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Every female eye was drawn to the samaster seldom came to sit around the bonfire with his carnivalleros at the end of a long day’s setup, and it had been ages since there had been any eligible felloorth glancing at across the flames Ever since Marco Taresque had stalked out of the moors, he’d been the topic of many a whispered conversation And on

Marco sprawled against a velvet settee that was one broken leg away from firewood The knife thrower took up more space than most men, and the other carnivalleros naturally shifted away to accoerous aura that surrounded him The fire lit his dark hair; the ever-present shadow of a beard highlighted exotically high cheekbones He used kohl as the Bludmen did, which only served tothe smoke and the cherry-hot flames

Directly opposite hiainst a barrel and sighed with longing She was half in love with Marco after only a few days, but she resented the hell out of those violet eyes The romance books she’d read at ho had always featured supernaturally beautiful heroines with eyes in unbelievable shades that real life failed to produce She’d resented the characters then, and now she resented the devilishly hot guy who refused to acknowledge her, or any of the carnival girls As Deed closer and closer to Marco, trying to draw him into her chatter He noring the tightrope walker and resident busybody--which was no mean task

In her fantasies, Deer and straighter and silkier than it was in real life She walked directly through the fire like some half-daimon sorceress instead of just another Bludwogerhter In the dream, Marco’s eyes finally settled on her face, his breath catching He stopped turning the dagger over and over in his gloved hands and stood, facing her The world stopped The fire ceased to dance The other carnivalleros disappeared It was just them, Demi and Marco, drawn to each other like bludbunnies to a scream He held out his arms, and she walked into them, and he kissed her until her knees ht And then he threw her onto the back of a bluder adventures

"I’m tired" Demi’s best friend and contortionist partner, Cherie, elbowed her in the ribs, and the fantasy blurred into son"

"I want to stay"

Cherie leaned close "Stop erous"

Deroaned and leaned her head back on Cherie’s shoulder "I know But he’s so undeniably hot"

"You’re just infatuated with the new shiny" Cherie stood, shaking out curly blond hair peppered with straw, bits of silk, and dust fro the patchwork tent under which they now sat, protected by the circled wagons of Criminy’s Clockwork Caravan "He’ll still be here toh the smoke Marco’s face was lost in the flame His expression was unreadable and far away, and his mouth turned down, just a little It only made her want to kiss him more and taste a passion she hadn’t known in her world or in Sang, where the only guys in the caravan were freaks, loners, or boring She’d had her eye on one of the new dai mistress, Mademoiselle Caprice He was tall and Franchian and had an air of savoir faire that appealed to her But once Marco arrived, Demi developed a one-track mind

When Cherie rose and held out her hand, Deracefully as she could Despite a day of drudgery and manual labor, she’d been careful to dress in clothes that showed off her lithe figure and accentuated the parts that boys liked to ogle Every day, she was thankful that Criht her to the least boring life in Sang--and the one with the least fruh boots, short skirt, and corset did a good job of bringing in the custohts, and now she felt the flicker of pride as male eyes snapped up around the fire to watch her stretch Just because she wasn’t interested in the caravan guys didn’t mean they weren’t attracted to her--or that she didn’t like the attention Even the lizard boy perked up, just a little, as she drew in a deep breath and pushed out her chest with a yawn

Cherie swatted her and snorted "Stop showing off He’s not even looking Coned look at the daydrea knife throho didn’t know she existed, De the carnivalleros’ tent froap, and they slipped past and hurried to their wagon, already shivering

"Wait What’s that?"

Cherie had stopped, staring out onto the moon-dappled moor, and Demi was so deep in daydreams that she nearly ran into her s on the hill above where absolutely nothing but a rogue bludbunny should have been

"A conveyance? Out here? But we’re h"

A shadow fell over the into claws When she saw the stark figure standing guard behind them, focused on the mysterious vehicle, she relaxed

"What is it, Criray eyes went as black as the night sky, his nostrils flared to scent the intruder He bared his teeth and turned it into a reassuring son, my dears I’ll have it sorted out in a jiff"