“Come right in,” Preston said. “Leave the coats in the lobby when you’re done.”

  The red carpet ended at a seamless marble floor. The wide, bright room had enormous paintings on the walls depicting sailing ships, battlefields, and hunting parties, all in gilded frames. A huge mural covered the high ceiling, depicting godlike beings enjoying a sumptuous feast. Well-dressed diners ate Italian food and conversed in the upscale restaurant that dominated much of the room.

  Through oversized doorways in the far walls, other rooms could be seen. One held a ballroom with people dancing to live music. Another contained a casino, where participants crowded around tables lined with green felt.

  A lovely woman in a cocktail dress approached Trevor. “Bruschetta?” She held out a platter of little pieces of toasted bread topped with cured meat and diced tomatoes.

  Trevor glanced at Zac.

  “The food is free,” Zac said.

  Trevor, Nate, and Pigeon each took one.

  A handsome man in a formal white shirt with a black vest approached Summer carrying a platter. “Cream puff?”

  She grabbed one for each hand. Zac took one as well.

  “I feel like a high roller,” Trevor said, trying to catch falling tomato fragments with his free hand as he took a bite of his bruschetta.

  “Kids are allowed to gamble here,” Zac said. “But only at tables that risk tickets and Carnie Coins.”

  “That still sounds illegal,” Summer said.

  Zac shrugged. “Not in here. Hey, there’s a soda fountain over this way. They’ll make just about any soda you can dream up.”

  “What about the magical candy?” Pigeon asked.

  “Right,” Zac said. “We want the Emporium. This way.”

  Zac ushered them out of the restaurant, past a security station, and across a small marble lobby. Off to one side, Nate noticed a spiderweb insignia on a door with the word Dormitory beneath it. He tapped Trevor, who nodded in recognition.

  Coming around a corner, they encountered two tough-looking roustabouts wearing black leather flat caps, white dress shirts with the sleeves rolled back over beefy forearms, and cummerbunds. Beyond them, the word Emporium was emblazoned above an entrance, each letter a mosaic of glittering, mirrored tiles.

  “The stuff in the Emporium isn’t free,” Zac explained. “Some things are really expensive. But the candy is reasonable. You guys go ahead and check it out. I have a question for the security guys.”

  “What question?” Pigeon asked.

  “I might have dropped my earbuds in here yesterday,” Zac said. “I want to check if somebody turned them in. The candy counter is off to the left.”

  Nate, Trevor, Summer, and Pigeon entered the Emporium. Nate didn’t usually like shopping, but much of what he saw inside the Emporium caught his interest. There were full suits of armor standing upright, a half-sized bejeweled carousel horse, a stuffed polar bear, an old-fashioned jukebox, the mounted head of a rhino, a big Harley Davidson motorcycle, a narwhale horn, and a perfect replica of C-3PO.

  Walking toward the candy counter, Nate passed a mannequin in dark, rubbery apparel. Breathing tubes connected to the blank face.

  “It’s a stillsuit like you might find on Arrakis,” a middle-aged salesperson said in efficient tones. “This other figure is modeling an approximation of shardplate from Roshar.”

  Nate studied the ornate armor. “How much is it?”

  “One hundred thousand tickets and five thousand Carnie Coins,” the salesman said. “Display mannequin included.”

  Nate whistled softly. “I might have to save up a little.”

  “Nate,” Pigeon called with some urgency. “Get over here!” He had reached the candy counter.

  “Excuse me,” Nate said to the salesman, hurrying over to his friend.

  The candy was laid out atop the counter in different sections. A discreet little sign dubbed one subset the Belinda White Collection. Another section was attributed to Jonas White. Camilla had her own candy as well. The final category was labeled Assorted Favorites. Nate noticed some Cannon Blasts in that final group.

  A young saleswoman approached them and said, “Please let me know if you have any questions.”

  “They have Moon Rocks,” Trevor said to Nate, studying the Belinda White Collection. “Shock Bits. Dizzy Fizzers. And some I don’t know.”

