Circus of The Darned Read Online Free PDF Page A

diluting their purity."

    I debated telling him that Mom didn't think of him as evil just because he was a vampire, but
    seventeen different spots on me itched like mad, which meant my mother was upping the wattage
    in her spell. "Come on, no one will mind." I grabbed Ben's hand and hauled him after me as I jogged toward the flat area behind the main tent where my mother was holding her circle.

    "Fran—" Ben dug in his heels and stopped.

    "What? Oh, the sun! Sorry. Is it light enough to bother you?"

    "Not so long as I remain covered," he answered, tugging his hat so it shaded his face.

    "Good." I pulled on his hand. "Come on. Please? I missed you. I want to hear about what you've been doing, and tell you about all the interesting things I've been up to since we leftHungary ."

    He gave in, giving my hand a little squeeze before letting it go to wrap his arm around my waist.
    I went a little squidgy at that, but didn't have time to analyze just what that feeling meant—and what I should do about it—before we burst out into the circle.

    "There you are," Mom started to say, stopping when she saw Ben with me. She held a sword in her hand, the sword she used to draw circles. The other ladies in the circle—there were five of them, including two members of GothFaire—gasped as a group, like they were shocked that Ben
    was there.

    "I will leave," he said quietly.

    I tightened my hold on his hand. "If you're not welcome, then I'm not staying."

    "Fran…" Mom frowned for a moment, looking where I held Ben's hand hidden against my skirt so he wouldn't get sunburned, then to his face, thrown into shadow by the brim of his hat.

    I don't want to make trouble, Fran. It's better if I leave .

    You just got here! If you leave, I leave.

    Mom sighed. "Very well, you may stay, Benedikt But please do not interfere with the
    proceedings."

    "We won't say a word," I promised, moving aside to stand with the others. Mom had evidently just completed drawing the first circle, the one cast in the sight of the gods. She did that by drawing a circle on the ground with the sword.

    Have you ever been to a Wiccan circle ? I asked Ben as he scooted over behind me. I turned so I'd block him from the weak sunlight peeking over the horizon.

    No. Dark Ones are generally considered tainted. What is your mother doing?

    Mom held a sword at waist level and walked the boundaries of the first circle she'd drawn.

    A circle is drawn in three passes — the first is in honor of the gods. She did that before we got here. This one is to honor nature. The third signifies the spiritual level of the circle .

    Ah . Mom walked the third circle with the sword held over her head. Interesting.I had imagined there would be some sort of invocation or words spoken .

    Oh, there will be, don't worry. She'll do the invocation to the god and goddess after she
    welcomes everyone into the circle. See? She's getting the anointing oil now. Sometimes she uses flowers to welcome people to the circle, or honey, or even incense, but it looks like tonight is going to be oily-forehead night.

    Oily forehead?

    Desdemona, GothFaire's time-travel counselor, stepped forward into the circle.Mom annoined
    her on the forehead with a drop of oil. Desdemona bowed her head as if she was honoring my
    mother, but I saw her sneaking a peek at Ben. I moved a smidgen closer to him, doing my best to convince myself that I wasn't jealous.

    I like it best when she uses wine to welcome everyone to the circle , I said, smiling into Ben's mind. He smiled back as I followed Mikaela into the circle. A rich, pungent, spicy scent curled up as my mother touched my forehead and murmured a few words of what I knew was a
    blessing. I sniffed happily. She was using frankincense and myrrh oil, my favorite annointing oil.
    I took that as a sign that good things were going to happen, a thought that soured somewhat
    when I noticed Desdemona was still watching Ben.

    Navy, a nice woman who was really, really