“Well, you always wanted a ticket,” said Lara with a chuckle. “Now we just might crash this damned circus.”

Oddjob groaned. The animal looked up at her, along with his twin, Moneypenny. The hellhounds’ expressive eyes bored through her. Teddy held on to their leashes tightly. Once this thing started, she hoped they’d function like magical battery packs. They were hellhounds, after all. They knew the way home—more important, they always knew the way to Audrey.

She took Barrow’s hand and gripped it tightly. Spinning the clover in her other hand, she hummed “Escalator.” She wasn’t much for spells; she was a creature of music, and it seemed that songs could pull the other side through for her. As she twirled the flower, she thought of the carousel, of the aqua walls and dark-gold chandeliers along the Grand Promenade. How much she’d longed to see it again, to look out at the hedges and the clowns having tea. It was the most magnificent, otherworldly place she’d ever seen. The images tugged at her like a curiosity that was hardwired inside her, a haunting child’s story that couldn’t be forgotten. She knew that now—that she’d always be searching for it in other places. Was she homesick for it? Homesick. She thought of her mother. She was done being defined by absences. I won’t live without you any longer. So lost in her thoughts and spinning the flower that she almost didn’t hear Teddy.

“Oh my God, Lara. You should see it.” His voice broke, but he held on to her hand tightly. “It’s stunning. I never imagined… I never imagined it would look like this.”

She opened her eyes to see what she already knew was there—the carousel at Le Cirque Secret. Only instead of pulling it through into her realm, she had another plan.

Lara pulled Teddy forward with her and the hounds onto the carousel’s platform. As her leg brushed past the stallion, the horse flicked its tail. Beyond the platform, she spied the magnificent Grand Promenade with its gilded walls. The sun shone down through it, and she knew out each window she’d find an elaborate maze or hedge. Just then Lara thought she could see the outlines of that familiar butter-colored bob running toward them. Was that an aqua feathered headdress she was wearing? The thought of it made Lara smile.

“Oh, Teddy,” she said, sighing. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

Acknowledgments