Call of Water (Madame Tan's Freakshow #1) - Marina Simcoe Page 0,43

air.

Ulg threw a glare my way. Trez rushed to me. Painfully squeezing my arm, he yanked me to my feet.

“Fucking useless, either way,” he hissed under his breath.

I blinked rapidly, forcing myself to muster some form of composure.

“I tripped,” I managed to say more or less evenly, determined to keep it cool even if the creature started to chew on my foot.

Trez shooed the animal back behind the rocks. “Clean this up. Now.”

Silently picking up the dust pan, I proceeded to sweep what I had dumped out, feeling the resentful stares of my guards.

I wondered how exactly I was expected to behave in this situation.

Would Amira freak out?

Actually, despite her wordless obedience, she did not appear to be drugged and didn’t exactly act dazed or confused. The men in Madame’s service also behaved as efficient employees, rather than mindless automations. Maybe Madame fed the pink glitter only to me, and the others had their own reasons to willingly submit to her?

I decided to observe Yenric more closely, to figure out what exactly the glitter was supposed to have done to me.

Whatever it was, though, my performance that night must have satisfied Madame’s people because since then, I was let out of my cage regularly. I cleaned the animal enclosures after the menagerie closed for the night, mopped the hallways, and dusted the display cases in the room with the unanimated exhibits.

I didn’t see Zeph’s tank anywhere, and I couldn’t help but worry about him. I hoped Madame wouldn’t do anything worse to him than what she had already done. He was very “useful,” after all, considering the crazy amounts of money she made while displaying him in that tank.

There was still the possibility that Zeph could have been released, or maybe even managed to escape. In which case, I was completely on my own.

After another week, the men watching me started to relax their vigilance a little. My ruse must be working, as they would exit the room now and then, leaving me completely alone for a few minutes at a time.

One day, Trez brought me to clean a different room. It was completely empty except for the dragon-man statue Fleur and I had seen the day we first visited the menagerie.

It seemed so long ago now, as if in another life. I had no doubt that Fleur had made every effort to find me, including calling the police and notifying my parents. The fact that none of that had succeeded at freeing me yet told me that Madame must have her means of avoiding the law. I wondered if she routinely offered glitter-laced tea to officials and law enforcement officers to skirt the rules and avoid detection.

Mulling all of this over in my head, I dusted the dragon-man statue. It was too lifelike for me to stick a feather duster in its face. Instead, I took a clean cloth and gently wiped down his features, the way I would clean a face of a real person.

While sweeping the floor after that, I snuck closer to the window. This one was narrow with thick curtains tightly drawn, but it was not barred. As soon as my two guards stepped out of the room, I rushed to the window, getting as close as I dared to see as much as possible.

This definitely appeared to be fairgrounds. Except that the attractions were bigger and permanent, not like those in a traveling show.

An amusement park, maybe?

Though, it didn’t seem to be that big.

Something far in the distance caught my eye—a bright glow over the horizon straight ahead. Another glow of light rose into the dark night sky, far to my right.

Suddenly, I knew exactly where I was—on the major tourist promenade in Niagara Falls, Canada. The two glowing areas in the sky came from the multi-colored lights illuminating the Falls—both the American side and the Canadian Horseshoe.

The last time I had visited here was at least ten years ago. Many buildings had been changed and renamed since then. New attractions had been added. No wonder it took me a while to recognize this place.

What never changed, though, were the actual Falls. From my vantage point, the Horseshoe was to the right, and the American side was straight ahead, on the other side of the river.

We were back in Canada then.

My heart sped up at the realization, and it cost me extra effort to appear unaffected when my two supervisors returned. Mopping the floor, I kept my eyes down, afraid they would betray the