Page 127 of Galaxy Circus Act One

I assure them I will and jump out, and they take a side street to get out of the path of the dinosaur. I quickly press my watch, calling the grandpas and Xavier.

“What’s up, sweet pea?” Eric asks as I watch Viggy try to make friends with people, but they just run in terror. I startle slightly at the pet name, but quickly shake it off.

“Ah, did you guys know that Viggy is calmly walking down Las Vegas Boulevard, trying to convince someone to throw the palm tree he has in his mouth?”

I walk toward him, dodging the people fleeing in terror as he drops the palm tree, climbs the barriers that surround the pool in front of Treasure Island Hotel, and takes a long drink out of the pool the pirate ship is floating in.

It’s such a ridiculous sight that I almost want to start laughing in disbelief, but as more and more people run, the idea of laughing seems ill-timed.

A litany of curses sounds out from my watch, so I’m guessing the answer is no. “I’m going to try to distract him, but Xavier, you need to get here as fast as you can.”

They tell me they’ll be here as soon as possible and just to stay calm. I look around, floundering with what to do to distract him. A lady passes me, going in the opposite direction, with a bunch of balloons tied to a stroller she’s pushing. I grab her arm, stopping her.

“Can I borrow these?” I ask, shoving a hundred-dollar bill into her hand and untying the balloons.

She yanks her arm away. “Let me go, you crazy bitch. Can’t you see the dinosaur?”

“Ma’am, don’t stress. I work for the circus, and it’s animatronic. He’s a bit of promotion to drum up business. It’s all a part of the act,” I reassure her, and it seems to work. The panic in her eyes dies down, and she looks more curious now, her gaze shifting from me to Viggy.

“That one at the edge of town?” she asks, and I nod in response.

“Yup, just hang back and enjoy the show,” I chirp, hoping that I’m not lying and she and the kid in the stroller don’t get eaten. So far, he hasn’t shown any interest in the silly humans as food. Thank fuck.

“Hey, Viggy, Viggy,” I call, and I see the exact moment he spots the balloons above my head and hears me call his name. He’s like a golden retriever who has finally been offered a treat. He bounds back over the barricade and comes running toward me, the sidewalk cracking under his weight. I contemplate turning and running, but I know there is no way I can outrun the giant beast, so I wait until he slides to a halt in front of me and brace myself to either be eaten or squashed, but he does neither.

“Sit,” I command, and he does, plopping his butt down in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard, the pavement vibrating with the abrupt action.

There’s a small smattering of applause as more and more people catch on to the fact that this is a performance. Yeah, right, an emergency, last-minute, unplanned performance.

Xavier appears before me in a flash of light, his human glamour in place. Well, okay then, I guess we’re not going for subtlety. Much to my surprise, there’s an even bigger applause with gasps of disbelief and comments of, “How did they do that?”

“Alright, Lila, we have a plan. I’m going to put Viggy’s harness and saddle on, and you’re going to run up his back and sit in it. Then, when your grandpas get here with the Galaxy Circus promo car, they are going to lead the way back to the circus with you two following behind. Just a calm, fun day of promotional activities.” Xavier runs his eyes over my body, making sure I am okay before pulling me into a quick hug. “Okay?”

“Ah, yeah, sure, I guess. Why didn’t you bring Fiona with you?” I ask out of the side of my mouth as Viggy’s harness and basket appear on his back.

“Because the bitch is nowhere to be found, and neither is her brother. We’re not even sure how Viggy got down here. He was supposed to be back in his habitat on the mothership.”

“I’m just thankful Htaed wasn’t transported too. That would have been carnage.” I shudder at the thought ofJurassic Parkbecoming a real thing.

“You’re not wrong,” he replies, and there’s a toot of a horn as the little clown van from the show and another bigger one with the Galaxy Circus logo on the side rolls up next to us.

“Okay, that’s your cue. He’s really easy. You just use the reins to steer him like a horse. Also, they have his favorite treats in the car and Eric is in charge of dropping them if he won’t follow along calmly,” Xavier informs me, guiding me to go around and climb up Viggy’s back. With my stomach in my throat and my heart beating out of my chest, I do as he wants.

“Good, Viggy. Stay, Viggy,” I say as I pull myself up onto his tail, his skin cold and dry underneath my hands. I use his ridges to climb up his back and sit in the saddle before grabbing the reins.

The now rather large crowd roars with applause and cheers, and I just smile and wave, smile and wave, before turning Viggy back in the direction he came. I breathe a sigh of relief when I squeeze my legs and he starts to walk calmly in the direction of the pod, following the clown and promo car.

Once back at the circus, we relocate Viggy to his habitat, and I collapse in exhaustion in my grandpas’ office. Caspian is there to meet us, and he grabs me and does the same scan of my body Xavier did.

“Fuck, are you alright? Thank God you were there.” He hugs me tight, leads me to a sofa, and helps me sit down next to the warlock before taking a seat himself, squishing me between them, which is perfect for now.

“Did anyone find our idiot niece and nephew?” William asks Cas, running a frustrated hand over his hair. It’s grown slightly in the past two weeks and looks like it’s ready for another buzz cut.

“Yes. They both claim they have no idea how it happened. They also have an alibi. They claim to have been visiting with Nambra and Lexus in their quarters since they have been confined to them. When I spoke to the transport operator, he was just as confused. The log shows the transport happened, but he doesn’t remember doing it. I’d like both Link and Xavier to check him over,” John informs us. He stayed behind when William and Eric rushed to help. I’m afraid it’s all been too much for him recently. With his depressed mood and all the trouble with the performers, he’s not the polished, well-kept man I met two weeks ago.

“Good thinking, but I would be the only one who could remove his memory like that. None of the other warlocks on this ship could do it now that Elyan has been stripped of her powers, and even if she had them, I don’t think she could. The other four just don’t have the juice. And yes, they are confined, but I thought they were aware they couldn’t have visitors either,” Xavier grumbles before putting an arm behind me and playing with my hair.

“Well, there has to be something somewhere. I’m going to go to the security room on the ship to see if anything shows up on the cameras,” Eric says, standing up, but before he can go anywhere, the door to the room flies open, and Link rushes inside.