Vaudeville Runaway

  Vaudeville Runaway

  Cirque de Nuit Pride

  Emma Dean

  VAUDEVILLE RUNAWAY

  CIRQUE DE NUIT PRIDE

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Copyright © 2019 by Emma Dean

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, locations, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  To those, like me, who occasionally

  just need a sweet romance

  In a magical circus.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Other Books by Emma Dean

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Kitty

  “Look Kitty, the customer is always right,” Matteo snapped, crossing his giant arms over his meaty chest. “If he wants to fuck you and he pays for it, he can.”

  She fumed, absolutely furious. Kitty hadn’t been working at this particular club long, but it was as despicable as everyone had said. “The customer can go fuck himself. I don’t care how much he’s paying. That’s not what I do and it’s not in my job description.”

  If he pushed her she’d call the cops. Kitty may be a stripper, but she wasn’t about to perform illegal prostitution with some slime ball. And knowing Matteo, he’d take most of the money anyway.

  “Then I guess this might not be the right fit for you,” her boss said, taking a step forward.

  He was trying to scare her, cow her into agreeing. It wasn’t going to work. Kitty hadn’t survived this long by letting disgusting strip club owners make her do anything she didn’t want to do.

  “I guess not,” she said, whirling around to grab her normal clothes from the locker room.

  Matteo followed her in, another reason she was glad to be rid of this place. If she wasn’t so desperate she never would have agreed to work here, but she’d just needed something—anything to get her through the month.

  Looked like she’d managed to fuck it up again.

  “Hand over your tips then and be on your way,” Matteo said, getting in her space.

  Kitty whirled around, having half a mind to stab him with her spare heels. Six inches were no joke. “You have no right to my tips. Those were earned by me. The only ones who have any right to a percentage of them are the bartender and waitresses.” She stuffed the cash down her bra and grabbed her skirt.

  Matteo’s face turned red and she knew she didn’t have much time. He was going to kick her out and she wouldn’t survive this Portland winter in her underwear. Kitty yanked on her sweater and snatched her purse and coat as she turned to leave.

  But he was too fast—too big.

  Matteo slammed her into the lockers and she flinched when his massive fist came at her. But it didn’t connect with her face. It landed on the metal door, bending it in an impressive display of strength. “Give me the cash, girl.”

  Kitty wasn’t always the sharpest tool in the shed. She knew she wasn’t. Every time she got into a situation like this, rage overrode common sense and she was really spectacular at making a bad situation worse.

  “Or what?” she sneered.

  She managed to dodge the first punch. Kitty became dead weight and slid to the ground, then kicked up right into his crotch. While Matteo was doubled over she ran as fast as she could in her stripper heels. And for someone who wore them almost 24/7, it was pretty fucking fast.

  Matteo’s outraged bellowing followed her into the dark club. She tried to avoid the patrons and the waitresses, but Kitty wasn’t trying to be super careful. She just needed to get out and find a cab, a bus, something to get her as far away from the seedy club as possible.

  Slamming into one of the cocktail waitresses she muttered a hasty apology and scrambled to her feet. Kitty pushed through the bouncers and out into the frigid night, her breath coming out in smoky puffs. For a split second she wished she could breathe fire – so ridiculous even if burning this club and the owner to the ground would be a gift to the city.

  But this was the real world. There was no such thing as magic.

  Kitty ran, passing the empty bus stop as she scrambled for her phone. Could a cab or Uber make it before Matteo caught up to her?

  The sound of pounding footsteps and heavy breathing had her looking over her shoulder to see how far away they were. Matteo and the two bouncers were right behind her and gaining speed. Then her heel caught and Kitty went flying. She slid in the gravel and slushy snow, crying out as her bare skin ripped.

  Then hands were on her.

  Kitty screamed but the street was empty.

  It took everything she had to rip off her shoes and stand. Her feet burned in the snow but she bared her teeth and hit one bouncer over the head with her shoe, the heel slicing across his cheek. Blood bloomed on the dirty snow as he fell, unconscious.

  Kitty gave silent thanks to her ex-boyfriend for teaching her where to hit for an instant knockout. It took so little force if you knew the right location. Just below the jaw and they were out.

  Swinging again, the second bouncer managed to dodge the strike. Matteo had his hands on one arm, trying to wrangle her into submission but Kitty was a force of nature. She kicked and slashed and snarled and never once held still long enough for any one of them to pin her arms or legs.

  This was the end of her road. She could feel it, could feel how close she was. One wrong move and they could accidentally kill her. There was something in her purse, but she wasn’t desperate yet and she wouldn’t have the time she needed to use it even if she could get her hands on it.

