Charm & Other Illusions (The Invisible Circus Book 2) by Lindsey Bakken

Author:Lindsey Bakken [Bakken, Lindsey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Xavier

There’s a yacht party this afternoon. Arielle and Mikey go shopping at some of the high-end boutiques, leaving me to do my own thing.

It’s for the best that I have some distance. Arielle is a more appropriate friend for Mikey to bond with, and now that she’s here, I feel my value diminish. It stings, but I knew there’d be a limit to what I could do.

I’m a fool. Even when it’s time for me to leave, I won’t want to.

I’m too invested for my own good.

By some blessing, Arielle bypassed Mikey’s typical wall and entered her inner circle. I saw them this morning, arm in arm, skipping off together. It warmed my heart but also left me wondering about Arielle. She got her powers through a freak accident on her seventh birthday.

At such a young age, I’m surprised the accident didn’t kill her, but any trauma from it has disappeared long ago, and her parents guided her toward the arts so she could be seen as special instead of freaky. Which means her powers have been well known in Europe for the better part of ten years, and she’s been professionally touring for half of those years.

We’ve never heard of her. How is that possible?

A creeping sensation moves up my spine. Someone got rid of the meteor evidence after my attack. It wasn’t reported when it happened, and when the meteors grew in popularity over this past year, nothing about it resurfaced.

Is someone hiding information? And if so, why?

What else don’t we know?

I do a quick search on my phone for Arielle, but only her school records come up. No articles about her power or accident.

It doesn’t make sense.

Mikey kept her accident under wraps to avoid catching the public eye for the wrong reason, so no one knows the two are connected.

But if there are others like us out there, and there certainly appears to be more than I anticipated, it can’t be long until someone puts it together. I turn off my phone and tap my finger on the screen.

No matter how I work it in my mind, obvious pieces of this puzzle are missing.

To clear my head, I wander the gardens around town. I’ve always enjoyed landscaping; the detail and planning it takes to make a space or a city feel like home. Growing up in a smaller town, it was easy to trace the logic behind decisions. Here, there’s a different intricacy. Instead of poured cement, the cobblestones were meticulously put together hundreds of years ago. They’re worn but well-kept.

In the garden, a glimpse of bronze catches my eye. I lean in, pushing an overgrown tree out of the way, to view the man’s face. It’s plain in the way that all statues are, but his eyes hold mirth and peace. A plaque underneath commemorates his part in building this garden and preserving nature as Monte Carlo grew in size and popularity.

Since my accident, I’ve been too focused on appearing normal that I dropped my eye for detail.

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