Donovan Circus from the
time I was born until I was almost a teenager. We moved away, did the human
thing for a while. Time went by, my folks both passed away, so I took Sheffield
up on an offer,” I explained.
“Wait ‘til you see Lucy’s
firepower in action. She deserves to be here,” Keegan said. He gave me an
encouraging wink. I blushed; I could already feel my crush on him grow bigger.
Gabriel turned his whole body to
face me. “Oh yeah? You a talented Firestarter?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” I said.
“Do not mind her modesty. She is
unbelievably good,” Delia added.
He put his cigarette out and sat
back in his chair. “How so?”
“She can harness fire that isn’t
her creation,” Bianca jumped in.
“And send out a heat wave so big
it knocks your ass over,” Finley said. He looked over at my face and grinned.
“Don’t look so embarrassed, Lucy. We can brag on me or Brooklyn next if it
makes you feel better.”
“Was that fireball dance in the
sky last night your doing?”
I nodded, feeling the blush
creep up in my cheeks.
“Pretty impressive for a girl,”
Gabriel commented.
“What did that malaka just say?”
Delia asked. A secret smile flitted through the group.
“You know. ‘Cause Firestarters
aren’t normally female, right?”
“It’s not like they’re
nonexistent. Just less of them,” I replied.
“I’ve never even heard of female
Firestarters, honestly,” Gabriel said.
“She’s definitely better than
me,” Keegan said. I looked over at him; he gave me a shrug, like we all knew it
was true. No one argued and I wondered if it was because they agreed.
“Well, what about you? I heard
you’re the best one here,” Gabriel said, glancing at Nikolas, who had remained
silent throughout the entire conversation.
Nikolas paused for a moment before
he leaned forward. He took a sip of beer and looked at Gabriel. It definitely
appeared as though Gabriel was baiting him. I did not approve.
“She’s a great Firestarter, for
a girl or guy. I think we all have a
lot to offer, regardless of what gift,” Nikolas finally responded. He took
another sip from his bottle and kept his hard gaze on Gabriel, who raised an
eyebrow. I found that to be a very diplomatic, mature answer.
“For example,” he continued,
“Brooklyn here is a Telepath. She keeps us updated with any potential threats.”
Jesus. Never mind that mature
thing I just thought. This was about to get heated. I didn’t want to look at
Brooklyn in case everyone else was looking at her too, but I snuck a peek
anyways. All eyes were on her, but she only gave a weird half smile and
finished off what I could only guess to be her fourth beer. If I were her, I
would’ve fallen right out of my chair.
“Yeah. I do that. I get the
machismo happening here. Don’t put me in the middle of it. Gabriel, I don’t
read minds that don’t want to be invaded. Nikolas, Gabriel’s provoking you.
Let’s not set anything on fire. Everyone grow up, drink your beers and go back
to X-Men comics or whatever the hell you nerds love to bore me with, okay?”
Delia and Bianca laughed, while
Finley and Keegan also cracked a smile. I had to admire Brooklyn’s tenacity, as
well as agree with her. My palms slapped to the table as I stood up and spoke.
“C’mon, you know I’ve never been
out like this before? You guys are in charge of showing me what it’s like to be
back in circus life as an adult. Who wants another beer?”
Everyone ordered a beer and I
moved through the tables to get to the bar line. In front of me were a few of
the older drunk men. A couple of them looked at me, so I smiled in greeting to be
nice. One gave me a normal (albeit drunken) smile back, while the other sort of
leered at me. Creepy.
“Thought I’d join you up here,”
Gabriel said from behind me. I jumped. What was he, a ninja?
I turned around to look up at
him. “Why? You were doing so well with everyone at the table back there.”
“I didn’t
time I was born until I was almost a teenager. We moved away, did the human
thing for a while. Time went by, my folks both passed away, so I took Sheffield
up on an offer,” I explained.
“Wait ‘til you see Lucy’s
firepower in action. She deserves to be here,” Keegan said. He gave me an
encouraging wink. I blushed; I could already feel my crush on him grow bigger.
Gabriel turned his whole body to
face me. “Oh yeah? You a talented Firestarter?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” I said.
“Do not mind her modesty. She is
unbelievably good,” Delia added.
He put his cigarette out and sat
back in his chair. “How so?”
“She can harness fire that isn’t
her creation,” Bianca jumped in.
“And send out a heat wave so big
it knocks your ass over,” Finley said. He looked over at my face and grinned.
“Don’t look so embarrassed, Lucy. We can brag on me or Brooklyn next if it
makes you feel better.”
“Was that fireball dance in the
sky last night your doing?”
I nodded, feeling the blush
creep up in my cheeks.
“Pretty impressive for a girl,”
Gabriel commented.
“What did that malaka just say?”
Delia asked. A secret smile flitted through the group.
“You know. ‘Cause Firestarters
aren’t normally female, right?”
“It’s not like they’re
nonexistent. Just less of them,” I replied.
“I’ve never even heard of female
Firestarters, honestly,” Gabriel said.
“She’s definitely better than
me,” Keegan said. I looked over at him; he gave me a shrug, like we all knew it
was true. No one argued and I wondered if it was because they agreed.
“Well, what about you? I heard
you’re the best one here,” Gabriel said, glancing at Nikolas, who had remained
silent throughout the entire conversation.
Nikolas paused for a moment before
he leaned forward. He took a sip of beer and looked at Gabriel. It definitely
appeared as though Gabriel was baiting him. I did not approve.
“She’s a great Firestarter, for
a girl or guy. I think we all have a
lot to offer, regardless of what gift,” Nikolas finally responded. He took
another sip from his bottle and kept his hard gaze on Gabriel, who raised an
eyebrow. I found that to be a very diplomatic, mature answer.
“For example,” he continued,
“Brooklyn here is a Telepath. She keeps us updated with any potential threats.”
Jesus. Never mind that mature
thing I just thought. This was about to get heated. I didn’t want to look at
Brooklyn in case everyone else was looking at her too, but I snuck a peek
anyways. All eyes were on her, but she only gave a weird half smile and
finished off what I could only guess to be her fourth beer. If I were her, I
would’ve fallen right out of my chair.
“Yeah. I do that. I get the
machismo happening here. Don’t put me in the middle of it. Gabriel, I don’t
read minds that don’t want to be invaded. Nikolas, Gabriel’s provoking you.
Let’s not set anything on fire. Everyone grow up, drink your beers and go back
to X-Men comics or whatever the hell you nerds love to bore me with, okay?”
Delia and Bianca laughed, while
Finley and Keegan also cracked a smile. I had to admire Brooklyn’s tenacity, as
well as agree with her. My palms slapped to the table as I stood up and spoke.
“C’mon, you know I’ve never been
out like this before? You guys are in charge of showing me what it’s like to be
back in circus life as an adult. Who wants another beer?”
Everyone ordered a beer and I
moved through the tables to get to the bar line. In front of me were a few of
the older drunk men. A couple of them looked at me, so I smiled in greeting to be
nice. One gave me a normal (albeit drunken) smile back, while the other sort of
leered at me. Creepy.
“Thought I’d join you up here,”
Gabriel said from behind me. I jumped. What was he, a ninja?
I turned around to look up at
him. “Why? You were doing so well with everyone at the table back there.”
“I didn’t
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