Her chin wobbled and then she buried her face, sobbing into his bare chest.
Ignacio chanced a glance back at Esmeralda. She paid him no mind. He didn’t know why that hurt but it did. Esmeralda was swinging on the ostrich’s perch. Singing and calling out made-up fortunes like nothing had happened. Showing off that charismatic smile she seemed to reserve for everyone but him.
Bitterness churned in his gut, and he glared at the floor. The broken lock snagged his attention. He gently pried himself from Anella’s hold and knelt beside it. Something glistened where the arm of the lock entered the mechanism. It had that same kaleidoscopic shimmer that was within the ink.
He swiped his finger over the substance and rubbed it between his pointer and thumb. His fingers instantly stuck together. Wincing, he pried them apart. Someone had glued Anella’s lock shut. The pads of his fingers started to burn. He quickly wiped off the excess on his pants, but sparkling fragments remained, reminding him of the ink. Had the glue been enchanted too? It’d explain why he had a hard time busting the lock. But why? Did someone want the contortionist dead?
“Who fastened the bolt?” he asked.
Anella wiped at her tears. “There should never have evenbeena bolt. This was my first time using the box in the act. I wanted to impress Ángel during the challenge. I told Gabriel to simply shut the lid once I shoved myself inside.”
Gabriel? Did he do this?
Esmeralda had said her cards had the enchanted ink on them. She and Gabriel were clearly close. He could have been the one to place the cards inside her wagon. He might very well have access to whatever magic this was.
A gasp came from Anella. Her finger shook as she pointedto the glass box. Ignacio blinked with confusion as his eyes caught on what lay inside.
A black envelope stamped with bell-shaped flowers surrounding a hand mirror.
“How did that get in there?” he wondered out loud.
He plucked it up and handed it to her, but she shook her head. “I can’t look. Please, open it.”
He broke the seal and pulled out the obsidian-colored card.
Dearest darling Anella,
It brings me sorrow to inform you that you are henceforth disqualified from the Running. You broke rule number 7: The show must always go on. I’m sorry, but you stopped my parade, and thus, the show cannot go on for you. I can only let the right sort of showstopper continue at my most fantastical carnival. You have twenty minutes to pack your bags once we return to camp. Please see the treasurer for your severance pay.
With love and a shattered heart,
Ángel Veracruz
“This can’t be happening,” Anella sobbed. “I’m supposed to be a star! I can’t go back home to my wet blanket of a husband.”
She cried harder, draping her arms around Ignacio’s shoulders once more. He sighed and patted her back, trying not to flinch as her hot tears slid down his skin.
Chapter 19
Esmeralda
Where was a golden egg when she needed one?
She could have chucked it right at Ignacio’s thick skull. She wouldn’t blame Anella for wishing to kiss Ignacio. Hehadsaved her, and hewasexceptionally handsome. For a weasel. He had no ties to Esmeralda. And, truthfully, she had no ties to him.
She had turned around right after Anella’s lips smashed into his. If she spent one more second watching that horrendous scene unfold, her lunch might have found its way onto the cage floor. And that wouldn’t do. Not when people were finally taking notice of her.
Ignacio could kiss the damn queen for all she cared. What mattered to her was becoming the lead act. Impressing Ángel was imperative. Not just because he held her livelihood in his hands. But because he saw something in her. She wasn’t just a nobody to be left in the dust to him.
The door to the birdcage swung open, and Ignacio bounded in. She ignored the flutter her heart made.
He came back.
“What are you doing in here?” she deadpanned.
He wiped bubblegum-pink lipstick from his mouth. “You and I made a deal. You said you were going to help me.”
She scoffed, almost made a remark about him getting help from Anella instead, but then she remembered she wasn’t supposed to care.
