“I don’t know what he wanted,” she said quickly, which was true. She hadn’t exactly given Ignacio time to explain. “He’s gone now. I got rid of him.”
“No people of the law are allowed in my sacred carnival. I have taken great pains to set those protections in place so my magnificent patrons feel free from the worries of the world. Costa Mayor is at war. People come here to escape that. To forget. I cannot allow my performers to fraternize with members of the law. You know that.”
“I do, señor! Very much so. I had him removed at once.”
“Yet you held on to his badge. For what purpose?”
Whydidshe keep it? Just like she kept the tin box she’d taken from him. Her heart thumped heavy and hard in her chest. She knew the reason. She couldn’t part with something that belonged to him. Even if it hurt her to her very core, she was desperate for a tiny piece of Ignacio. Although it lacked all his comforting warmth.
“I also found this,” the ringmaster said.
He brought his other hand from behind his back, and she thought she might faint or cry or simply cease to exist. He held the box where she stored all the jewelry, watches, broaches, and trinkets that she’d stolen from the customers over the last ten months.
“I…I…” Her mind scrambled for something to say. “There—there are no rules about stealing,” she stammered.
“No.” He sighed, disappointed. “But therearerules about being caught.Andabout fraternizing with officers.”
“I didn’t…”
“My lead acts are nearest and dearest to my heart. They are an extension of me. Therefore, I can only choose someone who I trust implicitly. Someone who holds no lies.”
“I’d never lie to you. I promise.” She would promise the world if it meant she would remain in the ringmaster’s good graces. Her wagon had been moved to a revered spot. He’d given her enchanted gloves. He might let her be the main act and stay on for as long as she wanted. He had chosen her. He believed she was special enough to be in the Running. And he currently held half of the funds she had saved that could pay for her passage out of Costa Mayor in his grasp.
She couldn’t lose that. If she wasn’t chosen to be the mainact and had to leave in two months, she would be a sitting duck for the Blackbirds. Without those stolen trinkets, she’d make it as far as the southern port, but that was it. She’d be caught, again, and find herself in a cell or shipped off to war, again. And this time, Gabriel wouldn’t be there to help her escape.
She pushed deeper into her wagon and held up her hands. Pleading. “Please, Señor Veracruz, tell me what I can do to make this right.”
The ringmaster’s eyes widened. “Dearest Esmeralda, I’m not angry with you.” He smiled compassionately. “But I do wish you would have felt comfortable enough to have come to me when this officer pestered you. I could have taken care of him myself.”
Relief filled her.
“And, please, none of that ‘Señor Veracruz’ stuff. That makes me feel old. And I’m not that. Call me Ángel.”
Her cheeks warmed.
“I wasn’t even coming in here to talk to you about this.” He slipped the badge into his jacket pocket. He could chuck it into the sea for all she cared now, but what about the box of treasures in his other hand? Her fingers itched to snatch them from him. But she didn’t dare move. “I came to give you this.” With a flourish, he pulled out a small black envelope.
Esmeralda sucked in a breath. “Is that…”
“Indeed. This is your first challenge.”
She wanted to be excited, but how could she be? He still held the box with all her stolen goods. She’d be doomed without it.
“To win my esteem, one must show that they can mirror Veracruz’s threeV’s,” he said. “Versatility. Vivacity. And Vibrancy.” His gaze met hers and she forced herself to smile. “I’ve seen allthree of these attributes in you, Esmeralda.” He held out the envelope to her. “Now you need to prove it to the world.”
She took the card as if it were an ancient tome filled with the universe’s mysteries.
“See you soon, kid.” He started for the door but stopped when she shouted, “Wait!”
Slowly, he faced her.
“Um…” She gulped. “About the box.” She licked her lips.“I…”
“There’s no need to apologize,” he said. “We all make mistakes. But the best of us don’t make them twice.”
With that, he was gone.
Esmeralda slumped. He’d taken her only hope of fleeing Costa Mayor. If she didn’t earn the top spot now, she’d be done for. Tears pricked her eyes, but she willed them away. She couldn’t let herself start to cry or she might never stop.
