“There’s just nothing to talk about.” I rubbed my temple. “And it’s been a really long week, and that has nothing to do with Gabe.”
I wasn’t actually lying about that. While things with Gabe had taken a depressing turn tonight, one where I wasn’t sure that it would be fair to him if I saw him again, it was mostly the carnival and Caudry and everything around it weighing down on me.
“I will drink to that!” Tim lifted his beer up, like he was toasting, and then took a long drink.
Luka put one hand on his boyfriend’s leg. “How are you feeling?”
“My leg’s still sore, and I’m only levitating about a third of the time,” Tim said.
“Yeah, it’s about the same for me.” Roxie grimaced. “My pyro is a frickin’ joke right now. Like, I hated it when I first got it, but now my whole act is based around it, so I need it. This whole place sucks.”
Hutch sat at the end of the table, rocking on a crate that he used for a chair since the table didn’t comfortably seat five. “Is Jackie still planning on leaving?”
“I don’t know.” Tim set his cards facedown on the table and slumped back in his seat. “She wants to, but my brother is refusing to go right now, and I don’t think she’ll leave without him. At this point, though, I’d honestly be happy if we just packed up and left.”
Roxie folded her arms and leaned forward. “You know what my theory is?”
“What?” Hutch asked, looking up at her.
“That thing—whatever it is—is targeting us because we have supernatural powers,” Roxie said, like this was a theory she had worked out in her head even though I hadn’t heard it before.
Luka scoffed. “That doesn’t make any sense. The only things that have been ‘targeted’ so far were Seth and the tigers, and the tigers aren’t any more supernatural than any other cat.”
“Whoa.” Hutch sat back, and his eyes widened. “What if Safēda did have extra senses like you guys did? I mean, she was particularly well-behaved and nice for a tiger.”
“That’s not what I meant, but maybe.” Roxie shrugged. “Or maybe the thing just attacked them because they were outside and available.”
“Let’s say I buy your theory that we’re being targeted,” Luka allowed, but he did little to mask the skepticism in his voice. “What is this thing allegedly doing the targeting, and what’s its motive?”
“Gideon seems to think it’s some type of coyote, so maybe it is,” Roxie said, which only caused Luka to roll his eyes. “We all agree that Caudry has bad vibes going on, and it’s messing with all of us. Even those without extra senses have been having strange dreams.”
“Last night I dreamt that I had the head of a bear, and when I tried to talk to people nobody could understand me and they all ran away screaming,” Hutch interjected.
“So, it’s reasonable to assume that whatever ‘power’ is at play here is screwing with the local flora and fauna,” Roxie went on, ignoring Hutch. “This place could drive a wild dog or a coyote mad and cause them to lash out, especially at anything that they sense has supernatural powers.”
“You’re making big leaps on what it’s ‘reasonable to assume,’” Luka said dryly.
“They have purple fireflies here,” I said, remembering how magical that date had felt and pushing down all the feelings that went along with it. “Gabe showed them to me.”
“See?” Roxie glared at Luka, vindicated.
“Purple fireflies are a big stretch to supernatural-hunting-coyote,” Luka said.
I started peeling off the label of my beer bottle as something occurred to me. If Roxie was right about the flora and fauna being affected, and the purple fireflies suggested that she was, then Gabe would probably fall under the category of local fauna.
“Do you think Gabe likes me so much because this place is screwing with his head?” I asked quietly, interrupting Roxie’s argument with Luka about what constituted reasonable.
“No, he likes you because you’re likable,” Roxie said, looking at me like I was an idiot. “Is that what your deal is with him? You’re freaking out because a boy actually likes you?”
“I’m not freaking out, but that’s not the problem.” I lowered my eyes. “It’s because he likes me, and I’m leaving, and I don’t want to hurt him.”
“Not to ruin your touching moment here,” Tim interrupted, and his blue eyes landed softly on me. “I am genuinely sorry for the mess you’re in, Mara.” I waved it off, so he continued. “But if Roxie is right, doesn’t that mean that we should all leave immediately, before someone else gets hurt?”
“No.” Roxie shook her head so hard, her ponytail bobbed wildly behind her. “We’ll just take precautions, like Gideon said.”