Chapter Fourteen
ARINA
“Arina, are you okay?” Daze’s voice barely made it through my foggy thoughts as I stared at the enormous wooden knife-throwing target.
It was painted like a red-and-gold bullseye and stood at least seven feet tall. There were straps evenly spaced around the surface to properly secure someone to it as it spun around, but everyone had assured me I wouldn’t be spinning.
I’d be standing perfectly still.
In front of the target.
While a demented fucking clown threw knives at me.
I exhaled a shaky breath and dragged my eyes away from the bullseye to meet Daze’s sympathetic gaze.
We were standing in the middle of the arena floor while crew members hustled and bustled around us, setting up equipment.
Some tossed us curious glances as they passed, but no one spoke to us.
They were probably used to Zero’s antics.
A spotlight had been turned on overhead, pointed directly at the target. For some reason, that was even more stressful. Not only was I being put on the spot, but I was being put on display. All for the sake of trying to get into the circus.
Am I okay?
No. Not in the slightest.
The amount of adrenaline coursing through my veins probably could have charged a dead car battery, and my heart was so close to beating out of my chest. Any second now, it would slam through my ribs and flop out onto the dusty concrete floor.
“I’m fine,” I finally lied, the words hollow to my own ears.
How could I be fine? Not only was the clown using me for target practice completely unhinged, but he was my scent match .
My heart stuttered at the thought, and I fought to catch my breath.
Things had just gotten so complicated, and I wasn’t sure how to move forward.
Before meeting Zero, I could have walked away. I could have politely declined Daze’s offer and made a new life in Dallas away from the big top.
Now, I didn’t want to leave. I couldn’t.
Scent matches were so rare that scientists had tried to create artificial ones by experimenting with pheromone manipulation. They were never successful. So many omegas were taken against their will and forced into bonds they didn’t want that only a select few ever had a shot at finding their match.
Here mine was, feet away, ready to throw blades at my face, and I couldn’t even tell him the truth. I couldn’t reveal my designation or the suppressants in my bag. I definitely couldn’t leave.
I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Or a clown and his knives.
I sighed, shrugging off my backpack, and Daze stuck out a hand to take it from me. A polite smile was my only response.
“You can still back out.” Zero’s voice lit up my nerve endings, and he stepped into my line of sight a second later. A sexy smirk lifted the corner of his mouth, and his eyes glinted with something sinister.
I didn’t like him. He was psychotic and scary, hardly the kind of alpha I imagined being bound to, but his scent did things to me I never could have imagined.
Like a magnet, it pulled at every part of me.
It called to my very being, urging me to eliminate the space between us.
I managed to stay rooted to the spot, but I had to swallow down a whine.
He stepped closer, leaving only a few inches between us, and my breath caught in my lungs. He was dangerously beautiful, his golden eyes concealing a million secrets I wanted to unveil and his wicked smile warning me to stay away.
“What do you say?” he asked, his smirk breaking into a maniacal grin. “It’s not too late to say no. I could slice you to ribbons, hit something vital. It’d be a shame to mar that pretty face.”
In a flash, there was a black blade in his hand, and he was twirling it between his fingers. My pulse lurched as I watched, and the impossibly sharp edge glinted in the light. I swallowed hard.
He was trying to scare me off; that was his plan.
Why are these alphas so adamant that I don’t join?
The question played on repeat in the back of my mind, and my stomach pitched toward the floor. I wasn’t walking away. I’d made up my mind, agreed to be part of his target practice, and I refused to throw in the towel before we even started.
Fuck that.
As much as I wanted to punch my omega instincts, the urge to prove myself to my scent match nagged at me, making my skin itch. I might not have been able to tell him the truth, but I wanted him to notice me. I wanted him to see me as more than just a circus hopeful.
I wanted to impress him, and that fact had anger rolling in my stomach. If he were anyone else, I wouldn’t give a damn. This had to be some scent-match magic bullshit.
“How considerate of you.” I batted my lashes at him. “But you’re gonna have to try harder than that to scare me.”
