Conjured

“Would you rather be dead?” Aidan asked. “After the trial, they’ll kill you. Or they’ll try. If you agree to work for my government and to help us win the war, then we will ensure that WitSec can’t hurt you.”

Zach put his arm around my cloth shoulders. As a doll, I was smaller than he was, and his arm draped down, enveloping me. “I don’t trust him,” he declared.

“He’s still so innocent,” Aidan marveled. “Tell me, Green Eyes: Who exactly would you trust? Can’t trust your maker.” He pointed at the Magician’s box. “You ran from WitSec, so I doubt you trust them. Face it, I am your only reasonable option. Come with me, and we will keep you safe in exchange for your cooperation.”

“And Zach?” I asked. “Will you keep him safe too?”

Aidan hesitated. “He belongs in his own world. He said it himself—you’re the special one, Evy.”

“You want to use me, like the Magician used me,” I said.

“It’s not the same! Our enemies are like the Magician. Unscrupulous. Evil. You’ll be able to save hundreds, potentially thousands, of lives—”

Zach snorted. “By being a weapon?”

“For a just cause!” Aidan said. “Yes, we will use your power against our enemy. Yes, some people—evil people—may die. I won’t lie to you. War isn’t pretty. But with your strength … we could win, end the war, stop the violence, save the day! Eve, you’d be a hero to millions. Please, Eve … consider it. And be ready when the moment comes.” He then fetched a cloth and wiped away the final symbols on the floor with a flourish, as if he were making a point.

I didn’t know what to think of that decision and the possible future he offered. But I knew I was done with the past. Holding the Magician’s box, I surveyed the wagon, my home and my prison. The candleflame in the lantern flickered, causing shadows to dance over the bottles, bones, and boxes. “I want to leave.”

“The marshals are outside,” Aidan said. “Ready to take you to the trial.”

“Outside? I thought that was a bluff! They’re really …”

Zach’s eyes bulged, and his face tinted pink. He looked as if he wanted to explode. He gulped in air like a fish. “And they didn’t help because … why? You were nearly killed! I was … And there was help outside?”

“As soon as I obtained proof that Eve was here and that this was the right magician, I was to pop out and signal for help. An impenetrable wagon was not part of the plan.”

“You had a crappy plan,” Zach said. “You could have been killed.”

“It was a risk I accepted,” Aidan said.

“I could have been killed!” Zach said. “She could have been killed!”

Aidan tilted his head and smiled his dazzling smile. “Seems to me your plan had flaws too, library boy. Yet you chose to come as well. You weren’t forced. In fact, I believe the agency tried enthusiastically to prevent you. And when Lou realized that he couldn’t stop you, he gave you the tool you’d need to succeed.” He nodded at the box. Aidan’s words made sense. Maybe he wasn’t lying anymore.

The box in my hands felt like a weight. “I want this to be over,” I said.

“Then let’s end it, Green Eyes.” Aidan held out his hand to me. I ignored his hand and instead took Zach’s. His fingers closed tightly around my cloth fingers. Aidan lowered his hand, and I thought I saw his expression twist … but no, the smile was plastered on his face again. “You really do have green eyes. Don’t you want to change back to human before we go out there?”

“This is who I am. What I am. Anything else is a lie, and I’m done with lies.”

Zach and I walked to the door. He released my hand so I could unlock it. I cradled the Magician’s box under my arm. As I ran my fingers over the swirls in the wood, I heard the familiar click, click-click-click. The door swung open, and weak sunlight filtered inside. I looked back once more—the bottles caught the sunlight and cast colored shadows across the boxes, skulls, and feathers. I held the box containing the Magician tighter, and then the three of us stepped outside.

* * *

Guns were trained on us. On either side of me, Aidan and Zach raised their hands as if in surrender. I didn’t. I was holding the box tightly in my cloth hands, clutched to my chest. The guns were held by agents in flak jackets—Malcolm, Lou, Aunt Nicki, and dozens of others that I didn’t recognize. Behind them, in a semicircle, I saw the acrobats and contortionists and animal trainers from the carnival. Squeezed between them, a kid ate a caramel apple, as if this were just another part of the show.

I must have looked strange to them, even compared to the circus performers. A living doll. I wondered what they thought, if they even knew who or what I was. Holding up the box with the Magician, I said, “He’s here.”

Malcolm lowered his gun.