The week flew by, and before I knew it, it was already time for our debut. This week was a strange one… I was slowly starting to adjust to a magical life in a magicless world. What I wasn’t adjusting well to was constantly being around four teenage boys. If only we could have brought Marge with…

  The boys bought nicer outfits than usual, even if some of them refused to wear them correctly. Maverick wore a black sport jacket—his white button-down shirt half tucked in and half sticking out, paired with blue designer jeans. He wouldn’t let me fix his shirt, no matter how much I tried.

  Aidan had a red flannel shirt—the sleeves far too long for his short arms. He had rolled them up to his forearms, and I had to pin them in place to keep them from rolling down. He wore khaki pants that were far looser than Maverick’s skinny jeans. Zephyr wore a black button-down shirt paired with black slacks. I hoped he wasn’t predicting our deaths. Finn wore a blue sport coat with his light blue shirt correctly tucked into his khaki pants.

  Even though I wouldn’t be onstage, the boys (Finn and Aidan) insisted I wear something nice as well. I imagined they just didn’t want me to feel left out of the shopping trip. So, I wore a light pink and white dress with fancy pink tulle at every layer. I almost felt overdressed. Almost.

  The SUV felt suffocating, even with the AC. I rolled down the window next to me to get some air, but Maverick managed to repeatedly roll it back up.

  “Stop,” I snapped.

  “You’re wasting the cool air,” he replied.

  “I’m carsick.”

  “Aw, too bad.” His voice was uncharacteristically sweet. Something I knew he did to annoy me.

  “I forgot magic doesn’t work with these vehicles.” Finn turned around to face me from the passenger seat, an apologetic smile forming.

  I had picked the seat behind the driver’s seat the last time we had driven with Maverick. If we were going to crash, I didn’t want the glass from the windshield hitting me. Turns out Maverick is actually a really good driver. ...Except for when someone cuts him off. It was those times that kept me from claiming the passenger seat.

  “It’s going to be okay, Ella,” Finn’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “You’re sick from worry, not the car.”

  “I feel like we’re making a mistake, like we’re putting ourselves out there for other people to find—not just the Magus of Historia.” I gripped the tulle of my dress, unable to relax.

  “If things get too bad, we can always back out to Meridia. And you won’t be involved at all, so you’ll be safe to return whenever.”

  “Finn is correct,” Zephyr interjected. “We are prepared for even the worst-case scenario.”

  “Okay.” I exhaled through my nose, allowing my body to ease up a little. Right, they were all beings with powerful magic. They could protect us no matter how bad things get.

  We pulled into the parking garage. Stepping out of the car, I was immediately hit with heat and a touch of humidity—the latter being something I never had to deal with in California. Or Meridia, for that matter.

  Finn held his arm out towards me, and I graciously took it, wrapping my arm around him in the process. I wanted to hold something—anything that would assure me that tonight wouldn’t end in disaster.

  We walked around the block and entered the venue. I received a few pointed stares from Aidan, but I pretended not to notice. Once inside, I remembered my other fear—the fear that was debatably worse than my fear of things going wrong.

  Crowds. Big, loud crowds.

  Finn released my arm just to pull me closer to him, his hand pushing my head into his chest to muffle out the noise.

  “I bet this is a dream come true for you—all these people,” I tried to talk over the crowd, knowing he couldn’t read my mind now.

  “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying it.” I could feel the vibrations in his chest as he spoke. Somehow, they were comforting.

  “D-don’t you and Maverick have business to attend to?” I could barely make out Aidan’s voice.

  Too soon, I felt myself being pried away from Finn’s hold. Aidan wrapped his arm around me and instantly realized he was too short to accomplish what Finn had done with me. Instead, he grabbed my hand, interlocked his fingers with mine, and dragged me across the venue, nearly bumping into several people in the process.

  “Where are we going?” I shouted over the crowd. “Sorry,” I muttered a quick apology to a lady I’d accidentally kicked in the shin, though she couldn’t have heard it with all the noise. Her glare would forever be burned into my memory.

  “Away from the crowd,” Aidan shouted back.

  Somehow, we ended up in the staff closet. There were shelves with numerous cleaning products, paper towels, and other supplies. Mops and brooms also lined the wall, some falling over and making the closet look messier than it actually was.

  “I don’t think we’re supposed to be in here,” I said, reaching for the door handle. Before my fingers could make contact with the metal, Aidan’s hand clamped firmly over mine.

  “B-but if we go back out there, you’ll be uncomfortable again…” He frowned at me as he took both of my hands in his. My hands were cold compared to his, but not from ice this time.

  “I’ll be fine.” I forced a smile, but he kept shaking his head.

  “The others will text us when they’re ready. L-let’s just hang out here in the meantime.” He positioned himself against the door so that I had no other choice but to remain where I was. Unless I wanted to awkwardly embrace him, which I did not.

