Puppet Maker Read online

  My screams scraped my throat raw. But he didn't move. Didn't drag me to the bed or remove his pants. He simply held me until all my cries ran dry and I hung limp in his arms.

  Then he carried me back toward the bed. I tensed. Slowly, he set me on the edge and backed away, hands raised. It was then that I realized I was still wearing one of the puppet maker's shirts. I wanted to rip it off me, except then I would be naked with three men who stared at me with a mixture of concern and alarm.

  "No worries." Liam wiped up the spilled cocoa. "There's plenty for another cup if you'd still like to try some."

  I didn't say anything. My breathing gradually returning to normal.

  "I'm Sebastian," the red-haired guy winked. "The bear hugger is Benjamin but we call him Ben. Benny if you really want to piss him off."

  Liam handed me a new cup of the steaming liquid. Then demonstrated blowing across it using the mug I'd dropped. I copied his movements and he smiled. A dimple showing in his cheek.

  "Thank you." My throat was raw as I spoke. I blew across the hot cocoa again, then tentatively took a sip. Deliciousness coated my mouth and I moaned.

  "Told you I was a good cook." Liam flashed me another smile.

  Behind him, Ben huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. My cheeks grew warm remembering him holding me. All three men watched me as I drank, but it tasted too good to stop.

  Sebastian sat on a chair across from me. His black shirt had rips in it across his abs. "You know our names, what should we call you?"

  I choked on the chocolate and wiped the liquid from my chin. "Sorry."

  "Take your time." He leaned back in the chair, crossing one leg over the other.

  The gesture appeared nonchalant, except I'd lived for hundreds of years in the forest. I recognized a predator when I saw one. Now that I had something in my rumbling stomach, it was easy to pick up on Liam and Ben's predatory body language as well. Yet, they were men. Why did I feel like I was being watched by wild, dangerous animals?

  "Do you remember your name or what happened to you?" Liam asked in a gentle tone.

  "Yes. Um—" I'd been a Sycamore tree. Didn't have a human name. They wouldn't believe me if I told them the truth. I'd seen the people, who had lost their minds, talking to nothing in the forest. Had to tell them something.

  "Pearl," I tossed out. Being a tree meant that I never had to make up stories about anything.

  "After your hair color?" Liam nodded. "Beautiful name for a gorgeous woman."

  I touched my hair not knowing what color it was as it didn't come below my ears. Was it golden-blond like his?

  "Stop flirting," Ben rumbled, the words sounding like they came from deep in his chest. "What were you doing half-naked in the forest?"

  "Please." Sebastian scratched his cheek. "Let the girl have something to eat before you badger her to death."

  "It's a legitimate question." Ben uncrossed his arms, his body tense. "What if she escaped from jail or the nuthouse? We've got enough weirdos in Underland to add more or get caught up in someone else's drama."

  He was right. Didn't make it any easier. "I-I was a man's slave. Never told me his name." That much was the truth. Maybe this lying thing was easier than I thought.

  "And you escaped?" Liam whistled. "Brave."

  "Or stupid." Ben stomped to the stove, then pulled out a package, and tossed it to me.

  It was cool. I stared at it, dumbfounded. "What is it?"

  "A sandwich. Take it and be gone."

  "Ben, you don't mean that." Liam frowned. "She's half-starved and needs rest, bath, and clothes."

  "Fine." He stalked back to his far corner. "She got two days of sleep. The sandwich will fill her. Bath will have to wait until she's eaten. Then she can borrow your clothes since you're the tiniest of us and be on her way."

  "Two days?" The puppet-master could be outside right now, looking for me. My hand trembled as I handed the empty cup to Liam. "He's right. I-I should leave. Now."

  "Don't let Ben run you off." Liam gestured to Sebastian. "He's got more growl than bite. Everyone knows he's a pushover once he gets to know you."

  I forced a smile that felt hollow. "Still. Thank you for the cocoa and the food. I'll skip the bath and be on my way."

  Liam's face fell and I wanted to bring back his smile, but how could I? There was no way I'd go back to the puppet-master. Not ever. Even if I had to run for the rest of my life.

