mystic caravan mystery 02 - freaky lies (33 page)

“Well, you don’t like crowds, but how would you like to see the animals anyway?” I asked, drawing a slit-eyed look from Mary and eliciting genuine curiosity from Grace. “The animals have their own tent. It’s right over there.” I pointed for emphasis. “I could fix it so you could see the animals and avoid the crowd. How does that sound?”

“That sounds great,” Grace enthused, hopping up and down.

“I don’t know,” Mary hedged, shifting her eyes so she could stare at the table where I previously sat. I fought the urge to turn around and see if everyone remained sitting and staring. I didn’t want to tip my hand. “We’re not supposed to go anywhere with strangers.”

“That’s a good rule,” I said. “We could find your parents first, if you’re nervous, that is. We could all go together.”

“We can go by ourselves,” Grace said. “We don’t need anyone else to come.”

“I don’t think we should,” Mary argued.

“I don’t care what you think,” Grace shot back. Her tone took me by surprise. It was the first real fissure I’d witnessed between the girls. “I want to see the animals. You’re the reason I couldn’t in the first place.”

Mary obviously didn’t like her sister’s demeanor. “But what if something bad happens to us? What if the tiger eats us?”

“The tiger won’t eat you,” I interjected smoothly. “He’s extremely friendly.”

“Can we pet him?” Grace asked.

“Absolutely.”

“Then we’re going,” Grace said, bending over to gather her winnings and shooting Mary a defiant look when she straightened. “We’re doing what I want for a change. If you don’t like it, you can stay here.”

Mary shifted her contemplative eyes to me. She didn’t trust me any more than I trusted her. She knew I was plotting something. She also knew she couldn’t do anything with so many witnesses around. If killing me was their ultimate goal I was practically serving myself up on a platter, and it frustrated her.

“Fine,” Mary said finally. “Let’s go see the animals.”

“You’re going to have a great time,” I said, ushering them in front of me before risking a glance at the table. It was empty. That meant everyone else was getting into position. I could only hope this plan wouldn’t backfire. I still had no idea what we were dealing with.

“WHAT
kind of animals do you have here?”

The closer we got to the tent the more excited Grace grew. Mary was another story. Her feet became heavier with each step, almost as if she sensed a trap but couldn’t figure a way out.

“We have all kinds of animals,” I replied. I kept my eyes peeled for signs of backup, but wherever they were they remained well hidden. On one hand I was relieved because I knew if Mary saw Kade or the others she would bolt. On the other hand, seeing at least one face would reassure me I wasn’t alone. “We have a tiger, a bear and a wolf.”

Grace wrinkled her nose. “A wolf? What kind of circus has a wolf?”

“The best kind,” I replied, holding the tent flap open and prodding Mary and Grace to move forward. Grace obediently did. Mary stalled long enough to give me a dirty look. “Don’t you want to see the tiger?”

“I know what you’re doing,” Mary hissed. “I know what you are.”

“I know what you’ve been doing,” I said, keeping my smile in place. “I have no idea what you are, though. Why don’t you enlighten me?”

Mary made a disgusted face and ducked into the tent. I followed at a slower pace, being sure to give the girls a wide berth once inside. The tent was empty, as I expected. I had no idea where my reinforcements were, but they had to be close.

“Where’s the tiger?” Grace asked, disappointment etched on her face as she looked around. “You said there would be a tiger here.”

“He must not be back from the big tent yet,” I said. “That’s okay. He’ll be here soon. Now we have a chance to talk.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Mary asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she faced me. “Are you a bad person? Are you here to do bad things to us?”

“I’m not a bad person,” I answered, purposely leaving the second question unanswered. “I’m actually more interested in you girls, though.”

“Why are you interested in us?” Grace asked. “We’re just helpless little girls.”

“I don’t know what you are, but you’re obviously not helpless,” I said, deciding now was the time to put all of my cards on the table. “I’m pretty sure you’re not little girls.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re right,” Mary said, grinning. The smile would’ve been impish on anyone else her age – er, at least the age she looked. On her it looked downright malevolent. “You’re not a simple fortune teller either.”

