Luke on the Loose Read online

  “And we only have a few nights left here,” I noted. “We’re working on a limited timetable.”

  Poet agreed. “I think the smartest thing to do is use me as bait. I just need to figure out how to do it.”

  Kade balked. “Why do you have to be bait? Why can’t it be someone else?”

  “I’m second in command.” Her answer was simple. “It’s my job. I can’t ask others to take on a task I’m unwilling to do myself. That’s not how I operate. Besides, I have you as backup.” She grinned as she poked his side. “You’ll be close to help me, which means I’m the perfect person for this job.”

  “Um ... what about me?” I tried to keep from being offended, but it didn’t work very well.

  “You’ll be right by my side, too.” Poet gave me an absent pat that didn’t make me feel better. “The question is, how do we advertise me as bait?”

  “I don’t know that you need to do any more advertising,” I said. “You were a topic of conversation at the bar last night. People were talking about how bitchy you were. You’ve already made an impression.”

  “He’s right.” Kade was grim. “People were asking questions about you. I did my best to stand up for you, but I couldn’t keep up with all the comments. I don’t think those guys appreciate a bossy woman.”

  “We appreciate you, though,” I teased as I squeezed her hand and she glowered. “I think you’re probably already a target.”

  “So ... then we wait,” Poet decided. “If no one makes a move tonight we’ll have to adjust our plan. For now, we’ll hang tough.”

  THE CIRCUS WAS READY FOR action by the time we finished another afternoon of work. All of the tents were secured, wares on display, game booths lined up and performances scheduled. We were ready for guests – and a killer.

  I was hopeful one would come before the other.

  “There has to be a way to force this incubus out into the open,” I complained to Nellie as we double-checked the back door to the House of Mirrors. That was Raven’s domain and she was more than capable of taking care of herself. The problem was that she was so full of braggadocio that she often made herself an unwitting target because our enemies were keen to shut her up.

  “I agree that it would be better to take it out tonight,” Nellie said. “Do you have any suggestions on how to draw it to us?”

  “Well ... .” I tugged on the door. “This is locked tight. Raven said it’s already warded. I don’t think an incubus can get in through here, which is a good thing.”

  “That wasn’t really an answer,” Nellie said dryly.

  “I’m thinking.” I pinned him with a frustrated look. “I don’t know the answer. I only know I’m not happy with Poet being a target.”

  “That’s probably especially true because you’re a target as well,” Nellie mused. “You wouldn’t feel as bad if you could protect her yourself.”

  I didn’t like what he was insinuating. “I can protect her.”

  “Really? I thought you were entranced into a dream the night the incubus took out Calamity. If it managed that the first time, what’s to stop it from doing it a second time?”

  “We don’t know that I was entranced.” Even as I said the words I wasn’t sure they were true. “It could’ve just been a really weird dream.”

  “That happened to occur at the same time a woman was being killed? That seems a little convenient.”

  “Yeah, well ... .” I wanted to give him a good shake. I was fairly certain that he was stronger than me despite his stature, so I refrained from doing that. “We need to do something to keep Poet from being targeted.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like making me the target.”

  Nellie, whose blue dress showed off his well-muscled arms (and hairy back), adopted a provocative stance. “And how do you intend to do that?”

  I could think of only one way. “We have to go back to the bar.”

  “I thought you were warned against doing that.”

  “By a cop who doesn’t understand the paranormal,” I replied. “He seemed worried that I wouldn’t be able to take care of myself around a bunch of wereferrets and a token werebear. He thinks simple numbers mean something.”

  “There’s a werebear?” Nellie perked up, intrigued. “I’ve always wanted to see a werebear.”

  “They’re nothing to get excited about.” I meant it. “Wolves are much hotter.”

  “Says you.”

  “It’s the truth.”

  “I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.” Nellie’s eye roll was pronounced. “Are you saying you want to go back to that bar, put yourself on display and entice the incubus to go after you?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  “What makes you think that will work?”

  That was a good question. I had an equally good answer. “Because I’m taking you with me.” My smile widened as I thought through the plan. “Think about it. An incubus will assume that a guy in a dress will fall under its thrall. It will believe we’re easy pickings.”

  “I don’t roll that way,” Nellie reminded me for what felt like the hundredth time. “But I get what you’re saying. The incubus will look right over me even though I’m the one who will stand as the bigger threat in the end.”

  “I don’t know that I agree,” I hedged. “I’m a big threat, too. I can fight.”

  “Not if you’re caught in the incubus’s thrall.”

  “I won’t get caught in its thrall. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

  “Until I believe it.” Nellie broke out in a sly grin. “This is a great idea. When do we go?”

  “After dinner. I don’t think we should tell anyone. Poet won’t like it if I try to shield her.”

  “She definitely won’t like it,” Nellie agreed. “I think we should have some form of backup.”

  “Who do you suggest?”

  “Seth and Dolph. They’ll be immune to the incubus and they can hide in the woods. Once we know we’ve got it on the hook we need to draw it away from the bar. We can’t kill it in front of an audience.”

  It was a sound plan. “Okay. How long are they willing to hide in the woods? That doesn’t sound like something either of them will want to do.”

