Chapter 742 Performing Magic

Chapter 742 Performing Magic

Royce and I exchanged a quick look before turning to Asher. "How'd you figure out this dinner party was sketchy?"

"It was just a gut feeling, and I've never seen a dinner party set up so mysteriously," Asher replied, frowning.

His words made me feel even more uneasy. The dinner party didn't seem mysterious to me at all.

Why did Asher feel like he was encountering something unspeakable?

"What's so mysterious about it?" I asked directly, unable to hold back my curiosity.

Asher glanced around. "The most obvious thing is the host is still hiding their identity. Isn't that mysterious enough?"

He had a point.

I stared at Asher for a moment, but he seemed no different than usual.

"So, did you decline the invitation?"

Asher nodded. "I sent the invitation back. I'm not one to take risks with my life."

Since he put it that way, there was no way I could persuade Asher to attend the dinner party. But there were still some things I needed his help with.

...

To prepare for any unexpected situations at the dinner party, Royce and I hadn't picked up Brett from school for several days.

Brett was pretty understanding, knowing we were busy. He even sent us messages reminding us to rest.

The day of the dinner party arrived quickly. We didn't leave together.

Royce and I went together, while the others went separately.

When we arrived at the venue, we showed our invitations to the guards at the entrance.

They glanced at the invitations and let us in.

Once inside, we didn't see Savannah and the others.

Savannah had messaged earlier saying they were entering the venue.

"There don't seem to be many people here," I commented, looking around with a frown.

Royce nodded in agreement.

However, there was a wide array of gourmet food, various pastries, and some fine wines.

Royce and I examined the wines, noting they were all quite expensive.

The host had certainly spent a lot of money on this event, but hadn't disclosed the purpose of the dinner party.

Royce and I found a corner to sit in and observe the guests.

So far, everything seemed normal. Everyone appeared to be attending a regular dinner party.

But if that was the case, why was the host so secretive?

I checked my phone. Savannah and the others hadn't replied to my messages, which made me anxious.

Could something have happened?

At that moment, Royce grabbed my wrist and nodded reassuringly.

He was calming me down. In a public setting like this, nothing too drastic was likely to happen.

But we'd been sitting in the lounge area for about ten minutes, and no one had approached us.

It felt like this dinner party wasn't aimed at us specifically.

Why invite us? It couldn't just be for a performance, right?

Just as I had that thought, a spotlight suddenly lit up the center of the room.

The guests gasped and instinctively gathered around.

Royce and I exchanged a glance and walked over.

We didn't push to the front but stayed on the outer edge, observing from a distance.

In the spotlight's center stood a man in a tuxedo, wearing a mask.

The moment I saw him, a chill ran down my spine, and my hair stood on end, even though I didn't know him.

This man was definitely unusual, like he'd crawled out of a battlefield.

Despite his white tuxedo and silver mask, which gave him an oddly pure appearance, his aura was cold and sinister, like a demon.

I clung to Royce's hand, trembling slightly.

Royce pulled me into his arms and whispered in my ear, "What's wrong? Do you know him?"

"No, but he gives me a really bad feeling." My mind buzzed briefly, then returned to normal.

I tried not to dwell on it.

Royce nodded. "Feeling better now?"

"Much better. Let's see what he's up to." I took a deep breath.

Royce kept his arm around me, holding my hand firmly.

We turned our attention to the center of the room. The man's lips curled into a sly smile.

"Welcome to my dinner party. To make your evening more entertaining, I'll be performing a show for you."

The guests exchanged puzzled glances and murmured among themselves.

Everyone here was quite distinguished. I'd never encountered such a dinner party before.

My gut told me the man's performance would be extraordinary, but we couldn't stop him.

We had no grounds or reason to do so, and we didn't know how many of his people were present.

"Aren't you curious about the show?" the masked man's voice had a strange allure.

It was almost hypnotic.

The feeling was familiar, but I couldn't recall where I'd experienced it before.

"What kind of show?" a voice called out from the crowd.

The masked man looked towards the speaker. We followed his gaze and saw a young woman.

If not for the setting, I'd have thought she was fresh out of college.

"Thank you for your interest, miss," the masked man said, bowing gracefully.

The girl's cheeks flushed, visible even from our position.

The masked man cleared his throat. "I want to perform a magic trick for you."

His words felt eerie.

Had he gathered so many elite guests just to perform a magic trick?

Wasn't that a bit too extravagant?

"Don't you like magic?" the masked man asked, seeing the lack of reaction.

The same girl spoke again, "We like magic, but this isn't a circus. Can you really perform a captivating trick?"

"Of course. A magician never fails," the masked man replied, his smile growing more sinister.