  The night sky twinkled in harsh opposition to her struggle to survive. Kitty wanted to snarl at the moon that battled the orange streetlight. She wanted to scream at it for putting a spotlight on her and still no one came to her aid.

  She was alone in the world. Alone by her own doing and no one was coming to help her. The kindness of strangers was a sick joke, and she knew…if she couldn’t get out of this alive it was her own damn fault because she’d insisted she could do this alone – live the life she wanted on her own two feet.

  But Kitty hadn’t anticipated how spiteful the universe could be – how badly it would try to prove her wrong.

  Swinging as hard as she could the heel connected…sank through skin, and then Matteo dropped to the ground. The second his hands were off of her she took her purse and ran, trying not to think too hard about the blood that soaked into the snow and quickly spread.

  Her bare feet burned and screamed in pain. Running as fast as she could, she flew over the slush and asphalt, ignoring the cuts from glass and rocks and who knew what the fuck else, but she would need a tetanus shot if she managed to survive this.

  Kitty had no idea where she was going. She had no direction or sense of what was safe. The club knew where she was staying – they had her address on file. The motel wouldn’t be a safe place to lie low. She tried not to
think of the only things she had left in that dingy room. They were just possessions and the safe was locked.

  The waterfront park loomed ahead. Kitty ran, knowing that no one would be there to help her so late at night, but maybe she could lose them in the trees. She would worry about her feet and the cold later.

  Her feet hit the grass and the tiny bit of relief had her sobbing. No more glass, no more rocks…just the freezing snow and ice. Glancing back she saw the two bouncers running after her. Kitty cursed the second one. Brute barely stayed down for five minutes and her bloody tracks would lead them right to her.

  Kitty skidded to a stop, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what to do now.

  Was the money really worth it? It was nearly a thousand…that money would pay for another month in the motel plus food, and then she’d have enough left over to start saving for her car repairs.

  Yes, it was worth it. For her pride – for the statement it would make about cheating anyone else ever again. Kitty made a vow that she’d go back one day and help those poor girls. One day. But she had to get through tonight first.

  How was she going to cover her bloody tracks? Any idiot could tail her with the bright red prints on the snow. She hid behind a tree, slid off her jacket, and then yanked off her shirt. It was easy enough to rip it into pieces.

  Kitty shivered as she put her jacket back on and zipped it up. Then she wrapped the pieces of her shirt around her feet. The sound of heavy breathing grew closer and her hands were shaking as she tied off the second strip.

  Angling around the tree so she could see, Kitty peered into the moonlit dark. Both bouncers looked around, confused and stupid. Then the smarter one – the one she had actually liked up until tonight – pointed out her tracks.

  Fuck.

  She tied off the last strip and took off blindly. Kitty didn’t know the park that well or where anything was. Kitty had only been in the city for a few weeks. But there had to be an end and a beginning. She would make it through, hide if she had to, and make her way back to the motel when she could.

  In the meantime she’d look for another place to stay. If she’d learned anything over the last year it was that there was always another dirty motel to stay in if she had the cash to pay for it. And right now that was all she possessed.

  Shouts from the bouncers told her how close they were. Kitty put on another burst of speed, thanking her stamina, but her feet were numb. They would only last a little longer. Already she could feel herself getting clumsy and slow.

  Then she tripped over a root that was covered by snow and went sprawling. The bouncers were on her in seconds and Kitty screamed – she screamed for help, for someone—anyone to come.

  But another thing she’d learned in the last year? Unless it somehow benefited them, no one would help her. People didn’t like to get involved in anything that looked potentially dangerous.

  Even if they saw for themselves as the stupid bouncer punched her and blood from her mouth sprayed across the pristine snow in a pattern that was almost pretty…they would duck their head and keep on walking.

  The smart one started searching her as she tried to get to her hands and knees but he kicked her in the ribs and she flipped over onto her back with another scream.

  It was so cold and she was so tired. Kitty was ready to give up – let the cold take her. Let them steal her money. It was only a thousand dollars. She wouldn’t need it if she was dead.

  Then the sound of a buckle being undone reached her ears and Kitty realized these fuckers were going to rape her and then take her fucking money. Would they even give it to Matteo? Was the owner even alive? Had anyone called the paramedics?

  Kitty laughed, exposing her blood covered teeth. It made both bouncers pause, one with his pants already down as the other held her down. He kneeled before her, his bare knees in the blood-soaked snow as he shoved up her skirt.

  But before he raped her he peered into her eyes – studying her as she just laughed and laughed. “What the fuck is wrong with you girl?”

