48. Chapter Forty-Eight Ink and Magic
Chapter Forty-Eight: Ink and Magic
Tess
When I got to the shop, I still felt dazed from the date with Maverick. My body ached with a jumble of soreness and the lingering warmth from our time together. Every muscle felt like it had been both worked to exhaustion and wrapped in a comforting embrace. My mind was a whirl of trepidation and elation, a storm of emotions I couldn’t quite untangle. I wanted to hide from him, but I wanted him to find me.
As I turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open, the familiar essence of the place greeted me, grounding me in the reality of my normal daily routine. The soft jingle of the bell above the door seemed to ring unusually loud in the quiet morning, a sharp contrast to the cascade of sensory explosions the night before.
I flicked the light switch, and my first stop was the coffee pot— always a non-negotiable throughout countless groggy mornings. Maverick had given me coffee earlier, but it was just a standard brew, and I needed extra bold strength to jolt me into full alertness.
“How was your date?” asked Oscar.
I reached for the tin of coffee grounds, the rich, earthy aroma wafting up as I opened it. “It was… weird.” Scooping a generous amount into the filter, I started the brewing process, listening to the comforting gurgle as the hot water began to drip through.
“How so?”
“Never mind. You don’t want to know.” The familiar clutter of tattoo supplies, the organized chaos of needles, inks, and stencil paper, all provided a sense of normalcy that I desperately needed.
“To the contrary, young lady. I very much do want to know.”
My reflection in the mirrored wall behind the counter appeared bedraggled and tired but also content, joy playing at the corners of my lips despite the dark circles under my eyes. “It was incredible. And addictive. He’s a god in bed—”
“Not that I don’t want to know, but what was in Ivan’s storage unit?”
“Oh my goddess. I forgot.” The smell of fresh coffee filled the room, its robust fragrance cutting through the fog in my head.
The anticipation of that first strong sip was enough to start easing the tightness in my chest. I pinched a mug from the shelf, one of my favorites, chipped but dependable, and waited to pour myself a generous amount as soon as the pot had enough to fill it.
“He must have been very good indeed. ”
I pressed my lips together in thought for a moment, leaning over the counter as my coffee brewed. “Yeah. The storage unit was packed with—get this— circus equipment.”
“What kind of circus equipment?”
I thought back to when I rolled that door open and first saw the stacks of boxes and shelves. The rolled-up tents and boxes of props. The popcorn cart and ticket box. “Tents and props and costumes and… everything really.”
“What was he doing with that?”
I shook my head. “I have… literally no idea. Maybe it’s all a relic of his past,” I suggested.
I poured my first cup, not caring that it wasn’t done brewing yet. When I took that first sip, letting the hot, bitter liquid awaken my senses, the heat spread through my body. I savored the moment, standing there in the shop, the taste of strong coffee joining with the lingering memory of Maverick’s touch.
I jolted at Oscar’s voice piping up again. “Surely, he would have let it slip if he’d grown up in a circus. It is rather fitting that he’d be a circus freak, though.”
“The alternative is that he… acquired all of it? But for what?”
“Maybe he was going to start a circus,” Oscar suggested.
“What would he start a circus for?”
“He was a clown already. Maybe he figured he’d throw up a tent and get a crowd of people to scare.”
Ivan had been using his clown face to terrorize people everywhere he went. It was only another step or two to decide to find a way to get them all to come to him instead.
Was Ivan planning to open a circus of horror? Oh goddess, that sounded just like him. I plopped down in my seat and flicked the pc on .
“Well?”
“You’re right. That does sound like something he’d do. I need to see if there’s anything in here about his plans.”
I navigated to his emails and clicked on the subfolder “Tits and Ass.” Previously, I thought it was communication with a brothel or something, but now, I took it all in with new eyes. The subject lines suddenly made sense:
“Re: Talent Acquisition” From: Phantom Talent Services
“Payment” Haunted Talent Network
“Cancellation of order” Dark Delights Props
“Negotiation of terms” Spectral Performers Inc.
“Your attitude” Mage Elara
“Tent availability” Grim Apparatus Suppliers
“Twins availability” Netherworld Recruits
“Instructions enclosed” Gideon Blackwood
“Sword swallower” Ethereal Recruitment Co.
“Summons and power” Master Arcanis
They were from email addresses I’d never seen before. He must have filed them away before I ever noticed. Macabre Merchants, Selena Nightshade, Gideon Blackwood?
“Oscar… he was. He was planning to start a circus. Why didn’t he tell me?”
Oscar didn’t say anything.
“Do you think he was going to kill me?”
“I don’t know, but he’s gone now, so it doesn’t matter.”
“I only just got away by the skin of my teeth.”
“Yes, well, now you can sell all that stuff. If it’s any good, you’ll probably get a few thousand for it if the unit is as packed as you say.”
“Oh, it is. I bet it’s worth tens of thousands. He must have been planning this for years, Oscar. ”
“A guy like that, Tess, always has multiple plans up his sleeve. I wouldn’t overthink it.”
“That’s because you’re dead.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
I was grateful to have a busy day ahead of me to keep my mind occupied. I called Addie at lunchtime to let her know I was okay and that I’d see her later that evening.