Carnie Love

Willow was worried about Damon with his father sniffing around, but Nikolai came back and she had him to deal with. He knocked gruffly on her door and she opened it reluctantly. He stalked into the room and looked her over.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked.

“Yes, all the rest really helped,” Willow replied, slightly emphasizing the word rest. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

“I brought you some other tea and a tonic to help with headaches. I expect you to start practicing again this afternoon, since I’ve rescheduled your postponed shows.”

Willow almost protested but held back. He seemed especially antsy and intense today; she didn’t want to set him off on a warpath. She just nodded, resigned. She’d only have two days to resume her regular rehearsals before her next show. She didn’t mention it to Damon when he came through her window that night though; her singing performances were barely on her mind as she pulled him down to sit beside her on the bed.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, holding his hands.

“I’m fine.”

“Damon.”

“What? Really, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

Willow sighed. “I know you’re worried, whether you want to admit it to me or not. Seeing your father shook you.” She paused. “Maybe you should leave Elgion.”

His head snapped toward her and he frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Your father came looking for you. He’s probably not going to just give up and go away. But if you just left then maybe he wouldn’t be able to track you down again.”

“What, and just leave you here with that obsessive creep? Absolutely not.”

“I’d be okay,” she said, not sure if that was totally true. “I’m worried that your dad will try to hurt you and that would be worse than anything Nikolai puts me through.”

“Willow, I am not leaving you,” he said firmly. “Don’t worry about Royce, I can handle him if he comes around again. Besides, he can’t risk being seen around here. He’s an escaped convict, remember? He’ll probably leave town himself.”

Willow shot him a doubtful look and he squeezed her hands reassuringly.

“I’m not going to just leave you,” he repeated. “I’ll figure something out.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Willow corrected. “We’re sticking together like we always do, right?”

“You and me, Squeaky.”

“I love you,” Willow blurted, turning pink and looking down at their hands. “And I don’t want anything to happen to you. You’re still my best friend and we’re finally…more than that, which I didn’t think would ever happen.”

“Sorry for the wait,” Damon said, sounding almost sheepish as he tilted her chin back up. “But I love you too.”

Willow smiled. “Just promise me you’ll be careful,” she said. She got through two grueling days of rehearsal and then had her first show since her dramatic collapse on stage. She had four performance nights in a row like usual, and the first two went fine but Justine looked distressed when Willow finished and met her below stage.

“What’s wrong?” Willow asked.

“It’s Gramps,” Justine said, wiping at her eyes. “They don’t think he’s going to last the night.”

“We should go see him,” Willow said, her chest feeling tight.

“Nikolai won’t like it,” Justine warned.

“Right now I don’t care what Nikolai likes.”

Despite her tears Justine laughed slightly. “I like this new spunk of yours. Okay, come on.”

Willow was still bedecked in her jeweled hair clips and the multicolored dress Justine had made her, so she looked a little ridiculous among the regular longtime carnies who had also managed to come to Gramps’s tent. Gramps himself was lying on his bed, his eyes closed and his chest barely moving. Willow startled when someone touched her arm but then she realized it was Damon and she clung to his shirt. Molly and Justine joined them, Justine still sniffling into a handkerchief.

“I sent one of the temps to bring him dinner,” Molly explained quietly. “The boy couldn’t wake him up so he panicked and ran to find me and I came to check on him. He woke up for just a moment but he barely seemed to know where he was, the poor man.”

“I wish I could’ve seen him more,” Willow said quietly.

“He woke up a bit because he heard you singing,” Molly said, patting her shoulder. Damon pulled Willow closer and they stood together while they waited for the doctor that someone had been sent to fetch. Gramps didn’t wake up again, and the doctor was only there for a few minutes before gently informing them that Gramps had passed. Willow pressed her face into Damon’s shoulder to hide her sniffles as he led her outside the tent.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said gently. “Gramps adored you. And he got to hear you sing again before he went.”

“I’m going to miss him,” she sniffed, pulling back slightly to wipe some makeup and tear stains off her cheeks. Damon held her shoulders and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead.

“I should get back,” she said.

“I’ll come see you tonight,” Damon promised. Willow traded a tearful hug with Molly and Justine before Justine hurried her off to her changing tent and then back to the inn. Willow was just emerging from the washroom where she’d been washing off her makeup when Nikolai knocked heavily on her door.

“You returned later than usual,” was his greeting.

“I went to see Gramps. Justine told me we were about to lose him. I wanted to see him one last time.”

“He was no family to you,” Nikolai said dismissively. “You should’ve come straight back here. Now you’ve worked yourself up and you have a show tomorrow.”

“He was like family to me,” Willow said. “He took me in. He always treated me as if I were his own granddaughter. Of course I’m upset that he’s gone.”

“Then it’s good, I suppose, that you have other people around to comfort you.” Nikolai’s voice was cold as he tapped his cane irritably against the floor.

“I don’t know what you’re implying.”

“You think I didn’t see you there at James’s tent when I went looking for you?” Nikolai snapped. “You think I don’t know that you’ve been sneaking around with that brute of yours?”

“Damon is not a brute,” Willow replied, clearly startling them both with the force of her tone. “He’s a better man than you.”

“You’d better watch yourself.”

“You have no right trying to keep us apart,” she went on stubbornly. “And you had no right trying to keep me away from Gramps either. You think you own me but you’d be nothing without me and the other carnies.”

“Shut up,” Nikolai growled and Willow gasped as pain exploded through her head. She stumbled back, trying to catch her breath and realized Nikolai had lashed out at her with his cane. The silver snake’s head had struck her on the temple; she could feel a small trickle of blood as she reached up to touch the tender spot. Nikolai surged forward and gripped her shoulders roughly, nearly slamming her back against the wall.

“I said, watch yourself,” he said. “Now look at what you’ve made me do. You’ll have to make sure that mark is covered for the performance tomorrow, and I better not hear about you sneaking around anymore.”

He released her and she almost crumpled to the floor, bracing against the wall to stay upright. Nikolai stalked from the room and she took a few moments to calm her pounding heart. She shuffled into the washroom again and flinched at her reflection. Her cheek and neck were smeared with blood. She scrubbed it all off as best she could, then sank down in the seat in front of her vanity.

She swept her hair forward, doing a side braid that helped cover the blooming bruise. She had bruises forming on her upper arms from him grabbing her so she slid a robe on over the short sleeved night dress she was wearing. Her hands were still shaking when Damon came climbing through her window. He saw the look on her face and frowned.

“Upset about Gramps?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said softly. He crossed the room and knelt down in front of her, taking her hands.

“I know it’s hard,” he said. “I know he won’t let you out of tomorrow’s show, so maybe think of it as a tribute to Gramps—Willow, are you bleeding?”

Willow’s hand flew up to her head, realizing she’d missed a spot of blood.

“Um,” she squeaked. “Bleeding? I must have scratched myself with a hair pin. I’m fine.”