  “They will when we explain we’re trying to keep Poet from using herself as bait,” Nellie argued. “They’re both fond of her. Heck, I’m fond of her. If I was taller, younger and waxed my chest, I might make a play for her since that’s clearly the sort of dude she goes for. I mean ... how often do you think Kade waxes his chest?”

  “Once a week,” I answered without hesitation. “What? It looks much better than shaving. You need to get over your crush on Poet. She’s completely in love with her security stud. I don’t see that changing.”

  “And you’re still handling it well,” Nellie teased. “No one would ever guess that you’re jealous.”

  “I am not jealous.” The charge grated. “I want Poet to be happy. She’s happy with him.”

  “She is,” Nellie agreed. “You’re still jealous. It’s not that you want to be with her — although I wouldn’t rule out the notion of you trying to go that way because you love her more than anything — but you don’t like the idea of him stealing time with her.”

  “That is preposterous!” Mostly. Although, to be fair, I’d weathered my fair share of jealousy when it came to Kade. I wasn’t proud of it.

  “We’ll make sure that Poet remains safe,” Nellie promised. “Seth and Dolph will want to help. With me leading this operation, we should be able to track down the incubus in no time. I’ll leave my ax in the woods with Dolph and Seth, and when we lead the incubus into the trees it should be easy pickings. I bet this is over with by ten ... and then we can have a real drink and relax.”

  I liked the sound of that. “Then it’s a plan.”

  “It’s definitely a plan. But I need to decide what I’m wearing. Do you have any suggestions? What’s the lighting like?”

 
; “I think what you have on is fine.”

  “Oh, don’t be daft,” he sneered. “This is an afternoon tea dress. I need to wear something fancier to fool an incubus. I’m leaning toward something backless.”

  That was a terrifying thought. “I’ll leave that decision to you.”

  “I need to try stuff on. I’ll see you at dinner.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  “WHERE ARE YOU GOING?”

  Dolph, Seth, Nellie and I tried to sneak away without Poet knowing when the women grouped together to clean up after dinner. She came out of nowhere and ruthlessly started questioning us when we were trying to sneak through the tents.

  “We’re going to patrol the fairgrounds until eight,” Nellie answered smoothly. He was a much better liar than me, especially when dealing with Poet. “There’s no way the incubus will risk coming that early. In fact, I’d be surprised if it bothered coming before midnight. But we’ll be ready.”

  “Definitely,” Dolph echoed. “After we patrol the perimeter, we’ll take up positions not far from the dreamcatcher line. I bet we catch this thing before it even gets close to you.”

  Poet was the suspicious sort and her expression reflected doubt as she glanced between faces. “Okay. I don’t want you guys outing yourself to the incubus before it gets close to my trailer, though. We need to make absolutely sure that it can’t get away when we spring the trap.”

  “We’re not rookies.” Nellie made a face. “We have everything under control. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “That would be a nice change of pace.” She was blasé as she shook her head. “I agree that the incubus won’t show itself until later. Just be ready for when it happens.”

  “We’re on it,” I promised. “We’ll keep you safe.”

  “I have no doubt.”

  Nine

  It was only a matter of time until Poet figured out we weren’t walking the perimeter. I had no idea how long it would take her to figure out the rest of it, but I didn’t expect a warm welcome when we returned. While she would welcome the death of the incubus, she wouldn’t be happy that we went around her … even though her safety was the reason.

  Nellie opted for a pink dress that hit him mid-calf. The choice confused me, so much so that I had to ask the obvious question as we traversed the woods.

  “Why that dress?”

  “It shows off my muscles and isn’t so long I’ll trip over it if I have to run,” he replied simply.

  That made sense. Kind of. “You could’ve worn jeans.”

  “Wouldn’t that have screwed your plan to make the incubus think I drive on the gay side of the road?”

  “Actually, yeah. It’s just … I don’t know that the bikers will be welcoming of a guy in a dress.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” He sounded sure of himself as he lightly skipped ahead of me. “I have a way with people. They’ll love me.”

  I hoped that was true.

  WE LEFT DOLPH AND SETH AT the edge of the woods. They understood their part of the plan. They were to wait for us to return or cut off anyone who tried to get past them on the path through the woods. We all assumed that would be the incubus, but several tests would have to be performed before we could behead the creature without guilt. We tried really hard not to whack first and ask questions later. We were polite like that.

  I was nervous when Nellie and I emerged from the cover of the trees. I was drunk when I’d left the bar the night before and some of my interactions were hazy. I remembered getting along well with Billy, but I couldn’t exactly recall how we’d left things. Ah, well, at least I could blame the booze. That’s what I told myself, anyway.

  The bar was packed. There were only a few open tables. Billy was behind the bar and he did a huge double-take when he saw who was darkening his doorstep … again. For a brief moment I thought he would react negatively, and perhaps kick me out because I’d said something stupid the night before. Instead, he roared with laughter and offered up an awkward salute.

  “I can’t believe you’re standing upright after how much you drank last night,” he called out.

  I exchanged a quick look with Nellie and then cleared my throat. “I was just thinking the same thing about you,” I said as we meandered inside. “I bounce back pretty quickly.”

