Gifted, A Donovan Circus Novel (4 page)

“I understand where you come
from, but you are in the big leagues again. Sheffield does not joke when he
says there are more gifted than human here.”

“No kidding.”

Delia turned to face me square
in the eyes. We ignored the grumbles around our stop in the pathway as she
spoke. “I know you would not be here if Sheffield did not think you were cut
out for it. The others, they were not gifted. They were humans who thought they
could keep up. You are as gifted as the rest of us.”

“I guess. I’m overwhelmed. I
haven’t been in a show since I was a kid.” I tried to keep the bitterness out
of my voice.

“It is your first day. It will
be fine. You are allowed to ask questions and feel confused. Besides, I see you
are smart. You will catch on fast; you already know much and most important,
have talent, so you will not need to be hugged.”

“What?”

She pretended to cradle her arms
as she held an invisible baby.

“Oh. You think I’m going to be
coddled.”

“Yes. How you treat a child.”

I plowed through the verbal
confusion. “I don’t want to be babied, but I don’t know the drill yet. I’m
worried people will think I’m only here because Sheffield is a family friend.
Or worse, that I’m only here because of my father’s reputation.”

“
Of course
you have to prove you belong here. We all do! Be smarter,
work harder than ever before. You will have to show off a little bit.”

“Ugh, that’s what I was afraid
of; I’m a little shy about what I can do. I don’t really like being the center
of attention. I’ve spent most of my life hiding.”

“Then why, may I ask, are you in
a circus?” She rolled her eyes and her hands went to her hips.

“I loved watching my dad
entertain. I wanted—want—to be like him. He taught and challenged
me and I know I can do a lot, but I haven’t showed off any tricks in front of
others for a really long time. I don’t want to overestimate myself.”

“Everyone, no matter what gift,
has different levels of skill and now you can really push yourself. You need to
earn your place before you are accepted. Once people see you can hold your own
and they do not have to support you, it will be fine. You have to understand
that,” Delia said.

She affectionately yanked my
ponytail. “Look, I will help, and Sheffield is always great with us. That is a
start, no? I will introduce you to my friends and you will love it here, I think.
You are being far too angry on yourself. Stay calm.”

I was my own worst enemy. I took
a deep breath in and tried to shake the nerves. “Okay, who’s next on the need
to know list?”

“I thought it might be good for
you to try and meet up with other Firestarters, make sure they know you are
here and ready to learn the ropes. I happen to be good friends with two of
them.”

“I’m under Sheffield’s request
to train with them, so I better do that soon. I guess you should introduce me,”
I said.

“He requested you train?” she
asked, brow furrowed. “He wants you in the actual show, then.”

“Does that make a difference?”

“Well, people will want to know
what your place is here. It makes them re-evaluate their own worth, take their
own talents into account. If you get a piece of the show, that is great, but I
would not crow about it to anyone yet,” she advised.

“Got it. Well, keep that between
us then, if you don’t mind. I don’t want to upset anyone. Besides, it’ll be a
good while before that happens.”

We continued on our path but I
had no idea to where. I tried not to stare at everyone as we passed by their
tents: an extremely obese woman deflated into a skinny, lithe figure, startling
me. Our eyes met.

“I have to pin back the skin
now,” she said as she disappeared into her tent. I tried not to wrinkle my nose
in case she still watched me.

A tattooed, bearded man
swallowed swords, including the handle; others were examining costumes,
juggling bowling pins, and fixing their props. I tore my gaze away back to
Delia.

“Let’s talk about the actual
circus,” I said. “All Sheffield told me was that it was a lot bigger than
anyone around plus the typical schedule.”

“Well, there are what, eighty of
us or so? There are fewer humans than gifted. My parents helped with the behind
the scene jobs; they ran ticket sales, games and food, helped with the animals,
that sort of thing. There is less chance of someone getting hurt if gifted are
the ones in the show instead of humans. Performances can be a danger. But a few
are artists as well, like clowns. It is obvious to tell the difference, even
though most of us look human anyways.”