  Kitty laughed again and then slammed her head into his nose hard enough she saw stars. He cursed as he reeled back. She didn’t wait or hesitate as she brought her knee up into the bouncer’s face – pinning her from behind. Her knee connected hard. His blood dripped onto her face, but he released her with a shout, reaching for his nose.

  She rolled over and popped up with renewed determination. “Now you two match,” she crooned in a sing-song voice. “Thought you could rape me? Me? I’m a goddamn warrior you assholes. Don’t ever forget it. Now go fuck yourselves.”

  The cold was making her stupid. But she couldn’t help hurling those words in their faces, reminding them that just because she was female she wasn’t weak.

  Kitty turned and ran – blindly.

  It didn’t matter where she was going or when she would get there. I’m a survivor.

  The words and the reminder were all that had gotten her through the last year. She would survive this cruel harsh world – and anything that tried to tell her otherwise could go to hell.

  It was so cold Kitty wasn’t really looking where she was running, so when she ran into something hard and immovable she wasn’t surprised. She dropped to the ground like a stone and couldn’t focus on what she’d run into.

  Those footsteps and wet, bloody breathing were getting closer. She had to get up. She would get up. Kitty struggled, but suddenly she was up and standing and then she realized the burning heat on her waist was a hand.

  Peering up into his face she could barely focus. But she could see he was beautiful. And tall. “Tell me what the fuck is going on,” he demanded.

  “So bossy,” she snorted, pushing him away. A small part of her warned that she should be careful. This man could be another predator. So many of them were. Kitty had to tread carefully.

  A second man whipped her around and eyed her like he would a horse he was buying. “Why are they after you?” he asked.

  Kitty realized that maybe the universe was trying to throw her a bone. After all, it couldn’t fuck with her anymore if she was dead.

  “Does it matter?” she asked. It never mattered. No one really wanted to know – no one ever really wanted to deal with someone else’s shitshow when they had their own.

  A third man came out of nowhere. How were all three of them so fucking beautiful? “Do you want us to get rid of them?”

  Kitty swayed on her feet and then shivered. “Yes,” she whispered, trying not to think how close of a call she’d had. “Please.”

  She hadn’t meant to beg, but they were so warm and…intense. They were looking at her like she was the answer to a question they’d had for a very long time. Kitty didn’t have the energy to wonder about that when her knees buckled.

  The first man cursed and managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Then she was in his arms and Kitty looked up into his jade-green eyes and tried not to swoon. “Take care of them,” he said. “I need to get her back to the Cirque.”

  Kitty snuggled against his chest. She let herself lose consciousness to the sound of snarls and screams and what sounded like a throaty roar.

  Chapter Two

  Calvin

  He washed his hands and eyed the woman out of the corner of his eye. She was banged up bad, but should survive. He snorted. She would survive. Calvin doubted she’d let anything else happen.

  No, this one was a fighter.

  So few humans were.

  If the blood everywhere hadn’t told him that, her ‘I don’t give a shit about the world’ attitude would have.

  Carefully – slowly he washed the blood from his hands in water so hot it nearly burned. He made sure to get under his fingernails too. Then he turned off the faucet and filled the sink with bleach.

  Dipping his hands into the sink he started washing again, ignoring the chemical smell that burned his nose. The clothes would have to be burned and he would have to shower too, but no one would ever find those bouncers that had tried to rap
e her.

  He eyed her again – so beautiful even as beat up as she was. It always sent a pang through his heart to see how slowly humans healed – as if they weren’t healing at all. Over time they eventually did. Weeks or months, sometimes it felt like years.

  When was the last time he’d talked with an actual human?

  Bringing her here had been a stupid idea.

  It had been a while since they’d even found one who needed their help. He’d taken in all kinds – but it had been a long time since they’d taken in a human.

  This human would wake up and then what? Run away with the circus? He snorted derisively and shook his head before pulling the plug in the sink. The bloody bleach drained away and it was as if nothing had happened.

  No trace of the murder he’d helped commit for a woman he didn’t even know. But something had pulled him toward her. It hadn’t just been the screams, but the universe pushing him—telling him to hurry.

  And the other two had followed as they always had.

  Calvin studied the sleeping female and sniffed. He didn’t smell anything on her that indicated rape, but he would have to ask to be sure. She had a lot of injuries though and Calvin didn’t know why she’d been running from those men.

  But he intended to find out – for the safety of his pride as well as for hers.

  His Second peeked into his tent and silently tilted his head toward the female as if to ask if she was all right. He shrugged. Calvin had no idea if she was or not. But she was alive. Then his Second arched a brow.