Love Is Only an Illusion

Together, the Horsemen ran out of the building and down a fire escape. Jack and Sutton led the way across a rooftop and over a wall. There, the five parted ways. Merritt and Henley ran for the abandoned apartment building 20 minutes away from the Savoy Theatre, but not without Henley giving Sutton a kiss on the cheek, the two promising to see each other soon. Jack ran to change into his police uniform to drop off the tracker in Agent Rhodes’s jacket. Danny and Sutton sprinted to keep the FBI away, taking the long way to the abandoned apartment.

“Danny, hurry,” Sutton yelled behind her. “We can lose her through the crowd maybe.”

Danny, the control freak himself, only nodded, allowing Sutton to lead him. They ran through the crowd of Mardi Gras celebrators. Sutton bounced off people easier than she could push past them until Danny moved in front of her to clear a path.

“Seriously?” Sutton exclaimed as she caught a glimpse of Jack in the crowd. “Do you have manners?”

“Not when I’m about to be arrested,” Danny retorted as he turned down an alley, the Interpol agent following close behind.

“Sutton Reeves and Atlas are heading south on Exchange Place,” Agent Rhodes yelled into his walkie talkie as he joined the party.

“We gotta hop the wall,” Sutton breathlessly told Danny. He took a moment to memorize her complexion- rosy red cheeks from the night air, running, and frustration; sparkling green eyes filled with excitement and fear.

“Let’s go!” Sutton’s voice echoed, knocking Danny from his thoughts. Together, they pulled themselves up the wall.

“Stop!” Interpol agent Alma Dray exclaimed.

The mentalist and illusionist stood side-by-side on top of the wall held at gunpoint. The agent stared at the two, their hands raised in surrender. She took a few shortened breaths before Danny grabbed Sutton’s hand, the two jumping down the wall to safety.

“What are you doing?” Agent Rhodes scolded as the magicians made their getaway.

“Run around the Napoleon House, just like we mapped out,” Sutton instructed Danny. “The others aren’t far from here.”

Danny nodded, once again not believing his own actions. He flew to the right of the building, taking another alley.

“Catch a breath, Danny,” Sutton told him as they slowly came to a stop. Together, they panted behind a large dumpster smelling of rotting food.

“Can we make this quick?” Danny questioned her. “This smell is just-“

“Yeah, let’s go,” Sutton gagged as they once again took off.

“Oh, my God!” Henley exclaimed as Danny and Sutton burst through the apartment door. She pulled Sutton into a tight hug, knocking Danny out of the way.

“Danny, what took you so long?” Jack questioned him.

Danny rolled his eyes. “That Interpol agent held us at gunpoint.”

“She what?” Merritt exclaimed. “Are you guys okay?”

“We’re fine,” Sutton explained as she escaped Henley’s hold. She sat down on the cloth-covered couch followed by Danny to rest. “She didn’t have the guts to shoot us, I guess.”

“I hate to break this to you after all the running around you’ve done,” Merritt stated, “but we gotta get to that airport. We leave in 30 minutes.”

Danny let out a long sigh. “It’s already midnight?”

Jack nodded. “You’ve been running for, like, 45 minutes. You guys took the long route.”

“Well, someone had to,” Sutton muttered.

Henley chuckled. “Rest, guys. We’ll get changed awhile and then you can.”

The couple on the couch nodded as the others walked up the stairs to find the bags Jack took to the apartment during his run after the Horsemen were dropped off at the Savoy Theatre. Against her better judgement, Sutton lied her head down on the arm of the couch, a sigh of relief leaving her body. Danny chuckled, pulling Sutton’s feet onto his lap.

“What are you doing?” Sutton questioned as he began to remove her ballet flats.

“These shoes aren’t good for running,” Danny commented.

Sutton rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but my feet stink.”

Danny laughed. “Actually, they don’t.” He pushed up her pants leg to remove her dress socks, only to be stopped by the silver and rose gold piece of jewelry wrapped around her ankle. He swallowed, his fingers gently tracing over the small penguin. “Y-You still wear this?”

Sutton sat up on her elbows, a slight blush covering her cheeks once more. “We had an argument, Danny. I’m going to take that out on you, not your gift.”

Although it wasn’t exactly what he hoped to hear, Danny still smiled. “So, you are mad at me?”

Sutton huffed, sitting up and wrapping her legs into a crisscrossed position. “I have no reason to be mad at you, Danny. I should be mad at myself.”

Danny positioned his body toward her. “It isn’t your fault. We both agreed to it.”

“I know, Danny, but that doesn’t mean, on some level, that I didn’t, you know, feel something.”

“You-You did?” Danny questioned, his eyes growing wide.

Sutton nodded. “But, that doesn’t matter. We have a plan to stick to and us being together isn’t part of it.” She rose from the couch, making her way for the stairs.

“Sutton,” Danny called in an effort to stop her, “I-I, um, I-“

“Hey, you guys better get ready,” Jack told them as he made his way down the stairs. “Henley’s waiting for you, Sut.”

Sutton nodded, giving Danny a last look before finding Henley.

“Hey, beautiful,” Henley smiled as she finished applying her makeup. “I packed you a Nike hoodie, black tank top, boyfriend jeans, and your black sneakers. I figured you would want comfortable shoes after running all night.”

“You guessed right,” Sutton told her as she began to take out her contacts. She quickly changed into her new outfit while Henley sat on the bed and folded and packed the old one. Slipping on her glasses, Sutton turned to Henley and confronted her. “You lied to me tonight.”

Henley’s eyes grew wide. “W-What are you talking about?”

Sutton smiled. “Hen, I know you weren’t stuck on Tressler’s bank information. You’re too good with technology to have run into a problem.”

Henley bit her red lip, nodding. “I’m sorry. I just wasn’t feeling well enough to do it. I knew if I told you, you would worry. You know, with us running and whatnot.”

Sutton nodded. “Just as long as you haven’t lost your skills,” she winked.

Henley gave a light chuckle. “So, are you going to tell me what was going on with you and Danny?”

“W-What?” the younger girl stuttered, the blush once again threatening her cheeks.

“When you fell from the bubble, I saw the way you looked at him.”

Sutton gave a small sigh of relief. “Hen, I was scared I was going to fall. Of course I looked at him in surprise.”

“Who said anything about looking at him in surprise?” the escape artist smirked. “You looked at him more like you were grateful to be in his arms.”

“I-I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sutton said, pretending to search for something in her bag.

Henley smiled, placing a hand on Sutton’s. “You know I love you, right?”

“Of course.”

“Then, I want you to be careful.”

“Of?”

“Just, promise me you’ll be on your toes. You know, to protect your heart.”

“Promise,” Sutton said with a smile to cover up the lump in her throat as she lied to her cousin.