I opened my mouth to ask how she knew that, but before I realized what was happening my body was lifted off the ground and thrown backward. A wind whipped through the tent, helping push me toward the wall. Instead of hitting the stretched canvas, I slammed into a warm chest.

Kade caught me mid-air, cradling me close for a moment as he grappled to maintain his footing with my extra weight dragging him down. He grunted briefly before dropping me on my feet. He looked surprised, but resigned.

“I guess they’re evil, huh?” His smile was small and rueful.

“And then some,” I said, smoothing my skirt and shifting so I could face off with Grace and Mary. They stood in the middle of the tent, their hands clasped. They didn’t look happy.

“Nice catch,” Mary said dryly, making a face. “You probably shouldn’t have gotten involved, though. This is between us and the Romani.”

“She’s the only reason we’re here,” Grace added. “Don’t make us kill you, too. We don’t want to do it. You don’t have anything we need … and we try to refrain from killing unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Speak for yourself,” Mary said, tightening her grip on Grace’s hand. “I’m looking forward to killing all of them. We haven’t had a good bloodbath in a century.”

“Do you really think this is going to end well for you?” I challenged.

As if on cue, the young girl tilted her head back so she was staring at the highest point of the tent and opened her mouth, letting loose with an unearthly scream that bounced off the walls and climbed in pitch until it was loud enough to shatter the glass lanterns on the center table.

I ducked, shielding my face from the flying glass as Kade moved to cover my head with his arm.

“What the hell?”

Grace joined in with the painful keening, causing the wind to pick up again, whipping around the room as it gained speed. Something was about to happen. Given my luck, I knew it was probably something terrible.

“What’s going on?” Nellie asked, worriedly glancing around as he struggled to keep his dress from flying up and putting his naughty bits on display. “What’s happening?”

“Nothing good. We’re not going to be strong enough to take them alone.” I knew we needed more help so I sent out a mental S.O.S. I didn’t know what else to do.

THE WIND
picked up in speed until it felt as if we were caught in the center of a tornado. Kade struggled to keep his arm around me as Nellie worked overtime to protect Melissa. For their part, Grace and Mary looked as though they were having a good time and showed no signs of relenting.

That lasted for almost three minutes, until our reinforcements arrived.

Naida strode into the room with a dark look on her face. Raven and Nixie, both of whom looked confused but ready for war, flanked her. Naida didn’t even bother ducking as her hair whipped around, instead flashing her aquamarine eyes and lifting her hands.

You couldn’t hear the “boom,” but you could feel it when she slammed her magic into the power wielded by the two girls and threw them backward into the empty tiger cage. The wind ceased almost immediately.

“What’s going on?” Raven asked, confused. “Are we fighting kids?”

“They’re not kids,” I said, struggling to smooth my clothes as Kade and I stood. “They’re … something else.”

“Oh, goody,” Raven intoned, wrinkling her nose as she turned on Mary and Grace. “What are you, little monsters?”

“What are you?” Mary shot back, dusting off her dress as she regained her footing and tugged Grace up behind her. “We were just minding our own business and then you three came in and threw us across a room. I mean … how rude is that?”

“I can get a lot ruder,” Raven warned, lifting a finger. “Seriously, what are you guys? I can’t get any reading off of you at all.”

“What does that mean?” Kade asked, leery. “Are they like ghosts or something?”

“Even ghosts leave an imprint,” I said. “I think they’re shades.”

“Oh.” Realization dawned on Raven as she circled to her right, giving the girls a wide berth but scenting the air as she passed. “I think you might be right. Wow! I thought shades had been eradicated before the turn of the century. This is … different.”

“What are shades?” Kade was completely out of his depth. I felt sorry for him.

“They’re ancient demons,” I explained. “They have a lot of different names depending on the region they come from, but basically they take the form of children and lure unsuspecting adults in so they can slaughter them.”

“Why?”

“To eat,” Raven replied, making a face. “Is that what you two little heathens have been doing with the body parts? Have you been eating them?”

“Oh, gross,” Nixie said, hopping from one foot to the other. “Someone please take chicken legs off the dinner menu tonight.”

“Now that’s rude,” Nellie said, grabbing an ax from the spot close to the door and holding it in both hands. “How do you kill shades? Please tell me you behead them.”

