She turned to him fully, suddenly serious. His stomach dropped. He’d gone too far.
“You dreamed of me?” she asked. Her eyes were so large and open. So full of…hope, perhaps?
He couldn’t help it; he stepped closer to her. “Dovie, I…” Could he tell her the truth? That there hadn’t been a night that went by where she hadn’t come to him in his dreams.
Her brows pinched, and she turned her head. “Do you hear that?”
The sun had begun to rise, casting the sky in the same cotton-candy pinks he’d seen guests nibbling on so joyfully during the carnival. Rooftops of buildings from their next stop were beginning to pop up over the horizon. The train blared its horn three times. Loud cheers rang out in return.
Esmeralda scrambled close to the side of the balcony and peered around the boxcar in front of them. She rubbed her eyes as if seeing a mirage. Aching at the thought of her so near to the edge, he moved to join her. His hands ready to catch her if she fell. He gaped. Hundreds of people were lining the tracks. They held up signs.
Some offered well wishes for the Sánchez sisters. Some begged for the ringmaster to marry them. A few stated they were rooting for Paco the Fire Breather. But others—now Ignacio rubbed his own eyes. There were dozens of sketches of him and Esmeralda. No, of the masked man and Paloma Blanca staring lovingly at each other from within the ostrich cage.
“King’s toes,” she whispered. Her face glowed with a greedy sort of amazement. “They adore me.” She pointed at a sign saying she must become the lead act. “They are rooting for me.”
“Technically, us. I’m on those signs too.”
“Well…sure…but you can tell they are here for me. I mean…Look there. I have a much larger portion on that sketch.” She held her hands against her chest. “They love me.”
“No, Dovie. These people are betting on you. I overheard some guests talking about it before the show.”
“Of course they are. I’m worth the gamble. At least tosomepeople.”
What did that mean?He shook his head before spiraling. “They are betting on people getting hurt. They’re hoping ithappens.”
“Good thing that won’t happen to me, then. Because I plan on winning.”
He took her arm so she faced him. “You aren’t still going togo on with the contest after what happened to Camila and Pilar, are you?”
“Why not? They aren’t going to keep me fed or safe. And, thanks to you, I don’t have enough to pay for passage out of this country once my time is up in the carnival. Ihaveto be the main act if I intend to survive. Because now, thanks to you,again, your father knows exactly where I am. The girls and I are close, but I can’t let their tragedy stop me from living.”
Ignacio stepped back, stunned. “How could you be so cold? They’re your friends.”
“And you were the boy who swore he loved me. You promised you’d always be there. Until you weren’t. If I’m callous, it’s because every time I offered my heart, the person who promised to keep it safe dropped it to the dirt. When you left—”
“I never left you!” he snapped. “How could you say such a preposterous thing? It was you! You left first!” He knew he should lower his voice, people were watching from the tracks, but he couldn’t help it. She was lying right to his face even when he had been there.
“Ileft first?!” She laughed haughtily then returned to watching the excited gathering. “You might need to get your memory checked because you are—” Her skin suddenly paled, and her jaw went slack.
A man stood snarling amongst the onlookers holding signs. He wore a bowler hat tugged low to his nose. His jacket hung haggardly over a black-and-white-striped prison uniform.
“The bootlegger,” she whispered.
She winced and gathered her curls, using them to shield herface. But it must have done the opposite of what she was trying to do, because the man yelled, “It’s you! I’d recognize that smug smirk anywhere.”
Though her hair was over her eyes, the bottom half of her face was exposed. Just like when she wore her dove mask.
The man raised his finger and pointed at her, his cheeks reddening.
“You scammed me!” he shouted. “You told me I’d find fortune! But now I’m on the lam because of you!” He shoved his way through the crowd and started chasing after the train.
Esmeralda’s entire body went rigid with fear. Ignacio couldn’t stand the sight. He shoved his sleeves up, readying for a fight, but then he remembered what had happened to Anella when she’d lost the crowd’s approval during the parade.
The people holding up their signs and rooting for La Paloma Blanca might start to think she was a fraud. He had to turn this around. Perhaps laughter would work. “Let me tell you a new fortune, buddy! One step closer and prison will be the least of your worries!” he shouted, flexing his biceps.
The man let out a string of curses.
Ignacio clucked his tongue. “Do you pray to the gods with that foul mouth? Perhaps that is why you’ve had such pitiful luck!”
