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“We’ll handle that second part later,” Tobias adds, watching me carefully.

I take another sip of coffee, letting the bitter warmth steady me. “What do I need to do for the cage?”

“Practice,” Kenan says, standing. “Starting now.”

* * *

The tent is empty, the high ceiling disappearing into shadows above us. Equipment is scattered around — ropes, silks, various props I now recognize.

“This is the cage,” Tobias says, gesturing to a large metal sphere made of interlocking bars. It reminds me of a hamster ball, only large enough to fit two motorcycles and, well … me. Although it seems awfully small for that.

“And this,” Kenan says, pulling down a metal hoop suspended from the ceiling, “is where you’ll be.” He taps it twice with a smile.

I approach the hoop, my fingers drifting over it. “I’ll be on this while you’re ... what? Riding motorcycles around me?”

“Inside the cage,” Tobias clarifies as his voice seems to drift, thinking before speaking, softer than before. “We’ll be circling you at high speeds, crossing paths, coming within inches of you."

My mouth goes dry. “That seems...”

“Dangerous?” Kenan supplies with a grin. “That’s the point, Kitten."

I lift my chin. “Show me."

For the next hour, they demonstrate the routine—first separately, then together. I watch as they move around each other with practiced precision, their bodies an extension of the machines they control. There’s an intimacy to it, a dance of trust and skill that leaves me breathless.

“Now the hard part,” Kenan says, wheeling two motorcycles into the cage. “We need to practice with you inside and for the little special feature of it all."

My heart rate picks up, and I know they can see the hesitation on my face. “So I will … be in there with you?” I already know this but it still seems too small, especially after watching them practice just on their own.

"That’s the plan, Little Bird," Tobias confirms. "You, suspended in the middle. Us, circling you on the bikes. The audience will think we're going to crash into you or each other at any moment."

"And you won't, right?" I ask, only half-joking.

Kenan's laugh echoes in the tent, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, “You trust us?"

“Yes.” I say simply.

Something shifts in Tobias’s expression. “Even after everything you know now? After what The Carnival has taken from you?”

I think about Evelyn, about the search that brought me here. About how that search has transformed into something else entirely. I think of last night, the magic that pulsed around us – through us – the way I felt safe. "Especially after everything.”

There’s a fire in my veins now that wasn’t there when I first stepped through the gate, but I know without a doubt that they would never let anything happen to me.

Chapter 34

The roar of the audience envelopes me, a living entity thrumming with adrenaline and anticipation. Their collective breath hangs, waiting for the moment when one of us might be called to death. Me. I’m the only one who can die in this cage, but the audience doesn’t know that death has already staked its claim on this carnival.

The air pulses with magic, and a darkness I’ve not felt before, as I hang suspended from my aerial ring, the metallic cage surrounding me like a beast waiting to pounce. My body is painted in deep shades of black and shimmering blue, the lights hitting it make me sparkle.

Below me, Tobias and Kenan rev their motorcycles; the machines growl like predators. Their intense eyes lock onto mine, brimming with a fierce determination that sends a shiver down my spine. Tobias’s blue eyes gleam beneath his helmet, while Kenan’s dark gaze burns with a protective fire as he wears his half-skull mask. I watch now as the golden threads between them thrums.

“Ready, Little Bird?” Tobias’s voice says as if he’s right beside me. Kenan’s fingers flexing on the handlebars.

I nod once, sharp and certain. I can do this. They won’t let me fall.

With every heartbeat, I channel those gold strands through my body, feeling as the magic rises, willing it to let me survive this act. It’s easier than last night, the manipulation of energy that I once would have never believed in, now I can feel it flowing through my veins like a wildfire.

From the corner of my eye, I spot The Ringmaster watching from the shadows, his hollow eyes gleaming with anticipation beneath the ornate mask he wears tonight. But I force myself not to focus on him, only on them.