  I found an empty spot on one of the shelves to sit on, knowing full well the staff would be pissed at me. Oh well. I had to crouch forward to avoid hitting my head on the shelf above.

  “I-I don’t like crowds either,” Aidan quietly admitted.

  “I imagine your fear is more justified than mine.” I forced another smile.

  “Why don’t you like crowds?”

  “I don’t know. There’s a lot of people staring and a lot of noise. What’s there to like?”

  “Finn likes crowds…” he muttered through his teeth.

  “Well, yeah, cause he’s a mind reader. When you’re forced to hear what everyone is thinking about you every day, I think getting the opportunity not to is more appealing.”

  “Did Matt like crowds?”

  My head raised at the sound of Matt’s name, causing me to hit my head on the above shelf. I quietly winced in pain—something Aidan either didn’t notice or chose to ignore. “He liked crowds. He was an extrovert—the opposite of me.”

  “E-extrovert?” He raised an eyebrow.

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  “A people person,” I answered, surprised this wasn’t a term in his world. Or maybe he just didn’t know it.

  He nodded his head in understanding. “Is that why you liked him?”

  “I guess one of the reasons. It’s easier to meet new people when you have someone to do the talking for you. He’s also very kind and funny. And…”

  I paused. I had thought of Matt a million times since I’d left my world. Why was this the first time I felt nothing? I was in love with him, so I should miss him, right? Then why did I have the feeling that this wasn’t the first time I’d felt this way? It must have been nerves.

  The door slammed open, sending Aidan flying into me, knocking over several bottles and a mop. The sound of a low whistle caught me off guard and made my cheeks and hands heat.

  “Sorry, I didn’t realize I was interrupting something.” Maverick smirked, his tone implying something that made me slowly die inside.

  “Our moment of reprieve from your existence, if that’s what you’re implying,” I replied.

  “Oh, I think there was something more going on beyond just that.” He smirked and pulled out his phone. I heard the unmistakable sound of a picture being taken and him typing on the digital keyboard.

  I struggled to push Aidan off of me, who in turn was already trying to get off me. His feet were tangled in wires, and the floor was covered in bottles, which probably didn't help. Not to mention, one of the bottles had started leaking a mysterious blue liquid.

  I heard the sound of a message being sent, and it was only a few seconds before Finn teleported in.

  “W-what are you two— Oh, it was an accident.” He said that last part unamused as he turned to Maverick with a death glare. The latter had an innocent smile, too distracted to realize I had managed to stand up and snatch his phone. He sent the picture in the group chat with three heart emojis.

  In the picture, my butt had already slid to the ground, and my back was forced back into one of the shelves as Aidan’s left hand grabbed the pile on the shelf, the other hand dangerously close to my chest. Not to mention, he was practically straddling me.

  I turned my attention to Finn. “You really shouldn’t be teleporting in here like that.”

  “Nobody’s going to miss one generic guy from the crowd.” He crossed his arms behind his head, smiling gingerly.

  “And you!” I turned to Maverick. “Stop sending out-of-context pictures to people and scandalizing them!” I prodded my finger into his chest. He gave me an amused smirk before turning around to leave.

  “The doors have opened now. You can come along with us backstage. Unless you prefer the intimacy of the janitor’s closet.” Maverick winked, his lips forever in a smirk.

  My cheeks flamed again, even though I knew he was just trying to get a rise out of me.

  I quickly followed Maverick and Finn backstage. The latter seemed to keep an eye on me to make sure I was following. Stupid Maverick.

  We arrived, and the boys were given an explanation of… some kind. I couldn’t care less—I wasn’t involved—so I tuned it out. Instead, I decided to peek over the curtain that had been drawn back. Several dozen, if not hundreds of seats, lined the rows. Some people had already taken their seats, while others were filing in. I wondered how many would see our show. Surely we wouldn’t have filled every seat? Most likely not. There were people in the lobby for other performances as well.

  I quickly ducked back behind the curtain. The last thing I wanted was for someone to take a picture of the stage and post it on social media, not realizing I was peeking out. Then said picture would go viral for whatever reason, and my family and friends would zoom in to see my disembodied head peeking over the curtain. Nope. Not letting that happen.

  Or what if it already had?

  I shook my head. I had too many things to worry about. I couldn’t add another.

  The staff eventually left, and I could see Finn snickering. I tried to ask about it, but was basically told we had time until our performance started.

  The staff eventually returned and were kind enough to pull out a chair angled in such a way that I’d get a nice view of the performance. They were a bit confused why I was back there to begin with, but Finn somehow managed to convince them my presence was necessary. Still, I was glad I wouldn’t have to stand the entire time. I had no idea how long this performance would last, but standing didn’t sound fun regardless.