He has a thing about beheadings. I can’t explain it.

“Are you going to cut off our heads?” Grace asked, her eyes widening as she took on a pitiful tone. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“They’re not going to behead us.” Mary was haughty. “We’re little girls. How could they possibly explain our disappearance?”

“We don’t have to explain it,” I countered. “You don’t have anyone to miss you. Once we’re gone the police will only search until they realize the killings have stopped. You don’t have parents to keep up the pressure so your memory – such as it is – will fade fairly quickly.”

“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong,” Mary said, laughing hollowly as a gust of wind blew through the tent. It was cold enough to cause a series of chills to course through my body.

“They didn’t cause that,” Melissa said, glancing over her shoulder. “That came from someone else.”

I was beginning to figure that out on my own. “They have help,” I said, resigned. “And that help is on the way. That’s what the screeching was about. They were calling for their own reinforcements. I should’ve realized what they were doing.”

“Well, great,” Nellie said. “If I can’t chop their heads off I bet I can chop off the head of whatever is coming.”

I hoped he was right. The cold wind caused goose pimples to pop up on my skin as it circled the tent walls. Whatever was coming was almost upon us.

“Daddy’s here,” Mary said, breaking into hysterical gales of laughter as the wind caused the tent flaps to slap open and shut, and a dark figure appeared in the opening. “You’re in big trouble now.”

“WHAT IS
that?” Kade’s voice was shrill as he took in the malevolent figure, its red eyes bouncing around the tent as the creature scanned the scene. He put his hand on my hip and moved closer, his protective nature pushing to the forefront as his brain struggled to rationalize what he was seeing. “Is that what I think it is?”

“It’s the scarecrow,” I said, shaking my head. “I guess we were both right.”

“Oh, neat,” Raven said, turning away from Mary and Grace and focusing on the new arrival. “Now this is a classic. I can get behind this.”

“What is it, though?” Nixie asked, inhaling deeply. “It smells like a zombie or something.”

“A zombie?” Kade’s eyebrows nearly flew off his forehead. “Are you telling me zombies are real, too?”

“Not in the sense you think,” I clarified. “I … good, grief. He really does smell dead.”

“That’s because he is dead,” Raven said, extending a finger. “Look at the arms and legs. They’ve been recently sewed on. They don’t match the torso.”

“That’s what they’ve been doing with the body parts,” I supplied. “I think they channeled some dark force into the scarecrow, but to give it life they have to give it … ugh … flesh.”

“Oh, nice,” Raven sneered. “Couldn’t they have cast a Lysol spell to go with it? No one likes the smell of maggots, girls. It’s gross.”

“Don’t speak about my daddy that way,” Mary ordered, incensed. “He’s still getting used to his new reality. We’re working on Mommy, too, but we need more parts. That’s why we need her.”

My stomach rolled when I realized Mary was pointing at me. “Well, I’m using my parts. You can’t have them.”

“And I haven’t gotten a chance to use them yet, so there’s no way you’re taking them,” Kade added.

That was either incredibly sweet or insulting. I didn’t have time to mentally debate it, though. “You’re so romantic,” I deadpanned.

“I’ll romance you later,” Kade said. “Now … kill them!”

That was quite a turn for a guy who just an hour earlier insisted we couldn’t kill them. “I’m working on it,” I said, taking a step away from him so I could move closer to Raven. I had a feeling I was going to need her power boost.

“I don’t get it,” Raven said. “If you’re shades, why do you need scarecrow people to do your bidding and get you dinner? Why don’t you do it yourself?”

“Times change,” Mary answered. “For centuries two children left to their own devices weren’t things to be feared … or monitored, for that matter. They were things to be taken care of, trusted even.”

“I think she’s saying that people are more suspicious now,” I supplied. “Before telephones and cars, they could sucker unsuspecting people into taking them in. Then they would butcher them, eat them and escape before anyone figured out what was happening.

“With the advancement of technology, their little ploys probably didn’t work as well,” I continued. “Instead of taking them in, people probably dropped them off at the police station or turned them over to social services.”

“You have no idea how hard it is to cover up a police officer’s death,” Mary said.