Free Mystique Rogue by Diane Taylor

air, leaving her body looking like she’d been crucified without the cross behind her. The view became a panoramic scene of the entire audience up to the nosebleed seats.  
                  Suddenly, a cage descended to surround her, interspersed throughout the metal were tiny flames to represent stars.  When Carmen looked up, the instructions were taped to the top of the cage; 
                  When the flames flare hot, don’t move. The curtain will surround the cage to contain everything. When it happens, my assistant will open the back of the cage and substitute a panther in your stead.
    No fears,
    Rogue.
                  “No fears, my ass, he’s not the one sitting in the cage getting ready to be torched.”
                  The moment the words left Carmen’s lips, the flames roared to life, surrounding her. Controlled pandemonium reigned on stage as his team began their routine of rushing around with fire extinguishers while Rogue pretended to be distressed. “Ladies and Gentlemen do not be alarmed, the flames will be contained in a moment. We have a medical team standing by.” 
                  On cue, the heavy blue curtain with stars dropped over the cage and the flames died out. The moment they did, the back of the cage flipped open and she slipped out of the wires and crawled out over the small catwalk. The moment she was safe, the panther stalked over and into the suspended container.  The animal’s handler quickly crawled out and secured the cage. 
                  Safely back into the darkness of anonymity, Carmen tore off the mask and hurried back to the side of the stage to see how he worked the last of the trick.
                  At a motion from the Rogue , the chaos calmed and everyone watched worriedly as the cage was lowered to the stage floor. “Those of you who are faint of heart may want to look away. The lady of the night may not be a pretty sight.” He walked up to the curtain and took a handful of fabric. Looking at the medics and stagehands, he yanked.  In a flourish which would have made a matador proud, he swirled the lightly singed fabric off to one side, revealing the snarling panther.
                  Carmen smiled at the reaction of the audience, their gasps at what should have been a badly burned body turned out to be just another illusion. A tap on her shoulder made her turn to look at Paul, who wore a grin the size of Texas on his face. “I suppose you were giving my crew a detailed account, Paul?”  At his nod, she shook her head. “I’m never going to hear the end of this one.” 
                  “But, where is The Lady? Is she the panther before us? Is she somewhere in the audience?”              Groaning, she donned her mask once again. Paul handed her a black cloak. “You get to tame the panther and you both go to the center of the stage to be revealed.” He chuckled and bowed. “My Lady of the Darkness.”
                  She swatted him on the head, then swirled the cloak around her shoulders, pulling the hood over her head. The snarling of the beast and the clanging of the bars rang in her head, bringing forth a memory of another day and another big cat. Slowly, Carmen shook off the nervous twitch and she walked across the back of the stage near the curtains while Rogue did his job of keeping the audience’s attention. 
                  Carmen attempted to be the silent, a mysterious wraith, yet she almost lost it when Michelle caught her attention on the far side of the stage. Her cool and collected right hand lady was trying very hard not to howl with laughter at her friend’s predicament. Sighing, she knelt at the cage and offered her hand to the cat.  Slowly, it sniffed it and took in her scent before playfully bat batting the fingers with its claws retracted. “Good kitty. Now, let’s get on with this