Read The Wild Adventure of Jasper Renn (The Steampunk Chronicles) for Free Online Page B

swung and then...she let go. She spiraled and twisted through the air like a leaf on the wind, and then, just when it seemed she might plummet to her death, she reached out her arms, as did her companion, and their hands locked together.
    The audience gasped loudly. Cat actually made a little noise in her throat that sounded like a meow. God, she was strange.
    God, he loved her.
    That realization was like receiving the butt of a pistol to the head, no denying that. He loved her? Loved Cat? No, that was impossible. It was ridiculous. It was foolhardy. It was...
    It was true. And it had been true since the first time he met her. That empty feeling he’d carried around with him when he came to London wasn’t about losing Mei or escaping Dalton, or leaving his family and life behind. It had been about losing the one person who understood and accepted him just as he was. And it was why he hadn’t felt right since returning from the States this last time, because the only time he felt right was with her. He should have stayed in New York with her and not come back to London, but Dalton would come for him, and he couldn’t let Cat be another casualty of the outlaw’s hate, like Mei had been.
    What was he going to do? He tried desperately to come up with an answer, but then Cat’s hand was on his and she squeezed hard.
    “Oh, lord,” she whispered.
    Jasper turned his attention to the ring. Sparrow was by herself, spinning and twirling through the air between two swings that were anchored in place. She threw herself between them with wild abandon, swooping and diving, somehow seeming to defy gravity and death itself with her graceful and awesome daring.
    Of course he should have known that any girl named Sparrow could probably fly—or give the illusion of it. There was no denying she was more than human, though it could be passed off as extraordinary talent and not an evolutionary mutation. No one in this audience cared why she could do these things—they just appreciated and were in awe of it. They’d talk about it and say it had to be a trick, maybe. Or they’d say that she was just incredible, but no one was likely to call her a freak, not like they would if she was anywhere but inside this building.
    Maybe Pick-a-dilly was a little safe haven for the evolved people of the world.
    Sparrow and her partner did a couple more insane stunts, and then the girl did one final bit on her own. She wound herself around the swing as it sailed through the air, drawing gasp after gasp from those watching. Then she landed back on her platform. Just when it seemed as though the act was all done, she backed up, stepping as far back on the opposite end of the platform as she could. Then she ran toward the edge, and when she got there she launched herself into the open air high above the ring.
    Cat’s breath caught in her throat—Jasper heard it.
    The girl glided through the air—flew. That was the only way to describe it. She soared like a bird buoyed by the wind.
    There were several large fans beneath her. He had thought they kept the performers cool and dry so they didn’t sweat and slip, but maybe they were also there to give her lift? It didn’t matter, and it didn’t make what she did any less dangerous. He held his own breath until she hit the opposite platform and somersaulted across it.
    The audience went wild. Cat jumped to her feet and clapped for her sister. She hooted and cheered, as well. Sparrow stood on the platform and beamed as though she was made of pure light. Once, maybe twice in his life had Jasper ever seen joy like that.
    “She’s amazing,” Cat enthused. “Did you see her, Jas? Wasn’t she amazing?”
    He put his arm around her waist and gave her a little squeeze. “She sure was. Must run in the family.”
    She rolled her eyes at him, but didn’t argue. He grinned.
    They sat again for the final act, which consisted of a young girl dancing with fire. It was a wonder she didn’t go up like a roman