  Chapter 4

  I stood on unsteady legs with the sandwich clasped in my hand. “Thank you for the drink and food.”

  “She needs more than a shirt to wear,” Sebastian drawled. His emerald gaze gliding down my body, then back up. “We can spare that much before she leaves.”

  His attention made me feel hot all over. Was I going to catch fire as parts of the forest did during the summer months after no rain for weeks? I shook my head, not wanting to give into thoughts of staying here with these three men even though I felt safe with them for the moment. Hadn’t I also with puppet-master until he invaded me? No, I had been afraid from the moment I had opened my eyes.

  “I am not the smallest,” Liam pouted, puffing out his chest.

  “Yes, you are,” Sebastian said, walking over to a truck at the end of the bed. “You’re shorter than me.”

  “And skinnier than me.” Ben chuckled.

  “Fine, but I’m smarter and a better cook than both of you combined.”

  I snickered at the shocked expressions on the other two’s faces. Then coughed when Ben and Sebastian stared over at me.

  “Here.” Sebastian handed me a pair of pants and a shirt.

  “These are too big.” I held up the pants that stretched past my feet even though I held them up to my breasts. “I might as well stay in what I’m wearing.”

  Though I wasn’t keen on the idea of remaining in the puppet-maker’s shirt any longer than I had to be.

  “What about Faeleen’s stuff? Don’t think Gabriel would mind.” Liam waved a hand to me. “Pearl, eat your sandwich, I’ll be right back with some clothes for you.”

  “Who is Gabriel and Faeleen?” I asked Ben and Sebastian as Liam left. “Maybe I should ask them myself to borrow her things.”

  Sebastian shook his head. “She died a few months ago. Her and Gabriel were a couple. When he found out what had happened, he ran away. We’ve not seen him since. Rumors are that he was so distressed that he fled to one of the worlds adjacent to Underland where women are scarcer than wild tulips.”

  Maybe if I left Underland, the puppet-maker wouldn’t know where or how to find me. I would need to stay and find out about these different worlds. Ensure that I went somewhere safer than here. Being in a world where women were few didn’t sound appealing. I doubted they were treated as a rare treasure.

  “Go ahead and eat.” Sebastian took out four more wrapped sandwiches and tossing two at Ben who caught them.

  I watched them open up the brown paper, then take a bite of the food.

  “Aren’t you hungry?” Ben said with a mouthful.

  Right. I took a breath and unwrapped my sandwich as I had seen them do. The bread was soft and melted on my tongue. Some type of meat and cheese filled the spaces between the bread. For a moment, I forgot that I needed to run. Forgot that I couldn’t stay here no matter how much I wanted to. Forgot about everything but chewing the yummy food and swallowing.

  “Damn girl, you want another one?” Sebastian opened the cabinet with the block of ice resting inside.

  “No, I’m fine.” My stomach protested and he handed me a second sandwich anyway.

  After I finished every crumb, I sat back, sated. Ben handed me a container. I sipped the water, disappointed that it wasn’t the delicious cocoa that Liam had made.

  “You’re welcome to stay with us,” Sebastian gathered my trash, putting it all into the cookstove. “We’re packing up tomorrow and traveling south.”

  That was farther from the puppet-master, that was good. “Oh? What about your home?”


  He laughed, a rumbling sound that made me think he was bigger than he was. “Good one. We take our home with us wherever we go.”

  “Like a tortoise or snail?” Even though all three men looked strong, I doubted they could carry such a load.

  Ben let out a snort. “Where did you say you were from?”

  “Nowhere,” I gasped. “I mean, around the forest. I’ve never been this far before.”

  “You know, your nose twitches when you lie.” Ben pointed out.

  My chest froze, each inhale burned. “What?”

  “Yeah, I noticed that too.” Sebastian faced me. “Look. We all have our secrets. If you want to keep yours, that’s fine. But don’t lie to us. Okay?”

  I nodded because I couldn’t think of anything to say. If I told them the truth, they might haul me off to the puppet-master believing that I was just a wooden doll and his property. I swallowed hard, the food in my stomach threatening to come back out. Whatever I did, I couldn’t go back.

