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Something flickers across Kenan’s face. “You don’t trust me anymore?”

“I trust you with my life,” Tobias says, his tone softening, “but I couldn’t risk hers.”

The air between them shifts, charged with something beyond anger. Kenan’s eyes drop briefly to Tobias’s mouth before snapping up. “You’ve never cared about anyone else but yourself.”

“That’s not true,” Tobias mutters. “You know that’s not true.”

I watch, transfixed, as Kenan’s hand uncurls from a fist and rises to Tobias’s face. It’s as if even while Kenan is bubbling with rage, he stops … for Tobias. His thumb smudges the white paint at the corner of Tobias’s mouth. The gesture is odd with the tension between them.

“You’re ruining your makeup,” Kenan says softly.

“I forgot that was supposed to be your job,” Tobias replies with a smirk.

I clear my throat.

They both turn to me, as if falling from the space in time that they seemed to exist in at that moment.

“Are you alright, Kitten?” Kenan asks, his anger seemingly forgotten as he steps toward me.

“I’m fine,” I say, even though I’m not sure if I mean it. “But that ... pocket of space? Mirrors?”

“It’s dangerous,” Kenan says. “People have gone mad in there. Losing themselves completely.”

“I wouldn’t have taken her if there was another option,” Tobias retorts. “I had to make it look like part of the act, The Ringmaster is going to be pissed as it is. I couldn’t just not do a show. But — it doesn’t explain how you didn’t notice whatever was on the floor. You notice everything.” He says the last word with sarcasm.

“I was distracted,” Kenan admits.

“By what?” Tobias says as he takes off his coat and places it over my arms. I didn’t realize until right now that I’m shaking.

Kenan’s eyes flick to me and back to Tobias. “By her. By you. By you – watching her.”

The admission hangs in the air between us all. I feel my cheeks warm despite myself.

“This is ridiculous,” I say, pushing past them both. It doesn’t make sense why I’m so angry, but I am. The last twenty-four hours have been a clusterfuck that my emotions can no longer handle. “I nearly died tonight, and all you two can do is bicker like an old married couple.”

“Emerson —” Tobias starts.

“No,” I cut him off, turning my back to both of them. “I don’t know what’s going on between you two, and frankly, I don’t care. I’m here for one reason only — to find my sister. Not to be your knife target, or your magic trick, or whatever else everyone here seems to have planned for me.”

The curtain behind us rustles and Rosie pokes her head through. Her pink hair is ruffled into a bow tonight. Something about her sours my stomach.

“Ringmaster’s looking for you two,” she points to Kenan and Tobias, “and he does not look happy. Somebody’s in trouble.” She sings the last part, and a chill trails up my neck.

“Tell him we’ll be there shortly,” Tobias says, not taking his eyes off Kenan.

Rosie nods and disappears back through the curtain.

“We need to go,” Kenan says, running a hand through his dark hair. “The Ringmaster doesn’t like it when his plans get interrupted, and tonight we did exactly that.”

Tobias grabs Kenan’s shoulder and they disappear together, I’m assuming through the mirrors again, while I’m left wanting to scream at the whole ordeal until my lungs burst.

Chapter 18

The Ringmaster is someone I avoid as much as I can, even if the time between our shows usually leads him to being in my space more than I like. But he’s the master, and we are just the pawns. His eyes bore into mine like an empty grave, dark with nothing beneath them. I see the death option that he provides to the newbies as something I once should have taken. Regardless, nothing compares to the cold dread that always seems to slither down my spine when he smiles at me like he is right now. His fingers tap against the polished surface of his desk.

“Kenan,” he says my name like it’s something foul on his tongue. Probably is. “I expected better from you ... from both of you.” His glance turns toward Tobias.

I stand with my back straight and my feet planted firmly on the ornate carpet of his private quarters. I never like being here, every time I look away it seems to change, like the walls have a life of their own. Tobias probably understands this more than me, hell, he probably is the reason they do it. But to me, it’s just another reminder of my everlasting damnation. However, three hundred and forty-three years trapped within the boundaries of The Carnival have taught me to wear a mask better than the one I don for my performances, so my face stays impassive.