  Zac caught up to them. “Lots of candy, right?”

  “Jackpot,” Pigeon said.

  “There’s a problem though,” Zac said. “Camilla White wants to talk to you.”

  “What?” Nate asked. “She’s here?” He looked around the Emporium.

  “No,” Zac said. “But there are a bunch of security guys waiting to take you to her.”

  Nate felt stunned. “Why?”

  “Because I told them you’re planning to wake the sleepers,” Zac said.

  Nate felt blood rushing to his face.

  “What?” Summer asked, wheeling around to face him.

  “Camilla hired me,” Zac said. “Not only for the advertising. I was supposed to keep an eye on you guys since day one. You weren’t described as villains, but I guess some people you know kidnapped her sister and brainwashed her. Does that ring a bell?”

  “No, Zac, no,” Nate said, trying to keep his voice under control. “You are messing up big-time.”

  “Camilla warned me there are rivals who want to destroy her carnival,” Zac said. “The same enemies who abducted her sister and ran her brother out of town.”

  “Her siblings were trying to destroy Colson,” Pigeon said.

  “That’s your story,” Zac said.

  “Lindy is under our protection,” Summer said.

  “Nobody here wants to harm Belinda,” Zac said. “I already rescued her from Mr. Stott. You’re too late. Yesterday, while you guys were trapped or whatever, I delivered a letter to Belinda from her sister. Belinda came to the carnival this morning.”

  “Zac, you have no idea the harm you’re causing,” Nate said.

  “I hope the same is true about you,” Zac said. “Security doesn’t want a scene. They sent me in as a flag of truce. If you come quietly, they’ll be lenient. They have a place prepared where you can get some rest. I didn’t want it to come to this. I was trying to play along with you guys, but then you decided to cross this line. You can’t plan acts of terrorism against the carnival and expect me to keep quiet.”

  “Isn’t it obvious the carnival is bad?” Summer exclaimed. “Look what happened to Benji!”

  “I’m sure Benji is fine,” Zac said. “And if not? You guys led him to look for things that are meant to stay hidden.”

  “Then why make a game of finding them?” Summer pressed.

  “Ask Camilla,” Zac said, backing away.

  Nate looked to Summer. “We have to get out of here. Right now the candy is free. Grab what you can.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Fugitives

  Nate went straight to the Cannon Blasts. After feeling the power of that candy, he had wondered what he could do with a lot of it.

  “Stop them!” Zac shouted to the saleswoman. “They’re stealing magical candy!” He turned around and ran off.

  “Put those down,” the saleswoman said.

  “Don’t mess with us,” Nate replied, stuffing Cannon Blasts into his pockets, but keeping one in his hand. Other salespeople ran toward them. Nate glanced at his friends. “We have to go.”

  After snatching candy of their own, Summer and Pigeon ran with him. Trevor was a few steps behind.

  The salespeople seemed content to herd them toward the exit.

  “Think there’s another way out of here?” Summer asked.

  “Maybe,” Nate said. “But it’s not a big store. We should get back up to the carnival as fast as we can.”

  Six security men waited in a loose semicircle on the marble floor outside the Emporium. They looked like they had come off the same assembly line as the roustabouts, with small variations. All had hard faces that might have been hastily sculpted from clay. Their blocky bodies were heavy with muscle. These six wore black leather flat caps and dress shirts. A couple had tattoos on their bulging forearms. Two held nightsticks. One carried a stun gun.

  “We don’t want a disturbance,” one of the security men said. He had a no-nonsense voice and was clearly the leader.

  “Then get out of our way,” Nate replied.

  “Not going to happen,” the leader replied.

  “I hope the carnival has good medical insurance,” Nate said, tossing the Cannon Blast into his mouth.

  Summer put on the Clown Lips. Instantly, she wore white face paint with a big red smile and blue highlights around her eyes. Her rainbow hair was tied into two floppy pigtails. She wore orange pants with white polka dots and a green shirt under a blue-checkered jacket with a big yellow flower on the lapel. Her red shoes were absurdly huge.

