I’d be offended if we were anything less.
Good.
Because I love you.
Imorethan love you.
Chapter 41
Esmeralda
With every spin of the hoop, she watched the monster within the mirrors above. Its ravenous gaze flicked from her to the other two performers in the Running. Nicola had her arms cuffed behind her back and was stepping into a coffin filled with water. David flung daggers at a spinning bullseye with his assistants hugging each other in its center. Neither act had a clue about the danger they were in.
Esmeralda was terribly aware. She had to get off this hoop somehow. She needed to find Ignacio and her friends.
An idea came to her. She would just have to play Ángel’s foul game. He wanted a showstopper. She’d give him one.
Grunting from the weight of the wings, she clambered to her feet as the hoop turned in circles. Lifting one arm, she flicked her wrists. Cards fanned out between her fingers, and people screamed with excitement far below.
Show them what my sad fate could be.
She sent the paper doves soaring into the crowd, who writhed and stretched, hungry for their fortunes to be told.
Gasps of horror exploded throughout the Big Top. Screams rang out. Audience members begged the ringmaster to bring her down.
Slowly, Ángel knelt and plucked up a card. He smirked.
“It appears our Paloma is playing some naughty tricks,” he bellowed into the loud-hailer. “Need I remind her where bad children go?”
The audience’s horrified faces quickly lightened. They began to cheer as if they believed this was just part of the act.
She shook her head. She tried to plead with anyone watching, but she couldn’t open her mouth.
“Let me ask one of our spectators what they think,” he said.
He jumped from the podium he stood on and marched toward the audience, leading to an ecstatic frenzy. The ringmaster ran up the bleacher steps and cut left into—Esmeralda nearly lost her grip on the hoop. He went to the comandante’s box seats.
Comandante Olivera stood out so clearly from the crowd. He wore no mask or costume. No rouge on his cheeks. He was in his standard black-and-silver uniform. His decorated cap placed snugly on his head.
“What do you think, señor?” Ángel asked Comandante Olivera. “Should Paloma Blanca be punished for frightening my friends with her magic cards?”
The comandante said nothing. He simply glared at the ringmaster.
Ángel chuckled. “Tough crowd.”
His words brought on a roar of laughter from the audience.
“What of you, friends, fans, and fiends? Should our darling dove be punished?!”
“No!” the audience screamed.
“Do you want to see more?!”
“Yes!”
“Do you want to see our Paloma fly?!”
“Yes!”