Daze squeaked beside me, but I ignored him. My eyes were locked on Zero, and as I watched him run his tongue over his teeth, a wave of nerves vibrated through me. He looked like a predator ready to pounce.
And I was his prey.
“Careful what you wish for,” he muttered before turning to walk away. He headed to take his position several meters from the target.
“Do you have a death wish?” Daze hissed beside me. A mix of worry and surprise contorted his handsome features.
“No.”
At least, I didn’t think I did. It probably looks like it because I mouthed off to the crazy bastard twirling knives for fun.
“You better watch out, or he’ll eat you alive,” Daze whispered, his eyes sliding over to Zero, who was watching us from his starting point.
Ice shot through my veins when I realized he was watching me.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.
“Come on, little pet,” Zero called. Even from where we stood, I could swear his eyes darkened. “I don’t have all day.”
I tried to ignore the warmth that settled low in my belly at being called his little pet and marched over to the target.
I stood in the center, with my back pressed firmly against the wooden surface.
With the spotlight beating down on me, my skin quickly heated.
The air was thicker, harder to swallow, and I knew Hallow was watching from somewhere in the stands.
This was my one chance to impress them all. My one-way ticket into the circus.
I can’t fuck this up.
Was I terrified that Zero’s aim wasn’t as good as everyone else seemed to think it was?
Yes, but I tried to shove down the fear threatening to overrun my system.
Just like everything else I was running away from, I would tamp it down, lock it up, and sort it in my mental filing cabinet with all the other shit I needed to address later.
I clasped my hands in front of me and blinked, so my eyes could adjust. Beyond the glow of the spotlight, everything blended into blackness, and I could barely make out Zero’s outline. My breathing sped up, along with my pulse, when I saw him shift.
“If you like your skin intact, I wouldn’t move,” he said, his voice slicing through my panic. He wasn’t yelling, but he might as well have been for how it echoed through the arena. “You can quit any time you like.”
A flicker of doubt flashed in my mind, but my urge to prove myself instantly squashed it.
“I’m good,” I said, trying to keep my voice level. “Just throw them.”
A second later, something slammed into the target, the vibration rippling across my back. I gasped sharply. The sound was louder than I’d expected, and I hesitantly looked up to see one of Zero’s black blades sticking out of the wood inches above my head.
Oh. My. God.
My throat tightened at the closeness, knowing I was only a few inches from death.
“Scared yet?” Zero’s laugh hit my ears. He was clearly enjoying this.
If I admitted I was scared, would he go easier on me? Probably not. In fact, I was certain he wouldn’t. This sick fuck probably got off on fear, and me being afraid would only give him a hard on.
“No.” I stood straight again, hands still clasped in front of me. The lie burned my tongue, and my heart slammed into my ribs at a frantic pace, but I refused to give him what he wanted.
Another knife struck the target, this one to my left. I closed my eyes for a long second, and relief washed over me. Maybe the fucker really did have immaculate aim.
That, or I’d just gotten lucky twice.
Will that luck run out before he finishes with me?
A third blade hit the target, this one between my legs. I pressed my lips together to cut off my whimper. Every knife seemed to land closer, and I didn’t know how many more he had to throw.
Was he trying to see how close he could get?
Would he get closer and closer until I quit? Until he actually hit me?
I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths to soothe the fear clawing through me. He had to be almost done.
“You’ve done well so far, little pet,” Zero said, still sounding amused. “But would you still be so brave if I was blindfolded?”
My eyes flew open and locked on him. I could just make out his form waving a long scarf in the air. Then, I looked over to find Daze. He was still watching from the sidelines.
“Is he serious?” I asked.
“It’s part of his act,” Daze replied, a slight edge to his voice. He didn’t sound super confident. “You can quit, Arina. You’ve proved your point. I’m sure Hallow’s seen enough.”
Maybe they had. It was impossible to know with them hiding in the distant shadows.
But the person I really wanted to impress, the one I needed to prove myself to, was tying a blindfold around his head, preparing to throw another round of knives.
