Page 14 of Carnival of Crows

She grinned. Then the five women disappeared inside.

I took the staff entrance around back. The passage was narrow and unlit, hidden between two false walls. I could navigate it blind.

I slipped through a black curtain near the mirror maze and listened. Laughter echoed from somewhere ahead, a scream bounced off the glass, someone cursed when they walked into their own reflection.

I moved between the mirrors, watching fractured pieces of the group appear and vanish. Then Luci stepped into view.

The floor ahead of her was built in two broad sections, balanced on hidden pivots beneath the boards. Each panel tipped with the weight of whoever crossed it, seesawing up and down as guests tried to keep their footing.

She placed one shoe on the first section. The floor dipped. She threw both arms out, trying to balance herself.

“Oh, this is evil.” She laughed.

“Keep it moving, Luce!” one of her friends called out in a teasing tone.

Luci took another careful step. As the board tilted beneath her, she adjusted and found her balance. Then stepped onto the second platform.

There was my window of opportunity.

I emerged from the shadows at the raised end of the board. She didn’t see me. Not until I planted one boot down hard. The platform dropped beneath my weight. Her side of the board shot upward. Luci gasped as the floor changed direction beneath her, throwing her backward. Straight into me.

My arm caught around her waist. Her back pressed against my chest, one hand grabbing my forearm while the floor rocked beneath us.

“Watch your step, Luci.”

She went still for half a second. Then tipped her head back to look at me. Green light reflected across the mirrors, catching in her eyes. She turned carefully within my hold. The floor shifted again, but neither of us moved away.

Her hand remained on my arm. She looked up at me through thick black lashes. Slowly, deliberately, she tipped her head to one side. Her lips pursed ever so slightly. Not enough to call it a pout, but enough that I noticed.

“I believe you have me at a disadvantage.”

I lifted an eyebrow.

“You know my name.” Her fingers slid from my forearm. “I don’t know yours.”

There it was. An opening. I could have broken character. I could have told her my name. I could have leaned into the way she was looking at me and admitted I’d been waiting beside the carousel just to see where she went next.

She was flirting. I was almost certain. She wanted me to give her something real. For one dangerous moment, I considered it. Then the floor shifted beneath us again. I stepped backward, letting the darkness gather between us.

“I am simply the Ringmaster…”

My reflection multiplied across the glass behind me. One crimson coat became three.

Her lips parted to say something, but I took a step back and slid behind the mirrors.

“Wait,” she called.

But, I kept moving. By the time she reached the place where I’d been standing, I was already behind the next wall. I paused there, listening to her friends catch up.

“Was that him again?” one of them asked.

“Yes,” she answered.

A brief silence.

“Oh my God,” another one squealed. “You’re being stalked by the Ringmaster.”

My hand tightened around the head of my cane. This was becoming a problem.