After a moment, the ringmaster spoke. “I normally make anyone who joins up with my most precious carnival sign a strict contract, but I will make an exception this one time. You may enter this train but on two conditions.” He held up a finger. “One, so long as you are here, you will work. No dillydalliers allowed in my zoo. Everyone earns their keep.”
“Of course.” Ignacio had no intention of staying long. He’d get the answers he needed from Esmeralda, find out who was blackmailing his father and why, then send everything he learned to the Defiant and be on his way.
The ringmaster lifted another finger. “My second condition is this.” He fluttered his hand in the air. From seemingly out of nowhere, an intricate pocket mirror appeared in his grasp. It was a strange thing, made of dark glass, with bell-shaped flowers etched into the sides like a frame. Just like the symbol thathad been stamped onto the back of one of the discarded flyers. A chill ran through Ignacio even though his body was still warm from his sprint.
“You must gaze into the mirror of truth. Then I shall let you enter my train.”
Ignacio snorted. Of all the ridiculous things…But when he saw that the ringmaster’s expression held no humor within it, he straightened his shoulders and cleared his throat. “Um…erm…sure. I guess.”
“Spectaculous!” Veracruz fluttered his fingers. The mirror disappeared, then quickly reappeared in his other hand. “You’ll learn these fun tricks too if you stay in my world. It’s all very entertaining.”
“I’m sure.”
“Ready?” Veracruz asked.
The man acted as if looking into one’s reflection was a difficult task.
Ignacio took hold of the mirror.
“Do be careful with it,” the ringmaster said. “It’s a family heirloom, and the material used to make it is hard to come by nowadays.”
Gingerly, Ignacio held it up.
The ringmaster angled his body so he could see the reflection staring back at Ignacio.
But the reflection wasn’t of Ignacio exactly. It was an older version of himself. He stood in the living room of his childhood home as a grown man. An older version of Esmeralda was there too. She was laughing as she played tug-of-war with a scruffydog. His father entered the room, a warm smile on his face as he carried a bowl of mints.
Ignacio’s heart thawed at the sight. At the vision of the two most important people he’d had in his life actually looking happy tobein his life.
A faint whisper came from within the mirror. It wasn’t the ringmaster’s voice. Nor his.
“Yes,” it sighed, low and thrumming through Ignacio’s core. “Yes.”
Ignacio frowned. He felt suddenly numb from his head to his toes.
The ringmaster plucked the mirror from his grasp. “That will most certainly do.”
“What was that?” Ignacio asked. He flexed his hand, noting the strange numbness was gone.
“What was what?” the ringmaster asked.
The mirror had disappeared. Vanished into thin air.
“I saw a most bizarre scene. And I heard—”
“It was magic. Enchantments to frazzle the mind. Just a crumb of fun, kid. This is a carnival, no?” He winked at Ignacio. “Now…” The ringmaster held up a fist. “Are you ready?”
“For?”
“For the time of your life, of course!” Veracruz knocked on the metal door. A window Ignacio was certain hadn’t been there moments ago slid open, revealing the ticket agent he’d seen last night.
“What’s the password?” she asked, chewing on her gum.
Ángel faced Ignacio. “Tell her,” he urged.
“Tell her what?”
“That you’re ready to have the time of your life, kid.”
