Bonus Scene
ATTENTION
If this is your first time reading the Galaxy Circus, I would suggest skipping this scene until you have read it in its entirety because it may contain spoilers for future books.
If you have already experienced this wild ride, then please continue.
Hopefully these new scenes add another layer of enjoyment to the experience.
Link
The ship’s corridors are deserted as I hurry through the living quarters toward the dining room, annoyed that I am running late for the mandatory meeting the Adams brothers called this evening.
I just finished writing my report on the care I had to administer to some of the lightning cats this afternoon.
Three of them—Trace, Sim, and Fuse—arrived with injuries that were inflicted by the female cat of their group.
Natalia had apparently lured the largest alpha male, Maxsim, away with a lie, but he suspected it and asked the three of them to look after his omega, Echo.
Apparently, Natalia has been targeting Echo since he presented, trying to get rid of him.
The three of them managed to keep Echo safe, but not without damage.
Luckily none of it was too serious, and I patched them up and sent them on their way, but I documented it all to present it to the Adams brothers.
The ship is rife with rumors that not everything is copasetic with that streak, and this just confirms it.
I’m not sure the Adams know how bad it is.
For her to actively try to kill him is against company policy.
When you join the circus, you have to sign an agreement not to harm any of your fellow employees.
It’s in place because there are often races that aren’t necessarily allies amongst the crew.
Up until now, there has been no need to enforce the policy, but this is definitely a way for the Adams brothers to get rid of Natalia or even the whole streak, and not cause an intergalactic incident by insulting the Iceen lightning cats.
I sent the report to William Adams, but now I am running late for dinner.
Apparently, the Adams brothers have finally located their missing granddaughter, and she is being inducted into the Galaxy Circus, which includes informing her of the existence of aliens.
They want me on hand to make sure the shock doesn’t cause any harm to her physically or mentally.
They want her to start drinking Skarrian water as well, which she hasn’t had access to since her parents died in the hopes that they can kick-start her Skarrian gifts.
I will probably be spending quite a bit of time with her to monitor her health, and I am both nervous and strangely excited about it.
Humans are fascinating. Even though she technically isn’t one, she’s lived as one for the past twenty or so years.
I’ll be interested to see how her body reacts to the change, as well as how her mind copes when she finds out everything she has ever believed to be true is wrong.
I open the door to the dining room and look around, heaving out a sigh of relief when I realize that only John and Eric are at the head table with their deplorable niece and nephew.
Fiona and Phillip have few friends amongst the crew, but they also have people who are scared to upset the niece and nephew of the owners, and they know how to use that to their advantage. I avoid them as much as possible.
I look around the large gathering of people. Some of the crew members are segregated, preferring to stay within their species groups, such as the Vilaxians, Aquillians, and lightning cats, but others, such as the Skarrians and the Fluxxians, all mingle quite happily with others.
I catch sight of my friends and grab something to eat from the replicator before moving toward their table. I sit down, heaving out a sigh of relief as I do.
“That was a big sigh, Dr. Delicious. Why so anxious?” a seductive voice asks, and when I glance up, I find Xavier, the high warlock, looking at me with amusement in his purple blue eyes.
He shed his misty glamour for dinner tonight, and I can practically feel the stares from the tables around us as they take in the crown prince’s appearance.
He’s a gorgeous man, slight and androgynous with sleek, elegant warlock marked limbs that he shows off with perfection in his sleeveless shirts and gauzy pants.
His powers revolve around emotions, so I’m not surprised he knows I feel anxious.
He gives me a flirty wink when he feels my admiration, and I roll my eyes at his behavior.
He has a harem of feeders aboard the ship, so it’s unusual when he doesn’t sit with them, but more and more, he’s been sitting with us during meals.
“I was just writing a report on a lightning cat altercation, and I was running late. I was worried I was going to miss the introductions,” I explain, shoveling a bite of food into my mouth.
“An altercation with the cats?” General Saxon of the Vilaxians, another one of my friends, asks with surprise.
He usually sits with his clan during meals, but like Xavier, he has been avoiding them more often.
