Chapter 5

The dame is runnin' from the devil and her friends, those lads, are chasin' one of them.

Thomas stepped out of the gas station with a deep sigh, carrying a loaf of honey bread from the nice man inside. The old man who lived and ran the gas station was a big fan of Thomas after he took his grandchildren to the Circus a few days ago. Thomas had come out of the big top to see the children, laugh with them, and had a few of the children walk around with him with one of the clowns. It was the clown with all the cats and his grandchildren, and to this day, he talked about how fun and great the Circus had been for them. Thomas was thrilled to hear such a thing, and he then asked the man if he had seen Vilas, showing the old man with one bad eye a picture of her.

She hadn't stopped at the gas station, but he had seen her heading down the road heading west.

"Kind 'a of hard not to notice," the old man said, grinning at the picture, "such a goddess of beauty."

Thomas smiled and nodded in agreement before walking out of the shop with the loaf bread. He got back to the truck where Benjamin was sitting, chewing on some wheat he had picked up at the last station down the road.

Benjamin was looking out at the long field across the dirt road, not looking over at the bread landing in the seat. He was lazily chewing on the wheat, lost in thought as Thomas climbed into the cabin. He turned the truck over, pulling out onto the road and heading west on the heels of Vilas. Thomas had been asking about anyone else looking for her, mostly a man in a nice suit and not from around these parts, but no one had seen such a man.

The man who sent Vilas running for her life hadn't been seen at all. Thomas was wondering if the man was even coming after her. He was there at the Circus. Thomas had seen him, and the twins had made him get away from Vilas, but it was the last time Thomas had seen the man. There was something wicked about him. He was a killer. Thomas had seen killers before; he was one himself, but this man rushing away from the big top was of a different breed. He was a man who killed for cash and the thrill of it.

Thomas wanted to know why Vilas was wrapped up with this man. There was something dark in her past, but then again, as Thomas set his massive arm in the window, they all had something dark in their past.

"Any ideas what is going on with Kal?" Benjamin asked as if reading Thomas's mind.

Thomas didn't look over at the fat man and shook his head no.

"Not at all, huh?" Benjamin said. "I thought you two were, well, you know?"

"I don't know," Thomas said. "What do you mean?"

Benjamin grinned and said, "Aren' you two a thing?"

"We are not," he said.

"Oh, come on," Benjamin said, almost laughing, "It's a small town we have, and everyone sees everything and talks about everything."

"What have you seen?"

"Oh, we've seen her coming from your trailer," he said, 'and you coming from her trailer. Both of you had big smiles on your face like those who had a good time in bed."

Thomas sighed, saying nothing.

"Ah, so not a thing, thing," Benjamin said, "just a bed kind of thing, hm?"

"You should stop talking," Thomas said softly.

"Fine, fine," Benjamin said, moving the wheat from one side of his mouth to the other side. "Won't speak on the naughty bit of your time with her, but she said nothing about her past?"

"None of us do," Thomas said. He looked over at the man and asked, "You want to tell me about your past?"

"No," Benjamin said, shaking his head hard, "but we aren't sleeping together. I don't swing that way but maybe for you." He winked.

Thomas rolled his jaw, turning his eyes back to the road. Benjamin was right. Vilas and Thomas were on the edge of falling in love, but she was the one keeping him on the edge. Thomas was more than ready to fall in love with her. He wanted to, but she was not letting it happen, even if she wanted to fall in love with him. There was something in her past keeping her from taking his heart into her hands. He hadn't known what it was, and he still wasn't fully sure what was going on, but now, he had an idea it had something to do with this man who scared her.

Thomas had heard Vilas lived in New York City. She wasn't from the city, but she went to the city to start her singing career, and something happened there. She got in bed, might be actually in a real bed, with the wrong people, and the smoking man might have been the one in bed with her. He had a feeling that Vilas got into bed with some of the criminals' families from the city.

He had learned Azrael found her in the city, took her in, and told her he would keep her safe. Then again, Azrael told everyone at the Circus he would keep them safe from the demons crawling out of their past. It was the reason Thomas and Benjamin were racing after Vilas now.

He did want to know what had happened to Vilas. He wanted to break anyone who dared to hurt her.

Benjamin felt the same way. They all felt the same way.

"Ha. Ha," Thomas said, glancing over at the man with a grin.

"I don't mean to pry too much here, Thomas," he said, "I'm just worried about her."

"Me too."

"Oh, good," Benjamin said, batting his eyes at him. "My big black hero take me into your powerful arms."

Thomas laughed, shaking his head, and said, "What is wrong with you?"

"I live and work at a circus full of freaks," Benjamin said, tossing the wheat out of the window and picking up the loaf of bread, "and I can summon knives from my fat belly."

"Yeah, there's a lot wrong with you there."