“Wait, are you implying that
some of you…well, don’t look human?”

“Some of us have physical
differences. It is funny that people pay to see these things and yet they still
think somehow it’s fake or glued on. Or like when they see Jade move objects;
they search for the trick. You know, though—did they not all think your
father was some sort of illusionist?”

“True. It’s easy to fool them
when they are so eager to ignore what they don’t know. What about the lot
setup? Who goes in which tents?”

She pointed at the Big Top,
motioning her hands as she spoke. “Well, there is the main tent, of course,
where we all group for the big show at night. But we will run around in the
morning for prep—getting costumes and props, some practice, all that
stuff. Since you are new, you will probably help others with stunts and
performances, small things. We are not really “assigned” to a tent, though we
do have a few designated tents for things like fortune telling, animals, and
clowns. Of course the games and food vendors are out in the open.

“You will not be with any of the
animals or their handlers; that is a very specific group and without training,
you cannot do it. They are particular and probably will not even let you near
the animals at first for safety reasons.”

I nodded and ducked beneath a
man who carried large parrots on both extended arms. He didn’t even notice as I
twisted my body to avoid ruffling any feathers. My mouth dropped as the parrot
gave me a dirty look.

“You will be fine with it after
time. At first, you will probably see things as extremely chaotic, but we do
have a good rhythm of where to be at certain times and what needs to get done.
You can pick it up fast,” Delia said.

I hadn’t realized where we were
headed until we were in an empty section of field next to the lot. I heard
laughter and turned to see five or six people headed to the same area. Delia
had brought me to meet other Firestarters.

Chapter
3

“Stop looking like you are on
the way to the executioner, silly. I will help with the introductions,” Delia
said.

She winked at me and took off in
a blur. She ran circles around the group that now stood in the field. Tall
grass surrounded an extremely large dirt plot with weeds and cigarette butts. I
took my time walking over and listened to them laugh as Delia, a dark haze,
created a small dust storm around them.

“She keeps this up and I’m gonna
clothesline her. My hair looks good today,” a girl commented.

“Sorry, Bianca,” Delia shouted.
I heard her skid to a stop before I saw her, thanks to all the now-settling
dust. There were five people, three guys and two girls, and they all gave me
curious looks. Each of them looked around my age.

“Everyone, this is Lucy. I
wanted her to come and meet you before the meeting,” Delia said.

I wondered why this group came
out here to practice when they could do it as easily in the tents. The thought
had only briefly crossed my mind before one of the girls looked my way. She had
blue streaks in her long black hair, very muscular arms covered in tattoos, and
a couple of facial piercings.

“We come here to let loose, new
girl,” she answered. When I quirked an eyebrow, she sighed and rolled her eyes.
“There’s not always enough room in the tents to really use our gifts. This
isn’t really rehearsal; it’s more like…blowing off steam. And I can hone in on
thoughts, so be careful what you think around here.”

Great. On top of being the new
girl, now I would be the moron. This was already not going well. Delia cut in.

“Lucy is a bit overwhelmed right
now, but give her more than a day and you will see why she belongs here.
Right?” she asked, giving me a sharp glance.

“Oh. Um, right. I’ll work on
that,” I said.

“You’re obviously not human or
you’d look a lot more terrified to be here,” one of the guys said. He gave me a
warm smile. “What’s your gift?”

“I’m a Firestarter.”

“Hey, me too. Never met a lady
Firestarter,” he replied. He walked over to me and offered his hand. “I’m
Keegan.”

Keegan had short dark hair and
bright green eyes that I could see even from a few feet away. He left the “r”
out of his words with a strong New England accent; a few inches taller than me
and broad-shouldered, he was really cute. I immediately wondered if my hair was
doing that weird Jan Brady cowlick thing. Resisting the urge to flatten my long
bangs against the side of my head, I shook his hand.

“Nice to meet you. How many Firestarters
are there, anyways?”

“Counting you now, five of us,”
he replied.

A short, stocky guy with several
tattoos and an abnormally red, short Mohawk stepped up beside Keegan. “I’m
Nikolas, also a Firestarter. Creator or carrier?”

