Call of Water (Madame Tan's Freakshow #1) - Marina Simcoe Page 0,29

up.”

No audible reply followed, but I wondered if that was the name of the dark-haired ticket-booth girl. She seemed to do pretty much everything around here, from selling tickets, to waitressing, to cleaning up.

“Radax,” Madam ordered to another one of her mostly silent helpers. “You have a few hours. We’re leaving at sunrise.”

A good few minutes passed in silence after Madame had exited. Then I heard the deep voice of Radax, “Go, get her dinner now, Amira, then take a nap for an hour. I’ll manage without you for now.”

As brief as the statement was, I caught a warm note in his voice I didn’t expect from someone like him.

“Thank you,” came in a barely audible whisper from the girl, Amira, then the soft padding of her shoes sounded as she left.

Radax stomped around the tank for a while as I lay still as a mouse, praying he wouldn’t decide to check under it.

Once he finally left, I waited for a few more minutes, listening for any sound out there. This room must be deeper inside the group of the tents, with numerous walls and partitions effectively muffling the outside noise. All seemed quiet.

It was time to get out of here.

With a deep breath to calm my nerves, I crawled out onto the rug behind the bar. A faint glow from the streetlights filtered through the roof of the tent above, barely making a dent in the darkness.

Poking my head around the bar, I made sure no one was nearby then got to my feet and scurried to the velvet curtain, the way I had come in.

Before lifting it, though, I paused, staring back at the water tank. All the lights inside it were off, and the dark water made it impossible to see anything inside.

I hadn’t heard any sound of Zeph getting out of it. Did they leave him inside for the night? That wouldn’t be an appropriate way to treat a business partner or an employee.

Clutching the curtain in my hand, I recalled Zeph’s listless expression and his wordless cry, more harrowing because it was soundless in the water. Was all of that an act?

Something didn’t feel right about this place. Regardless of Zeph’s position here, I decided to call the police the minute I got out of here if Fleur hadn’t already.

A noise somewhere inside the tents snapped me back to the moment. Madame’s people must have started to pack up as she’d ordered. Someone would come here, too, sooner or later.

Drawing back the curtain, I peeked into the corridor behind it to make sure no one was there. Then, I carefully started on my way back to the support pole and the gap in the wall I’d used to sneak in.

Right in the spot where it was, though, a massive wooden crate now stood, blocking my way. Frantically patting with my hands around the corner of the crate, I realized there simply was no space for me to squeeze behind it.

Unable to get out the way I’d came in, I searched for the bottom end of the canvas wall. If I yanked at it hard enough, I might be able to free it from the sand bags outside so I could crawl under it.

The canvas wall, edged with tarp, made the crinkling noise again when I tugged at it.

“Who’s there?” A deep male voice suddenly boomed nearby, startling me into panic.

One of Madame’s tattooed guards shuffled from around the crate.

Holding my breath, I pressed my back to the crate, frantically scrambling for an idea of what to do next as the guard moved my way.

Should I run back to the room with the tank and try to hide again? Or scream, in hope that someone outside would hear me?

Maybe I could just stay still, hidden by the crate?

A loud growl, accompanied by weird hissing noises, suddenly came from right behind me. I jumped forward, unable to hold back a strangled gasp of alarm, then realized too late that the sounds were coming from inside the crate.

The guard saw me.

“Hold there!”

The ray of light from the flashlight in his hand landed on my face, blinding me for a moment. Breathless from terror, I pivoted on my heel and ran as fast as I could back to the VIP room.

With his heavy steps gaining on me from behind, there was no time to stop and check if the space behind the curtain was still free of Madame’s people. I rushed in at full speed and bumped into the