Page 29 of The Circus

I can’t help my own smile, feeling assuaged at his response. It may have been a bit of a test, one I had a feeling he would pass. I don’t think I’ll ever share my secret with him, how often I find myself there, going from room to room, speaking with the dead.

I still remember being punished as a five year old, shoved into a dark closet, my mother locking the door and barring it. She’d expected me to be afraid, to cry and scream and beg to be let out. But I’d sat down and listened, and my world became something entirely new. The voice at our old house on that farmland in Oregon had been soft and quiet and sweet, a little old lady who hated my mother and would always do things to frighten her.

Flicker the lights. Scoot glasses off the counters. Open the cupboards. Being so small, she knew it wasn’t me, and I watched with smug satisfaction as my favorite ghostly friend drove her mad.

I’d sobbed the day we moved, and my life has been hell ever since.

“Not too…strange?” I ask nervously, though I sense I shouldn’t be. Teddy seems to like the same things I do. When I thought of losing my virginity to him, I knew I didn’t want it at my home, or his, or some random hotel. I wanted it to be in a place where I’m at peace.

He shakes his head.

“No. It’s perfect. How’d you find it? I couldn’t find any records.”

My smile slips from my face, and I flounder for an explanation that will make sense and satisfy his genius. Gaping like a fish, I jump as Vic approaches me from behind. I whirl, thankful for his interruption.

Because how would I explain to Teddy that the reason I found that asylum was because a ghost visited me?

“Alright kids,” Vic rasps. Teddy’s eyes simmer in annoyance at the interruption, but I spin toward Vic, beaming to hide my strike of fear. I’ve never told anyone about the ghosts, not even my father. People think mediums and clairvoyants are insane. Which, maybe it’s good I’m willingly putting myself in an asylum, but that’s besides the point. “Today, boxes.”

My shoulders drop and I whine, “No, Vic, c’mon!”

Teddy glances between us, arms loosely crossed.

“Boxes?”

Vic grins, a skeleton with prominent teeth and terrifying eyes. “Aye, boxes. Miss Clemm will be theatrically chopped in half by you.”

Teddy’s smile is sinister and sexy all at once, and I glare at him.

“Sweet. Hop in, Edie.”

“Stop calling me that,” I hiss, indignant. Cash can get away with it, but I don’t need Teddy thinking we’re going to become closer than we already are. Even if that’s what I undeniably and annoyingly want, I know it’s something I can’t have. I need to lock that desire away in my heart until I’m free of this hell.

Vic chuckles, brandishing a saber, and I stride away from them and toward the boxes. I hate being stuffed in them while Vic practices, but he’s usually quick. Teddy being new to this will take longer, and I have to wonder if I’ll suffocate.

But the moment my foot graces the step that will lift me into the box, the wretched voice of Dick calls down the stairs, stilling the breath in my lungs. “Teddy…Eden, upstairs, please.Now.”

Teddy’s shadow blankets me,and in the chill of the office, I shelter myself beneath it, feeling cocooned and safe in his presence as he stares down Dick and Daniel. Peeking up at him, I watch in fascination as his jaw flexes, his gaze brooding and dark, his brows pulled low. I can feel it, the way he leans slightly toward me, as though poised to strike out at the threat with one hand and shove me behind him with the other.

For the first time ever, I’m fighting a smile instead of tears in this room.

Dick clears his phlegmy throat, bringing me back to reality. Daniel, standing dutifully behind his disgusting father, plays on his phone. Whatever Dick is about to say, it can’t be too bad if he’s not involving himself.

“Tara let slip you were going to prom this weekend. With someone namedEden.”

My heart becomes encased in ice and ceases beating. Before a panic attack sets in, Teddy speaks with grace and fluidity and a touch of that threatening darkness.

“Yes. We are. I wanted to go and figured you would like me to take Eden.”

Every eye in the room is on Teddy, and confusion muddles my thoughts. What the fuck is he doing? Dick chuckles and shakes his head.

“Why in the hell would you think I’d want that?”

“Because you’re not taking that experience away from us, and I figured you’d want someone to keep an eye on her. She’s about to bring in a pretty penny, isn’t she?”

Daniel’s arms slither loose and fall to his sides, and Dick goes pale before an angry, mottled red creeps up his wrinkly neck.

“You insolent little freak,” Daniel seethes, turning his glare to his father. Dick holds up his hand, his eyes studying Teddy.

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