After our conversation last night, I was too tired to move back to my room, so I just slept on the couch. I was surprised when I woke to find Maverick sleeping next to me, sitting by my feet with his back against the couch and his feet on the table where they usually were. He at least bothered to take off his shoes this time. Dimitri was curled up on his lap, quietly snoring.

  My foot accidentally bumped into Maverick as I shifted to sit up. He woke up, startled.

  “Sorry,” I quietly mumbled, still tired from having just woken up.

  He exhaled, but his expression was neutral, seemingly not minding having been suddenly woken. “We should probably get up before the others get the wrong idea.” He winked at me.

  “As if they’d ever get that idea.” I rolled my eyes.

  “I did have a few questions of my own.” Zephyr’s voice startled me. I frantically glanced around before realizing he was in the kitchen. “It’s nice to see you’re back, Maverick.”

  The latter rolled his eyes. “I went to scope things out, is all.”

  “My point stands all the more.”

  It wasn’t long before Finn and Aidan woke up. Both were, in their own way, relieved to see Maverick. It also wasn’t long before breakfast was ready. Zephyr seemed to have learned his lesson from the past couple of days that if he was going to make everyone happy, he would have to make everyone something different. Pancakes for me, an omelet with sausage and bacon for Maverick, chorizo and egg for Aidan, a spinach omelet for Finn, and a little bit of everything for Zephyr.

  “Where did you learn to make all of this?” I asked, never having seen food like this in Meridia.

  “100 Ways to Cook an Egg and Other Breakfast Ideas,” Zephyr answered. “A cookbook I found in the pantry.”

  “That sure is a title.”

  “There’s also the sequel, How To Chop Your Chicken and Your Shallots: The Ultimate Guide to Lunch.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” I sighed.

  “D-did you find anything about the Magus of Historia?” Aidan asked between bites. Part of me wondered if he secretly hoped the answer was no.

  “Not really,” Maverick replied. “I imagine they’re just like us, trying to blend in. As of now, they likely don’t have any reason to reveal themselves.”

  “…So what if we give them a reason to?” Finn wondered aloud.

  “What are you saying?” Maverick furrowed his eyebrows. “Reveal ourselves and wait for them to come? That’s suicide for multiple reasons.”

  “We can do it in a way that only they’ll realize. A magic show.”

  “Magic…” Maverick trailed off, pinching the bridge of his nose, covering his eyes with the rest of his fingers. “You’re giving me flashbacks to my childhood when traveling troupes would perform in towns.”

  “T-they still do that.” Aidan smiled sheepishly.

  “In New York,” Finn started again, “they hold magic shows in theaters. The most professional ones look realistic enough that we could probably use real magic and get away with it.”

  “How do you know all of this?” Zephyr asked, the only one who was almost done with their food.

  “Ella’s mind.” Finn shrugged nonchalantly. “She’s compared magic in our world to a magic show she saw three years ago. That’s how I know this will work.” He winked.

  “I…did?” I blinked, trying to recall when I thought this. “Wait… How do you remember that?!” I demanded.

  “I thought it was amusing that your world had perfected the trick of magic so much that it looked real.” He shrugged again, this time, more defensively.

  “If magic tricks are that realistic, why would our enemies think anything of us?” Maverick asked.

  “Because ether leaves behind an unmistakable glow.”

  “Yeah, one so faint that nobody in the audience will be able to make it out.” Maverick rolled his eyes.

  “What if we increased the amount of ether we used so that it was visible?” Zephyr asked.

  “The crowd would probably mistake it as LEDs used to power whatever magic we perform,” I added.

  “What magic are we using, exactly? The glow of ether only increases when you overexert yourself. As exhilarating as it would be, I don’t think blowing up the theater is our aim.” Maverick glanced at each of us.

  “Perhaps one of us could use healing magic on the person casting spells,” Zephyr offered.

  “That could work.” Maverick stroked his chin, thinking over Zephyr’s suggestion. “Very well. It’s not like we have any other leads. Finn and I will handle things on that front. Perhaps you three can decide what type of show we’ll put on.”

  “Um… Am I going to be a part of it?” I asked quietly.

  “Do you want to be?”