  Nate stifled a laugh.

  “She’s a clown,” one of the security men said to another with trepidation.

  “Get ’em, boys,” the leader commanded.

  The security men rushed forward.

  Pigeon grabbed a cow figurine in his left hand, instantly turning into a statue of himself crafted from white plastic with large black splotches.

  Trevor tossed something into his mouth.

  Every nerve and sinew vibrating at a fever pitch, Nate aimed between two of the security men and bit down on the Cannon Blast. As he launched forward, Nate stretched out his arms so he could grab the chests of the men. When his hands struck the security men, the two roustabouts burst apart in a massive spray of sand.

  Nate shot forward, swiftly covering the distance back into the Italian restaurant. He plowed through a line of tables, fine wood shattering into matchsticks. Plates and food went flying, diners shrieked, and Nate finally struck the marble wall on the far side of the room, leaving a dent laced with cracks at his point of impact.

  Unshaken by the wild ride, Nate rolled over and looked back at the path he had cleared. Diners stared at him in shock, some still holding utensils. Beyond them, his friends fought the four remaining security men.

  Summer dodged swings from a nightstick, then slipped around her attacker and kicked him in the back of his knees, putting him on the ground.

  Another security guy wrestled with Pigeon before flinging him across the marble floor. His hard plastic body slid to a stop, undamaged.

  Another man grabbed Trevor only to be flung back with a brilliant flash. Apparently, Trevor had opted to use Shock Bits.

  Nate put another Cannon Blast in his mouth. He waited until two security men lined up, then bit down. His trajectory took him back over several restaurant tables before he slammed through one security man, releasing a blizzard of sand, and knocked the head off a second roustabout. Nate continued onward, crashing violently into a marble pillar, spewing stone fragments.

  A growling security man brought his nightstick down on Summer’s head. For a moment, her skull squished flat, folding like a taco around the short club, but then her cranium rebounded to its normal shape as if made of rubber.

  The headless roustabout remained on the floor, sand spilling from his gaping neck.

  “They’re just big bags of sand,” Nate said.

  The lead security man looked at his headless comrade with puzzlement. He then held up his own hand and wiggled his fingers. It seemed evident to Nate that the roustabout didn’t know he was artificial. His flesh looked perfectly real. But when his colleagues crumbled to sand, they left behind no skin, blood, or bones. Even as Nate watched, the headless security guy dissolved into sand and clothes.

  Dropping the cow figurine, Pigeon returned to his normal form. He snatched a fragment of marble with his left hand, then opened another paper tube and dumped flavored sugar into his mouth, promptly becoming a marble statue of himself.

  Reaching into an inner pocket of her gawdy jacket, Summer produced a large wooden mallet and bashed the growling security guy with it. He fell under her blows and became a heap of sand on the marble.

  Pigeon charged the leader, wrapped stone arms around him, then squeezed and twisted until the startled roustabout burst open and dissolved into particles.

  “What did you do to them?” Zac asked. He crept out of the security office, staring at the scene with frightened eyes.

  “What we had to,” Nate said.

  “We have to get out of here,” Summer said.

  “What should we do about Zac?” Pigeon asked. His voice sounded normal despite his stony form.

  Trevor stalked over to Zac and held up a yellow, crystalline candy. “Suck on this.”

  “No way,” Zac said, backing up.

  “I’m trying to be nice,” Trevor said. “Eat this candy, or we’ll make it worse.”

  As Summer, Pigeon, and Nate closed in, Zac accepted the candy and popped it into his mouth. He wobbled, features drooping, then slapped down to the floor like the hammer of a mousetrap.

  “Sun Stone,” Trevor said. “It increases gravity for a while. The opposite of a Moon Rock. Enjoy.”

  “Let’s go,” Summer urged.

  Nate, Trevor, Summer, and Pigeon ran toward the entrance, Pigeon clomping heavily, marble on marble. Back at the lobby, they found Preston barring their way.

  “Halt!” Preston demanded. “You children should be ashamed of your behavior. We invited you here as guests, and you tore the place apart.”

