It became harder and harder for Grace to hold still as they moved closer to the front of the line. She fiddled with her hands and hair as she ran through the messy plan Jasper had laid out again and again. Her fear wasn’t that she couldn’t do everything, but that she would forget what she was supposed to be doing in the first place.
“Don’t stress if you have to improvise,” Jasper had told them before hurrying off. “This is about showing off our abilities. As long as you look like you know what you’re doing, we’ll be fine.”
Grace took a deep breath.
A worker paused next to Grace and the others and looked them over before returning her gaze to her tablet. “Next party, follow me.”
“I’ve got control of their lights,” Thea muttered as they approached the big tent. “And speakers.” She turned a sphere over in her hand. “The music Jasper wanted was—oh, here we are.”
Holly pulled her hair up. Dax shook out his hands.
Grace shrugged off her jacket as they entered the tent. Her wings stretched out, revealing a key component of their plan: temporary gold spray paint coating every last feather. It made it less likely that anyone would realize she was Governor Starr’s biggest target. As Jasper had pointed out, she wasn’t the only winged being wandering the Janus System.
Still, Grace could only hope that the spray paint—combined with one of Holly’s makeup looks and the wig—would be enough.
Her heart quickened at the sight of carnival workers waiting for a show, the sight of empty stadium seating towering over them, the sight of the tent ceiling barely visible in the darkness above.
“Whenever you’re ready,” a man said.
Grace tossed the jacket to the ground. She only needed confidence for a few minutes. Like Jasper had promised, various props and parts were set up around the edge of the arena, including a ramp that needed to be moved next to the tent’s rear entrance. Grace’s job.
“Everyone ready?” Thea asked.
Holly, Dax, and Grace nodded. Thea snapped her fingers, and the lights went out. Music took over the tent’s speakers.
Grace took to the air and flew to the ramp, having only her memory to guide her in the darkness. Her hands found it, and she dragged it toward the entrance.
Meanwhile, a spotlight fell on Holly, revealing she’d changed her hair color to purple. It went out and came back on to illuminate black hair, then flashed once more on her red hair. A second spotlight appeared on Dax.
“Jasper?” Grace whispered as she let go of the ramp.
“Ready,” Jasper replied. “I’ve got eyes on all of you.”
Grace swooped down, emerging from the black to grab Holly and Dax and throw them into the air. She winced at the strain on her arms, but her pain quickly shifted to apprehension. If Jasper wasn’t fast enough—
An engine revved. Jasper shot in through the tent entrance. She hadn’t donned her racing suit or helmet, but Grace supposed the costume would give away her identity.
The two spotlights combined and moved onto Jasper as she flew off the ramp and passed under Holly and Dax. She released the handlebar and reached out her arms, one to grab Holly and one to grab Dax. They both took hold of the motorcycle.
More lights came on, shining white and red on the three as they landed. Jasper slammed the front brakes, sending Holly and Dax back into the air. As they landed, Jasper flipped over the front of the motorcycle, touched down, and threw it over her head. Holly and Dax caught it together and barely kept it from touching the ground.
The white spotlights combined into one and moved up to where Thea stood on the trapeze tower. The drones she’d begrudgingly agreed to sacrifice for the show formed a swarm and flew toward Jasper, who stood alone in the red spotlight.
Grace’s turn again. She dropped down to the motorcycle, grabbed the sword strapped to its side, and tossed it to Jasper. Despite Jasper’s insistence she could catch it, Grace’s heart refused to beat properly until Jasper had the sword safely in her hand.
Jasper took down the drones one by one, twisting and jumping and spinning as Thea sent them at her from every direction. Once she’d sent the last one crashing into the shadows, she strolled over to the motorcycle, raising up her hand as she walked. With her other, she rested the blade on her palm and made a cut.
Grace landed on the ground by Holly and Dax. She helped shoulder the motorcycle, leaving Dax free to step toward Jasper and lift his own hand. A blue glow wiped the wound from Jasper’s skin. She tossed the sword to the healed hand and held up her other. The same cut appeared in this palm, accompanied by the glow.
“Finale time,” Jasper muttered as the spotlight moved off her and the gash healed itself. “So far, so good.”
The light illuminated Grace as she took the full weight of the motorcycle from Holly and threw it to Jasper. Her arms burned with the effort. She spread her wings and jumped.
“Ready?” Thea asked. A golden light moved onto her.
Grace nodded and held out her arms.
Thea jumped. Grace caught her, and they dropped halfway to the ground before her wings caught enough air to hover. Grace locked eyes with Jasper, who gave her the slightest nod. Grace dropped Thea.
Thea landed on the motorcycle still held high in Jasper’s arms. Jasper hid it well, but Grace glimpsed a brief flash of pain cross her face.
Holly locked her fingers together. Dax stepped into her hand, and she lifted him above her head. Holly jumped. Grace grabbed her and lifted them both up.
“Strike a pose, please,” Jasper said through clenched teeth.
