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He recovers quickly, adjusting his gloves. “When we return, you won’t be able to protect her from the Patrons or me. Not unless ...”

“Unless what?”

His smile widens. “Unless you’re willing to put Kenan in her place.”

The suggestion hits me like a physical blow. The mirrors crack, hairline fractures spreading across their surfaces as my control slips. The temperature in the tent plummets, and frost forms on the edges of the mirror’s frames.

“You wouldn’t dare,” I hiss, my hands clenching into fists at my side.

“Wouldn’t I?” He steps back, unaffected. “You know the rules, Tobias. The Carnival must be fed. If not her, then someone. Just like how you took his place, perhaps he could take hers. Although, it’s starting to seem as if you’ve made it clear who matters to you now.”

Kenan would take her place, but I didn’t go through everything I did for him for nothing. I didn’t just take his place – I took everyone’s. Every new soul that joined, if I could convince Joshua, that is. Some were an absolute no. They were too “beautiful” or whatever word he used for the day. Sometimes he threw me to the Patrons just because he could. But this … this I won’t have. I can feel something churning inside of me, the lines of power that flow through this park revealing themselves, pulsing, just begging to be plucked away from him. The mirrors begin to bleed black liquid that pools on the floor, creeping toward his polished shoes.

He raises an eyebrow, glancing down at the darkness before it retreats. “You surprise me, old friend. I’d almost forgotten what you’re truly capable of.”

He turns to leave, pausing at the tent entrance. “Consider your options carefully. Your little illusions won’t save either of them when the time comes. Oh, and Rosie will be by with the new schedule for tomorrow night.”

As the tent flap closes behind him, I collapse into my chair, the mirrors returning to normal. I press my palms against my eyes, feeling the weight of centuries pressing down on me. The diamond-shaped mirror pulses once more, showing Emerson’s smile, Kenan’s laugh. The choice The Ringmaster is asking, is not a choice but a sacrifice, one I love to save the other. Fuck, I do love her. And him.

I rise and approach the largest mirror, pressing my hand against its cool surface. The glass ripples like water, and I whisper words I haven’t spoken in centuries. The Ringmaster made our world, but I was there ... from the beginning, just as he was.

Maybe it’s time to show The Ringmaster what he thought he was keeping caged after all.

Chapter 28

I slip away from the bustle of performers preparing for the next act, drawn to the shadowy alcove where I can watch The Carnival unfold without being seen. I’ve heard enough about magic and whatever else fell from the men’s mouths about this place; I want to focus tonight. No, I need to focus.

I want to see what might be just beneath the lining of this place if I were to just take a peek.

The more I stare, the more the patterns become visible — the way certain audience members glow brighter than others, how The Carnival seems to pulse with their emotions. Regardless if it’s fear, happiness, lust … anything … everything feeds into The Carnival.

The crowd moves like a living organism as I trace the flow of energy with my eyes, seeing it for what it truly is — a feast. Every gasp of wonder, every shiver of fear, feeds this place. The brand on my arm tingles, and I understand now that it’s responding to this energy. I’m becoming attuned to it, like an instrument being calibrated because I dared to look. I notice thicker golden lines that connect to darkness, like a shadow at the edge of the tent that flows down between its cracks. The Patrons. I remember Tobias and Layla mentioning them the day they took me to the creepy ass tent to “train me”.

“There you are,” Tobias’s voice comes from behind me. He would find me here, he moves like a ghost through the mirrors.

I don’t turn around, “I can see it now. The way it feeds.”

Kenan appears at my other side, “What exactly do you see, Kitten?” Because where there is one, I’m learning … there is the other.

“Threads of a sort,” I murmur, leaning forward on the railing. “Like golden threads connecting everyone. Brighter for the ones I’m assuming are interesting to the Patrons, or perhaps the Patrons themselves... but beyond that, the threads that The Carnival pulls are drawing from the crowd’s emotions.”

I point to a young woman whose face is flushed with excitement after watching the fire dancers. “Look at her — she’s glowing. Possibly the next one to be given a ticket if she returns?”

“You’re right.” Tobias follows my gaze, not denying what I see. “Most people can’t see that without years of being here. She’s pure ... that’s what The Carnival wants. What he wants. She’s safe this year, it seems. The Carnival didn’t produce her ticket, but I saw her earlier in my tent.”

“I’m not most people.” The words come out matter of fact, without pride or fear. I never have been. I was the girl who saw the world differently, who looked out the window and dreamed of worlds I was told could never exist. I was the girl who listened to music that no one else liked. I was always the odd one – it’s why Evelyn had to work so hard to get me accepted. It’s why she had friends … and I’m here alone. I guess those friends didn’t do much for her in the end, though.

“No, you aren’t like most.” Kenan exchanged a glance with Tobias. He doesn’t say it as if it’s something terrible, like my teachers or some of those I once regarded as friends would say it. He says it with almost reverence in his voice.

“By he, you mean The Ringmaster?” I ask Tobias.

They both nod. “Tonight I want answers about that ...”

I turn to face them both, my back against the railing. “Tell me about tomorrow’s ritual. The one that will claim me fully.”

Their surprise is evident, but they both seem to accept the question.

“You seem ... different?” Tobias says. “What happened?”