Maverick had somehow managed to book the venue for this weekend, meaning we didn’t have much time to prepare. He and Finn came up with most of the program this time since Aidan was still salty and Zephyr had a migraine. Dimitri even wrote one of our acts for us! Not caring about how we looked, we decided to wear the same outfits as last time. After all, the only people whose attention we wanted were the Magus of Historia. And wearing the same outfits as last time might just attract their attention. I would certainly notice if an act had no sense of style.

  Dimitri decided to stay home, something only made possible by Maverick installing security cameras all over the place, including in my room! He'd better remove those before I go to bed!

  I fidgeted in the car, somehow more anxious than last time. This was our last chance—we were running out of time. And yet everything was happening too fast. This might be the last night I was completely safe. The last night that my parents were wondering what had happened to me. The last night before—

  “It’s going to be fine.” Finn took my hands in his. Wait, wasn’t he sitting in front of me? He was now knelt down in front of me.

  “Hey! Buckle up! It’s the law!” Maverick called out from the driver’s seat.

  “Where did you read that?” Zephyr asked.

  “A billboard.”

  “A-an animal?” Aidan asked.

  “No. It’s—“ I could see Maverick pinch the bridge of his nose from the rearview mirror.

  Finn rolled his eyes at Maverick before turning back to me. “It’s going to be okay, Ella. We’re not that popular, remember? There’s no reason to believe anyone who knows you will stumble across an article or video of us.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right… “ I sighed. “Everything feels a lot more real now. The stakes feel real. You guys have been talking about the Magus of Historia as if they’ll kill us on sight.”

  “Because they will,” Maverick stated.

  “Shut up,” Finn shot back at him.

  “And I still haven’t learned to use magic…” I continued. “When the time comes to face them, I’m going to be a liability.”

  “W-we’ll do everything we can to protect you!” Aidan added from next to me. He looked so sure and confident in himself, I couldn’t help but be moved—if only for a moment.

  “That’s exactly my point. You’re going to hurt yourselves trying to protect me, and I don’t want that. Yet, I’m also too selfish to ask to be left behind…”

  “That’s not selfish, Ella.” Finn took my hands in his. “You’re our friend—our family. We’re not going to leave you behind, whether you want us to or not. And I know if everything was reversed, you’d do the same for any of us.”

  I swallowed, rapidly blinking as hard as I could to fight back the tears I knew were coming. When I felt sure of myself, I glanced down at Finn’s and my hands, which were covered in water.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he whispered to me. “I know this isn’t the solution you want, but don’t think for a moment that because you haven’t learned magic, you’re a burden to the rest of us.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Maverick said, his tone bothered. I glanced up at the rear view mirror to see his lips pursed and his eyebrows slightly furrowed. Of course he’d think that. I shouldn’t have thought any differently and yet… Why did it still hurt?

  “You asshole!” Finn shouted at him, rushing towards the driver’s seat—only to be stopped by Zephyr, who grabbed his arm.

  “I would like to remind you that Maverick is the one controlling the vehicle that presently contains all of our lives.” Zephyr’s gaze was harsh, more serious than I had seen save for maybe when he had threatened me with his musket.

  “Why do you want me to downplay it?” Maverick asked. “Ella is a liability. Saying otherwise doesn’t change it. She needs to know so she doesn’t put the rest of our lives at risk trying to play the hero.”

  I gripped the tulle of my skirt, forcing back the tears from being called weak. He was right. For once, I didn’t think he was trying to insult me. But there was nothing not insulting about being called a liability. And yet… he wasn’t wrong.

  “I won’t try to argue with you, then.” Finn’s voice was light and gentle as he spoke to me, gently caressing the skin on the back of my palm. “For what it’s worth, it doesn’t bother me having to go out of my way to protect you.”

  I know he meant well, but that somehow made me feel even worse.

  Finn winced before returning to his seat behind me.

  The rest of the ride was silent.

  Walking through the crowd, I couldn’t even bring myself to feel bothered. There was so much going on that the crowd of people seemed trivial.

  Until someone recognized us.

  “Yo! You’re those magicians from before!” Some guy walked up to us. He was definitely older than me by quite a bit. Still younger than Maverick. It was crazy to think that everyone here was younger than Maverick. Including the lady whose cassette just fell out of her purse. People still used those?

