not being the one to deliver the circus’s welcome speech.
“Do someone else,” the Starling twins crowed. “Try the mayor!”
“That’s easy.” Juno’s tattoos shifted into a grumpy rouge against her face as she raised a stern finger. “Ah Kallia, bane of my existence. I don’t know much about what’s going on, so obviously that means I need to yell at you for no reason.”
Everyone howled. Kallia almost choked on her candy from laughing so hard. She was about halfway through the small bag, feeling much more revived, when a small bell dinged outside the tent.
“Is it next shift already?” The knife-thrower began reaching for her weapons until Aaros suddenly popped his head through the entry flap, withdrawing in an instant.
“Shit, sorry, I didn’t—I saw nothing!”
“Keep poking in here unannounced, and we’ll make sure of it,” Canary called out.
“Sorry about him.” Kallia shrugged, rising from the couch. “We still need to work on personal boundaries.”
“I heard that,” he grumbled from the other side. “May we come in?”
At the ladies’ assent, Aaros waltzed in to no fanfare. But when Demarco entered, Kallia immediately swallowed the lump of chocolate she’d been chewing. His presence shouldn’t have startled her—she’d invited him to meet her, for Zarose sake. Still, it was strange seeing him here. She knew him against the backdrop of the Alastor Place and the streets of Glorian, but not in the tight, cozy confines of the Conquerors’ tent. Each step he took inside, the room seemed to shrink around her.
The Starling twins both blushed. Juno hmphed, a bit too smugly. And Canary bent low in a mocking, regal bow. “Your Highness. Welcome to our humble abode.”
Demarco threw a dead-eyed stare of blame at Kallia.
“Are you truly a Patron of Great?” one of the Starling sisters blurted, as the other exclaimed, “You’re the Daring Demarco!” She, out of all of them, regarded him with the most awe, and Kallia almost laughed at his confused expression.
“No, I’m not. And yes, I used to be.” He spared them a tight smile before burying his hands inside his pockets. “You can just call me Demarco, though.”
“What do you call him, Kallia?” Juno whispered at her ear teasingly, and Canary snorted. Unamused, Kallia elbowed both of them as she strode forward.
“All right, two men in a women’s dressing tent is two men too many.” She took both of their arms, and saluted the Conquerors on her way out. “Ladies—thanks for the night. Cheers to many more.”
“To many, many more!” the others howled back. They continued laughing over another shared joke too muffled for Kallia’s ears as they strode out of earshot.
“Popular among wolves?” Demarco said. “Why am I not surprised?”
Kallia shook her head with a smile as they stepped into the cool night air. With a shriek of delight, Aaros latched onto her hand still cradling the Starlings’ pouch. “Oh Zarose, is this candy?”
“Mine.” She tugged back.
“If you give it to me, I promise I’ll leave you two alone for the night.”
“But I didn’t ask—”
Aaros snatched the bag and gleefully ducked into the crowd.
They spent a solid moment watching him disappear, before finally turning to each other with a laugh. “Is he always like that?”
“Unfortunately.” Goose bumps spiked over her skin. When she rubbed at her arms, he began unbuttoning his coat. She wrinkled her nose as he draped it over her shoulders unannounced. “What’s this?”
“It’s night. You might get cold.”
“Trying to cover me up?” she asked dryly. “It’s warm enough to go without, nowadays.”
“Fine. Give it back.”
It smelled too good, though. A hint of fresh smoke, the dark spice of some cologne. Or from the gel taming his messy hair, which she hadn’t noticed until now. Staring straight ahead, she tightened the black coat over her shoulders. Biting the edge of his lip, Demarco held back his comments, gesturing forward to the stream of spectators milling about. She hadn’t planned to go on a walk with him again, but what else had she expected when she told him to come?
Zarose, why had she even asked him in the first place?
“You put on a good show tonight.”
Kallia snapped a sideways glance at him. “Was that praise?”
“I could also give you criticism, if you’d really like some.”
He had to be joking. Tonight had gone flawlessly, and she’d felt it in the air, in the sea of faces still looking up in wonderment at the performers.
“I thought we were still getting to know each other, Demarco. Let’s save the business talk for later.”