Saxon’s pale skin shines in the light as I turn my attention to the rest of his clan.
Two of the girls are glaring in our direction, and they flash their fangs aggressively when they catch me looking.
“Trouble in paradise?” I ask him, raising an eyebrow, and he narrows his magenta eyes before running a hand through his short black hair in agitation.
“Don’t ask,” he growls, and Caspian and Dylan snicker like schoolboys.
I turn my attention to the two shifters.
Caspian is a kraken with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder.
Fiona has made no secret of the fact that she finds him disgusting when he moves around in his half form, which is more comfortable than assuming a human glamour all the time.
It’s made him a little bitter recently, which is a shame because he’s a good male and usually friendly and personable.
We’re good friends, and I enjoy his company.
Dylan, on the other hand, is someone I dislike, though for the sake of my friendship with Caspian, I hide it.
He and Dylan are occasional lovers, but Dylan is also occasionally lovers with a good percentage of our crew.
He likes to spread himself around and is not particularly choosy in whom he approaches.
Xavier and Saxon have turned him down, as have I.
I like to have an emotional connection with the people I have sex with, and while Dylan is handsome, there’s just something about his personality that really turns me off.
He always has this calculating look in his eye, which I don’t like, but since Caspian doesn’t seem to care about his promiscuity, and as long as he doesn’t hurt my friend, I tolerate him.
“Oh?” I turn my attention back to the Vilaxian blood drinker, and he shakes his head, keeping his words to himself.
Xavier takes pity on him and chuckles. “Saxon wants to dissolve his clan. He’s tired of them, and those two are not happy with it.” He nods at the two glaring females.
“Not all of them, just those two, and please, it’s not like you aren’t feeling the same way about your harem,” he snarls at Xavier, who shrugs elegantly but doesn’t deny it.
Hmm, both of them rely on their respective groups for feeding, so if they are not feeding from them, then who are they feeding from?
I glance between them, and it suddenly occurs to me.
I don’t need to be a warlock and capable of feeling emotions to know these two are more than just friends and they are using each other to get what they need—sex for the warlock and blood for the Vilaxian.
None of that is my business, though, so I keep my mouth shut.
“So tell us what happened with the pretty kitties.” Xavier sounds intrigued, and we all look over at the Iceen table.
Maxsim and Echo are on one end with Trace, Fuse, and Sim sitting between them and the lone female, a beta by the name of Natalia.
She is the matriarch of Iceen’s daughter and not who should have been on this rotation with the circus.
There was a big uproar when the Adams brothers discovered she had taken her sister’s place, but as it wasn’t discovered until we were light-years away from Iceen and on a strict schedule, they just had to roll with the change.
“Maxsim and Echo are so lucky.” Caspian sighs with hearts in his eyes. “To find your mate like that out of the blue is so freaking romantic. They are so sexy together.”
A rumble from Dylan’s chest and smoke drifting out of his nose tells us he isn’t happy with the way Caspian is admiring the two cats, but Xavier just rolls his eyes.
“Shut that shit down, dragon. You have no reason to be jealous. Every one of us would love to find our mates.”
“If I had a blood rose, I wouldn’t have to feed from my fucking clan,” Saxon grumbles, agreeing with the warlock.
“And if I found my intimate, I could get rid of my harem. They are decidedly getting too big for their boots, despite their only function being to feed me.” Xavier slides a glance toward his harem.
The minute they feel his eyes on them, they start preening, and he grimaces. “Ugh, I’m so sick of them.”
“Cyborgs don’t have mates. My mother keeps trying to sell me off to the highest bidder. I’m pretty sure my new nurse is a plant from her,” I grumble, and everyone but Dylan gives me a look of sympathy.
“Yes, but he is pretty,” Dylan rumbles, and I watch as he winks in Josa’s direction, who bats his eyelashes at the dragon.
“Well, you’re welcome to him,” I mutter, and Caspian reaches out and grabs my hand, giving it a squeeze.
“Don’t be sad. Who knows, Skarrians choose their mates, and we have quite a few with the circus,” he murmurs, and I wrinkle my nose.