  “I take it you’re here to watch us?” Maverick cringed uncomfortably.

  “That’s the dealio, dude!”

  Aidan turned to me, his look puzzled and almost concerned. I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head. I didn’t have time to explain cringey slang.

  While Maverick and Zephyr kept the strange man busy, Finn and Aidan helped me get backstage.

  “You remember what to do, right?” Finn looked at me seriously.

  “Of course. We’ve only been over it a hundred times.” I facepalmed. “I’m only in one act. I—”

  “You don’t actually use your magic, we do the magic for you.”

  “Yes! I know!” I all but shouted. I was starting to grow impatient with how many times the boys had explained it to me, as if expecting me to forget. I would never dream of actually using my magic in a public place to begin with!

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I’m sorry! I was just checking—” Finn placed his hands up defensively.

  “You’re literally a mindreader! You should know!” I flailed my hands, exasperated.

  “I’m hungry.” Aidan swung his feet back and forth, the heels of his shoes loudly colliding with the wood of his chair as they swung back down.

  Finn turned to him and blinked. “You said you weren’t hungry when the rest of us were eating.”

  “Well yeah, that was then! I’m hungry now.” Aidan crossed his arms, looking away.

  Finn pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s on you, buddy.”

  I tuned out the rest of the conversation, nervously awaiting the start of our performance. Apparently Aidan threw a big enough fit that the staff members had to be bribed into bringing him popcorn. Finn kept offering me popcorn over and over, but the last thing I needed was an upset stomach. My stomach was already churning from nerves.

  The other two boys arrived, and minutes felt like seconds as they prepared to introduce themselves. Well, after I had dusted off popcorn crumbs from Maverick’s jacket. We had decided that I would only appear in one act to minimize the amount of time I would be seen.

  For this performance, the boys decided they wanted to be a little more showy to hopefully gain the Magus of Historia’s attention. They created a portal of water that Maverick and Finn stepped out of, earning an eruption of applause from the audience that meshed into the epic orchestral soundtrack Zephyr had chosen for the entrance.

  Both boys’ hair were soaking wet until Aidan sheepishly ran behind them, lighting a fire to dry them off within seconds.

  “Thank you for coming to—” Maverick paused, his mouth shut closed as his eyebrows raised and he turned to see the “portal” was still going. A flick of his wrist later, it disappeared; a few drops of water were all that remained. “Thank you for coming to our show once again. I promise you, tonight will be a night you’ll never forget.” He smirked as he took a step backwards and bowed, his butt pushing Aidan back which was not in the script.

  Finn whispered something inaudible to Aidan, who quickly ran to the other side of the stage. Beautiful white wings appeared from his back, and a gust of wind started, strong enough for the heavy stage curtains to start flapping. Seconds later, Aidan was suspended into the air, rising higher and higher until his head nearly touched the ceiling.

  Maverick also ascended in the air, the wind less noticeable for him. He drew his sword as Aidan drew his orb. …Were they really going to recreate the battle where they’d nearly killed each other? Nobody had told me about that!

  “We didn’t tell you because we knew you’d freak out,” Finn whispered to me. Gah! When did he get here?!

  The crowd watched with bated breath as the two flew around the stage. Aidan shot fire from his weapon, and Maverick cleverly deflected it, launching the fire towards the walls and even the crowd.

  “They’re going to kill someone!” I shout-whispered to Finn who merely shook his head.

  “Aidan’s fire and wings aren’t real—they’re Zephyr’s illusions.”

  “Wait, really?” I blinked. That made sense. Aidan would never intentionally put anyone in harm’s way. Maverick, on the other hand…

  “It was a real pain to get him to agree to it, too.” Finn bit his lip. For Aidan to agree?

  The gasp of the crowd took me out of my thoughts and back to the fight on stage. Maverick had swung close enough to Aidan for the sleeve of his shirt to split.

  “Please tell me Maverick’s sword is an illusion as well…” I winced.

  “Nope.” Finn smiled at me.

  “They better stop soon, or this will be a very different ending from how the original fight went.” I crossed my arms. Why was everyone set on stressing me out tonight?!

