Chapter Sixteen
ZERO
“You had one job,” Revel chastised from the dressing room couch. He was wearing his black performance jumpsuit, ready for tonight’s rehearsal.
As expected, he was fucking pissed that Arina had made her way into the circus.
“One fucking job,” he reiterated.
I rolled my eyes toward the drop-tile ceiling and suppressed a groan. It wasn’t like he had room to talk; he’d been too much of a chicken shit to ask Hallow himself.
I crossed the small room to the wall beside the closed door and leaned my back against it.
Rather than getting dressed on the tour bus, I normally opted to use one of the event hall’s dressing rooms. It gave me time to center myself, to focus on my act.
It gave me a break from the rest of the performers and space to think.
Thankfully, tonight was just a rehearsal because Revel and Night had waltzed in the second I finished my face paint and hadn’t left me alone since.
“I did my job.” I shot Revel a tense glare. His arm was draped over the back of the couch, and one of his booted feet was propped up on his knee.
Night sat in the vanity chair with his arms crossed, watching the two of us go at it.
“If you’d done it well, Arina would be gone,” Revel pointed out.
“And if you’d just told her to fuck off or asked Hallow yourself, we wouldn’t be here right now,” I bit out. “I talked to them, like you asked, and tried to scare her off. Did you want me to hit her with one of my knives? She can’t join the circus if she’s dead.”
Night chuckled from his seat, but Revel’s unblinking stare didn’t waver.
Of course he didn’t want her dead; he wasn’t a complete monster.
Revel wasn’t the only one pissed off. I was annoyed that Hallow went back on their word. They told me I didn’t have to worry, then let her in anyway. I thought we had an understanding, but clearly our ringleader had other plans.
Still, I couldn’t help being a little impressed. Just a smidge. No one had ever let me throw dozens of knives at them while blindfolded, especially when I got close enough to cut them. That was probably what changed Hallow’s mind.
Arina was either brave or stupid—or both—and I wanted to find out which.
“Talk to Hallow if it’s that big of a deal,” I continued, jerking my thumb toward the dressing room door. There were only a few minutes before rehearsal started. If Revel wanted to go argue with the ringleader, now was his time.
He didn’t budge.
“That’s what I thought,” I mumbled. As if he’d get further with Hallow than I had. I fought back a laugh.
My eyes slid to Night. He was wearing his staple teal jacket, maroon top hat, and metal mask that concealed the lower half of his face. Ready for rehearsal, looking bored. I wondered why he’d even tagged along. To watch us argue? To see Revel whine? To learn more about our newest troupe member?
It wasn’t like he’d tell me if I asked, so I didn’t bother.
I twitched my mouth back and forth. My white face paint and red painted-on smile were almost completely dry. I’d chosen a striped jumpsuit and jester hat for tonight, my throwing knives lining my belt the way they did for every performance.
“Where is she now?” Revel asked with disgust, like talking about her physically pained him.
Oh, how I wanted to crack open his skull and pick apart his brain. I wanted to know why he was so bothered by the beta girl. What had she done to him? Or he to her?
But like inquiring why Night had tagged along, I knew asking was pointless. Revel wouldn’t tell me.
If he wanted me to know things, he’d say so without interrogation. He wasn’t offering up information, so I knew he planned to keep it locked up tight. Whatever. Bludgeoning him and trying to decipher his brain still didn’t sound like a bad idea.
“I saw her leave with Bobbitt.” I shrugged a single shoulder. “Not sure where they fucked off to.”
Revel hummed a reply, still thoroughly unamused. I pressed two fingers against my temple, fighting off the twinge of a headache forming.
Why was this stuntman such a pain in the ass?
“Listen, just because she got in doesn’t mean she’s here to stay,” I assured him, my gaze bouncing between him and Night. “But it’s going to take more than me talking to Hallow to get rid of her.”
Revel dropped his propped foot to the ground and leaned forward, folding his hands between his knees. His eyes locked on me.
“You have a plan?” he asked.
I shrugged again. Whispers of one, but nothing concrete. I’d been mulling it over in the hours since my knife throwing session with Arina ended. We might not be able to override the ringleader’s decision, but we could still change Arina’s mind.
This wasn’t over, not by a long shot.
“Something like that,” I said. “But it might take all of us. We can scare her off, but we might have to get a little more creative.”
“More creative than throwing knives at her face?” Night signed.
The fact that he was even bothering to communicate was a good sign. He would definitely be on board.
