CHAPTER 29

 DRUMS BEAT SLOWLY as the dancers circled the fires chanting, their voices low and the words unintelligible. The tempo increased and they moved faster. Their chant grew louder, drowning out the incessant pounding of the drums.

As the voices reached a crescendo, four men emerged from the shadows carrying the body of a woman high in the air. In unison, the crowd turned to stare at the sacrifice being lowered onto the altar between two bonfires. Her hands and arms were bound and chained to large rings imbedded in the altar. Blindfolded, the woman was unable to see her captors. Still, she pulled hard against the bindings, testing their strength. Finally exhausted, she lay quiet.

Dressed in a bright red and black ankle-length gown, another woman entered the circle and walked to the altar. As high priestess, no one dared to challenge her. Tall and dark-skinned with an exquisite body, she exuded power and beauty. Smiling, she reached down to stroke the captive’s cheek.

The drums quieted. The chanters milled about nervously, moving first in one direction then turning to move in the opposite. Suddenly, a loud scream erupted from the darkness. A young white woman ran from the shadows and threw herself upon the prone body of the bound woman. Sobbing, she pleaded with the priestess; the futility of her efforts was obvious.

Pulled aside by two chanters, she could only watch as the black woman picked up a large knife and twirled it around in her hands. Dancing wildly amongst her followers, she slashed at several ropes that were displayed by the men, slicing them easily in half. No one doubted the sharpness of the knife.

Next, she jabbed it sharply into a log, demonstrating its strength and then yanked it out. Cries of awe rang out from the crowd as she jumped high into the air and landed lightly on her feet. Twirling rapidly and circling the altar three times, she moved gracefully, swinging the knife hypnotically in various directions. Her own body undulated from side to side, hips swaying seductively like a serpent moving in for the kill.

Nearing her victim, she raised her arm to strike. The young white woman broke free from her own captor and threw herself between the downward thrust of the knife and the intended sacrifice. The chanters fell silent when a large puff of smoke bellowed up, concealing the three women. A scream pierced the stillness. The smoke cleared, revealing the knife buried deep in the altar. The priestess stood motionless, partially concealed by the smoke. The captives had vanished.

The audience gasped. Except for the altar having been concealed momentarily by smoke, the entire stage had remained in full view of the spectators. There was no way the chained captive and the young woman could have disappeared without being noticed. Slowly, the priestess turned and walked to the front of the stage. It took several seconds before the front row spectators realized the victim on the altar had morphed into the priestess.

Jumping to their feet, they clapped and cheered. Immediately, the rest of the audience followed suit when they recognized the Illusionist dressed in the priestess’s gown. Bowing slightly, Yemaya swung her right hand to the right. Walking on stage, hands clasped, was the original high priestess and the young woman. Both waved enthusiastically to the crowd. Cheers reverberated through the coliseum. Once again, the Illusionist had mystified her audience.

Dakota sat quietly listening to the applause. She always made it a point not to visit Yemaya during rehearsals so she would have an unbiased opinion of the show and the audience’s response. Her old boss had agreed to pay her handsomely for any articles she sent pertaining to the Illusionist, her personal life, or her performances.

For Dakota, the personal life of her lover was off-limits, but Yemaya didn’t object to Dakota’s attempts at exposing her trade secrets. Yemaya realized Dakota’s investigative skills were impressive and suspected some of her secrets would eventually be revealed. To have her lover in her life was worth the sacrifice.

This particular show left Dakota drained and somewhat uncomfortable. Perhaps the theme hit too close to home. Every time Yemaya performed, she was putting her life on the line. Except for the time Shezarra, the great white, had crashed through the platform in Charleston, throwing Yemaya into the water, all her shows had been flawless. Of course, the Charleston catastrophe was the result of sabotage, so Dakota really couldn’t count it as anything other than that.

*  *  *

The Illusionist strolled around the stage acknowledging the crowd’s continued appreciation and waited for the noise to subside. Sensing her lover’s unease, she stopped in front of Dakota and winked. Shaking her head, Dakota chuckled softly. Yemaya was irresistible when she flirted. The Illusionist turned back to her audience and held up her hands to silence the crowd.

“Again thank you for attending tonight’s performance. I hope my show is all you hoped it would be. If I have given you a few moments of wonder or taken away a few worries these past two hours, this night has been successful for all of us. As always, I leave you with this thought: Whatever you think you have seen tonight, it is merely illusion, but if you believe it to be real, it will be. The same is so in your lives. Look closely at those who seek to influence you. You may find that most of what you are told or shown are illusions, illusions created by others to serve their own purposes. You be the judge of what is real and leave the illusions to me. Good night, everyone!”

She waved farewell to the audience. As she left the stage, Yemaya stopped for a moment and stared toward a darkened corner of the coliseum. It was obvious something or someone had caught her attention. Dakota turned in her seat to see what Yemaya was looking at but was unable to see anything but shadows. By the time her gaze returned to Yemaya, she had disappeared behind the curtains. Dakota slipped from her seat and walked backstage.

“What’s up?”

“Just a feeling!”

“Whenever that happens, it usually means something. You have any ideas?”

“No, but I could feel someone watching us. I may have given our relationship away when I looked at you a few minutes ago.”

“I think we did that a long time ago, sweetie. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see where this leads, though. Knowing our luck, it won’t be long before we find out,” she joked. “Until then, how about we grab a bite to eat and get some rest? You look like hell.”

“Thanks. You sure know how to make a woman feel good.”

Dakota grinned impishly. “I most certainly do.”