Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 30287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
The truth is, I’m not sure I can do this alone. But I’ll be damned if I let anyone else get close enough to hurt me again.
Chapter Six
Alex
Chaos clings to the air of the circus like a low-lying fog. The once vibrant energy that crackled through the grounds now feels muted, heavy with suspicion. I’ve been around long enough to know what fear does to people, how it shifts their movements, warps their judgment. It’s happening now, all around me. Every glance, every whispered conversation, carries the weight of something unsaid, something broken.
I walk through the grounds, past performers and crew who once greeted me with a nod or a smile. Now, their eyes slide away, lips pressed tight, and it’s impossible to ignore the shift. Another animal disappeared last night—this time a panther, sleek and dangerous, the circus’s prized possession. And just like that, the already fraying seams of this circus family are ripping apart.
I know how this goes. People start looking for someone to blame. Fear makes them irrational, makes them paranoid. The rumors have been circulating for days, but now they’ve taken root, growing like a cancer in the minds of everyone here. Whispers of betrayal, accusations thrown in the dark. Someone has to be responsible, and when the pressure gets high enough, people will turn on each other just to feel a moment of control.
My thoughts keep drifting to Sophia. She’s at the center of this storm, whether she realizes it or not. She has always been fiercely protective of the animals, and that dedication is now making her a target. Some of the performers have started to look at her differently. The lion tamer, the one who has more access to the animals than anyone else—who better to suspect?
I hear it in their voices when they think she’s not around, the way they speculate, muttering about her unusual bond with the animals, how she could be behind the thefts. It’s absurd, but that doesn’t stop people from believing it. I’ve seen it before—people turning on someone they once trusted. It doesn’t matter that she’s spent years taking care of these creatures like they’re her family. Fear twists reality.
I glance toward the animal enclosures, wondering if she’s there. It’s where she always goes when things get too much, when the world starts closing in. I start walking, weaving through the crowd with purpose. I need to see her. To talk to her. To somehow make this right, even though I know I’ve done nothing but hurt her so far.
Chapter Seven
Sophia
Zeus paces behind the bars, his massive body moving with the kind of grace that only comes with power. He’s restless today, more agitated than usual, and I can’t blame him. The entire circus is suffocating under the weight of whatever the hell is happening here. Every day, more animals disappear, and every day the whispers grow louder, the stares sharper.
And now those stares are on me.
I feel it—the way people look at me when I walk by. It’s as if they’re waiting for me to crack, waiting for me to slip up and reveal that I’m the monster stealing from them. It’s ironic, really. I’ve spent my whole life protecting these animals, and now the people I’ve fought alongside are the ones who think I could betray them. It makes me sick.
The worst part? Part of me is starting to wonder if they’re right.
I press my hands against the cold metal of Zeus’s cage, trying to ground myself. His golden eyes meet mine, calm and unwavering, but it doesn’t soothe the growing storm inside me. I can’t stop thinking about the disappearances, about the things I can’t explain. Could I have done something without knowing? Said something to the wrong person that set this string of thefts into motion? Could my obsession with protecting these animals have driven me to do something reckless, something I’ve blocked out?
I shake my head, trying to push the thoughts away. No. I would never hurt them. But doubt is a slippery thing, and once it sinks its claws into you, it’s almost impossible to shake. The weight of it presses down on me, suffocating, making it hard to think, hard to breathe.
A noise behind me pulls me out of my thoughts, and I turn to see Alex walking toward me. My chest tightens at the sight of him. He’s the last person I want to see right now, but also the one I can’t stop thinking about. I hate that he still has this effect on me, even after everything.
He stops a few feet away, his eyes scanning me with a mixture of concern and something else—guilt, maybe. “Sophia.”
I don’t respond, turning my attention back to Zeus. Maybe if I ignore him, he’ll leave. But of course, he doesn’t.
“Everyone’s on edge,” Alex says, his voice low. “They’re scared.”