Broken People (Serial)

Fifty

Big Dino's round, black eyes gleamed in the lights hanging above the sturdy bed. His thick, sausage-like fingers shifted on the large mound formed by his belly under the covers. He was fully awake.

Spinner rested a hand on Nicholas's shoulder and leaned in to whisper, "Don't keep him up too long. He needs to rest. And don't antagonize him. The stuff we gave him can make him irritable."

Nicholas nodded and took a step closer to the foot of the bed as Spinner left the room. No, this was not a good time to antagonize Big Dino.

"From what I heard, you had a pretty exciting night." A smile played on Big Dino's dark lips. That smile could become extremely cruel on occasion.

Nicholas's eyes darted to the left where Cielo sat in a chair, her bandaged leg held up by a contraption. Of course she'd run up to her protector and rat him out. He lowered his head, prepared for a good scolding. Would a beating be part of it before he threw him out? Probably not. Rake and Spinner had seen a little of what he was capable and wouldn't dare. They had too many wires inside them to risk it.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" Big Dino asked.

"Lots of things!" Nicholas let out a disgruntled laugh.

Big Dino stared at him without blinking.

"Oh, you want a list? Let's see ..." Nicholas pretended to count on his fingers. "I shouldn't have let Rake and Spinner drag me into this." In his defense, it had seemed harmless at the time.

Big Dino gave him a slow nod, as much as his short neck allowed.

"I shouldn't have agreed to do the show." They wouldn't have had to do it if they had access to the funds. Having been the circus accountant for the past few years, Nicholas could have accessed them in Big Dino's absence, but everyone knew that, after the circus and the Nightingale, money was what Big Dino cared about the most.

The tightening in Big Dino's green cheeks agreed with him.

"And I definitely should not have let the circus get involved in the heist." That part had been stupid, and it had failure written all over it right from the start. But, once again, it hadn't been Nicholas's decision. He'd been a puppet in the knife throwers' hands.

Nicholas paused to stare at his well-polished shoes. He was digging his own grave. Better get it over with. He straightened his back and raised his chin. "I shouldn't have brought the circus to the Hrad ... and I shouldn't have attacked the Nightingale." Out of them all, that was the highest offence. "Sorry about that." He gestured at Cielo's throat where his fingers had left dark bruises.

Cielo nodded. She wasn't normally this quiet. Nicholas swallowed, forcing down the lump in his throat. Sweat gathered under his collar. If she wanted him out but didn't want to get her hands dirty ... Big Dino would never say no to her.

"Do you know how this could have all been avoided?" Big Dino asked, still calm and lucid.

If I'd grown a backbone overnight? Nicholas couldn't honestly say he'd ever had one. He'd run away from responsibilities his whole life, so what on earth had possessed him to get involved now? But it seemed like an easy thing to do in the beginning, and he didn't mind helping people. It was what the circus did. It had helped him when he most needed it, too. And this was how he'd repaid it. One more thing to add to his long list of failures.

"I should have seen to my own business," Nicholas said.

"That's one way to put it ..." Big Dino twiddled his fingers.

"How much longer are you going to try to get him to wet his pants?" Cielo asked in an arguing voice. "My leg might be numb, but we still have a circus to pack by morning."