Chapter 1
Esmeralda
A sugary-sweet breeze whirled in the air. The miniature billboard hanging above Esmeralda’s head swung on its hinges. The glittering words painted on the sign sparkled as they caught the light from glowing lanterns that never dimmed. It said:
To enter Carnival Fantástico, a person must do three things.
Pay the ticket fee.
Begging for a discount will not be tolerated. This is a carnival filled with mesmerizing magic, well worth the monies to get in.
Wear the most outrageous costume the mind can fathom.
But beware of dressing in something that sparkles. Estefan the ostrich has an affinity for all thingsshimmering.
Be young in heart, body, and mind.
The carnival is a riotous and reckless place, lasting from sunset to sunrise before disappearing into the morning horizon. There will be dazzling dangers, death-defying distractions, and electrifying explosions at every turn. Our attractions have minds of their own and a penchant for mischief.
No admittance will be offered to bores, fusspots, or sticks-in-the-mud.
Esmeralda Montero was certainly no stick-in-the-mud. In fact, anyone who spent a sliver of a second with her would probably liken the soon-to-be-nineteen-year-old fortune teller to a dandelion puff. Which was quite the opposite of any sorts of sticks in any sort of mud.
As for being a bore, Esmeralda had never let a dull remark slip from her tongue. Never forgotten to flirt and wink with charm.Somepeople might call her fussy, but she could easily make them forget with a twirl of her hair around her finger or a well-timed jest to lighten the mood.
A bell clanged from the small tower to her right, followed by the familiar roar of excited guests.
Hidden in the shadows, she turned away from the billboard displaying the carnival’s rules and watched as revelers jumped up and down, shrieking and clapping with glee. The man in charge of the strong-arm game, a worker named Ramón, pretended to be shocked that someone could possibly win. His jaw dropped, his hand flattened over his heart, and he shook hishead in disbelief—as if a hundred other guests hadn’t already swung the mallet hard enough to make the disc shoot up and ping the metal chime.
“We have a winner!” Ramón shouted. He pointed to the victor as the crowd around them swelled. “You must be blessed by magic, señor, for it is rare for one to be mighty enough to make the bell sing!”
The winner in question, a short young man in a Chihuahua costume, beamed sheepishly and toyed with his little brown tail. In a country where the spectacular was outlawed and conformity was required, being told they were special always made the guests of the carnival merrier, which made their pocketbooks open wider in return.
“Care to make things interesting?” Ramón asked with a wiggle of his painted-on brows, causing them to look like two caterpillars dancing.
The twentysomething man dressed as a dog tilted his head, eyes shining and curious. “What do you mean?” he asked Ramón.
Esmeralda chuckled. “Here comes the hook,” she whispered to herself.
“It is rare for someone to have the strength to make the bell sing once,” Ramón said, loud enough for all to hear. “Rarer still for them to do it twice. How about this?” He leaned close to the man as if to tell him a secret. “For the low price of thirty silver bits—cheaper than the first time you paid for the game, mind you—you may try again. If you make the bell sing a second time, I’ll let the lovely doll by your side choose any prize she desires.”
A woman sporting whiskers and a long fur coat took the man by the wrist. She batted her long white lashes. “Please try again, cariño.Please.I want a teddy bear desperately.”
The prizes within Carnival Fantásticowererather awe-inspiring: stuffed animals that could grow to the size of a house when soaked in tea, snow globes that called forth real snow when rubbed just right, tiny toy soldiers that served their owner’s every command. Esmeralda’s favorite prize was the wooden pistols, which blasted glitter bombs that stuck to the skin and couldn’t be washed off for weeks.
She pulled her focus away from the crowd. The man wouldn’t win. The mysterious magic fueling Carnival Fantástico never hastily gave up its possessions.