  My breathing quickened as the lights went dark and the curtain closed. Seconds felt like an eternity, and I kept thinking of the different ways this could go wrong. Aidan actually catching on fire, Maverick teleporting outside, some crazy scientist in the audience who was researching this kind of stuff…

  The lights on the stage flicked on, and I released a breath I wasn’t aware I was holding. The curtain opened to a black backdrop, and a few seconds later, Maverick teleported on stage to the amazement of our audience.

  “How did you explain the mechanisms of our performance?” I whispered to Finn, realizing it was strange nobody had thought to ask about our props or devices.

  Finn sighed through his nose before whispering back. “It wasn’t easy. I basically told them it was a trade secret and that our setup was confidential. They gave us privacy to set things up so long as we didn’t violate any of their terms.”

  “Just like that?”

  “There’s very little that money can’t buy.” He offered me a lopsided grin, and I immediately understood. “Convincing them the setup wouldn’t take more than half an hour was also difficult.”

  “So that’s why they were gone for so long. And here I thought they thought we were wasting their time.”

  Maverick finished giving his opening speech, and Aidan walked onto the stage. He waved to the audience, but I could see him trembling. Poor thing. Why did we agree to let him perform? He took a deep breath before his body became engulfed in fire. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped before curving back up to form an open smile. He seemed surprised it worked as well, despite spending the whole week practicing.

  The audience cheered as the flames disappeared. Aidan took a bow before motioning to the right, where Finn had walked on stage. We decided to keep some classic tricks in, and this was one of them.

  “Can I have a volunteer from the audience?” Finn flashed his pearl white teeth as he winked at the audience—a motion I barely caught from where I was sitting. A girl with long brunette hair was only too eager to fall out of her seat and stumble up to the stage where she dramatically collapsed again—this time, I assumed on purpose. Nevertheless, Finn caught her, and she was very slow to stand back on her own two feet. He’s not that hot.

  “Can I have your name?” Finn asked, a smile that looked forced compared to the ones I was used to formed.

  “Kiara,” the girl replied breathily.

  “Well, Kiara, I want you to pick a card from this deck and pick a page from this book and read a sentence—any sentence. I will guess the card you drew as well as the sentence you picked.” He handed her a closed deck of playing cards and Zephyr’s cookbook. …It was the only book we had! Besides the one Zephyr bought that he wouldn’t part with even for the show.

  The girl eagerly nodded, pulling the deck out of the box and carefully looking over each of them, ensuring they were each different and weren’t marked. She flipped through the pages of the book as well, making sure each page was different.

  “Done?” Finn asked, his knowing smile may as well have pierced through her heart.

  She nodded, pulling the card and book closer to her.

  Finn walked a few paces back, closer to the back of the stage. He and Maverick mentioned that they measured the distance from the back of the stage to the audience, ensuring there was a big enough gap that Finn would be able to read the volunteer’s mind.

  He smiled confidently, assuring me that the trick was going to plan. “Soak the chicken in butter before adding a generous amount of salt and pepper. Four of diamonds.”

  Kiara’s jaw dropped as she turned around and held up her card and the book. A couple of staff members took a close-up video of both items and displayed it on the screen above the stage for others to see. The crowd gasped and cheered.

  The following “tricks” ranged from hundreds of flowers blooming on the stage, Zephyr throwing a dozen knives at Maverick, who was tied to a wooden board and conveniently managed to miss him, Aidan juggling fireballs, and everything in between. In between those tricks, Finn had found time to over-heal Maverick, revealing the faint teal light of ether.

  To end it all, Maverick summoned his sword and Finn his lance. Their duel was less impressive than the one they put on at the manor, but still impressive nonetheless. Finn’s lance’s flames glowed against the stage’s black backdrop, and Maverick’s sword glowed with a purple and black glow that gave me the willies. Their movements were slow and precise, ensuring the curtains—or worse—an audience member didn’t catch fire.

  The boys joined hands, taking their final bow as the show came to its conclusion. Afterwards, they disappeared, Maverick having teleported them out. I had to cover my ears from the clapping and screaming. I had never heard a crowd this rowdy before. I guessed that meant we succeeded in our show. I just hoped we hadn’t succeeded a little too well.

  The four entered from a door behind me so as to not alert the staff that real magic may have just teleported them.

  “How did you—” A staff member’s jaw dropped before she pursed her lips and crossed her arms. “Never mind. Trade secret.”

  “Exactly.” Maverick patted her on the head just for her to swat him away.

  “Enjoyed the show?” Finn walked over to me and crouched down so he was at eye level. His expression was gentle yet giddy, like he was eagerly awaiting my response. He probably was since he couldn’t read my mind.

  I nodded excitedly. “Best magic show I’ve ever seen.” I smiled. “Maybe a little too good—”

  “Shhh.” Finn held his finger up to my lips, silencing me. “Don’t worry about that.”

  I allowed myself to relax now that the night was finally over.

  Though I had a feeling this was only just the beginning.