  Thankfully, Liam entered then with his arms full of colorful garments. “Something in here should fit you.”

  Shifting through the items, I found two back and blue striped pants, several bright yellow, orange, and red tops. And a black dress that had no sleeves and was a ribbed, stiff material.

  “May I change?” I asked.

  “Let’s get you cleaned up first.” Liam opened the door for me. “There’s a lake nearby.”

  In order to wash, I’d have to get naked. What would they do to me then? Acid burned the back of my throat and I clutched the clothes to my chest.

  As though seeing something in my expression, he continued, “Don’t worry, we’ll all go with you. Just call out if there’s trouble.”

  I walked out of the door and stopped. Lined up around us where small homes with wheels on them. “So that’s how you carry your houses with you.”

  “Wha—oh, yeah.” Sebastian sauntered behind me while Liam walked on my right and Ben took up the left. “That’s life in the circus.”

  “I’ve never been,” I confessed.

  “Come on.” Liam nudged my shoulder. “Everyone’s been to the circus at least once.”

  And no one had been a tree just a few days ago either. “What is a circus? I mean, what do you all do?”

  Liam looked over my head at Ben. “Well, it was bad until Gabriel killed the lion tamer and Micka who was in the cage with us. But we took it back, turned it into something we could be proud of. There are trapeze artists, contortionist, jugglers and clowns. All of us are here, together, because we want to be. No one owns us.”

  “That sounds wonderful,” I blurted out, scared I’d said too much. But they knew I’d been a slave and had run away. Just as they had done in part.

  “You never need fear anything while you’re with us,” Sebastian said behind me.

  We walked for a while, the sun low in the sky and I guessed sunset would be in a few hours. The scent of pine, elm, and oak trees filled the air.

  The ground was soft as we approached the lake. Hopefully, I could get a pair of boots while I was with these men.

  “Go ahead.” Liam trudged off to a nearby tree, turning his back to me.

  Ben and Sebastian walked a few feet away, disappearing in the brush.

  Could I even swim? I didn’t know how. Water never bothered me before as I could drink it up through my roots and leaves. I stuck my toe in the edge of the water. Cold. I leapt back. It looked deep.

  But I had to get clean. The puppet-maker’s burnt, wood stink was on me. His violation of me still stung between my legs. I set the borrowed clothes from Liam on the ground. Then I pushed forward, easing into the water, my teeth chattering. I tore off the shirt I wore, sinking down into the lake. The water lapped just above my breasts.

  I scrubbed my body with the sand from the bottom of the lake until I felt clean. My skin a bright pink color. Did humans change colors often like chameleons?

  For a moment, I stayed in the water, enjoying the feel of my arms and legs. They felt light. Buoyant. I lunged backward, amazed that I could float. My gaze shifted over my body. I was a woman now. No more branches or leaves. No more worry about woodpeckers or termites. I could do anything I wanted. I was free.

  Something splashed in the water near me and I jerked upright, slipping underneath the water. I came up sputtering. What was that? Something slithered underneath my feet. A fish?

  I kicked my legs to get out of the water when a slimy thing caught my ankle. I yanked my foot away. Whatever it was held on tight, wrapping up my calf. Before I could call for help, I was yanked under.

  Chapter 5

  Water filled my mouth, hurting all the way down my throat, and into my lungs. I coughed. Wanting to breathe so bad that I thrashed around, but the snake had both my legs in its coils. I beat at its scaly flesh, but my hits did nothing as the snake continued to wrap around more and more of my body.

  I’d come all this way. Escaped an evil puppet-master, to end up eaten by a snake. It wasn’t fair. I gritted my teeth and punched the thing as hard as I could.

  The snake’s grip loosened and I kicked to the surface, flailing my arms as hard as I could. I broke through to air and gasped. The snaked grasped my ankle again.

  “Hel—!” I managed to scream before the water broke over me again, rushing into my mouth. Coldness seeped into me. My heart thumped against my chest. Each beat pulsed in through my whole body. Darkness pressed at the edge of my vision as my fighting against the snake and for air slowed. I moved sluggishly. My arms and legs felt like lead.

