What I lack in speed I make up for in spirit.
So you’ll just spirit your way into tackling me?
Precisely. So don’t get any ideas.
Never.
I knew you were smart from the moment I met you.
Was that before or after you punched me in the nose?
I thought we agreed to pretend that never happened.
Chapter 24
Ignacio
Ignacio left Esmeralda’s wagon with a dull ache in his chest. He’d often felt that way whenever she was away from him for too long when they were younger. As if his heart forgot to beat without hers there to nudge its proper cadence.
Now that she was back in his orbit, his traitorous heart had begun its subtle protest once more. For a second, he had felt hopeful. When she said she’d help him, he thought,This could be my chance to win her back. He was a fool for thinking like that. She did not want him back in her life. Perhaps his mind was simply lost in the idea of her.
Seeing her in that costume cut so perfectly against her hips hadn’t helped either.
He scrubbed his hands down his face.
No wonder his father often warned of the dangers of love. One person should not have so much power over another’s thoughts.
The smell of buttery popcorn, fried churros, and fresh grassfilled his lungs. The screams from patrons on whirling rides, the constant pinging of games, and the bouncing melody of “The Tale of the Valerio Brothers” swirled around him. It grounded Ignacio, reminding him he was still within the carnival. He and Esmeralda were safe for now, but that wouldn’t last. If Keara couldn’t get ahold of him, Father would come for him and for Esmeralda too, which frightened Ignacio more than anything.
He dipped into the throng of carnivalgoers heading toward the Big Top. Cutting right, he wound back toward the tailor’s soft-yellow tent. Just as Ignacio neared, the tailor slipped through the door flap and flipped a glowing sign sayingDo Come IntoSorry, Go Away.
The tailor cast glances from left to right, and then slid his signature goat mask on. He took an envelope from his pocket before sauntering off.
Ignacio knew that crest stamped into the wax seal well. It belonged to his father.
He rushed forward. He had to see what was in that letter. But the crowd had grown so thick that it was impossible to move anywhere but forward, toward the opening of the Big Top.
“Pardon me,” he said, trying to squeeze his way through the dense multitude. “Please, let me pass.”
“Watch it,” someone snapped when he stepped on their shoe.
Standing on tiptoes, Ignacio scoured the throng for the tailor. He couldn’t see him anywhere.
A lone figure caught Ignacio’s attention. She was standing still, watching the throng like a hawk in the sky. Keara.
Cursing, Ignacio ducked low, hiding behind a woman wearinga costume that resembled a giant swan. He plucked a few feathers from the costume’s rear and shielded his face as the crowd passed the general. He tried to nudge through two men, one outfitted as a leather-skinned rhinoceros and the other a glimmering unicorn, but they hardly acknowledged he existed. There was no weaseling out of the flow of pedestrians.
“I bet ten gold coins on the pretty dame from the parade,” the rhinoceros said.
“Which one? There was a plethora,” the unicorn replied.
They both chuckled.
“My bet is on the Sánchez Sisters,” the woman dressed as a swan proclaimed. Her elaborate mask had diamonds dangling down her cheeks. “Camila and Pilar always amaze during their performances.”
What exactly were these wealthy patrons betting on?
A person outfitted as an octopus with sweeping tentacles whispered to the tight-knit group, “I bet a thousand silvers that we see tragedy before the night’s end.”