“I’m a creator,” I said, shaking
his hand.

“I’m a carrier,” he said. He
stood very tall and took a lighter out of his pocket. That meant he could
control fire, even be immersed in it, but not produce it without a flame
present. It did not mean he was any less dangerous. “Nice to have another
redhead in the group.”

“I think mine’s a little more
natural than yours,” I said with a laugh.

“True. But redheads together
nonetheless,” he responded in a low tone. His lips turned upward so slightly I
might have imagined it.

Delia spoke up. “Can someone
explain the whole carrier and creator thing? I never really understand it.”

Nikolas looked at me and
motioned his hand as though to tell me the floor was mine.

“Oh, okay,” I said. “It’s kinda
like Marty says there are other Unbreakables who have different skills. So with
Firestarters, you uh, have creators, meaning those guys can create fire by
will, as well as be engulfed in and control their flames. A carrier means that
you need a jumpstart—”

“Like a lighter,” Nikolas said,
waving his own lighter around for effect.

I was waving my hands around
more than necessary. Putting my arms down at my sides, I continued, “But they
can still touch fire and control it. Then there’s the last group. They can’t
control any fire, only be immersed in it.”

“That’s Bobby,” Keegan said to
Delia, who nodded in understanding.

“Hey, when did you get your
power?” Keegan asked me. “I was fifteen or sixteen.”

“Yeah, I was twelve,” Nikolas
added.

They looked at me expectantly.
My voice came out very high-pitched when I answered. “Um…two?”

Even Delia gave me a shocked
look.

“It still took me a few years to
get the hang of fireballs,” I said meekly.

“It takes everyone a few years
to get those. You had the hang of them years before us,” Nikolas said.

Delia spoke up again. “But you
guys can’t set each other on fire?”

“It’s not so much that we
can’t,” Nikolas said, finally breaking his gaze on me to look at her. “It’s
more like we probably shouldn’t. Firepower is different for each of us so
sometimes our flames can be dangerous even for each other. That’s kinda what
makes it more fun though.”

He gave me a broad grin that I
didn’t return. Raised under an extremely careful eye (and unfortunately for
Nikolas), I was a play-by-the-rules girl. Our gift was dangerous, could easily
kill anyone in close proximity.

“And you are a creator?” Delia
asked me. I nodded and her face grew thoughtful. “You are sure my things are
safe living with you?”

It didn’t surprise me that
people feared Firestarters. They could take down an entire neighborhood with
one bad day. I hesitated, slightly taken aback, then realized she was grinning
at me, teasing me.

Nikolas turned back to me and
wagged his lighter in front of my face. “You ready to show us your stuff?”

The girl with blue-streaked hair
spoke up. “Yeah, let’s see what you got, new girl.”

“How about you guys go about
your typical afternoon. I’ll watch,” I suggested. “I probably need to get a
feel for it first.”

The blue-haired girl rolled her
eyes again and I heard Delia give an exasperated sigh. I knew it was a coward
move, but I was too anxious to show my gift so soon and in front of such a
skeptical audience. Watching them first would give me an idea of how confident
I should feel.

“It’s all right if you’re a
little shy right now,” Keegan said. “But you’re showing off before we leave
this field.”

I nodded, defeated. It was
probably the best deal I’d get. Another girl walked over to me and introduced
herself.

“I’m Bianca. The oh-so-friendly
blue haired chick, that’s my girlfriend Brooklyn,” she said in a husky, sexy
voice.

Bianca, like Brooklyn, had a
nose stud, but her black hair was in a cute pixie cut and she wore thick black
eyeliner. I already envied her buttery brown skin and a lithe figure. I guessed
the couple that dressed alike stayed together, because they both had on ripped
jeans, black tank tops, and matching cigarette packs in their back pocket.

Brooklyn snorted. “Are we your
first lesbian couple?”

I forgot she was a Telepath.
That would get annoying pretty fast. Before I could respond, the third guy
spoke up.