  “Not really, no. I don’t want anyone I know to see me.”

  “S-seeing you would probably tell them that you’re okay.” Aidan frowned at me from across the table.

  “And it would also raise a lot of questions. And a lot of hurt…” I sighed. I wanted them to see me again, but not like this.

  “Then you don’t have to be on stage with us.” Finn had stolen Zephyr’s seat to place a hand on my shoulder; the latter had gotten up to rinse off his plate. “Just watch us from backstage, okay?” He ruffled my hair.

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  Shortly after breakfast, Finn and Maverick headed out. Finn came with because something, something, knowing just what to say and do since he was a mindreader. That left the three of us to come up with a plan for the magic show.

  Aidan brought a sketch pad to the kitchen table, something he had brought with him from Meridia. I wasn’t sure if we were going to be drawing or taking notes, but Aidan had started sketching a drawing of… me in a flower crown? He blushed and pulled the drawing closer to him when he noticed I was watching. I frowned, realizing the implication.

  “What are magic shows in your world like?” Zephyr asked. “So we have something to base ours on.”

  I tried to think back to the one my dad had taken me to see with Rose. “There are lots of cards. And doves—a type of bird. Sometimes a knife.”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “D-do they stab the dove with the knife?” Aidan asked, looking disturbed.

  “No, they stab the humans.” I shook my head.

  Aidan and Zephyr paled.

  “T-they don’t actually stab them! It’s magic!” I frantically explained. “Well, fake magic!”

  “Interesting.” Zephyr thought aloud. “I don’t believe we would be able to recreate magical murder without the murder.”

  “Yeah, uh, let’s pick a different one…” I forced a smile as I thought back to the magic shows I had seen. “There’s always the classic disappearing act, but that one’s a bit lame.” I tried to think of some other ones. Wait, I had a phone now! I could just pull up videos!

  We watched several montages of magic shows from recent months/years. Aidan’s jaw dropped, unable to believe what people had achieved without real magic. I was also surprised by how technology was being utilized to make the magic seem more… magical. That would work in our favor. Though one of them was just lame, and it was very obvious that it was a computer behind the images. Well, obvious to anyone who wasn’t Aidan or Zephyr who were still asking me how that was achieved.

  We watched a few more videos just to be safe, but Zephyr had seemed to come up with a plan for us.

  “Maverick will enter the stage first, teleporting around to grab our audience’s attention. The audience will think it’s one of those… holograms you mentioned. Then, Aidan will walk onto the stage surrounded by fire. He has a natural affinity to fire, so I imagine appearing to be aflame without actually being aflame will come naturally to him.” He turned to Aidan, who nodded in acknowledgement.

  “Then what?” I asked, already captivated by his ideas.

  Zephyr smiled, straightening his glasses. “And then…”

  It was nearly sunset by the time Maverick and Finn returned.

  “What took so long?” I asked from my spot on the couch. I was trying to get Dimitri to play with my slipper, but he wouldn’t budge. Oddly enough, he would still fetch my slippers for me from across the room.

  “Booking a show is a lot of work, Elaina.” Maverick sighed as he took a seat in his usual chair. “Of course, it would have gone faster if Finn hadn’t spent so much time talking to the receptionist.” He rolled his eyes.

  “The receptionist?” I furrowed my brows in confusion.

  “The hot receptionist in the tight skirt and permed hair.”

  “It wasn’t permed!” Finn replied.

  “Oh, but she was hot?” I teased.

  “Very.” He winked at me. “Besides, it would’ve been rude to brush her off when she was so interested in talking.”

  “She was only interested because you knew exactly what to say to her.” Maverick rolled his eyes.

  “So? She had a good time, we booked our slot, and that’s all that matters.” He crossed his arms, pouting.

  “Aw, does someone have a little crush?” I teased.

  “She was objectively hot!” Finn blushed.

  “And I’m objectively tired after planning our show.” Zephyr leaned back into the couch, letting out a soft groan.

  “Did you come up with something good?” Finn sat on the coffee table that nobody but me cared to use as an actual table, his chin propped up by his palms as he rested his elbows on his knees.

  “I believe you will like it, yes. But more importantly, our audience should like it.”