The last note of the song played. Thea, standing on the motorcycle’s seat, put a hand on her hip. Jasper pushed the motorcycle up higher, extending her arms to their full length, and forced a smile. Dax, seemingly out of sheer panic, threw up a peace sign. Holly shifted his weight into one of her hands and put the other in a fist under her chin. Grace couldn’t do much with her arms, but she stretched out her wings to their full length.
It was at this moment that the small bomb Jasper had set went off, which she’d filled with…glitter. Rainbow glitter that rained down on all of them.
“If I find glitter on my body when this is all over, I’m going to kill someone,” Holly muttered.
Thea turned off the spotlights and restored the tent to its ordinary lighting. Everyone dropped to the ground, and Jasper set down the motorcycle. Relief coursed through Grace’s muscles.
The workers whispered to each other for a few moments before one stepped forward. The man’s gaze swept over the five. “Who’s in charge?” he asked.
“Me.” Jasper stepped forward.
“Congratulations. You’re in. We’re going to make some adjustments, but we’d like to include you as an opening act. You’ll stay in the main facility.”
Jasper grinned and bowed. “Thank you.”
“I’ll escort you there and get you some costumes. Follow me.” As they left the tent, the man asked, “What are your names?”
“I’m Jay.” Jasper pointed to Holly, Dax, Thea, then Grace. “They’re Red, Jack, Ten, and Lyre.”
“You can call me Viper. I’m in charge of the shows this season, so I’ll be overseeing your performance.”
Viper was a big guy with plenty of muscle. His pale skin bordered on white, except for the places elaborately tattooed with pitch black ink. His eyes were red and glowed in low light, and his shiny gold hair was pulled back in a short ponytail.
He led the team into a plain white building behind the big tent. “This building isn’t just performer rooms,” Viper said. “There are offices and storage closets. They’re locked for a reason. Don’t go snooping where you shouldn’t, keep to the living spaces, and you’ll be fine.” He stopped in front of a door. “This suite will be for your team. Drop off your stuff. I’ll be back in a few minutes, and we’ll get started.”
White walls and floor tiled with a red-and-black checkerboard pattern greeted them. The suite’s five beds were spread across two rooms connected by an open doorway. There was one attached bathroom, and not much by way of furnishings. But it was surprisingly clean, and the lone table in the middle of the room held a basket of fruit and nutrient bars.
While they had some time alone—and after Thea confirmed she couldn’t sense any recording devices in the suite—Jasper explained that there were three types of people working at the carnival. There were the performers, of course, a.k.a. the wannabe villains using the job as a starting point. There were also legitimate employees, mostly teenagers who simply ran the rides or sold food and didn’t know who their boss really was.
And the third type, the higher-ranking workers, were Ringmaster’s henchpeople. She suspected that Viper was way up at the top of the food chain.
“So, why are they putting us in the main facility if there’s sensitive stuff here?” Holly asked as she dropped her bag onto one of the beds. “Why not the outer tents?”
“I assume to keep a closer eye on people with more potential.” Jasper shrugged. “Maybe it’s a test to see if we go snooping.”
Viper returned a minute later to collect them. Their next stop was a nearby building referred to as the Wardrobe. Everything inside was vaguely circus-themed and generally stuck to Ringmaster’s color scheme, but there was enough variety to give them some freedom when it came to their costumes.
“I feel a little ridiculous,” Thea said as she adjusted her gold jacket.
“More ridiculous than in your regular costume?” Jasper asked. “The one with the lightning bolt? And the yellow pants? And all the leather?”
“Don’t worry, Thea,” Holly said. “Jasper looks ten times worse than the rest of us.”
Jasper shrugged as she looked herself over in the mirror. “That’s showbiz, baby.” If the black bodysuit, glittery tights, gold bow tie, red boots, and red jacket were excessive, she didn’t care.
She clapped her hands together. “Now, listen up,” she said. “I overheard a worker say something to Viper about the manager’s office. Ringmaster’s office, presumably. We need to get in there. Maybe Thea could hack the door while we distract everyone else at the show?”
Thea shook her head. “I ran a sweep of the security system while we were dropping our stuff off. No electronic locks—seems like everything is under old-fashioned lock and key.”
Jasper shrugged. “I’ll kick the door down then.”
“From what I saw on cameras, all the interesting doors are a few inches of solid metal,” Thea said. “Anything tough enough to get through that is going to alert everyone else in the building. I can stop the cameras from picking you up if you give me a few hours to get deeper into the system, but you’re going to need an actual key from one of the workers.”
“Fine. We’ll have to work the act around that, then.” Jasper waved her hand to flag down Viper as he walked by. “Hey, when’s our first show?”
Viper paused. “We’re giving you two days to refine the act and rehearse. You’ll open for the show Renday night.”
“That’s the night of the race,” Jasper muttered after he walked away.
“Why not break in sometime after the race?” Grace asked.
“Ringmaster might leave immediately after, and then we’d have to track him down wherever he goes next. The carnival is big but finding him in a city will be much more difficult.” Jasper shook her head. “We’re ending this here. Renday night, we catch Ringmaster.”