’t you punchy tonight.” I hip checked her and
she sent one right back “It’s not what you think. Stop listening to gossips.
Especially Katya.” Micah and I did not often enjoy silence. Even with a place
as big as the carnival, there always seemed to be someone else within earshot.
That we were alone nudged my curiosity into full blown madness. “Can I ask you
another question you’re not going to want to answer?”

A single dark eyebrow shot up and she cast me a wary
sidelong look. “I don’t suppose I could stop you.”

“Probably not.”

“Well, alright then. Shoot.”

“Did you know Castel?”

Sure-footed Micah tripped over herself and nearly
pitched face first into the grass. She choked.

“Don’t say his name, for crying out loud,” she hissed.
“Do you like to tempt rattlesnakes and grizzly bears too? Maybe I could find
you a stranger with candy you could have a chat with as well.”

“Please. You forget that I got to spend some up close
and personal time with the little sociopath. His name is the least scary thing
about him.”

Micah shot me a scolding look before glancing away,
her bottom lip caught nervously between her teeth. She searched the area to
make sure we were alone.

“Yes, I knew him. Not well. Eli was always my
favorite.”

“What happened? Eli said they used to perform
together. He was reluctant to say any more than that.”

“I don’t doubt it. Look,” Micah set a hand on my arm.
I could feel her shaking through my sleeve. “It’s not my story to tell. I’m not
trying to be cryptic, but this is Eli’s story and he’ll tell it to you when and
if he’s ready. But…there was an accident. Before the carnival shut down. It
messed his brother up and in his grief he caused a performance to go wrong and
people died. The rest you’ll have to get from him. He would never forgive
either of us if you knew before he was ready to tell you.”

“Fine.” I sighed and we started into the trees again,
away from my tent. “I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

“I know it’s asking a lot.” She grinned.

“Oh yes, you’re very funny tonight. Where are we going,
anyway?” I asked, though I doubted it mattered. The acrobat had me by the hand
and was dragging me towards a tent behind everything else at the very back of
the private lot, beyond the cook house and Alistair’s dark wagon, right up to
the fence that blended seamlessly in with the real woods. Light spilled through
the panels where fabric had been hastily threaded together. As we approached I
could hear music playing. And laughter.

“This,” she said as she tugged me to the make-shift
doorway. “Trust me, Sera.”

I did not trust her but I went anyway.

The room was half full of tables where, mostly men,
were playing cards, drinking, and smoking. The air was thick with tobacco
stench that hung like a cloud along the top of the tent. Some of the dancers
had made their way here after the show, those who did not have more important
places to be. Several acrobats greeted us from a table in the corner, no Katya
thankfully, and Micah dragged me for them.

At the back of the tent, several of the roustabouts
were set up with a jumbled of mismatched instruments, plucking away and
chatting over tumblers of amber liquor. One of them took his hands off his
guitar and curved out a woman in the air with his hands. They laughed and
eyeballed us and I felt a blush start in my ankles and travel the whole course
of my body.

“Join us, Sera,” a tumbler named Addy shifted to make
room for another chair after Micah appropriated the last one. “We’re about to
deal some cards. You gamble?”

 Micah swept the table top clear and produced a pack
of well-loved cards, not surprisingly adorned with a pattern of an acrobat
standing on her head. They reminded me of Eli’s cards that I had stashed in my
tent.

“I play cards.”

Micah
tsk
ed. “She’ll take us for everything
we’ve got too. You’ve all been warned.”

The girls grinned but settled in as Micah dealt.

I saw Eli before he saw me. He looked so much like he
did the night I met him, white undershirt and black suspenders loose over his
shoulders. He was slouched down, one boot on an empty chair beside him, a hand
of cards fanned carelessly between his fingers. His eyes were still rimmed in
kohl as if he’d come straight to the gaming tent after his last show.

Three other men sat at his table and my first thought
was that they should have made him play one handed at least. Or blindfolded. If
I could cheat at cards, he shouldn’t have been trusted within a mile of a
gaming table. 

He looked so fine to me, casual, a little sweaty, and
a little flushed from the alcohol next to him. Young and old at the same time.
Like a trick of the light.

It seemed impossible I’d slept beside him, had my
hands in his hair, his arms around me, sharing the same pillow and I’d never
felt his kiss, never tasted his mouth.

My thoughts flitted back to the show, to Lily’s ropes
and Eliza coming off the stage shaking and flushed and euphoric. The dancer,
whose name I still didn’t know breathing hard as he held them down.

The Magician and his rope and his hands and his bed
and me in it.

His eyes snapped towards me, stormy and wide. Once
again I felt the sudden, embarrassed sensation that he heard my thoughts, knew
my darkest wants. His hand hovered over his cards, seconds from choosing one to
lie down, but instead he stared at me unblinking. He exhaled, ran his finger
across the sharp edge of his cards. I followed the trail he made over them and
down to his lap where he fisted his hand.

Almost imperceptibly he shook his head and I looked
away.  

A cold wind whooshed into the tent, making everyone
swear and bark orders to grab the door as several more people joined the lazy
revelry. Lily was among them, dressed down to a simple slip dress that followed
every one of her movements like it was part of her body. She went straight for
the Magician’s table and fell into a chair beside him. She crossed her legs
politely and took up a hand of cards dealt to her.

The male dancer from tonight’s show made his way for
us. Him I watched because it was easier than the other table.

 Someone handed him a drink as he pulled up a chair
between me and Addy. He settled in backwards on it, arms crossed over the chair
back. Several voices called for him to join them for cards, but he only waved
and leaned over to set a peck on Addy’s cheek.  She laughed and scooped up her
cards.

