“But meanwhile we get a show,” Twitch enthused. “I’ve loved dazzle shows ever since I was little. They make the impossible come true.”
“Illusionists fake the impossible,” Jace scoffed. “They fool your eyes. Big deal.”
“The good ones make it seem real,” Twitch insisted. “You know they’re tricking you, but it looks amazing. The point is to be entertained.”
“Verilan charges a lot for his services,” Joe said. “The show will display the quality of his seemings. Enjoy it. Just don’t forget that the real purpose tonight is to get disguises for Mira and Cole. We need to be alert.”
“I’m excited for the show,” Cole said. “I’ve never seen a magic act done by an actual illusionist.”
“How could you put on a dazzle show without an illusionist?” Jace asked.
“We have magicians in my world even though nobody can shape,” Cole said. “They pull off some cool tricks with just skill and special props.”
Jace snorted. “This will crush anything people can do without shaping.”
“Here we are,” Joe said. “Stay close to me.”
The coach slowed and then stopped. Joe opened the door. Cole exited last.
The mirror surface of the building reflected everything in intense shades of electric light. As he moved toward the front doors, Cole saw his reflection blazing a brilliant green. Everyone in the crowd reflected as a different glaring hue.
Beyond the doors, they passed through a lobby where the floor simulated a pond teeming with decorative fish. Despite the authentic appearance, there was no sensation of wetness as Cole walked across it. This already looked way cooler than the magic shows he’d seen on TV back home. Chelsea had always been into that stuff. He wondered what she would think of this.
In the performance hall, rows of benches flowed up and away from a semicircular stage. The hall was small enough to have no terrible seats, but Joe led them to a prime bench just right of center, about ten rows from the front.
Watching the stage expectantly, eager audience members chatted with neighbors. Cole longed to share in the atmosphere of anticipation instead of trying to wish himself invisible. Everyone who saw his face represented a potential risk. After taking his seat, he hunched forward and lowered his head.
Cole had worried that Twitch’s insectile appearance would draw unwanted attention, but about one in every dozen members of the crowd looked as bizarre as Twitch or worse. A guy just a few seats down on their row had a huge, lipless mouth with triangular sharklike teeth.
Audience members were still trickling in when a guy strode out onto the stage. Though not a large man, his leopard-print vest showed off a chiseled torso and arms. He wore his long, blond hair tied back in a ponytail. His tan skin looked lightly sunburned. The audience cheered.
After absorbing the adulation for a moment, the performer raised his arms to calm the outburst. “Find your seats at your leisure,” he called. “The starting time didn’t apply to you. Nobody is bothered by your tardiness.”
The audience laughed, and he flashed a winning smile. Extending one arm, a large hoop appeared in his hand. When he moved the hoop in front of himself, all portions of him visible through the circle appeared to be a curvy woman. He raised the hoop high off to one side, then swung it down, and a shapely brunette appeared beside him, waving to the crowd. She smiled, but there was no warmth behind it.
“Meet Madeline, my lovely assistant this evening,” the man said. “And I am . . .” He cupped a hand behind his ear.
“Verilan the Incredible!” the audience shouted.
“The what?” Verilan asked, brows knitted in befuddlement.
“Incredible!” the audience roared, Twitch among the loudest.
Verilan and his assistant proceeded to work wonders. Juggled swords turned into clouds of butterflies. Water leaped from one container to another until bucket by bucket and barrel by barrel Verilan created an elaborate fountain. On a huge canvas, Verilan painted birds that came to life and swooped around the performance hall. Madeline and Verilan danced together above a sea of flame. Cole was pretty sure Chelsea would have been on the edge of her seat. Too bad he didn’t have a phone to take some videos for her!
At one point, Verilan called for volunteers. It took a hard scowl from Joe to make Twitch lower his hand. The chosen man was placed inside of a cabinet. Verilan proceeded to fold the cabinet into a tiny cube and swallow it. Later in the show, Verilan carved a huge block of wood until it came to life as the missing audience member. The confused man returned to his seat.
Cole was delighted by the quality and variety of illusions. He could see why Twitch loved dazzle shows. No show on Earth could compare.
After countless marvels, Verilan announced his most dangerous trick. The lighting dimmed. Three empty cages were wheeled onto the stage and spaced with a good distance between each of them. Verilan escorted Madeline into one of the cages. After a blinding flash, a huge leopard replaced Madeline in her cage, and she now occupied a different one. Another flash, and Madeline moved to the final cage, leaving behind another leopard. A third flash removed Madeline from the stage, leaving only Verilan and three caged leopards.
The applause broke up as one of the leopards began heaving against the side of the cage. Verilan tried to keep smiling, but he looked distressed. White foam dripped from the leopard’s jaws. Fluid muscles heaving, the leopard burst from the cage and rushed Verilan, biting his chest and shaking him violently.
Cole tried to jump to his feet, but Joe’s extended arm held him down. “Wait,” Joe ordered.
Trailing horrible amounts of blood, Verilan tore away from the ferocious leopard. The other two leopards burst from their cages as well. Verilan collapsed, and the leopards pounced, viciously tearing into him until nothing remained but his ruined vest.
Madeline rushed onto the stage carrying the hoop from the beginning of the show. A leopard charged her, and she held up the hoop like a shield. When the leopard sprang through the hoop, it disappeared. Madeline used the same technique to dispose of the other two leopards.
Setting the hoop aside, Madeline crouched over the bloody remnants of Verilan’s vest. Scooping the tattered material together, she molded the rags into a small cube. Then she unfolded the cube into the cabinet from earlier, opened it, and out came Verilan, shirtless but otherwise unscathed.
The crowd went wild. Cole clapped and whistled along with them. Illusion or not, it was the coolest trick he had ever seen.