As he walked back to the arena floor with Celestina, Ten did his best to read the woman. He didn’t get much, only that she was excited to have some of her old circus family back together for the charity performance and that there was darkness inside her. What that darkness was, he didn’t know.
“Daddy!” Everly sang out, running to him. “You met Celestina! What a beautiful dress!” Everly ran her hand over the sleeve of the dress, with a look of awe on her face.
“How do you know my name?” Celestina asked.
“My Dad told me all about you and the baby tiger. My gift told me your name. You have gifts too.” Everly reached for Celestina’s hand. “Come meet my friends.” Taking her hand Everly led her back to where the other kids were taking turns swinging on a lowered trapeze.
Ten smiled at his daughter. He wondered if she noticed her gift was working again. Celestina was still beautiful, but looked much different today than she had in Ronan’s pictures with her. In the photo the girl had worn a happy, carefree look. Now, she appeared worn down by life. Ten couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to her over the years, but Celestina was so locked down, he couldn’t even sense if the woman was married or had remained single.
Feeling a bit of relief, Ten pulled out his phone to take pictures of the kids. Wolf was hanging from his knees, while one of the trapeze artists gave him a little push. He laughed as he soared a few feet off the ground.
“Wonder Wolf!” the little boy shouted.
“Please don’t tell me Everly tried that?” Ronan asked, coming up behind his husband.
“No, Wolf is the only one so far. He’s hooked up with a harness and there are five people all around him, but I feel sick to my stomach thinking about Everly giving it a try. Her turn is coming up next.”
“Holy shit!” Jude yelled, running past Ten and Ronan. “You’re doing it Wolfie!”
“He wants to try it, doesn’t he?” Ronan asked.
“Yup, and so do you, Raunchy Ronan.” Ten gave his hand a squeeze.
“Daddies, watch me!” Everly shouted. She was wearing a harness and sitting on the trapeze bar holding on to the side cables. Kicking her legs out, she started to swing, just like she did on their backyard playset. What was different was the way Everly let go of the cables and fell backwards, which left her swinging from the bar by her knees.
“I’m flying!” Everly shouted. She swung through the air with her arms spread wide. Joy filled her eyes. Ten had never seen her quite so excited. On the other hand, he’d never felt quite so scared.
“Sweet baby cheeses,” Ten muttered. “Now she’s going to want to be a psychic trapeze artist. God help me.”
Ronan wrapped an arm around Ten. “It’s going to be okay. I wanted to join the circus when I was a kid too.”
“What changed your mind?” Ten asked.
“The smell of the elephant shit for starters, but the deal breaker was Ying Yang. I actually thought he was going to feed me to the tiger that day. I’ve never quite seen rage like that in another person before. Did you manage to read anything from him?” Ronan asked.
“Not really,” Ten admitted, “but I was overwhelmed by his presence. He was menacing when he walked in the door, but after he found out who you were, it ratcheted up several notches. Why the hell is someone like that allowed around kids?”
“When I meet him the first time, he seemed edgy and cool. It felt like he was my teenage angst come to life. Emo, but with a smokers’ cough, if that makes sense. He wasn’t the kind of clown a kid Everly’s age would like, but he was perfect for someone my age.”
“I can see that,” Ten agreed. “I wish I could tell you more, but there’s so much going on in here with the circus and so many spirits are looking for a piece of my time. Whatever Vincent’s hiding is on lockdown.”
“I think you spooked him with what you did know.” Ronan grinned.
“Good. If he had anything to do with Jack’s death then he deserves to be spooked. If Faulk and Cisco allow you guys to work this case, you’re only gonna have a few days to catch the killer. Once the circus disbands after the charity performance, they’ll scatter again.”
“I hear you. I’m gonna huddle with the guys.” Ronan snorted. “As soon as Jude gets off the trapeze.”
Ten turned to see Jude hanging from his knees with both arms out in front of him. Wolf sat on the trapeze across from Jude and was listening intently to what the acrobat was telling him. With a little nod, Wolf started pumping his legs. Before Ten realized what was going on, Wolf launched himself off the bar toward Jude, who caught him by the wrists.
“Wooo hoo! Wonder Wolf!” The little boy laughed as he and Jude swung through the air. Seconds later, Jude let Wolf go and he bounced harmlessly into the net.
Cope approached Ten looking a little green. “Did you see what Wolf just did? I got it all on video! I’m sure he’ll love to watch himself on television later, but I swear that’s ten years off my life.”
Ten nodded. “I hope Everly doesn’t want to try it next.”
“She got other worries on her mind, namely you.” Cope sounded as if he was all business.
Ten sighed. “Yeah, I walked in on her and Ronan talking about my nightmares this morning. She said that she stayed up as late as she could to help me if I had that dream again.”