Without his mask on, he was handsome. He didn’t make
my insides go stupid, but I liked the way his shirt clung to his strong body
and I couldn’t shake the memory of what he’d done to the girls on stage. I
didn’t mind his company, and he smiled easily.

He turned his gaze down at me and his smile spread.

“You’re Lily’s dresser,” he said and without a hint of
restraint, reached for a tendril of my hair that had fallen over my forehead.
The tips of his fingers ran across the edge of my face as he moved it away from
my eyes. “Did you like the show tonight?”

Yes, oh yes.
“It was more than I expected.” And then because I refused to be intimidated by
any more men in my life, I tilted my head back to look into his expectant face.
“It was amazing, actually. I’d never seen anything like it.”

He leaned closer and I caught his manly, woodsy scent.
I knew every smile, every flirty tilt of my chin was playing with fire, that
this was not a game I could win with him or with the Magician, but a part of me
really didn’t care. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d even noticed a man
smiling at me and here was one who knew how to make my knees buckle when he
wasn’t even touching me. I’d take what I could get.

His hand brushed the outer curve of my thigh under the
table, but I was sure everyone had seen it. “Which part did you like the best?”

I flushed a looked away.

Micah kicked my ankle and I yelped, loud enough to
bring the attention of half the tent. I shot her a scathing,
mind your own
business
look and she narrowed her eyes in warning. The dancer flicked his
attention between us, both eyebrows raised.

“So sorry,” she said smoothly. “My foot slipped.”

“Micah.”

“Serafine.”

“Put your slippery foot in check.”

“I am not the one who needs to be put in check, little
miss…”

“Finish that sentence. I dare you.”

She pressed her mouth and leaned back with her cards
close to her face. Behind them she mouthed, “
Tease
.”

I gasped.

She gave me a pointed look behind her cards at the
dancer next to me, then canted her head across the room, to the Magician no
doubt.

The idea that I should watch my behavior was so
galling it emboldened my next action. His knee knocked into mine where his legs
were spread wide to accommodate the back of the chair. I settled my hand there
and leaned into him. He met me halfway, our heads bent close.

“I’m Serafine,” I said softly.

He grinned, his teeth very canine and predatory and I
realized, suddenly, where I knew him from. He’d been the ticket master that
first night I’d arrived. Before I could pull away, he wrapped his hand across
mine and held it to his thigh.

“I know, love. Tell me something else I want to know.”

I grinned when he didn’t tell me his name, a
purposeful omission that made me shiver. “Ask.”

He released my hand and reached for my face. His thumb
came in contact with my cheek and stroked up to the tip of my nose. “Do you
have these amazing freckles
everywhere
?”

Micah jerked back from the table, sending cards
spilling onto her lap and the floor. She smacked my arm to tear my attention
away from the dancer. “Sera,” she warned and raised her gaze past me.

I frowned and turned away from his mouth, so close to
my ear I could feel his breath, to follow Micah’s gaze.

And then jumped when I found the Magician standing
close behind us, arms crossed. His mouth was pressed in a tight, grim line, but
the storm of emotion in his eyes paralyzed me. He was so good at keeping his
thoughts in check that having them laid so openly sent my thoughts into a
tailspin.

“Eli,” I swallowed and discretely pulled my hand from
the dancer’s leg, who sighed and leaned away to a proper distance as if he knew
this was inevitable. I suspected this was not the first time he’d invited
jealousy from another man.

“A word.”

I glanced at my untouched cards. Everyone at the table
stared in rapt interest between us.

“Right now?”

“If you can tear yourself away.”

Eli stood unmoving until my hesitation gave way and I
stood, sighing. Micah gave me a sympathetic look, though undermined by her
told
you so
smirk. I wrinkled my nose at her and left the table with the
Magician beside me, though a half step quicker. At the doorway he set a hand on
my arm, his fingers tight against my skin, and pulled me out into the cold
night air.

Outside he set a swift pace across the back lot away
from the noise of the gaming tent. He did not let go of me so I wriggled lose
and swatted his hand when he tried to take hold again.

“That was unnecessary.”

“What was
unnecessary
?” I tried not to sound
irritated, but he made it so difficult.

“Making me jealous. I was already there. I did not
need prodding.”

“You’re delusional. And narcissistic. And wrong.” I
stopped on the edge of the circle personal wagons and refused to go another
step. He looked frazzled when he turned back to me. “I was not trying to make
you anything. What a waste of time that would be.”

  “Really,” he snapped. “Then what other reason would
you have for inviting Daniel’s hands all over you?”

“Maybe because I want to be touched by someone.” He
startled like he’d been slapped. “Not everything is about you. I assure you
that was very much just about me.”

His hands dropped to his side, at a loss for maybe the
first time since I’d met him. He shook his head, displacing several black
curls. “Not him.”

“No, you’re right. Not him. But I’ll take what I can
get.”

“Serafine.” He approached slowly and for a moment I
thought about running. He made my heart act in the most irrational ways. His
nearness made it worse.

“No,” I said, imploring him not to do this. I squeezed
my hands against my stomach. “What do you want from me?”

“I need to explain myself.”

“You don’t have to explain anything.”

“I do. You know I do.”

With more practice than I cared to admit, I screwed on
a blameless smile and shrugged easily. “It’s nothing. It’s fine, really. I
don’t care. I have a tent for a reason. And you’re a magician.” The last part I
said with forced flair he did not appreciate.

“Serafine,” he growled softly, annoyed, and backed me
up until I spun around, prepared to stalk away from him, but he caught my wrist
to stop me from fleeing. His warm fingers pressed against my pulse. Without
asking he moved in against my back, a hand slid across my stomach and with
increasing pressure, pulled me back to meet his body. Our fit was too easy, too
perfect. I swallowed and suddenly nervous and excited and frightened in equal
parts, first one then the other until I felt dizzy and lost.