Page 21 of Tamed By the Lion Freak

“A sister,” he said. He looked away with a haunted expression on his face.

“Does she know about you?”

“Yes.” He nodded.

“Does she visit when you’re close to where she lives?”

“No.”

Kitty waited, but he didn’t say anything more about her. “What about friends?”

“Just a few people from the carnival. The other freaks.”

“Don’t call yourself that.”

He surprised her with a smile. “That’s what we call ourselves. It’s not an insult.”

Kitty wasn’t so sure about that, but she let the comment pass. “How did you find out about the Twisted Carnival?”

“It was just there when we needed it.”

“We?”

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He shook his head. “I’m not allowed talk about it.”

“I understand.”

They talked some more about their favorite things. It wasn’t a surprise that his favorite foods were raw steak and sushi and he hated romantic comedies. They found common ground in liking all sorts of games, from video to board games.

“Your turn,” Leo said. “What can you tell me that the Internet hasn’t already spilled to the world?”

The thought sobered her. There were so many lies about her. “I’m not the villain they make me out to be.”

“I already knew that.”

“But I’m not totally innocent either. I need to tell you about Marco.” She looked down into her mug of coffee. “Although, I wish this was something stronger.”

“You don’t have to tell me now.”

“I want to.” She took a bracing sip and looked at the watercolor of a beachscape on the wall behind his head. “Marco was an acrobat in my old circus. We were acquaintances, then friends and eventually lovers.”

Leo made a growling sound in his throat.

She placed her hand over his. “We should have stayed as friends. As lovers we were bad for each other. Jealous of each other’s successes. I didn’t like who I was with him, and I think I brought out the worst in him as well. We fought all the time. I broke it off with him—for good this time. And he vowed that he would make me regret it.”

Kitty had the thought that if Leo had been in his lion form, his tail would twitch.

“I can’t prove it, of course. But I think he snuck the man with the steak inside the carnival and told him what to do to distract Brutus’ attention. Brutus is very well trained, but he’s still a wild animal. A fact that a lot of people forget when they saw me working with the big cats.”

She blinked back tears and now Leo squeezed her hand in sympathy. She wondered where Nala and Sarabi were now. She didn’t trust them with Marco, didn’t trust them with anyone else in her old circus either.

Her gaze fell on one of the cafe's public computer terminals. "I'll be right back," she said, standing up. "Just need to check something quickly."

Leo's eyes narrowed, but he nodded, watching as Kitty made her way to the computer.

Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she searched for information about her old circus. It didn't take long to find what she was looking for: a schedule of upcoming performances, all located in the Midwest. Nowhere near where they were now.

A hand on her shoulder made her jump. Leo stood behind her, his expression a mix of concern and disapproval.

---