“We’re used to being judged by outsiders.” He set the tray and juice on the stand next to the small bed. “Eat something. You need to keep up your strength. Then try to get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning for breakfast.”
After Adam left, Maddie groaned. She wanted to smack herself. Her reaction to Adam’s revelation about Isis and Carl shamed her. She didn’t want anyone to think she was a bigot. And she really didn’t want Adam to think of her as an outsider.
Maddie took an orange slice from the tray and nibbled the pulp. Why had she dreamed of Cage and Adam? What did it mean that she’d ended up at their carnival? Love has made them mine. She had so many questions and very few answers. Tomorrow she would ask. Tonight, she would sleep.
*
Cage had been outside Alana’s trailer when Adam had been in with the girl. Madeline…Maddie, she’d said. His chest rumbled with a low, quiet growl. Why did Adam insist on keeping her? She’d be nothing but trouble if they didn’t get rid of her soon. Besides, she set his teeth on edge.
Something about the newcomer disturbed Cage and pushed his control to the brink. He’d been the one to catch her when she passed out, and having her in his arms had felt…strange. When Adam flirted with her in the trailer, Cage felt a twinge of regret along with a spark of anger.
Clary had only been gone six months. Too soon for Cage to think about courting another woman, even if she stirred him. He’d slapped the backside of the trailer before he’d gone around the front, knowing Adam would pay heed.
“She needs to go,” Cage said quietly when Adam opened the door.
“Brother,” Adam replied as he jumped down the steps. His disapproving glare brought heat to Cage’s cheeks.
Hadn’t the others said the same thing about Cage when Adam first rescued him? He’d been wild—out of control. His first taste of freedom had unleashed his savagery. If it hadn’t been for Adam…
As they walked in silence through the midway, a woman stepped out from the shadows behind one of the game stands. Alice Deckard, the carnival’s contortionist, waved at both men. Cage bit off his disgust. He liked her less than he liked the stranger. Alice had been Adam’s lover, before he’d freed Cage. She’d thought of Cage as a sub-species, not worth her time. It had caused a serious rift between Adam and herself, and she blamed Cage for their break-up nine years ago.
Why didn’t she just move on?
“Alice,” Adam said, his voice warm and welcoming. He kissed her cheek when she neared. Her long blond hair was pulled back in a severe braid giving her green eyes a slight slant. Dark eye-liner emphasized the angle and made her look exotic.
She smiled, keeping her voice light and friendly. “Carl says the back lot is clear. Darren’s finishing up through the tents, and the parking lot is empty. I think we’re good.”
Cage fought the impulse to scoff. Adam had taken Alice in after she’d been shot in her mountain lion form. She’d been hunting deer in the Missouri Ozarks and ended up being the hunted. She’d managed to escape the woods before transforming back to her human self and collapsing in a ditch near 65 Highway. By sheer luck, Adam had spotted her. He, with the help of Alana, saved Alice.
She’d seduced Adam, but their relationship couldn’t withstand her possessive nature. Adam would never be hers alone. He belonged to all under his protection. Under our protection, Cage mentally amended.
He couldn’t forgive her for how she’d acted when Adam first brought him to the carnival. Cage’s first year of freedom had been a constant fight against his own angry savagery—something Alice tried to exploit to her advantage. Her actions changed nearly cost him everything. Cage promised to keep her lies a secret if she promised to let Adam go. In nine years, she’d never gone back on her word, so neither had Cage. But she’d put a barrier between him and his adopted brother that not even time had been able to fix.
Clary had fixed it, he reminded himself, albeit temporarily. Bitterness and regret crept into his thoughts. Her death, another tragedy had erected the barrier once again. He missed Clary. Missed how she made him feel. Missed how her love had brought him and Adam closer. Missed how a simple touch from her could calm his restless spirit.
Madeline. A stab of guilt brought a scowl to his face. He didn’t even know this Madeline, yet how she made him feel was a betrayal to Clary’s memory.
“Brother,” he said to Adam after they’d finished shutting down and made it back to their trailer. “About this girl.” He forced the words from his lips. “Now that she’s awake, I think we should send her on her way in the morning.” Cage’s gut clenched as he once again asked Adam to get rid of the girl. He ached for her in an unnatural way. He hated the idea that his beast side, once again, was trying to take control.