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“Accident? What do you mean…” I opened it up, brows raised. “Most of it’s covered in ink!”
“I know.” He grinned. “You ought to have seen him carry on about how clumsy I was after I bumped into him. Thought for certain he might have gutted me right there if he could’ve.” He leaned over my shoulder, tracing the opening line. “‘To my dearest’…”
I batted him away. “I can read, thank you.” I scanned what remained of the ink-splattered letter, stomach clenching.
It was as he’d said: Houdini loved another. I longed to crumple the paper but tucked it into my bodice instead. On the surface my bargain might have appeared to benefit Mephistopheles more, but I suddenly felt much better about protecting Liza from Harry Houdini and his lies.
Acrobat
THIRTEEN
ACE OF WANDS
MOONLIGHT CARNIVAL PRACTICE ROOM
RMS ETRURIA
4 JANUARY 1889
“Like this?” I asked, looping my legs over the bar. Even with the safety net below I did not feel an ounce of comfort. And I didn’t think my costume—a mere boneless frost-blue corset and thick white stockings—was entirely to blame. Though I was slightly concerned the added weight of the excessive beading might ensure my death should I fall.
Cassie snorted, but didn’t make fun. “You’ll only swing back and forth. With your legs hooked over the bar, you’ll be able to grip it tightly enough that you won’t fall.” She held the bar steady, brown eyes fixed to mine, not in challenge but curiosity. “Don’t worry, this isn’t what your role in the finale is going to be. This is just for fun.”
I seriously questioned their idea of a good time. Swinging from a tiny little bar more than twenty feet in
the air seemed like certain death. How she managed it in beaded costumes with long trains was either a miracle or magic or both.
Sebastián swung over from his side of the practice room, legs over the bar and arms extended outward, a wide grin on his face. As if he weren’t already talented enough with his contortions, now he was doing them in the sky. “Easy, see? All you have to do is let go.”
“You’re all mad,” I muttered under my breath. “Absolutely mad.”
“Normal is overrated.” Cassie nudged me toward the bar. “Extraordinary is unforgettable.” I took the bar in my hand, but the Empress quickly stopped me. She clapped my hands with a strange white substance that felt both sticky and chalky. “Resin. It helps with your grip.”
“I thought I was only using my legs for this?”
“Yes, well”—Cassie turned me about, placing my hands on the bar—“you need to hold on and then loop your legs through, right?”
I’d much sooner prance naked on the prow and sing a bawdy-house song.
“Everything all right up there?” Mephistopheles yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Practice is almost over. Guests will be heading out for breakfast soon, and we must deposit Miss Wadsworth in her chambers before anyone notices her absence.”
I shot him a dirty look that he probably missed, since I was higher than a building. “Nuisance. I’d like to see him swing on the trapeze.”
Cassie laughed. “Don’t challenge him. He’ll do it, and if he breaks his neck, then we’re all out of a job. And I need the money.”
I took the bar in my hands, ignoring the dampness that seemed to seep through the resin powder. “Are you saving for something?”
She adjusted my grip and demonstrated how to bring my legs up and over, ignoring my question. My stomach flipped. “No… I…” She heaved a breath out. “I made unwise choices and may owe a bit of money to people.”
I threaded one leg over the bar, heart racing for multiple reasons. “People who also work for the carnival?”
Cassie motioned for me to repeat the procedure with my other leg. I hesitated, but only for another moment, hoping she’d keep talking. This was exactly what I needed: information that might prove to be a motive for murder. She helped pull my leg over the bar and made sure it rested solidly against the backs of my knees. While I did feel secure with the grip, I felt anything but comforted while dangling upside down. The ground was very, very far away.
“No,” she finally said. “The people I owe aren’t in the carnival.”
Before I could inquire further, she untied the trapeze from where it had been secured to two large poles for me and gave me a slight push. I couldn’t control the yelp that escaped my lips as I flew across the room. I closed my eyes, fearing that I’d either be sick or panic and do something stupid and go crashing to my death.
“Open your eyes!” Mephistopheles called up. “Enjoy the view! Come on now. I didn’t peg you as a coward.”
