Prologue – A Magician Never Reveals

The coin flashed briefly between his fingers, then disappeared. There it was, and the next moment it was gone again.

It wasn't that Patrick Jane still needed to practice his sleight of hand; he'd been doing the trick since he was seven years old, and now he was almost eighteen. However, it helped him clear his mind, and therefore relax a bit before the show.

He needed to be at his best for his magic to work, and though he hated what he did for a living, he didn't have much of a choice. One day he would leave the carnival for good and get a new life, far away from a world that had never been his own.

Until then, magic tricks were a well settled routine he still had to go through.

It took him a while to notice a girl who was staring at him from the door of her trailer. He was vaguely aware of her being the renowned Girl Wonder, but he'd never actually caught her real name.

"What are you doing?" he asked bluntly. The last thing he was looking forward to was having an audience in his spare time.

"Watching. I never knew it was a crime."

"I don't like being watched without my consent."

The girl smirked and took a few steps towards him. "You're a performer, you should be used to having other people watching you."

Patrick just shrugged and made to leave. He didn't like the girl's pertness, all he wanted was to be left alone.

However, she stopped him with a hand on his arm. "What's the trick?"

"What?"

"The coin. How do you manage to do it?"

It was his turn to smirk now. "A magician never reveals his secrets."

The girl crossed her arms, a smug look written all over her face. "Your tricks are all you have, aren't them? Your parents only value you as a source of income, otherwise they would have probably given up on you a long time ago. That's why you can't wait to grow up and leave this place behind you."

His eyes narrowed at those words. The girl had just hit a sore spot, reading his innermost thoughts and fears as if he were an open book.

"How do you…" he began, but she cut him short almost instantly.

"I don't reveal my secrets either."

With that she walked away, leaving a bemused Patrick to mull over what had just happened.

xxx

Playing the Girl Wonder wasn't an easy task even for a honed con artist like Angela Ruskin.

Meeting people's expectations was a stressful job, even more so when it came to her father. She always had to work relentlessly in order to sharpen her observations skills, and the consequences of the smallest of failures could definitely be unpleasant.

Her brother Danny had learned it the hard way when he almost drowned in a Chinese Water Torture Cell because their father refused to help him. He was an escape artist, and no mistakes were allowed in such a line of work.

Pulling her psychic act didn't expose Angela to the same risks, but it was true that a disappointed client could be even more dangerous than a glass tank full of water sometimes. And her father wasn't gentle on her either.

The very few moments she was allowed to escape such a pressure were those she got to spend with Patrick. It always took her quite an effort in order to sneak behind her father's back, but the prospect of running into her boyfriend's welcoming arms was totally worth any punishment that might follow.

In spite of his initial dislike for her, the young magician was head over heels in love with her now. He was still skeptical about her supposed gift, that was true; there's no such thing as psychics was a statement she'd heard from him time and time again, and it wasn't an uncommon occurrence for them to argue over the subject as well.

However, their arguments always ended up with her pinned against a wall while Patrick's mouth ravished her own. And in spite of all her complaints, she actually didn't mind in the slightest.

xxx

The night before Angela's eighteenth birthday they fled from the carnival at long last. By the time their parents noticed their absence, they would already be married and on their way to California.

It was the first state that had come to their minds because it was sunny and warm, and as good a place as any for two runaways who wanted to start a new life together.

They exchanged their vows in Vegas; he wasn't exactly pleased that all they could afford for their wedding night was a shabby motel room with worn-out mustard wallpaper and faded curtains, with a small window. It wasn't what he wanted for Angela, but they were together at last and that was all that mattered.

"There's a strange feeling to this place," he heard her murmuring as she idly ran a finger along the headboard of the double bed.

"Please, Angie. The last thing we need tonight is someone spying on us, be it a ghost or a live being."

"The dead are always with us."

The inviting look on her face was all it took for him to step forward and gather her in his arms. "Let them look if they want. You're mine, and mine only."

His nimble fingers made quick work of her dress, and in no time they were both naked and heady with desire. Later on she rested her head against his heart as they tried to catch their breath, sweat cooling on bare skin.

They slept soundly for the rest of the night. The future was in their hands, and they didn't doubt it was going to be a happy one.

Only time would tell.