“One moment, my boy.” The ringmaster raised his hand before I could pull my arm back. “I have an even better idea.” Striding up to Kenzie, he beamed a smile at her, then turned to the “audience.”

“Ladies and gentlemen!” he called, raising his arms. “We have a special treat for you!” Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a bright red candy apple, waved it around for effect, then placed it atop Kenzie’s skull. Kenzie froze, eyes going wide, and the ringmaster beamed. “This brave young man will attempt to throw a knife and spear the apple right off this girl’s head!”

My stomach dropped all the way to my toes. “No!” I protested. “That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“Oh, come now, it’ll be fun.” The ringmaster strode back to me, a warning in his bright grin. “You don’t want to disappoint everyone, do you?” He waved back to Kenzie. “Hit the apple, and you and the girl can go. You get three tries. It shouldn’t be that difficult, right?”

“And what if I refuse?”

“Then I will be disappointed, but I certainly cannot make you participate if you are unwilling or scared. But worry not.” He nodded to the skeletal thing standing behind me and smiled. “Pete will do it. The show must go on.”

Swallowing hard, I looked back at Kenzie and the tiny red target perched atop her head. I can’t hit that; there’s no way I’ll be able to pull this off. Not without killing or maiming her in the process. Dammit, Kenzie, this can’t be what you were thinking. The clown thugs stood silent and motionless at my sides, and the ringmaster looked on expectantly, gripping his cane. I could feel him getting impatient, though, and my mind whirled, trying to think. If could just get to my swords. I’d stand a chance against these guys if I were armed...

Oh.

Mentally, I kicked myself. Kenzie didn’t volunteer me to throw knives at her; that hadn’t been her plan at all.

Ethan, you’re an idiot.

Spinning, I stabbed both clowns, sinking a knife deep into one’s chest, then the other’s. They gave a startled bellow, and as I yanked each blade out, seemed to deflate in on themselves, hissing like a balloon with a slow leak.

Grinning savagely, I turned on the ringmaster, but he gave a shout and sprang away, long legs carrying him half the length of the circle. “No!” he yelled, as I raised the knives and started after him. “Young man, please, sit down! You are ruining the show! Security!”

Three clowns rushed the circle. I turned to face them just as something bright whizzed by my face, cutting a stinging gash across my cheek. Glancing over, I saw Bull’s Eye Pete silently draw another knife from the dozens on his belt and raise his arm to hurl it at me.

With a screech, something tiny and dark landed on his head, green eyes flashing. Razor snarled and dug his claws into the thing’s bony eye sockets, making him howl and flail at his head, trying to dislodge the gremlin. I didn’t think Razor would be able to stop him, but at least he was a great distraction.

The first clown reached me and lunged, trying to grab me in a bear hug. I ducked beneath the huge limbs and jabbed him in the gut with the knife. There was a squeaky hiss, and the clown staggered away, folding in on itself. As the other two barreled in, I flipped one knife in my hand, holding it by the tip, and raised my arm.

Sorry, Guro, I thought, and hurled the knife at the massive bulk of the clown. Even if I was the poorest shot in the world, it was like hitting the broadside of a house. The blade struck him right in the center, sinking deep, and the clown pitched forward, his body shrinking and losing form as it deflated in the dirt.

The last clown bellowed with rage and plowed into me like a bull. The breath left my lungs in a painful expulsion, and I fell backward with the clown filling my vision as it came down, as well. Hitting the ground, I stabbed up with the knife, bracing myself to be crushed. There was a pop, and the clown shuddered as it deflated on top of me like a giant air mattress.

Shuddering, I kicked myself clear and rose, one knife still clutched in my hand. I saw Razor, clinging to the side of the tent, dodge the knife Pete hurled at him and scramble farther up the wall, buzzing insults at the furious knife thrower. At least the gremlin was keeping him busy. But where was the ringmaster—

Something hit me from behind, making sparks explode across my vision. I tumbled forward, managing to use the momentum to roll to my knees, though the world still spun dizzyingly around me. Dazed, I looked up to see the ringmaster, his huge mouth bared in a scary snarl, draw a sword from his skull-headed cane and raise it over my head.

“Not today, Ethan Chase,” said a familiar voice out of nowhere, and the Thin Man turned into existence, appearing behind the ringmaster. His own blade flashed, almost too quick to be seen, and the ringmaster froze, his sword a few inches from my face. I scrambled back, lurching to my feet, as the ringmaster’s head toppled forward and hit the ground with a thump. His body slowly collapsed, folding into weird angles like it was made of stilts, as his top hat rolled forward a few paces and hit my shoe.

I tensed, wondering if the ringmaster’s death would cause this whole crazy reality to start fragmenting and falling apart, but nothing like that happened. Pete, however, let out a wail that set my teeth on edge and fled the ring, ripping through the tent and vanishing into the darkness.

I ran to Kenzie, cut through the leather straps and pulled her into my arms. She clung to me, heart pounding, and I hugged her tight, feeling my own heart race against hers. Razor landed on us, bouncing up and down and buzzing with excitement and fear, but I barely felt him.

“Quickly, Ethan Chase!” The Thin Man was suddenly beside us, with my swords and Kenzie’s backpack, which he tossed to her. “There is no time. Take your horrid iron weapons before they ruin my gloves.” He thrust my swords into my hands and yanked his arms back, shaking them like they stung. “Hurry, before the entire rest of the freak show arrives. We still have to find the anchor and destroy it.”

“Humans.” And Grimalkin appeared, perched atop a barrel, his golden eyes slitted impatiently. “This way, if you would. While you were wasting time, playing circus with the ringmaster and the clowns, I found the location of the anchor. Follow me.”

A roar interrupted us. The Bearded Lady monster had flung aside the entrance flaps and stomped inside, her huge mouth gaping angrily as she saw us. More shadows appeared outside the cloth walls, deformed and twisted, starting to rip through the canvas with claws and teeth.

We ran, following the cat as he bounded to the cloth wall and slipped beneath. I slashed through the wall, and we fled back into the maze of tents.

As we ran, trailing the near invisible cat through shadows, mud and the mist that coiled around our feet, I started to hear the music again. Bright and cheerful, and definitely closer this time. The cloth walls suddenly fell away, and I stumbled into the open. A wide, muddy street stretched before us, lined with booths and carnival games.

At the end of the street, maybe a hundred yards away, a carousel spun in a slow, lazy circle. Unlike the game booths and the Ferris wheel, it glimmered with dozens of twinkling lights, though the creatures that made up the ride were definitely not child-friendly. Horses bared bloody teeth as they spun around on their poles, many twisted into unnatural positions of agony, their eyes mad and white. The other “mounts” were just as horrific. Slavering wolves, giant spiders and a bear with a small child in its jaws were a few of the nightmares frozen in plaster, all spinning around to the cheerful tune I’d heard before.