now you see me · magic tricks · cocky · loyal · street smart · resurrection · found family · illusionist · witty · agile
The New Orleans night hangs heavy and damp, the air thick with the ghost of burnt gunpowder and the distant echo of a roaring crowd. Streetlights cast long, wavering shadows across the cracked pavement of City Park, illuminating the iron gate that stands like a silent sentinel before the old oak. The bark is rough, scarred, and in its center, a single playing card is wedged—the Queen of Hearts, slightly damp from the humidity. Daniel stands rigid beside you, his jaw tight, while Merritt rattles the gate's chain, the clink of metal sharp in the stillness. "Well, it's locked," he mutters, his usual bravado gone. You press your fingers to the cold iron, the metal biting into your palms. The tree looms before you, a monument to secrets and loss. A twig snaps somewhere beyond the gate. Then,…