  Aidan’s white wings glowed a bright yellow that illuminated everything around him. It was so bright I saw Maverick shield his eyes with his arm. Suddenly, meteors descended from the ceiling above the entire theater. The crowd was silent, save for a couple screams from the back. Some of them ducked down, a couple others began running out of the theater. Just before the meteors could “hit” the crowd, it dispersed into hundreds of doves.

  I watched in awe as the crowd cheered and applauded. Had I been a little kid, this would have been the stuff of my dreams. Magic that was too realistic to be an illusion, because it wasn’t. Well, I guess that wasn’t entirely true. It was a magical illusion. I glanced over to Zephyr, who was standing backstage; his chest heaved up and down as sweat poured down behind his glasses.

  I smiled at him earnestly. “You did good.” I placed an arm on his shoulder before turning back to the stage. Maverick and Aidan were taking dramatic bows, and I couldn’t hide the beaming smile on my face. Tonight would be spectacular.

  I watched, giddy like a child, as each act went by. Maverick teleported an audience member to the stage, Finn did some tricks with his lance, and Zephyr used wind to blow origami birds into the air as calm music played. Near the end, the paper birds turned into “real” birds and flew around the theater before dispersing into sparkles. Both Maverick and Zephyr were starting to look exhausted. Just how much magic were they using to put on this performance?

  Before I could ask if they were all right, it was time for my act.

  My heart stopped, and I began feeling weak in the knees. I had to mentally remind myself to breathe, something that seemed to take a more conscious effort than I remembered.

  I sucked in a breath of air and took a step onto the stage, the bright spotlight almost blinding me considering how dark it had been backstage. I scanned the audience and wished I hadn’t. So many stares were on me. So much pressure to perform to the degree my fellow magicians had… I couldn’t disappoint them. But yet, I wasn’t as strong as…

  I opened my mouth to speak. But before I could, Maverick’s hands were on mine, his body blocking my view of the crowd. “Focus on me, not them.” He stared directly into my eyes, a softness not usually present comforting me, assuring my safety.

  I glanced down at my hands—ice was covering his and mine. Right… I needed to calm down if I wanted this to work. I nodded my head and sucked in another deep breath. The ice instantly melted.

  “Don’t look at the crowd anymore. Just focus on us and repeat the steps in your head. You don’t have to worry about anything else,” Maverick said quietly to me, so that nobody else would hear.

  “Right.” I squeezed his hands for reassurance, and he nodded towards me.

  Maverick released my hands, and I took my position between Aidan and Finn. Both smiled at me, making me feel just a bit calmer. This was going to work. Maverick was right—I didn’t really have to do anything. All I needed was to be present so the Magus of Historia would see me.

  Zephyr nodded to me, which was my cue.

  I closed my eyes and held my hands slightly out to my side, giving the audience the impression I was actually performing the magic.

  Huh? Why… Why did I suddenly feel so angry? Angry at what? It made no sense.

  I opened my eyes, searching for my friends to give myself the reassurance I needed. Finn’s expression was concerned, and Aidan had gone pale. Their faces made me angry—their expectations—their feelings—their existence. I was so angry I—

  A hundred and fifty pounds collided with me as liquid spread across my body. I desperately tried to push the weight off, only to find Finn on top of me—his eyes blank and his lips straight. His hair was soaked in water, and his shirt clung to his body. Had he created the water…?

  Screams erupted from the audience as I pushed him off me—only to find the stage covered in flames. Maverick and Aidan were desperately trying to douse the flames in water, but to no avail. I caught sight of Zephyr weaving through the crowd, trying to heal people’s burns, as embers danced from seat to seat.

  No… Why was… Why was this happening? Wasn’t Zephyr’s magic just supposed to produce illusions?! Not real fire?!

  “This isn’t Zephyr’s illusions,” Finn said coldly. “This is your magic.”

  My heart shattered. My world collapsed. I was here and I wasn’t. I wasn’t supposed to use magic. I didn’t know how to use magic. And yet, somehow I had…

  Another scream, this time from Aidan…

  I’d...somehow...created…

  The smell of chrysanthemums overwhelmed me.

  I screamed.

  Water flooded the theater—the majority of its inhabitants had already evacuated. Beautiful crystals formed from the water, starting from the doors of the theater and rapidly spreading across until they reached us.

  The overwhelming cold was the last sensation I felt.