The Girl Who Joined the Circus

Chapter Thirteen

When the confusion and darkness in my mind finally dissipated, I was overwhelmed by how hot I was.

Attempting to move was a feat I didn’t win, as a dozen or so blankets were piled on top of me. Every inch of me felt weak and sore, like I’d been sprinting for the entire day without any food. With a groan, I tried pushing myself upright, barely managing to free myself from the oppressive stack of blankets.

“Easy now.” Rex appeared by my bedside with that same worried look on his face. “Take it slowly. We don’t want you passing out again.”

I blinked, gingerly freeing my hand to rub my eyes, wondering if my brain was still groggy because I wasn’t accustomed to Rex being, well, nice. “R-Rex?”

“I’m here,” he said. “I’m right here.”

I managed to sit upright with his help and glanced around the room as I cleared my vision. The place resembled Laurent’s office—I recognized the same messy array of books and papers, the same posters on the wall—although it looked much smaller, like private quarters. There was a nightstand beside me, made from the same wood as Laurent’s desk, holding a still-steaming bowl of soup and a number of pills and medicine bottles.

“Chiardha made the soup,” he said, and it seemed as if he were searching for something to say, yet he sounded uncomfortable, all the same.

“Oh.”

“He, uh, he has a way of keeping things warm, which isn’t a surprise, seeing as how he’s a fire-eater.”

It seemed odd to see Rex attempting light conversation. Almost comical.

I nodded slowly, my foggy mind still clearing up. “I… wh-what happened? H-how long have I been asleep?”

“Only a few hours,” Rex reassured me. “I got you out of that glass tank just in time.” Then he swallowed hard as he looked at me. “What… what do you remember?”

I wracked my brain but it was like wading through molasses. “I just… I remember the twins and Robb and they…” As the memories started to fill me, I turned to face him, shock making my eyes go wide. “They tried to kill me.”

He breathed in deeply. “Is that all you can recall?”

I didn’t know why but it seemed like he was fishing for something in particular, some memory that wasn’t making itself readily available. I nodded. “That’s all I can recall.”

That seemed to appease him because he breathed out the breath he’d been holding and then rubbed his temples. “I, uh, I told Laurent what happened, and he insists you sit out tonight’s show.”

I nodded as I looked up at him. I hadn’t even thought about tonight’s show. Instead, my mind couldn’t seem to let go of thoughts regarding why in the world the twins would have not only wanted me dead, but attempted it. Did they hate me that much?

Dropping my head back, I closed my eyes again as I breathed in deeply. As if sensing the actors in my thoughts, Rex said, “You’re not the only one who’s off the schedule tonight.”

My heart practically skipped a beat as I opened my eyes and looked up at him. “Did… did you notify the police?”

He paused for a moment and his jaw tightened. “Circus people have their own way of handling things.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means the twins will stay away from you from here on out—I’ve personally seen to it.”

“And Robb?”

He cocked his head to the side and nodded. “We still don’t know why Robb got involved. He’s usually not a troublemaker.”

“I didn’t think Robb had anything against me.”

Rex nodded. “The twins may have sweet-talked him into being an accomplice, although it’s difficult to imagine those vengeful bitches sweet-talking anyone.” Then he shrugged. “Maybe they blackmailed him. Either way, their tour is almost up.”

I remembered the twins making a similar statement—saying something about their remaining time being short. As much as I wanted to ask Rex what they’d meant by that, just forming complete sentences was beyond my current capability. “Thank you, Rex. For finding me. I-I really thought I was…” I swallowed hard, tears brimming at the corners of my eyes.

In an uncharacteristic move, Rex gently put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to his body. It wasn’t exactly a hug, but the thought behind it was enough to fill me with a different sort of warmth. It was genuine proof that this hardened man, one who I thought hated me, didn’t actually hate me. I noticed his heavily bandaged hands, obviously the result of his heroics in smashing the glass water tank and rushing in to rescue me.

For reasons I couldn’t explain, his efforts meant everything to me in that moment.