An invisible hand wrapped around my heart and clenched, making it impossible to breathe.
This was ridiculous.
Stupid, actually.
Just add it to the growing list of insane shit I’d done this week?—
THUD.
A knife struck the target to my right, and I flinched.
“A warning would have been nice,” I spat, my jaw clenching. I had to remind myself that it didn’t matter how I felt, how much the scent match was tugging me toward Zero like an invisible thread, he didn’t feel the same way.
He didn’t care if he stabbed me.
He didn’t care if I died.
Another knife hit the target, then another.
Everything was a whirlwind, my thoughts, my heart rate, my adrenaline.
They melded together in a blur and, after a few minutes, it felt like I started to spin, even though my feet were planted firmly on the ground.
Blade after blade hit the target, the strikes impossibly close.
I squeezed my eyes closed and held my breath between each one.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the knives stopped coming.
Silence followed.
By the time I opened my eyes again, Zero was standing in front of me. The warmth of his caramel-covered popcorn scent assaulted my senses, making my knees go weak. His blindfold was gone, there was sweat beaded along his forehead, and his golden eyes were laser-focused on mine.
He didn’t look pleased.
There was an indiscernible expression of annoyance and intrigue on his face.
“You missed,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.
“Only just.” There was no hint of humor in his tone.
I tried to move but found it impossible. There were blades surrounding me, some so close that the slightest movement had them kissing my skin. One was stuck through my tank top, barely missing my torso, pinning me to the wood.
Zero grabbed that one and plucked it out of the target before spinning it in his fingers.
“That was impressive, little pet,” he said. His low voice skittered over my skin with goosebumps chasing it, and I choked down a lungful of caramel popcorn.
Fuck, he smells incredible.
“Th-thank you,” I managed.
If I expected him to offer me a hand or do anything remotely nice, he didn’t. He turned his back without a word and walked off, leaving me standing in front of the target.
I carefully extracted myself and spun to admire Zero’s handiwork.
My heart shot straight into my throat when I saw a near perfect outline of my body, made of at least twenty black throwing knives.
A ragged breath escaped me, and I reached for the side of my shirt.
There were two puncture holes from the knife Zero pulled out.
It hit me then just how talented the demented clown was, and just how close I’d come to being skewered. If he’d wanted to hurt me, he easily could have.
From somewhere nearby, a single round of applause broke out.
“Wow, that was impressive!” an unfamiliar voice cheered.
I looked over at Daze, who was still waiting where I left him, and found someone standing next to him. She was short and curvy with shoulder-length blonde curls and a wide smile. And she was still clapping, the sound echoing awkwardly through the arena.
On numb legs, I walked over and stopped in front of them. Only then did she stop her applause, but she still beamed at me with pride.
“Arina, this is Bobbitt,” Daze said, gesturing to the woman next to him. She was a couple of inches taller than me and looked a few years older too.
Bobbitt? The name rang a bell. So, she’s the one in love with Hallow.
My eyes fell to her vibrant outfit—a canary yellow tank top, blue striped pants, and pink flats—before popping back up to her green eyes.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, still feeling unsteady. I needed to lie down for a bit and wait for the adrenaline crash I knew was coming.
“The pleasure’s all mine. You can call me Bobbi.
” Her voice was bubbly and exaggerated, like a cartoon clown personified.
It felt carefully curated, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was all for show.
Part of the costume she donned for the show.
“That was quite the performance. No one has ever lasted that long with a blindfolded Zero.”
My cheeks burned hot. “Oh, that? Yeah… I just had to prove a point.”
She bounced on the balls of her feet, and her blonde hair followed suit. Somehow, her wide smile spread even further.
“Ya certainly did that.” She nodded. “In fact, I’m here because Hallow sent me. They were so impressed that they’ve decided to give ya a shot.”
“A-a shot?” My chest constricted, and my eyes quickly jumped to Daze like he could clarify.
All he did was nod. “Welcome to the Knotty Sideshow.”