  “It was a trap,” Summer said, still dashing toward him.

  “I will not let you hooligans run wild through this carnival,” Preston stated.

  “Out of our way,” Nate said, drawing near, Cannon Blast in hand. “Unless you want to find out if you’re made of sand too.”

  Preston stepped aside, and the kids charged past him. They raced across the plush red carpet and started up the winding stairs. Soon Nate was breathing hard. Running up multiple corkscrews of stairs required a lot more energy than walking down them!

  “This is exhausting,” Nate said after about five complete spirals.

  “Hop on piggyback,” Pigeon offered. “I don’t feel tired at all. Being made of rock seems to have that advantage.”

  Nate climbed onto the marble back of his friend.

  “I can take you, Trevor,” Summer said. “I guess clowns don’t wear out either.”

  Trevor touched Summer’s mouth. “Where did your Clown Lips go?”

  “They merged with my face,” Summer said. “But I can still feel them. I don’t think taking them off will be hard.”

  Pigeon never broke stride as Nate rode him the rest of the way. In her clown gear, Summer matched Pigeon step for step. Neither of them were breathing hard.

  At the top of the stairs, they faced the door leading out to the carousel booth. Nate dropped from Pigeon’s back, and Summer set down Trevor. The door had no handle or knob, and it refused to budge when they pushed on it.

  “I’ve got this,” Pigeon said, punching a marble hand through the wooden door with a crunch. A couple more punches and Pigeon had torn the splintered door apart. Beyond the mangled door, the booth was empty. The carousel was at a standstill as riders disembarked.

  Pigeon slipped the fragment of marble he was holding into his pocket and returned to his normal self. “A walking statue might draw too much attention,” he said. “I can always transform again.”

  Summer remained in her clown apparel as they hustled through the demolished door and down the stairs in time to join the last people exiting the ride.

  Nate kept an eye out for more roustabouts, but all he saw was the typical bustling crowd. He noticed several kids from school, but he was too on edge to greet anyone.

  “Fun House?” Trevor asked.

  “Might be now or never,” Nate said. “If we leave the carnival, I don’t think we’ll be welcomed back.”

  “Just because we smashed up their fancy secret club and bashed their security people into sand?” Summer asked.

  “What was with the sand?” Pigeon asked. “Did that make sense to you guys?”

  “Says the kid who can turn into marble,” Trevor joked.

  “Making henchmen out of sand kind of makes sense,” Summer said. “Isn’t it the sandman who sends you to dreamland?”

  “We have to move,” Nate said, heading toward the Fun House. “Keep your candy ready in case they attack again.”

  “Marble is solid, but not the hardest stone,” Pigeon said to Trevor. “It’s around a three on Mohs’ hardness scale.”

  “Still better than a plastic cow,” Trevor said.

  “I had to go with what I could find on short notice,” Pigeon said. “But trust me, I have my eye out for some steel or titanium.”

  “What about a diamond?” Nate asked.

  “If you see one, let me know,” Pigeon said. “That’s a ten on the hardness scale.”

  “I like having a lot of candy again,” Trevor said. “It raises my confidence in a fight.”

  “It should,” Nate said. “I only grabbed Cannon Blasts. It all happened so quick.”

  “I only have Clown Lips,” Summer said.

  “I mostly have Statue Sticks,” Pigeon said. “And a few Moon Rocks.”

  “I went with a broader sampling,” Trevor said. “Moon Rocks, Shock Bits, Frost Bites. It slowed me down, but I also snagged a few trick candies like Sun Stones and Whisker Cakes. Along with a bunch of Drip Drops.”

  “I wish I had more variety,” Summer said.

  “We can always share,” Trevor said. “But I have a hard time seeing myself in Clown Lips.”

  “I can’t believe Zac backstabbed us,” Pigeon said.

  “Yeah, ouch,” Trevor said. “Camilla must have tricked him.”

  “I’m mad he lured in Lindy,” Nate said. “Mr. Stott must be freaking out. We should watch for her.”