“Yes.” I nodded. “She has to be scared of something; we just have to figure out what her fears are. Between the three of us, it shouldn’t be difficult.”
“And if that doesn’t work?” Revel scoffed. “If we can’t scare her enough to leave? What then?”
I gritted my teeth so hard my jaw ached. “Then we make her life hell. We make her so miserable that she walks away, but we’ll have to do it without pissing Hallow off.”
I wasn’t willing to risk my place in the circus to humor Revel or scare off some beta woman. Nothing mattered to me more than one day inheriting this business from our ringleader, especially not keeping the stuntman happy. The circus was always my top priority.
“Unless one of you has a better plan,” I offered.
Neither of them did.
“Right, now get out.” I grabbed the doorknob and jerked the dressing room door open, leaving it gaping for them to take their leave. “I’d like a few moments of peace before I’m in the arena.”
Night shoved to his feet first, and my eyes jumped to him. He didn’t bother signing anything else but tipped his head as he walked past me and disappeared into the hall. No surprise there. He rarely bothered speaking to anyone, and I’d already gotten something out of him tonight.
Revel then got to his feet and walked to the middle of the room. His eyes were locked on me, and when I met his gaze, his expression was full of indecision.
“I don’t want to perform with her.” His voice was flat. “I don’t want to be anywhere near her.”
“You sound like an angry toddler.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s your fault she’s even here. If you want her gone, you’re gonna have to do something about it.”
He took several daring steps toward me, until less than a foot of space remained between us. His blue eyes were icy and sharp as they glared into mine. We were nearly the same size, almost the same exact height. Where I was a tiny bit taller, he was broader.
We were evenly matched, but fighting would solve nothing.
“This is not my fault,” he growled, then he shoved past me toward the door.
I watched him go without a word. Such a dickhead.
Whatever his issue with Arina was, it bothered him on a cellular level, and he was doing a shitty job of concealing it. It would probably end with a meltdown, a blow up, or with him leaving the circus for good, but that was a Revel problem.
I’d help him try to run her off, but beyond that, it wasn’t my problem.
Moving over to the vanity to look at my reflection in the mirror, I ran my fingers through my white hair to make it lay just right. I grinned, watching the red painted smile across my face widen.
What I wouldn’t give to be in the ring with Arina again tonight, but I was under orders from Hallow. Let her watch rehearsal, so she would be ready for our live performance the following day. I agreed that it was the right call, but that didn’t mean I was happy about it.
Arina.
I’d never met anyone so frustrating. It was like she knew what she was doing to me. Stubborn to the point of being infuriating, she hadn’t even flinched at my knife routine. I’d done my best to frighten her, to no avail.
Two dozen knives, some centimeters away from her flesh, and she hadn't screamed even once. How disappointing. It was like she’d known I wouldn’t hurt her, which wasn’t entirely true.
I’d cut Syxx’s ear once or twice, and I’d nearly taken off one of Sevyn’s fingers.
They were the last ones to give the knife throwing target a chance, and I couldn’t really blame them.
I got a little careless sometimes.
But this woman, this fucking beta... she’d hardly seemed afraid.
And maybe I had been extra cautious because I was trying to prove a point, to make her quit without actually hurting her. To prove that she couldn’t handle what the Knotty Sideshow had to offer.
I blinked, staring at my reflection without seeing.
I knew she was afraid. I could tell from the moment she laid eyes on me; I could smell it bleeding from her pores. But the way she resolved herself to prove a point…
It drove me insane.
It made me want to try harder.
It reminded me of myself, and I wasn’t sure I liked that.
I wanted to break her, to make her admit how terrified she was of me. And if I wanted her out of the circus, I would have to try a lot harder.
Patience had never been one of my best qualities, and it wouldn’t start now.
Maybe Revel was justified in his hatred of her. Maybe she’d already managed to push him to his breaking point without even getting in the ring with him.
Would he be able to hold it together if she stepped into his cage?
I pulled on my jester hat, getting it just right before I stormed out of the dressing room, my mind running rampant.
Somehow, I knew that even with Night and Revel’s help, it would come down to me scaring Arina off.
After all, it was what I did best. Terror was my calling card, and I’d honed my craft well.
I wouldn’t be outdone by some brat who thought she knew better.
I would be a disease, poisoning her until she broke down or crumbled.
I would be a nightmare she couldn’t escape.
I would be her ruin.