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I trace the raised wording on a random card before flipping it over. My heart skips a beat at the queen facing me. My fingers run over her cool, collected face, her mocking smile making one bloom on my lips. The power I feel within the card seems to echo a desire inside my heart. I want to be that strong. I want to be worthy of a name like that.
Then, I realize I can be.
Queen. I like it. They asked me to choose a name, and I have.
Diamond, Spade, Club, Heart, and Queen.
It seems they were right. Our fates are tied to the cards. We answer to them, and now, so do I.
Despite all the rest I received over the last week, I collapse into the bed and sleep more deeply than I have for years. The blank card remains clutched in my grip, as if I can’t bear to part with it. When I wake, my head is filled with cotton. The day, the time, they escape me, and I struggle from the bed and onto my crutches. I glance down at the card in my hand and find it’s no longer blank.
It’s filled with the queen, and I can’t help but smile. It seems the cirque approved of my choice.
Just then, my tent flaps part, and my head jerks up to see a man framed there. “You slept all day,” he remarks. “You must have needed it, or at least the doctor said so. He checked on you while you were out. It’s good you are up. Come, the performance is about to begin and I’m late. Very late. Diamond won’t be happy, but the ladies always love my entrance.” He grins, but I just keep staring.
This must be Heart, though I think a different name would suit him better. Maybe maniac.
His face is pale, and that’s why the ink stands out so starkly against it. There’s a heart under his left eye with a blood droplet falling from it. There’s another tattoo under his other eye, a small, upside-down black cross. “Lover” is written in script above his left eyebrow, following the arch, and his bloodred lips have a spike piercing the lower one. I haven’t seen many men with lip piercings. His eyes are bright blue, standing out vividly against his dark eyebrows and hair, which seem to shift colors as he moves. It’s short and spiked on top at the moment, the flat sides exposing his ears, which have more piercings running down them. I glance back at his high, almost overly sharp face, and I spot the mole on his slightly crooked nose. He’s tall and wearing nothing but some leather pants laced up the sides, flashing skin. His torso is bare, showcasing impressive muscles with deep abs and a V that makes me blush and look away quickly. More moles and freckles cover his arms and shoulders with additional tattoos scattered randomly about. There are too many to see and count.
I keep staring until his words sink in.
“Wait, performance?” I blurt.
“This is the cirque, after all,” he teases as he backs into the darkness, leaving me staring after him.
I struggle out of my tent, heading where I think he must have gone. I can hear the cheers and chants from here, and I follow them, struggling through the tents to the big top. I can’t believe I slept all day, but my body must have truly needed it. This is to be my home, though, so I need to pull my weight, and more than that, I’m curious.
It’s been so many years since I was here, yet the same excitement fills me as I push into the big top and the magic it holds within.
Chapter
Eleven
The outside of the circus tent has red and white stripes, but the inside is uninterrupted black. As I step through the entrance and into the crowd, I can’t help but take in the full audience. People fill the stands, vying for the best seat with many of them standing since it’s so packed. Children and adults alike clap and laugh at the clowns currently frolicking around the arena, bashing each other over the head and pretending to play tricks on each other. There are three different clowns, and their masks are a little less creepy than the ones the guys wear, but not by much. Still, the audience seems to be eating it up.
It feels more like a nightmare circus than anything else, but like the crowd, I can’t look away.
“Come this way,” someone says to my right.
When I glance over, I find Club dressed in an outfit far different than anything I’ve seen him in before. Tonight, he’s shirtless, his muscles on full display. Though he’s smaller than the others, it’s not by much. I drag my gaze up his torso and find him watching me with a patient look. My cheeks heat as I hurry toward him, and he leads me to a seat in the very front. Club sits me down with a stay gesture before disappearing again, leaving me to watch the show.
The lights dim and then go out suddenly, as if they had been waiting for my arrival. I hear people around me gasp in surprise. Their excitement is palpable, filling the air with tension that has my heart racing. The atmosphere at Cirque Obscurum is like nothing I have ever felt. It’s as if the darkness calls to you, whispering your most illicit desires, and you can act on them here. I clench my fingers against my thighs to stop myself from reaching into the darkness, and instead, I sit back, eager to watch the show after so long. I hope it’s just as good as I remember.
A single spotlight illuminates the stage, and I watch as Diamond appears from the shadows, stepping into the bright light where he very clearly belongs. Tonight, he’s dressed like any respectable ringmaster. He’s wearing a bright red brocade coat, the tails of it brushing the backs of his thighs, and his pants are black and look like leather, the same as his boots. On his head is a black top hat, which is trimmed with red and gold. My eyes linger on the diamond card stuck in the band. He allows the crowd to observe him for a moment, a knowing smirk tilting his lips at the screams and claps, and when it fades, he speaks.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he begins as the crowd quiets down, hanging on his every word. “Heathens and monsters. Tonight, you will see acts of bravery and foolishness. You’ll watch as we dance with danger and invite you to join. Cirque Obscurum is no ordinary circus.” He smiles, but it’s sinister and seems to reach into my chest and grip my heart. “This is where monsters come to play.” He strolls over to the crowd, choosing a young woman who sits three people over from me. The spotlight follows him as he moves. The woman is enraptured as he leans down and tips her chin up. “Tell me your nightmares,” he says into the mic, his voice so sultry even I lean forward as he plays his role. He’s sensual, mysterious, and menacing. I clench my legs together as he waits for her answer. His entire focus is on her as she blinks up at him in shock before seeming to wake from the spell he’s weaving around her.
She grimaces and glances at someone on her right, a friend I assume. There’s a whole group of them together. “Spiders,” she answers.
Diamond nods and releases her. “Spiders!” he announces for everyone to hear. The lights shift, and shadows begin to crawl along the big top—thousands of spiders, the scuttling noise making my skin crawl. The woman screams, along with a few others in the crowd, and Diamond laughs.
The sound is so carefree and sinister, goose bumps erupt on my skin.
“Spiders are not monsters,” he says, reaching his hand up. As if by magic, a tarantula suddenly appears in his hand. “They are great companions.” He smiles down at the woman. “And they eat bugs.” She shrinks away when he holds his hand out toward her, and the tarantula reaches out with furry legs. Then, with a movement of his hand, it’s gone. Everyone gasps. The woman claps as the spider shadows disappear, her heart probably beating hard in her chest, but it is all an act. It’s okay now.
Diamond glances at me suddenly, a slight arch of his brow the indication of his acknowledgement before he turns back to the center of the arena, but that one look leaves me breathless. “Are you ready to be on the edge of your seats?” Cheers erupt around me. “I can’t hear you!” It turns into a roar, and he grins. “Very well. Then let the show begin.” He bows, still wearing that wicked smile. “And welcome to Cirque Obscurum.”
The lights plunge us into darkness once again, and when they come on, Club stands in the center as intense music begins to play. He stands next to a display of swords, his eyes hard as he looks around at the audience.
