Ovation (Galaxy Circus #9)

Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Ghosie

“ S o the schedule will be Cas’s group, followed by Magenta and Susie and their new double act.” Lila is looking over her notes from rehearsals. I tick off each act against my own list. I love that I have fallen into the role of Lila’s personal assistant. It feeds my need for order, and I’m able to contribute to this family. I don’t have any skills that can translate into an act or magic that will assist, like Xavier and Zeydan, or medical training like Link. I do have some combat experience, but that’s more of the smash and grab style instead of trained military skill like Brannock and Saxon, so it makes me happy that I can contribute in this way.

Poor Lila was looking slightly overwhelmed, and she took on the job that is usually done by the three Adams brothers. Together, we make a great team.

“Then the lightning cats. Minx seemed to fit in well. They are a much more cohesive unit now that Natalia is gone.” She jumped down into the ring and rehearsed with them, practicing with the whip that she didn’t really need. All of them obeyed her vocal commands, but there needed to be a little showmanship in there, so she cracked it, and Maxsim was unruly and disobedient.

I could see her giggle the whole time he was pretending to be ferocious. Anyone else in the ring probably would have run off, terrified, but she just gave him a scruff on the mane and spanked him on the butt as he turned his back to her. Echo is still performing with them for now, but I’m sure that will change once he gets closer to giving birth. He’s starting to show more in the belly, and all I want to do is reach out and rub my hand over it, but I don’t want to upset his alpha, so I keep my hands to myself.

There’s silence, and I realize Lila is waiting for me to respond. “Oh, sorry, I was thinking about the act. Yes, she did fit in well, and the act was good,” I assure her, because I have a feeling she’s worried about her own performance.

She taps a finger against her lip. “I feel like we need to change it up a bit. The cats have been with the circus for a few seasons now, so the rest of the galaxy has seen them, but I don’t know how to make it fresh.”

We’re quiet for a moment as we both rack our brains for something, but I have nothing, and it seems she doesn’t either. “Don’t stress, we can work something out.” I reach over and pat her leg. The palm of my paw doesn’t have any hair, so it’s safe for me to touch her like this. She told me that once her grandmother gets her powers back, she will ask her to fix us or, if that doesn’t help, then once she has Vivax’s power, she will reverse the curse on the carevasta bears. I live for the day when I can touch my mate without it causing all-consuming lust. I’m sure our whole race will benefit from the change as well.

“Okay, so after the cats are the Nenghe. I was thinking that Oruck could go after them,” I suggest. The new acts haven’t rehearsed yet, but I think it would be the perfect place to put the rock man.

“Yes, I agree.” Lila nods her head, and I tick off two more acts on my list.

I ended up canceling the rest of the auditions before we left Skarr. It upset some of the talent that turned up to try out, but we were happy with the three we hired the first day, and when Lila told me about Phillip and Fiona training the steggies, and that she was going to let them add them to the show, four new acts were enough, not to mention now that the Vilaxians and Aquilians have all returned in some capacity, the show probably would have run too long if we hired more.

“Okay then, so what’s next?” Lila looks to me, and I frown.

“Well, the Aquilians were scheduled to talk to us about their performance. It’s obviously going to need to be reworked now that there is a different contingency of Aquilians. You vetoed Hali and Typhoon being in the show, didn’t you?” I ask, looking at my mate, and she nods her head.

“Yes. Nixie tried to push for it, saying Aquilians matured quickly, but Nikos and I stood firm. They are too freaking young. I’m not sure what she was thinking.”

“Oh, I bet she was trying to get back in your good books after blowing you off while Nik was pregnant,” I reply, not hiding the anger in my voice. I’m pissed that this female hurt both Lila and Nik.

“That’s not the way to do it,” she says dryly. “I mean, in my mind, I know she was stuck between choosing to protect her people or us, but in my heart, I’m still hurt. I won’t stop her from having a relationship with our babies or Nik, but I am going to be cautious going forward. I should have known better. I’ve never trusted as quickly as I did when I joined the circus. You would have thought I’d learned from Dylan’s betrayal.”

Even though I wasn’t around when she was attacked by her former friend, I still know the story, and he better pray we never run into each other in a dark corner of space. I may not be military trained, and I don’t really enjoy it, but I have no problems getting my hands dirty.

“So where are they?” Lila looks around the circus dome. It’s just us and the crew needed to set up. We sent a schedule with rehearsal times to each of the acts, and so far, they have all turned up on time. Caspian’s act rehearsed, wanting to allow Malik and Titus a chance to perform. Both of them are going to swap in and out with Caspian and Tirrian if they are needed elsewhere. It went well, and there was lots of laughter and joking, and I could feel some of the tension drain out of Lila as it progressed.

