Arla’s brows rose at Rayth’s expressive reaction to her question. She couldn’t tell if he was mocking her, or genuinely surprised. Either way, she hadn’t thought it was [i]that[/i] stupid or shocking of a guess. She tilted his head as he took a deep breath, deciding he was being genuine. That, or one good actor.
	Rayth’s tone made her steps hesitate as the boy answered her. Her eyes narrowed as she studied him, trying to figure out what else it could be. Then, he met her gaze. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled.
	She stopped at the completion of his answer. That only [i]one[/i] of those two was an act.
	For a moment, she wasn’t sure she heard him right. Or he was trying to freak her out, to keep with the show. Rather, she [i]hoped[/i] he was messing with her.
	“You can’t seriously be implying…” But the sincerity in his eyes cut the words short. Whether his gaze or something else, she was certain he wasn’t lying. Somehow, it made perfect sense.
	Her muscles tensed and heart quickened. A mix of exasperation and the alert fear of recognition hardened her emerald gaze. There was apparently no escaping the supernatural.  
	She moved one hand to her side, thankful she had forgotten to hide the hunting knife at her belt before entering the circus. Her fingers twitched toward it, brushing the hilt, but she hesitated. Unlike the last thing she’d used it on, chances were, Rayth could disarm her in a blink. And he knew his way around a blade far better than she did.
	Yet, his tone and the way he held himself made him look more… subdued. It hadn’t been a threat. Simply a statement of fact, as if a vampire being in a circus was a simple part of another typical day. Her fear gave way an inch, making her brow furrow in confused curiosity. He was shockingly ready to tell her he wasn’t human—even if indirectly.
	She tried to take a couple breaths to steady herself and her panicking thoughts. He didn’t [i]feel[/i] like an immediate danger to her. Her first impression of him even struck her as someone she would look forward to getting to know.
	But that didn’t change that he wasn’t human. And the only reason she could think of for him to be so quick to tell her what he was, was he didn’t expect her to live to see the next morning to start trouble for him over it.
	She took a couple steps away from him and swallowed, her gaze shifting toward the lawn, but still keeping Rayth’s legs in sight. 
	She shook her head subtly in disbelief at her foul luck. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think she was somehow attracting these things now.
	“I’m [i]not[/i] doing this again,” she breathed, her jaw tight. Her fingers tensed around her knife’s handle, trying to hide their trembling. 
	As confident in her running abilities as she was, at the moment, she was lucky to be capable of walking. But unlike before, she knew the way out. And here, she wasn’t alone. If he tried to follow her out, all she had to do was make a scene, to shout loud enough to gain the attention of the partygoers. As strong as lore made vampires out to be, he’d be vastly outnumbered here. Or so she hoped.
	She raised her gaze back to his face, hard determination mingling with the fear in her eyes. Despite the sinking certainty he could overpower her before she could even think to draw it, she still kept her hold on the knife, ready to pull it out if he so much as twitched in a way she didn’t like. It wasn’t much, but it was all she had.
	She edged slowly toward the gate, careful to keep some distance between them. She kept her gaze fixed on Rayth, using his stable sight as a new anchor to hopefully keep the fog in her mind at bay. 
	“I’ve already dealt with two of your murderous pals,” she hissed, trying to sound menacing while struggling to keep a slight tremor from her voice. She reached a hand out to the gate, using her peripherals to find the latch. “If you don’t want to make that tally three,” she lifted the latch, glad when it came free easily, “I suggest you don’t come after me.”
	Without giving him the time to respond, she opened the gate and slipped out of the backyard. Heart pounding in her throat, she pulled it shut behind her. She stepped backward away from the gate, not daring to take her eyes off it yet. If an enraged vampire was going to come after her, she’d rather know.  
	She hissed when she again stumbled over her own feet on the more earthy, uneven ground outside the fenced fairgrounds. This time, she managed to stay on her feet without aid. 
	And the gate remained closed. 
	Reluctantly, she took her eyes from it long enough to scan the new surroundings of the railroad. More of a private affair, a train sat on a set of tracks a few yards from fence. A logo akin to the one on the black invitation stood out on the sides of a few of the cars.
	With a last, backward glance to the gate, she hurried toward the train. She took it slower than she would have liked, not comfortable with trying to run with her head still filled with the wisps of fog from her incense allergy. Worried the quick motion of glancing behind her would make her lose her balance, she kept her gaze ahead.
	She carefully made it to the opposite side of the car, out of direct sight from anyone who may come through the gate. Taking a deep, shaky breath of the warm, evening air, she leaned her back heavily against the train car. The scent of the incense lingered in her nostrils and on her clothes, mingling with the smells of metal, oil, and residue of carnival confections.	 
	Arla scanned the area behind the train and fairground, searching for pursuers—be it Rayth, or somehow the warehouse-duo seeking vengeance. Only empty field and another set of unoccupied train tracks greeted her.
	She let out a heavy exhale. She pushed from the train car and crouched near the car’s front. She peered around it between the space between the connected cars, absently watching the gate. To steady herself, she placed one hand on the metal of the train car above her.
	A small voice at the back of her mind urged her to stop and think things through. So far, she’d taken things as they came, one improvisation after another. Having dozed off during the day on the bus ride to L.A., she hadn’t fully stopped to consider a practical plan B if the circus didn’t work out.
	Her hand clenched into a fist and she huffed out a breath toward the ground. The circus had been her best hope of escaping both the tedium of her home life, and the supernaturals possibly still tracking her. But even [i]it[/i] apparently had a monster problem. A problem she doubted any of them knew they had. 
	She cast another glance around her, then closed her eyes. She took a few slow, deep breaths, trying to slow her heart rate and calm her raging, crowded mind. She concentrated on the feel of the darkness around her, on the soft, cool shadow of the train car draped over her.
	Though she never could figure out why, once the sun set, the darkness felt more like a comforting friend than a conniving foe. It silently spurred her on, promising to aid her where it could in whatever escapades she took on. Focusing on that sensation, she felt the tension and alarm from running into another supernatural monster ease up. Though not by much, it was enough for her to subtract it as a mental obstacle. Even the haze of the incense lifted a fraction.
	She opened her eyes and looked back to the gate. A handful of blinding lights still shone about the fairgrounds, making her squint slightly as she looked above it. 
	She shifted her weight as her conscience nagged at her. Frieda had been kind to her, offering her sanctuary, and in return, Arla had fled, leaving the ringmistress to deal with the monster hiding in plain sight on her own. There was no telling what damage he could do before someone realized he wasn’t human. [i]If[/i] they even realized it.
	Though she’d only spent a few minutes with the ringmistress, she couldn’t bring herself to just leave the woman and her troop. With a frustrated growl, she ran her tongue over her teeth in contemplation.
	She needed a plan. Because unlike her last encounter, there was more than her own life at stake. She had to find some way to get him out of there, away from where he could hurt someone… and preferably without getting herself killed in the process. 
	She scowled. Planning was never her strong suit as soon as the change the night brought with it settled in.
	Her fingers moved to tap against her knife’s handle. There had to be [i]something[/i] she could do. But the question was, [i]what?[/i]