Chapter Nineteen #2
I shrugged. Honestly, I hadn’t considered that when I decided to get food. I’d been too focused on finding her after rehearsal to think about anyone else.
“Do you want them to?” I asked slowly, running through a mental roster of who we could ask. “Night definitely won’t, but Bobbitt might. We can also ask Syxx and Sev?—”
The click of the trailer door opening cut me off, and Night’s masked face appeared over Arina’s shoulder. My stomach dropped as his aura filled the trailer, making the air thick enough to choke on. His salted-pretzel scent drifted over, and Arina froze, her eyes widening like she’d seen a ghost.
She looked terrified and, honestly, I couldn’t blame her for that either. She didn’t have the best track record with the Knotty Sideshow alphas.
It’s a good thing I didn’t take a shower.
She would have been out here alone with him…
“Hey, Night,” I said, doing my best to sound casual. He simply glared at me, his sapphire-blue eyes burning holes in my soul.
Fuck. He wasn’t happy.
We needed to get out of here.
“This is Arina, the sideshow’s new assistant,” I said, still trying my best to sound nonchalant. To sound less nervous than I felt.
Arina turned slowly on the spot to face him, and I stepped up close behind her. Maybe if I could gently nudge her forward, we could get out fast.
Unfortunately, he was standing between us and the only door.
And he wasn’t budging.
“Arina, this is Night, our resident magician.” My tone was more tense now. “You saw him perform tonight.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said confidently. I didn’t know how she kept sticking up to these alphas without being fazed, but she made it look easy. Maybe she wasn’t as timid as she let on. “You were incredible. Truly magical, excuse the pun.”
Normally, Night would preen at compliments, but he looked thoroughly unamused now. Almost angry, like she’d insulted him.
“Leave ,” he signed, and my heart clenched hard.
Night never spoke, and he rarely bothered with sign language. If he ever had something important to say, he’d typically text me when I wasn’t in the trailer. Or he just wouldn’t acknowledge it, and I’d be left wondering what he was mad about.
The fact that he told me to leave meant he was seconds away from losing his shit.
That wasn’t good.
“Arina, will you wait outside for me?” I asked, my eyes never leaving Night’s. “I'll catch up in a minute.”
She looked back over her shoulder at me, worry painting her features. “Is everything… sure. I’ll be outside.”
With that, she hurried past Night with her head low and bolted out the door. It snapped closed behind her, leaving me alone with the alpha.
“What is your problem?” I asked, trying to harness some of Arina’s courage. “You’ve been shitty to me since last night. I didn’t do anything, at least not that I know of, but you’ve been even more distant than usual.”
He ignored me and took off his top hat, crossing the space to lay it on the counter. Then, he stripped off his jacket and hung it on the back of the chair that was tucked up against the small dining table. Still, he didn’t sign anything else.
My jaw clenched so hard it hurt. “Ignoring me isn’t going to fix the issue. I can’t help if I don't know what’s wrong.”
He didn’t even look in my direction as he loosened his bowtie, taking it off slowly and laying it on top of his performance jacket.
Then, he snatched the neon orange balloon dog off the table, considered it for a moment, and squeezed it until it popped.
He tossed the latex in the trash without signing anything else.
My cheeks burned hot as I watched him pretend I wasn’t even there.
“Why are you like this?” I ground out, losing my patience. “What have I ever done for you to treat me like this? You only acknowledge me when you want something and, even then, I’m lucky if you give me the time of day.”
I’d tried so hard to toe the line and keep him happy over the years.
I’d done everything he asked, but nothing was ever good enough.
I was never good enough.
“Fine,” I snapped when he started unbuttoning his shirt without even looking at me. I snatched my keys off the counter and stomped over toward the door. “I’ll leave, since that’s what you want. Maybe I won’t come back at all. I’m sure you’d be happier then.”
I slammed the door behind me, and a dull ache throbbed in my chest.
Maybe time apart was what he needed to decide what he wanted. Whether he actually wanted me, or if I was just a space filler. A pet to drag along on a leash until he got bored and replaced me.
Arina was waiting, leaning against the trailer next to ours. Her arms were folded over her chest, and she was staring out across the parking lot. Obviously lost in thought.
“You ready?” I asked, stopping next to her.
Her head snapped in my direction, and her face lit up. “Yep. Where are we going?”
Truthfully, I no longer cared where we went, so long as we were far away from Night and his trailer. We could wander all night, get lost in a park, lay under the stars. Whatever she wanted.
I lifted one shoulder in a shrug and gestured for her to follow with a jerk of my head.
“On an adventure.”