It was the same with Magenta and Susie. They have developed a stunning display that is elegant and death defying. Lila gasped and stood up at one stage, worried for her friends as they fell what seemed like a long way, the silks unraveling, but it was all part of the show, and they were caught mere inches from the floor. The girls giggled and teased her, and she flipped them both off but muttered to me that she was happy they were getting along so well.

“I’m not sure. Hang on, I’ll try to reach Nik.” I grab the tablet off the chair beside me and open the screen. Each of us have one, and it has all of our direct links on the home screen. I push the icon for Nikos—a stylized warrior merman that he said made him look fierce. The sound of it ringing echoes through the empty dome, but he doesn’t pick up. “That’s strange. It should have gone to his watch if he isn’t in reach of his tablet.”

She purses her lips. “Maybe they are in the Aquilian habitat and lost track of time.”

There is a commotion by the big doors that allow the crew to bring props out to the stage. Both of us turn our attention to it, and it’s the Aquilians and Tirrian. Nikos and Nixie lead the way, and they seem to be arguing about something. Hurricane and his two sisters walk behind them with Tirrian bringing up the rear.

“What’s going on?” Lila asks, standing up as they cross the large expanse of the ring. Her voice echoes around the empty space, and the brother and sister stop arguing.

“Sorry we’re late, my little clam shell,” Nikos calls, and her frown smooths slightly as her lips quirk up in amusement. “Nixie was still trying to convince me to include the twins in the show.”

Lila’s amusement drops, and she crosses her arms and glares at Nixie. Hurricane growls and steps in front of her like he needs to protect her from Lila. I see Lila flinch like she’s been hit, but she straightens her back and stares at the deity.

“I am disappointed that you think you need to protect Nixie from me. I am entitled to my hurt, and I am entitled to be annoyed that she isn’t hearing what Nik and I want,” she states coldly. I know she wants to have a good relationship with Zeydan’s soul brother, but she won’t back down either.

He inclines his head. “You are, but I am entitled to protect my mate, even if it is from herself,” he replies, and they seem to come to some kind of silent agreement, because he steps back, and Lila softens her glare.

“Hey,” Nixie complains and smacks Hurricane on the arm. “What do you mean by that?”

He sighs. “You aren’t listening to your brother and sister-in-law. You are showing the very traits you complained to me about your mother. You are not willing to compromise.”

Nixie’s body sags at his words, and tears glisten in her eyes before she nods. “You are right.” She turns to Lila. “I’m sorry. I will not bring it up again.”

Lila inclines her head in thanks but doesn’t respond.

“Sorry we are late,” Nixie continues, “but I had an idea for our performance, and I wanted to ask Tirrian if he would be involved.”

Lila’s eyebrows jump, and she turns to her dragon mate. “Oh?” I clamp my lips shut so I don’t snicker at his fidgeting.

“Well, yes. I mean, we could have gone with the love story angle again, but I figured you are probably going to be too busy to be part of our act and wouldn’t want Nik grabbing just anyone out of the audience,” Nixie says breezily, and Lila snarls.

“You would be right.” Wow, she really is holding a grudge. She isn’t softening one little bit toward Nixie. It’s going to be a long, hard trek back into Lila’s good books. Nixie’s smile falls as she seems to come to the same conclusion. Lila is cold and distant.

I look at Nik, trying to gauge how he’s feeling, but he just looks at Lila with love and understanding. He was hurt by his sister’s attitude too, and while he isn’t holding a grudge like Lila, he will support his wife no matter what.

“So instead, I thought we could spin a story about the evil sea beast who captures the young mer females when they are swimming in their animal forms, and the rest of us need to battle them to get them back.”

Oh, that is clever. I’m impressed, and Nik looks excited, even though he stays quiet and lets his sister explain.

“It will need to be fleshed out a little, and we can work on that, but I wanted to pitch the idea to you,” Nixie continues in a hurry when Lila shows no reaction.

“How do you feel about this?” Lila turns her gaze back to the dragon, who just shrugs.

“It doesn’t bother me. It isn’t like it’s hard to swim around and act menacing.”

Lila nods. “Okay, that sounds fine as long as he doesn’t get hurt. No real weapons, only stage props, and I want to see the act before I fully approve it. You have two days to get it performance ready. Ghosie will schedule a time for a full performance so we can approve it.” She looks at me, but I am already checking the schedule and booking them a slot. I lock it in and send them the details to their tablets.

“We’ll be ready, I promise. I won’t let you down again,” Nixie says quietly, but Lila has already turned her back to her, effectively dismissing her. I see a tear trickle down Nixie’s face, and Hurricane puts his arm around her and hurries her out of the arena with his sisters in tow.

