Now You See Me
Page 31
“Bow,” Mal said softly.
She bowed with him. Then again as the audience kept applauding. The curtain was drawn behind them, cutting them off from the horrors that had just happened.
They all thought it was a show.
A minute later one of the teachers came onto the stage with a microphone.
“I’m sorry folks, we don’t know where Bradley has gone off to. The judges have conferred, though, and it’s unanimous. The winners of the scholarship are Mal and Opal!”
He moved between them and held up their hands as the crowd went wild. She stood there as several flashes went off. People were taking their picture. She could feel it draining her. How were they going to stop it? She glanced at Mal who was wincing even though there was a smile plastered on his face.
We’ll figure it out, he whispered inside her mind. Now, that it’s over.
Was it? Bradley’s ominous warning echoed in her mind. It would be okay, though. It had to be.
The teacher said something else and suddenly all their classmates joined them on stage. The ballerina grabbed her hand and they all bowed together. Once. Twice.
Then everyone was clustering around, congratulating them, shaking their hands, saying they’d never seen anything like it.
“That was so much more grandiose than what you showed us in rehearsal, you sly dogs,” someone said.
“Well, you know, didn’t want to reveal all our tricks,” Mal said back.
He looked at her.
“I love you,” he mouthed.
“I love you, too,” she mouthed back.
Then suddenly a familiar face was in front of her. Aunt Tanya had pushed her way through the crowd on stage. She was holding a bouquet of roses in her hand, but she wrapped her arms around Opal, crushing her in a tight hug.
“Are you okay?” she whispered to her.
“I don’t know,” Opal said, hugging her back and fighting back the tears. “There’s only one thing I know right now.”
“And what’s that?” Tanya asked.
“Where we’re going on vacation. We’re going to Disney World.”
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Debbie Viguié is the New York Times Bestselling author of more than four dozen novels including the Wicked series, the Crusade series and the Wolf Springs Chronicles series co-authored with Nancy Holder. Debbie also writes thrillers including The Psalm 23 Mysteries, the Kiss trilogy, and the Witch Hunt trilogy. When Debbie isn’t busy writing she enjoys spending time with her husband, Scott, visiting theme parks. They live in Florida with their cat, Schrödinger.