Flopping down in a chair across from Frieda, Rayth leaned his head back and exhaled slowly. Now that they were on the edge of the back yard away from the bulk of the incense clouds, he could start to detox from the drugs. However, it was going to take some time for his wooziness to wear off. His head was still foggy as if one of the clouds had settled inside of it, and his limbs felt limp with exhaustion. At the moment, he wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and rest it off, but he couldn’t do that yet.
	“So, what did you wish to speak to me about, Rayth?” Frieda asked, coaxing him to fight back against the chemicals and pay attention to the matter at hand. She had settled comfortably in the other cushioned chair with one fishnet covered leg crossed over the other. There was no hint of intoxication in her bright eyes, but he hadn’t expected to see any. She was a pureblooded faerie, and an ancient one at that. He didn’t think there was anyone in the circus who was older than her except, perhaps, for the oracles she kept around as a sort of advising board.
	He’d heard a rumor from the other creatures that faeries grew more powerful as they aged, sort of like fine wine. If it was true, no amount of drugged incense would be enough to make her even a little tired.
	“Rayth?” the ringmistress said his name again, and he blinked, realizing he’d lost his train of thought.
	“Right, sorry,” he mumbled, wracking his brain to remember what they were supposed to be talking about. After a minute, it came back to him. “Remember when you told me to help Lune get settled in?”
	“Yes,” her alert eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
	“Well, I was going to,” his head lolled to the side, so he lifted it again to meet her gaze. “But she ran.”
	“She ran?” Frieda’s expression was unreadable, but there was an edge to her voice that made the vampire certain he’d messed up.
	“Yeah,” he shrank down in his seat. “But it wasn’t my fault. She’s a human. I told her I’m not, and she got scared. I wasn’t going to chase her down… That’s not the kind of sanctuary this is. Right?”
	Frieda pursed her lips, idly tapping her slender index finger against the armrest of her chair. It was clear that she was thinking deeply about something, but Rayth was too dazed to fathom what was going on inside her head.
	After a long pause, she spoke again, but what she said came as a surprise. “Go lie down. We need all able hands ready to help with the tear down.
	Rayth stared at her blankly, caught off guard by the sudden change in subject. “You’re not mad?” he asked and then immediately bit his tongue. Now wasn’t the time to poke the bear. If she was going to let him off, he shouldn’t have questioned it.
	“I see no reason why I should be,” the faerie smiled at him, rising gracefully to her feet.
	“But I just lost our newest member,” he tilted his head, baffled. Internally, he wished he could duct tape his mouth shut. The incense took away his filter, so he couldn’t stop himself from spilling the questions on his mind.
	Frieda chuckled. “I don’t believe you did. Now, get some rest, Rayth. That’s an order.”
	“Okay,” he mumbled, standing up more shakily. As he made his way over to the fence, he lingered on the ringmistress’s words. [i]Why does she think I didn’t lose Lune?[/i] He thought with a confused look on his visage. [i]I saw her run away. She’s gone.[/i]
	Maybe the faerie had decided Lune wasn’t worth keeping around since she was a human. Maybe she had said he hadn’t lost their newest member because the girl [i]wasn’t[/i] their newest member at all. Of course, that had to be it.
	Satisfied with the explanation, he settled down in the grass, facing the fence, and propped his head up on his arm. He took a slow breath, enjoying the smell of clean air now that he was too low to inhale the smoke that hovered overhead. With nothing else to do, he could finally focus on clearing out the mental fog that plagued his thoughts.
	He shifted on his side until he was comfortable and closed his eyes, taking advantage of the chance to rest before he would have to help the others clean up the yard.