man walked up to me, supported by Vickman, Darkrose’s hard-eyed, bearded bodyguard.
“Sir Charles!” I said with delight. “I’m so pleased to see you!”
Sir Charles smiled at me, dressed in a tuxedo with his signature cat-o-nine-tails whip dangling from his belt. “Dakota,” he said, releasing Vickman and putting a hand heavily on my chair. “Might you do me the honor of being my shoulder to lean on in tonight’s performance?”
“I’d be honored,” I said.
And so I got to enter the Masquerade like BDSM royalty, preceded by Savannah and Darkrose, Jinx and Sir Charles on either arm, with Alex pushing from behind as my motor. The crowd cheered, though it probably had a lot more to do with the matching vampires and dog slaves in white and black leather than any accolades for me or Sir Charles.
We went to a special area right at the base of the stage, right beneath the raised bar and tables where Savannah and I had always liked to camp out at so we could see the dance floor. It would have been hard to get a better view.
“So, Sir Charles,” I said breathlessly, as Alex led Jinx off, “do you have a wonderful show planned for us this evening?”
He smiled, a little weakly, a little wistfully. “I’m just a guest of honor today,” he said. “I don’t have the endurance anymore to perform. It’s frustrating because it’s not my muscles—it’s the ticker. I can start swinging, but in less than a minute, I’m out of breath.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I can sit in a chair with a phone and my Rolodex and whip up a performance just by calling in a few favors— half the performers in this town owe their start to me, and would jump at the chance to fill my shoes. The Secret Room is on later, and Darkrose and Saffron have something planned. But first, we have a very special show.”
Savannah and Darkrose rejoined us, taking posts on either side of us with the dogs kneeling at their feet. “Hey, wait a minute,” I said. “What, you’re going to allow the leather dogs and vampires in and not have them do anything?”
“We have an extensive dog and pony show later. Right now, we’re here to be seen and let the crowd… simmer,” Savannah said. “Besides, we—actually, all the performers—wanted to see this show first.”
Jinx stepped to the stage, guided by Alex. “And now, dear friends, we are proud to present a very special demonstration of magic,” she said, whipping out her spirit cane and extending it to its full length. She drew it in a great circle through the air, creating a pulsing arc of color that shimmered through every shade in the rainbow—very very Jinx! Then she drew the cane up and down, up and down in a mountain shape—and then repeated it, and my mouth opened as I recognized the logo.
“Please welcome—the Mysterious Mirabilus!”
There was a clap of thunder, and all the lights went out. Two hooded figures appeared in the darkness, each carrying a lone torch.
They stepped forward slowly, in unison, approaching two huge braziers on pillars at each end of the stage. Just before lighting them, the figures reached up ostentatiously, and threw aside their hoods.
Each bore the unmistakable features of Christopher Valentine.
“Oh my God,” I said, sitting up in my wheelchair. This was the Mysterious Mirabilus’ most famous trick, and he was doing it here, at the Masquerade, for us—and I had the best seat in the house! Just last week I’d seen a trick in a movie where a man ‘teleported’ to the other side of the stage—but this wasn’t teleportation, and it wasn’t a movie. There were two of him—right in front of me! Even from this close I couldn’t see how it was done. They weren’t masks—each commanding face had the same dark eyebrows and the same mischievous eyes. The torrent of white hair even had the same part on the same side, so there was no way the two images could be simple reflections. How was he doing it?
Then the figures plunged their torches into the braziers, and a giant flare of light lit up the whole interior of Hell. I looked back, seeing all the astonished faces, then looked forward again to see the robes collapsing to the ground and—just barely glimpse two dark cat-suited figures disappearing behind the stage. But everyone’s eyes were on center stage, where a single Mirabilus now stood alone, in a simple tuxedo and