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“Where’s Nic?” Casey asked.
“Lurking in the shadows,” I replied.
Casey frowned. “Why?”
“He likes them,” Robby said gently.
“Oh. Hey, Ember, I was wondering if I could go to the gala at the museum with you?” Casey twisted her hands as if nervous. “I think it would be a great way to get my name out there a little more.”
Shit. There was no way I could say no and not offend her, but how could I say yes?
“Of course you can,” Robby said. “We’ll make your act meld in with theirs.”
I stared at the jester. “What are you doing?” I mouthed behind her back.
He shrugged and planted a kiss on Casey’s forehead.
“Ember, seriously, only if you don’t mind. I’m not, like, trying to use Robby to get in on your business.”
“Casey, you’re more than welcome to perform with us. You’re one of the most talented lyrists I’ve met, and I have no problem if you use your connections for evil.” I elbowed Robby playfully. “He’ll have to figure out the logistics, though. I’m not doing it.” I hoped he got my meaning.
Robby nodded, and I supposed that was that.
“I’ll come along, as well,” Ash said. “If you’re adding to your performance, you might need more support crew, and Nic isn’t completely trained yet.”
“Sounds great. Is future-wifey free yet? I bet we could get her a ticket.” I was seriously going to kill Robby later. What on earth was he thinking? At least Ash understood that things were out of the ordinary and dangerous.
Ash shook her head. “Not for a couple more days.”
“Bummer,” I replied.
“Spark,” Geraint said. “Let’s go warm up.”
I let my knight pull me away from the conversation and into our own corner. Wordlessly, we fell into our pre-show routine. I was already warmed up, but more stretching never hurt anything.
Completely in sync with each other, we moved through our warmup. I felt my breathing slow and my nerves calm. This was familiar. This was an activity I loved, and I was doing it with people I loved.
We stood, and Geraint pulled me into his arms.
“I love you, Spark,” he murmured. “I love doing this with you.”
My heart swelled near to bursting with his words, and I melted into his embrace. “I love you, Knight.”
“Remember, I’m still torn up. Don’t hesitate to use your shadows to hold on to me if you feel my grip waver. Prince Nic will spot us, too. I’ll never drop you on purpose.”
“I know,” I assured him. “And I’m ready. Are you sure you want to do this? I can go on alone. They’ll understand.”
“This is a good time to practice using Nic as backup, just in case we have to do this again next week for the gala, or in the future. It could be a useful skill to develop, so we can practice now. Just be aware that my grip might give out.”
“Okay.” I bit my lower lip. “Geraint, I don’t want to hurt you worse than you already are. Really, we can practice some other time.”
“It’s all right, Spark. This is a simple routine.”
A little uneasy about the idea, but trusting both Geraint and Nic, I nodded. “Okay, Geraint. We’ll do it, but if at any point it’s too much, signal for floor work and I’ll do the rest of the aerial.”
“Deal.”
Normally, I’d never agree to go up with a partner who wasn’t positive he could keep a hold of me, but Nic would be there, and Geraint was right, this could be a useful skill in the future.