Tirrian and Nikos join us.

“You don’t think you were a little harsh on her?” Tirrian, of all people, asks, and she just gapes at him.

“Seriously?” she asks, sounding hurt. “You, the king of grudge holding, are going to ask me that?”

He sighs and shakes his head. “It’s because I know how badly I fucked up holding that grudge against you, and I don’t want you to make the same mistake.”

“But it’s not the same. I didn’t hurt you. I didn’t do anything, you just had misinformation. She hurt me, not to mention Nik. We both needed her while he was pregnant, and instead of supporting him, she let her mother walk all over her.”

“It can be hard when it involves family,” Tirrian argues, obviously thinking about how he took his cousin’s side.

“But Nik was her family too, and he was there for her more than her mother ever was.” Lila is not giving an inch, and I start to worry this is going to devolve into a real argument, but Tirrian backs down.

“You’re right. You are entitled to your feelings. I just don’t want you to regret it later.” He pulls her into a hug, and she goes willingly into his arms and sags a little. Lila has had to adjust to being in charge on the fly, and it’s going to take a toll. We need to remember to give her hugs and reassure her she’s doing a great job.

“Thank you for accepting the idea for the new show. I wasn’t interested in dragging another woman out of the crowd,” Nik tells our wife, and she pulls out of Tirrian’s arms and throws her own around the merman.

“No other woman is going to get the chance to stroke your fins. I would kill them first,” she growls, giving him a fierce kiss on the lips. When she pulls back, he has a dopey grin on his face. He’s still getting use to how affectionate Lila is with all her mates. He wasn’t able to experience it previously when he was confined to the pool during his pregnancy. It gives him hearts in his eyes every time she lavishes it on him. I can’t deny I’m fiercely jealous and can’t wait until the time when I can experience the same without worrying about causing a galactic pornographic incident.

“Yes, dear,” he mutters, and Tirrian snorts, dragging him away so we can continue our rehearsals.

“What’s next?” Lila asks, sitting down next to me.

“Intermission is next, but do we want to shift things around and have one more act before it?” I count what we have so far. “Adding the rock man to the first half means we have six acts before intermission, leaving five for the second half of the show.”

“They are all quite spectacular acts too, aren’t they?” She counts off on her fingers. “The new steggy polo, which I think should be straight after intermission, like Viggy used to be, then the Vilaxians and Thorn who will now help with their act, the larnuks, Meela the Elrug bubble woman, and the fire sheepies.”

I laugh at her name for the last act. It isn’t what they are called, but she says she can never remember what they are, so that works for her. We will have to get her to come up with a name for the act when she introduces it.

“Yes, that’s right,” I confirm, and she taps a finger on her cheek in thought.

“Let’s finish with the larnuks as usual and put Meela on as the first act after intermission. The steggies, Vilaxians, fire sheep, and larnuks. We will have a full dress rehearsal and see if that works. What do you think?”

I puff out my chest in pride that she values my opinion. “I think that sounds like a perfect lineup.”

She grins at my response. “Right, I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry. How long until the next rehearsal?” she asks me, and I look at our schedule.

“There’s nothing for this afternoon because we hadn’t decided on the lineup. I will send the remaining acts their rehearsal time now that we’ve decided. You’re free for the rest of the day,” I tell her, and she grins, standing.

“Clear the dome please. You can all go to lunch,” she shouts to the crew. I stand up too, but she puts her hand out to stop me. We wait and listen to the sounds of the crew departing for the main levels of the ship.

“Okay, we’re alone,” she says, and my heart starts to beat faster. Fuck, what have I done wrong? Is this where she tells me she isn’t happy about the job I’ve been doing? At least she waited until they all left before embarrassing me like that.

Her body shimmers, and she changes into her bear form. I gulp as she steps closer to me, pushing me back into my seat and climbing into my lap.

“Have I told you today how fucking sexy it is that you are my assistant? I have fantasies of you climbing under my desk and servicing me while I’m taking meetings.” She starts to writhe against me as my fur begins to work on her. My hips involuntarily thrust up into her as her fur affects me.

Holy fuck. This isn’t where I thought this was going at all.

My hands come up to rest on her thick hips as my cock hardens at the feeling of her rubbing against me.

“That’s going to have to wait for another time, but right now, I’m going to reward you for excellent service to your employer by servicing you.” She slides off my lap and runs a hand over my cock, which has pushed out of its sheath. “Good PAs get their cocks sucked.”

She leans down and licks the tip of my throbbing member. My head drops back and my eyes close as Lila shows me who’s boss.