  “Good. That’s one less thing for the two of us to worry about,” Maverick replied. “What’s for dinner?”

  “Ella, perhaps you would like to pick where we dine?” Zephyr suggested. He looked so tired from where I was. His eyes were sagging and had clear bags under them.

  “Hm…” I pulled up the map on my phone to see what was around us. I smiled, knowing exactly what I wanted them to eat. “Follow me.”

  We walked around the block to reach our destination. It was raining out, so Maverick summoned three umbrellas. He and Zephyr shared one while Finn pulled me close to him so I would fit under his. Aidan was the only one who had his own umbrella.

  “Wouldn’t the car be faster?” Zephyr asked, his voice muffled from the rain.

  “Sometimes walking is faster in this world.” Finn beamed at him as if he knew this from experience, which he most certainly did not.

  It wasn’t long before we reached the restaurant — a pizza place. I always wanted to try New York pizza.

  The inside was far less formal than the restaurant Aidan had taken me to the other day. Then again, most pizza places were pretty casual. I walked up to the counter to place the order, and we took our seats at the tables they had spread around. The atmosphere was worse than usual, considering the rain.

  “Do all Earth restaurants look this run down?” Zephyr asked, scanning the room.

  “Not really, no,” I answered.

  “T-the one we went to yesterday looked incredible!” Aidan added.

  “When’s the show?” I interrupted, glancing at Maverick. It occurred to me that he hadn’t told us when we’d be risking our lives. Okay, we were probably fine, but still!

  “This weekend,” he answered.

  “This weekend?!” I sputtered. “How did you manage that?”

  “It helps to have a mind reader. And money.” He smirked.

  Zephyr cleared his throat, silencing Maverick from potentially revealing us. “What is this… pizza that you’re having us try?”

  “Oh, it’s this really nasty dish that’s far too salty,” Maverick answered before I could get a word out of my mouth.

  “It’s good food, thank you very much.” I crossed my arms and huffed. I had forgotten the last time I—we had pizza was the night he kidnapped me. “It’s dough with sauce and cheese.”

  “W-what kind of sauce?” Aidan asked.

  “What’s cheese?” Finn added. How did he not know what—

  “Tomato sauce, but you probably don’t know what that is.” I sighed. “It’s like… a sweet sauce with a little bit of saltiness.”

  “Like malus sauce?” He glanced up at the ceiling—a finger tapped to his chin.

  “Uh, no, not apple sauce. That’s not salty…”

  Finn chortled.

  Before I could ask what was so funny, the three pizzas arrived. One was cheese with green onions and peppers, another was loaded with meat, and the last was a basic cheese pizza. Wanting to try the pizza in its most basic form, I took a slice of the cheese. Honestly? I was disappointed. It wasn’t much different than what I had back home. Maybe it’s because most pizza places base their recipes off of New York. Sigh.

  “This is much better than your California pizza,” Maverick said, his mouth full of pizza and meat.

  Finn seemed to like the veggie pizza, though Aidan did not. He tried the cheese and made a face, not liking that one either. He finally seemed to tolerate the meat pizza. Probably because of the spicy pepperoni. Zephyr didn’t seem all that impressed either.

  “You’re right.” Zephyr turned to Maverick. It is overly salty.”

  “It’s fine.” I rolled my eyes. Come to think of it, Meridian food was rather bland compared to this. Maybe we did over-salt our food…

  “It seems to be an acquired taste,” Finn added. Where in my mind did I imply that?

  “I’ll have you know most Americans like pizza the first time they try it. Except for those freaks who don’t like cheese.”

  “What’s cheese?” Aidan and Finn asked in sync.

  “The yellow stuff on top!” I shouted, pulling the cheese off the pizza. “Do you not have cheese in Meridia?!”

  “Meolcaseus,” they both answered in sync again.

  Oh. So that’s what that word meant.

  “Also, I can’t read your thoughts in a place like this. Too many people.” Finn gave me a sheepish smile.

  “That explains a lot.” I sighed.

  “Should we save some for Dimitri?” Maverick smirked at me.

  “And send him to the hospital? No!” I shouted, the boy in front of me laughing.

  I hoped we’d be able to enjoy another moment like this. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about how the magic show would go.