Read Online Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Laurell K. Hamilton
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crowd?â
âNot yet.â
âWe will have to finish this discussion later, ma petite .â He moved for the door, and the rest of the vampires followed at his heels. Stephen went with them. Well trained.
The slender black woman slipped a loose dress, black with red flowers on it, over her head. A pair of red high heels and she was out the door.
The man was out of the bed, naked. There was no time to be embarrassed. He was struggling into a pair of sweats.
This wasnât my problem, but what if the cobra got into the crowd? Not my problem. I zipped the jacket up enough to hide the fact I was shirtless but not so high up I couldnât draw my gun.
I was out the door and into the bright open space of the tent before the nameless man had slipped on his sweat pants. The vampires and shapeshifters were at the edge of the ring, fanning out into a circle around the snake. It filled the small ring with black-and-white coils. The bottom half of a man in a glittering loincloth was disappearing down the cobraâs throat. Thatâs what had kept it out of the crowd. It was taking time to feed.
Sweet Jesus.
The manâs legs twitched, kicking convulsively. He couldnât be alive. He couldnât be. But the legs twitched as they slid out of sight. Please, God, let it just be a reflex. Donât let him still be alive. The thought wasworse than any nightmare I could remember. And I have a lot of material for nightmares.
The monster in the ring wasnât my problem. I didnât have to be the bloody hero this time. People were screaming, running, arms full of children. Popcorn bags and cotton candy were getting crushed underfoot. I waded into the crowd and began pushing my way down. A woman carrying a toddler fell at my feet. A man climbed over them. I dragged the woman to her feet, taking the baby in one arm. People shoved past us. We shuddered just trying to stand still. I felt like a rock in the middle of a raging river.
The woman stared at me, eyes too large for her face. I pushed the toddler into her arms and wedged her between the seats. I grabbed the arms of the nearest large male, sexist that I am, and shouted, âHelp them!â
The manâs face was startled, as if I had spoken in tongues, but some of the panic faded from his face. He took the womanâs arm and began to push his way towards the exit.
I couldnât let the snake get into the crowd. Not if I could stop it. Shit. I was going to play hero, dammit. I started fighting against the tide, to go down when everybody else was coming up and over. An elbow caught me in the mouth and I tasted blood. By the time I fought my way through this mess, it would all be over. God, I hoped so.
7
I STEPPED OUT OF the crowd like I was flinging aside a curtain. My skin tingled with the memory of shoving bodies, but I stood alone on the last step. The screaming crowd was still up above me, struggling for the exits. But here, just above the ring, there was nothing. The silence lay in thick folds against my face and hands. It was hard to breathe through the thick air. Magic. But whether vampire or cobra, I didnât know.
Stephen stood closest to me, shirtless, slim, and somehow elegant. Yasmeen had on his blue shirt, hiding her naked upper body. She had tied the shirt up to expose a tanned expanse of tummy. Marguerite stood beside her. The black woman stood on Stephenâs right. She had kicked off her high heels and stood flat-footed in the ring.
Jean-Claude stood on the far side of the circle with two new blond vampires on either side. He turned and stared at me across the distance. I felt his touch inside me where no hand was ever meant to go. My throat tightened; sweat broke on my body. Nothing at that moment would have made me go closer to him. He was trying to tell me something. Something private and too intimate for words.
A hoarse scream brought my attention to the center of the ring. Two men lay broken and bleeding to one
âNot yet.â
âWe will have to finish this discussion later, ma petite .â He moved for the door, and the rest of the vampires followed at his heels. Stephen went with them. Well trained.
The slender black woman slipped a loose dress, black with red flowers on it, over her head. A pair of red high heels and she was out the door.
The man was out of the bed, naked. There was no time to be embarrassed. He was struggling into a pair of sweats.
This wasnât my problem, but what if the cobra got into the crowd? Not my problem. I zipped the jacket up enough to hide the fact I was shirtless but not so high up I couldnât draw my gun.
I was out the door and into the bright open space of the tent before the nameless man had slipped on his sweat pants. The vampires and shapeshifters were at the edge of the ring, fanning out into a circle around the snake. It filled the small ring with black-and-white coils. The bottom half of a man in a glittering loincloth was disappearing down the cobraâs throat. Thatâs what had kept it out of the crowd. It was taking time to feed.
Sweet Jesus.
The manâs legs twitched, kicking convulsively. He couldnât be alive. He couldnât be. But the legs twitched as they slid out of sight. Please, God, let it just be a reflex. Donât let him still be alive. The thought wasworse than any nightmare I could remember. And I have a lot of material for nightmares.
The monster in the ring wasnât my problem. I didnât have to be the bloody hero this time. People were screaming, running, arms full of children. Popcorn bags and cotton candy were getting crushed underfoot. I waded into the crowd and began pushing my way down. A woman carrying a toddler fell at my feet. A man climbed over them. I dragged the woman to her feet, taking the baby in one arm. People shoved past us. We shuddered just trying to stand still. I felt like a rock in the middle of a raging river.
The woman stared at me, eyes too large for her face. I pushed the toddler into her arms and wedged her between the seats. I grabbed the arms of the nearest large male, sexist that I am, and shouted, âHelp them!â
The manâs face was startled, as if I had spoken in tongues, but some of the panic faded from his face. He took the womanâs arm and began to push his way towards the exit.
I couldnât let the snake get into the crowd. Not if I could stop it. Shit. I was going to play hero, dammit. I started fighting against the tide, to go down when everybody else was coming up and over. An elbow caught me in the mouth and I tasted blood. By the time I fought my way through this mess, it would all be over. God, I hoped so.
7
I STEPPED OUT OF the crowd like I was flinging aside a curtain. My skin tingled with the memory of shoving bodies, but I stood alone on the last step. The screaming crowd was still up above me, struggling for the exits. But here, just above the ring, there was nothing. The silence lay in thick folds against my face and hands. It was hard to breathe through the thick air. Magic. But whether vampire or cobra, I didnât know.
Stephen stood closest to me, shirtless, slim, and somehow elegant. Yasmeen had on his blue shirt, hiding her naked upper body. She had tied the shirt up to expose a tanned expanse of tummy. Marguerite stood beside her. The black woman stood on Stephenâs right. She had kicked off her high heels and stood flat-footed in the ring.
Jean-Claude stood on the far side of the circle with two new blond vampires on either side. He turned and stared at me across the distance. I felt his touch inside me where no hand was ever meant to go. My throat tightened; sweat broke on my body. Nothing at that moment would have made me go closer to him. He was trying to tell me something. Something private and too intimate for words.
A hoarse scream brought my attention to the center of the ring. Two men lay broken and bleeding to one
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