  As though sensing my death, the snake coiled tighter around me. The little air I had left in my lungs was squeezed out of me.

  There was so much I had wanted to do with my life. Queen of Hearts, I had legs and arms and I wasn’t stuck in one place for eternity. A lightness burst behind my eyelids. Was this what it was like to die?

  Suddenly, I was spun around in a circle. My eyes flashed open. Claws reached down, grasping the snake, I couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing. Beside me, a tiger bit into the snake, shaking its head to and fro. Another set of claws grasped and sliced the snake around my waist. A bear?

  The snake twisted to get away from the teeth and claws, finally unwrapping itself from around me. I kicked toward the surface while my lungs convulsed for air.

  I broke through the water, gasping and choking. The bear and tiger swam behind me. I thrashed toward the shore. Liam stood there, gesturing to me to hurry. Was he worried the animals were going to attack me? They’d just saved me as amazing as that was.

  Still, they were wild animals.

  With gasping breaths, and cramped muscles, I made it to shore. Liam threw a towel around me. My teeth chattered and my legs felt like a sapling’s.

  “Why did you go out so deep?”

  Shivering, I looked up at him. “I didn’t. That snake yanked me under.”

  The tiger and bear trudged through the water and onto shore beside me. Liam didn’t even blink at them. Then I noticed the bear watching me like he was guarding himself. Just like Ben. No, it couldn’t be him—he was a human—not a bear. But I’d seen an occasional shifter in the woods. So why not these men?

  “Ben? Sebastian?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

  “I told you she was smart.” Liam grinned and bowed. “May I present the three wild animals of the circus: a bear, a tiger, and a lion.”

  Ben shifted into his human form. His fur vanishing into his skin. Muscles and bones groaned and popped. His face contorted in pain. I wanted to look away, but found myself fascinated with his and Sebastian's transformations. And…they were both naked. Their members erect and pointing at me. I trembled inside, looking for a weapon if they came near me. My fists clenched and my back rigid.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Ben grunted.

  “Probably liked your bear form better than the human one with you scowling all the time.” Sebastian raked a hair through his wet, auburn hair. “And who can blame her? You are cuter f
urry.”

  “Like you’re one to talk with your stripes. Can’t even walk on two legs as a tiger for more than a few steps at a time.” Ben stalked off toward a cluster of pine trees.

  “Don’t let him bother you.” Liam handed me the borrowed clothes.

  “Hey,” Sebastian grasped my arm, spinning me toward him.

  My face heated hotter than the sun on a summer day. I gasped, forcing my gaze to his emerald eyes than on his member still straight and hard. I swallowed, a lump pressing so hard in my throat I thought I’d inhaled a rock.

  “How is it you don’t have any marks on you from the snake?”

  “Wha-what do you mean?” I kept the towel wrapped around me. My body beginning to shake.

  He turned me this way and that. When he lifted the towel to see my legs, I slapped his hand. “I don’t get it. That snake had you tight. You should at least have an abrasion or mark on you, but you don’t. Your body is perfect. Except for the weird but awesome tattoo on your ankle.”

  They couldn’t learn my secret. If they found out I was only a puppet with a human heart and scattered memories, they’d turn me into the puppet-maker. But I’d no idea what to tell them that would explain why I wasn’t blemished.

  Chapter 6

  “Lucky, I guess. The water must have cushioned me against getting rubbed raw from the snake so that’s why I don’t have any marks.” I reached up to scratch my nose that suddenly became itchy as ants crawling over my bark.

  “There’s that nose twitch again,” Sebastian smiled. “Don’t have to lie to us.”

  “No. I-I m-mean,” I stuttered, pinching my nose with one hand, “the snake wasn’t that tight around me as you thought.”

  Liam and Sebastian exchanged glances with smug expressions on their faces. It was obvious that they didn’t believe me and I was all right with that as long as they wouldn’t ask me any more questions and discover my secret.

  “Mind giving me some privacy?” I shrugged a shoulder, holding my towel around me with one hand, and lifting the clothes with another.