I don’t know what in the galaxy just happened, but all I can think about is kissing Talie again.
It’s an idiotic thing to be thinking with my unit sitting less than fifteen meters across the auditorium, but her sweet scent intoxicates me. My mind fogs, and all I know is the deep red of her lips followed by the heady scent of her perfume. The honeyed sweetness of her taste.
My second father always said a woman would be my undoing. If it has to be Talie…
“Renner.” Her sharp words act as a verbal slap.
“Sorry. What?”
“You have to go.” Her blush highlights the sparkling face powder she wears. She frowns and tries to move farther back, but my hand is on her waist, holding her close. The warm skin of her back burns beneath my touch.
“They were looking.” She seems flustered. “I—I had to do something quickly.”
I hate to think of what she’d come up with given extra thinking time.
“Right.” I release her, feeling dazed, and look back to the door behind us. I was told all backstage doors are locked during each performance to minimize distraction, but it should be open now.
“Hurry. I can’t draw attention back here. The kiss only worked to hide you once.”
I meant what I said. There’s no way Talie can remain unnoticed for any length of time, especially not while she’s wearing this distracting dress that shows off all her best attributes. But I know what she means—we’ll start looking suspicious.
I step forward but am met by smooth duraplast. “Uh, Talie?”
She frowns, meeting me at the door. “They must have forgotten to unlock it. I exit on the other side of the stage…” Her words trail off as the lights wink out.
“What—”
“Oh no.” I feel more than see her tense next to me. “Renner, do you trust me?”
This question is a familiar one, but I’m usually the one doing the asking. She steps closer, her flaxon scent swirling around me. Reeling me in. I don’t trust easily, but—
“Yes.”
“Here.” Her hands press something against my forehead, and I feel a tingling zap as she taps something in on the side. “Whatever happens, do exactly what I say.”
My gut clenches. That doesn’t sound good. “What do you mean—?”
Lights ignite the darkness, and I’m blinded. It’s like a sun is crashing to the floor of the stage. My vision clears, and my brain slowly catches up. I’ve got a holomask on. It will morph the structure of my face, giving it a more caricature-like appearance, but is it enough?
“Smile,” she whispers. Then her fingers wrap around mine with warmth and strength…and she pulls me to the stage.
“I may be wrong,” I say through clenched teeth, “but this feels like the opposite of hiding.”
She merely grins, thrusting her free arm into the air and waving like she’s on parade. And that’s when it dawns on me. I’m going to be part of her act tonight.
No no no no no!
Sure, I’ll fight to protect my charge, engage in hand-to-hand combat, or even scale the side of a spaceship if I have to—but perform in front of hundreds of people? No way.
“No no no—I am so not doing this.”
“Shhh. Smile.”
She raises my arm, and I realize just in time, she’s having me twirl her to a crescendo in the music. It’s loud and blaring, giving me just enough cover to protest.
“Can’t I just sneak out the other side?”
“Renner. This is the only way.”
We are now three-quarters across the stage when the space where we’re standing begins to raise. She pulls me behind her on the platform and positions my arm around her waist. When she looks at me, her luminous eyes glow under the lights.
“Just watch me and do what I say. You’ll be fine.” She speaks through her teeth.
I avoid looking anywhere but at her. I can feel the platform jetting us higher and higher, and I don’t want to think about the lack of nets to catch us or wires to secure us.
“This is quite the first date.” My usual shield of humor snaps into place.
“To be a date,” she says, as the platform slows, “you’d need to ask me first.”
I open my mouth to protest, but she holds up a hand to stop me.
“Wait here.” With a wink, she throws herself out and away.
Trails of black and gold follow her as she flies through the air. I tense, and it takes everything in me not to reach for her. But then her hands connect with a swinging bar, and she flies toward the other side of the auditorium. The crowd bursts into an uproar.
Sickening anticipation holds me captive as she flips from one bar and catches another at the perfect time. She swings up and leaps to another platform, arms extended in showmanship. It’s so loud now, you can’t hear the music behind the cheers. People fill every seat in curving balconies that surround the center stage in a full circle.
I watch to see what she’ll do next, excessively aware of how high I am and how little I have to hold on to. I force my shoulders back to make my posture look at ease, but I’m all rigid lines and clenched fists.
Then Talie grabs a bar above her and leaps. Concentration lines her face, and the muscles in her arms tense as her legs propel her forward. Another bar releases, and I hold my breath until she’s latched on to it. She rushes toward me faster than I thought possible. Her look warns me to be ready. I am.
I latch onto her waist, pulling her back against me. She waves again, and I join her, feeling completely ridiculous, but it seems to be what the crowd wants.
“This next part is going to be…challenging.” Her breaths come in short bursts.
My eyes go wide. “What does that mean?”
She pulls another bar forward and down, positioning it behind me like a seat. “You’re going to swing on this, upside-down.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you right. Did you say upside-down?”
She stabs me with a look. “It’s the only way to involve you without you actually having to do anything.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You’ll swing out, drop down so you’re hanging by your legs, and then extend your arms.” She swallows, and I see the first flicker of doubt. “I’ll come out next, do a flip, and you’ll catch me.”
“In the air?” I’m trying to make sense of this.
“Trust me, Renner. I’m very good at what I do. It’ll be easy.”
I want to make a quip about this being way out of my already-impressive wheelhouse, but she sneaks a glance at the stands where my unit sits, and I know she’s doing this to help me. I don’t deserve this.
“Talie, if I don’t catch you…”
“Don’t worry. You will.”
She smiles at the crowd and then leans in. Her gentle kiss on my cheek distracts me from the height and sheer craziness of this. I’m lost to the feeling of her nearness again—and then she pushes me off the platform.
I go sailing back, thankful for my death grip on the wire, and remember what she said. I have to drop so that I’m hanging upside-down.
Don’t look down. Don’t. Look. Down.
It takes all my effort to move one hand to the bar. I’m close to the apex of my swing and I need to be ready. I draw in air, swallow, and let go. Sinking back, the world tilts upside down and my knees latch onto the bar.
The last step—the hardest one—is releasing my hands.
I’ve trained with the toughest Drawxian warriors, and I’ve faced my death more times than I’d like to remember, but this is another level of crazy.
I let go, and my weight swings me back toward Talie. The crowd gasps and I appreciate their sympathy.
Why yes, this is the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done.
Still, I can’t let it show. Despite the holomask I wear, I need it to look like I know what I’m doing. My life—and the integrity of my mission—depends on it.
Gold and black meet my gaze, and I see Talie waiting for me on the platform. I come close and then swing back. That’s when I see her leap into the air on another bar. I think I see her head nodding in rhythm, and it only takes me a second to realize it’s not to the music, but to our timing.
She’s helping me know when to expect her jump.
I home in on her. She’s sailing toward me, determination in the set of her jaw. She reaches the apex of her swing just as I head back, and that’s when it happens.
She lets go, tucking forward in a spin of black silk and sparkling gold. My hands are outstretched and ready, but I don’t know what to expect. I’m swinging closer, but it doesn’t look close enough. She’s flying at me, extending into a straight line, but I’m positive she’s too low.
My stomach lodges in my throat. I’m going to watch Talie plummet to her death.
At the last moment, she seems to still in the air. A collective breath is held. Every person a statue. My world tumbles at the impossible vision in front of me—
Then her hands clasp mine.
Shouts and cheers from the audience thunder around us, but all I can see is Talie’s eyes locked on mine. Her hands secure in my grasp as we swing through the air.
I don’t know how she did it, but she’s managed to pull off the impossible.