  “So I see.” Billy inclined his head toward Nellie. “You have another partner in crime tonight.”

  “I do. This is Nellie.”

  Nellie didn’t look nervous in the least. He cocked a challenging eyebrow and basically dared someone to question his presence … or mock his outfit. When no one uttered one mean word, he merely smiled at Billy and returned the earlier salute. “I hear this is the most fun place in the area. But this is Akron, so I’m not expecting much.”

  Billy wasn’t offended. In fact, his smile only widened. “That’s just about right. Sit down. I’ll bring you over a few brews in a second.”

  “That’s why we’re here,” I said, doing my best not to make a face at the mention of beer. That was the last thing I wanted and yet I couldn’t very well turn it down. The only reason to visit a bar was because drinking was on the menu. If I didn’t drink, there was no reason for the visit.

  “So, that’s the guy, huh?” Nellie didn’t look impressed when he slid into the booth across from me and took a moment to scan the bar. “This place is a dump.”

  I shot him a warning look. “You might want to watch what you say,” I suggested, keeping my voice low. “Don’t forget, we’re outnumbered.”

  “Please.” Nellie made a dismissive hand gesture. “I could take this entire bar with one arm tied behind my back.”

  I’d seen him fight. He was good. He was also enthusiastic when it came to swinging his ax. He was not, however, Superman. “Whatever.” I kept my smile in place as Billy approached. “Just don’t say anything rude.”

  “I’m never rude.”

  We both knew that was a lie. “You’re always rude,” I countered. “Just … let me do the talking. I excel when it comes to stuff like this.”

  Nellie snorted. “If that’s what you need to tell yourself.”

  Billy was in a gregarious mood when he approached. He took the open seat next to me without invitation and immediately started talking as if we were long lost brothers instead of nervous acquaintances.

  “I wasn’t sure you would make it home last night,” he admitted. “I thought about sending someone after you, but I was pretty drunk myself and forgot.”

  “It’s not the end of the world. We made it.”

  “Were you in trouble with the little missus?”

  “Who’s the little missus?” Nellie asked, confused. He seemed to be enjoying his beer. If I’d been with anyone else I would’ve admonished him about drinking too much given our mission. Nellie could hold his liquor, though. I’d never seen him so drunk he didn’t know what he was doing. I had a feeling it was due to his dwarf genes – dwarves were legendary heavy drinkers, after all – but I’d never taken the time to talk to him about it.

  “Poet,” I replied. “He thinks Poet is bossy.”

  “She’s definitely bossy,” Nellie agreed. “That probably has something to do with her being the boss.”

  “That’s what I heard yesterday.” Billy appeared to be at ease as he leaned back in his seat and extended his legs. “I don’t understand how a woman that grumpy managed to rise up the ranks of the circus at such a young age. Is she sleeping with the boss?”

  The question rankled. One look at Nellie told me he was equally bothered. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about Poet,” I suggested. Now was not the time to lose my cool.

  “Oh, I definitely think we should talk about her,” Nellie countered. “Nothing is as fun as bashing your boss at the bar, right?”

  “She’s still my best friend.”

  “And she’s honestly a pretty good boss,” Nellie agreed. “But she is bossy. I hear she came over here and was rude to these guys. I bet that didn’t go over well because all
the men here see themselves as alphas.”

  My cheeks burned as Nellie whipped out his psychology shtick. He’d read a book at some point – it was three years ago or so if I remembered correctly – about the human brain. Ever since then he fancied himself the group therapist. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

  “Alphas, huh?” Billy’s expression was hard to read as he focused fully on Nellie. It was as if he was seeing the man for the first time. “And what do you do for the circus?”

  “I would think that’s rather obvious,” Nellie replied. “I’m the bearded lady.”

  Billy was silent for a long beat. Then, to my surprise, he barked out a raucous laugh. “That is … awesome. How did you get that gig?”

  Nellie shrugged, unbothered by the look of awe Billy graced him with. “I’m a dude with a beard and I like wearing dresses. It wasn’t hard to see where I fit with this particular group.”

  “Wow!” Billy’s eyes were lit with excitement when he turned to me. “What do you do?”

  “Oh, well, I’m kind of a swingman,” I replied, ignoring the way Nellie snorted at the unintended double entendre. “I’m the backup ringmaster, which I do a few times a week, and I help with the animals.” In truth, I was one of the performing animals. There was no way I could adequately explain that, though. While there were shifters in the bar, I was almost positive Billy was not one of them. He might not know anything about the paranormal world, and explaining it now would be risky.

  “He also helps Poet with her tent,” Nellie added. “She’s our fortune teller.”

  “Oh, yeah? Does she read tarot cards or something?”

  “She’s psychic,” Nellie answered. “She doesn’t need cards. She reads minds.”

  I had no idea where he was going with the statement, but I nodded when Billy looked to me for confirmation. “She’s an amazing woman,” I agreed. “Her act is so good I almost believe it’s the real deal.”

  “I always pictured myself on the trapeze,” Billy admitted. Thankfully my mouth was hidden behind my beer mug when he said it because otherwise he would’ve been offended by my expression. “I like the outfits.”