“It’s a protest,” Thisbe reminded herself, lifting her chin. Though now that she was almost at the party, she was sort of looking forward to it. She had a cool costume. And a break for one day wasn’t the worst thing in the world. She tried not to think of Maiven and Rohan and Dev and all the other black-eyed slaves and innocent dragons under the Revinir’s spell, being treated horribly. But guilt leaked in. “It’s just a few hours,” she told herself firmly. She descended the staircase to the main floor of the mansion, where Florence, Talon, and Simber stood near the main entrance. As in previous years, Florence wore a Simber mask, and Simber wore a Florence mask. Talon was dressed as a bronze giant, as usual. Music drifted in through the open door.

“Which of you is which?” Thisbe asked Florence and Simber, which was a tired old joke, but it had to be said.

Simber growled playfully, but Florence lifted her mask in alarm to study the girl. After a moment, she smiled. “Brilliant costume,” she said. “It looks real. Are you supposed to be someone in particular?”

“Thank you,” said Thisbe. “Yes. I’m dead Juliet.” She quickly explained the play. “I’m protesting the idea of the ball. This is my way to make a statement without ruining it for everybody.”

“Interesting tactic,” said Florence, a smile playing at her lips.

“I’m going out therrre with you,” Simber said with a rare rumble of laughter. “I want to see Fiferrr when she gets a glimpse of this.”

“I’m quite excited to see her reaction myself,” Thisbe said with a grin. “Shall we, Florence? I mean Simber?”

The cat rolled his eyes beneath his Florence mask. “We shall.”

The two exited the mansion while Florence and Talon went to the window to watch from there. A moment later, Fifer let out a bloodcurdling scream. And then all of the windows in the mansion exploded, sending broken glass raining down, inside and out.

Masquerade Emergency

Look out!” Aaron cried from behind the lounge band’s stage on Artimé’s lawn. Instinctively, upon hearing his sister’s scream, he knew it would cause problems. And Aaron didn’t need any more problems in Artimé right now.

By the time Fifer clapped her hands over her mouth, it was far too late to stop the windows from shattering. Thisbe’s eyes went wild behind her mask as she and Seth dove for cover. Shards of glass rained down on the crowd of partiers, striking the ones closest to the mansion and sparing the rest.

Screams and shouts went up. Henry and Carina threw off their masks and, when the glass stopped flying, ran to help those who’d been struck and were bleeding from cuts. Aaron yelled for everyone to stay calm, but his voice was lost in the din.