He placed his palm flat on the glass. Ripples started on the surface below his palm. Liquid silver rolled away like in a calm lake. Caitlyn straightened, studying his every move.
“Come with me,” he told the woman. He held his hand out and she placed hers in his. With his free hand, he sliced down with the side facing the glass. His hand disappeared into the glass. The woman gasped and started to giggle. His arm slipped beyond the glass all the way to the shoulder; the entire arm now inside the mirror.
Next, his body tilted toward the glass, vanished from the stage and reappear within its depths. He glanced at the woman whose hand he clasped and grinned. “Come, sweetheart, follow me to a world only dreamed about.”
Caitlyn’s chest tightened. Captivating, his voice pulled at her. The urge to stand, make her way to his side, caught her unawares. Nothing in her past had prepared her for the battle she fought to remain in her seat. Holding her breath, she couldn’t tear her gaze from his face as he assisted the woman into the glass, guiding her inch by slow inch.
Once inside, Shay waved. As he lowered his arm, the mirror’s glass blackened. No Shay, no woman, nothing.
Spotlights danced over the audience. People about her and Marcy twisted in their seat, equally looking for the illusionist and his volunteer.
Shay’s laughter rang out from the rear of the theater. All eyes focused on the main aisle leading to the lobby. The curtains pulled apart. He strode through, the woman’s hand still clasped in his. Behind them a unicorn, head high, coat shining a glimmering white and a horn glinting gold in the light, followed. Gasps, cheers and excited shouts rose from the audience.
Shay stopped halfway down the aisle and held up the woman’s hand. Her clothes, no longer the one she’d worn on stage, sparkled with tiny shards which caught the light and flickered. The off-the-shoulder floating gown, a pale blue, hung on her body.
Caitlyn stared, unable to drag in a single breath. This performance was nothing like she’d ever seen. Something tugged at her from deep inside her chest. The sensation seemed familiar, while at the same time, foreign. She managed to pull herself together once she realized how focused she’d become with watching Shay. Still, the impression that something had awakened within and remained out of sight on the outer edges of her mind bothered her, like she needed to remember something she’d forgotten but couldn’t.
The illusionist, amid the applause, escorted the woman back to the stage, the unicorn on his heels. Once on stage, Shay motioned to the mirror. The unicorn pranced to the glass. Its horn touched the glass and waves moved across the surface from the point of contact. Like Shay did before, the unicorn stepped into the mirror. Caitlyn held her breath, waiting until the animal was completely through the glass. She shook her head as the silky tail swished once before it disappeared from the stage.
Waving goodbye to the audience, Shay led the volunteer off stage with a laughing comment about changing her clothes. Handing her off, he faced the audience again. After a final bow, he strode toward the wings.
Chapter 6
Once Shay’s assistants removed the mirror, the band started playing a new tune. Scantily dressed dancers performed during his absence.
Marcy leaned over and spoke close to Caitlyn’s ear. Her designer perfume, floral and alluring, floated about them. “Well, didn’t I tell you he was wonderful?”
Caitlyn swerved her head toward her friend and grinned. “I’m glad I changed my mind. He boggles my mind with trying to figure out how he does his acts. It’s amazing.”
Excitement shone in Marcy’s gaze, her bright smile was as white as always.
“I know.” She tapped Caitlyn’s arm and laughed. “I have to admit. I was a little disappointed he didn’t choose me.”
Caitlyn shook her head. Leave it to her friend to think only of herself.
She opened her mouth to respond but stopped as Shay walked onto center stage dressed in a different pair of pants, still black leather but with fringe and silver disks hanging on the outer sides of his thighs. The first white shirt had been exchanged for a different one with lengths of lace flowing about his neck and wrists.
Uneasy with the rapid way her heart beat each time she saw him, Caitlyn narrowed her gaze, seeking some flaw with the entertainer. How he managed to dress in such a feminine fashion and still ooze sex appeal stunned her. The neck of the shirt gaped to mid-chest and parts of solid muscled skin peeked out with each of his movements. Tawny skin called to her, stoking a fierce desire to reach out and stroke the smoothness. She swallowed and clenched her fingers into fists.
He strolled past where she sat, and she waited for him to glance at her but he didn’t. His accented voice rang out over the speaker system with a question. “Who believes in the fountain of youth?”
Shouts and clapping answered him.
From both ends of the stage came ten attendants. Each rolled a large disk which they positioned across the front of the stage. Five on the left and five on the right, lining them up in a semi-circle. On the top of each disk, a senior citizen stood, sat in wheelchairs or leaned on walkers or canes. They smiled and waved at the audience.
Shay strode behind the aged people from one end of the stage to the other. A new song started, and he sang. The lyrics spoke of timeless youth and to never give up on feeling young. His assistants covered the elderly with satiny white sheets. Once the elderly were hidden from view, his attendants rolled them about the stage on the disks to verify there were no wires or trap doors.
Midway through the song, Evers wove through the ten sheet-covered people, sprinkling glittering dust over them. Her heart pounded in anticipation. Unable to pull her gaze away, she barely breathed, watching every movement, listening to each note. Her hands ached where she clenched them in her lap. The music escalated. For each deep dip in the song, Shay ripped the sheets one at a time from the covered people.
The audience cried out in surprise. Instead of the elderly figures, children stood and sat. A small girl sat on a tricycle where before a walker had been situated in front of an elderly woman.
Caitlyn swallowed, the ever growing sense of something opening up inside her returned, like a doorway cracking open. A frisson of fear went through her. She didn’t understand what had happened and no matter how she tried, what he’d done was beyond explanation. The children even resembled the older people. The old man on the end had worn glasses and freckles had covered his lined face. The boy, now in his place, wore similar glasses and his red hair matched the freckles which spread over his nose and cheeks.
Marcy’s hand gripped Caitlyn’s wrist. Her friend glanced wide-eyed her way for a brief second. Caitlyn forced a smile and quipped, “You’re right. He’s fantastic.”
A frown crossed the blonde’s brow. She leaned closer, not taking her gaze from where Evers played pied-piper to the children trailing behind him. “How did he do that?”
Caitlyn shook her head and shrugged. “Illusion?”
Over the last few years, the networks had aired a few of his shows. The ones she had watched consisted of one or two incredible magic feats. This was the second extraordinary act in a row for his performance tonight, and with excitement, she waited to see what others he would perform before the end.
The rest of the show careened past her as she struggled to rationalize all that had occurred onstage. An hour and a half later, she leaned against the wall in the amphitheater’s ladies room and waited as Marcy applied fresh powder and lipstick. In a matter of seconds, they would go through the hallways to the special room in the building for the backstage party.
Her blood continued to rush through her veins, and the mirrors behind the sinks beckoned her to look and verify they were solid glass and not a doorway to a different world. No, she refused to believe what happened on stage earlier held even a small measure of reality. His act thrived with the spectacular illusions.