The evening had just gone from bad to worse. And Billy’s expression went from surprise to scorn. “Leach.” It was only one word, but it dripped with poison. His soulless eyes drifted to Brianna. “And little Leach.” A dim light clicked on in his brain. “Leach and slug—ha! Ha!”

“My name is Brianna.” Her voice hummed. Henry felt the air bristle with tension. Billy’s laughter faded. He struggled for something to say. His mouth opened and closed several times like a goldfish until he gave up and turned away.

Despite his earlier disappointment, Henry now found Brianna’s presence somewhat comforting. It pays to have an ally when facing the enemy.

“Good evening, everyone!” Mrs. Verrity gathered the small crowd’s attention. “I’d like to thank you all for coming on this very special night. We are honored to have a special guest with us this evening, who has taken a short break from her worldwide tour to give us a special performance.”

Henry hoped the night would be special, but hearing Mrs. Verrity use the word so often gave him some doubt.

Wait! Did she just say her worldwide tour? For some reason he’d assumed the hypnotist would be a man. From the corner of his eye he saw Brianna smile—and Billy squirm, which made Henry smile too. Special or not, the evening had just become much more interesting.

“So … without further ado … I give you … the Amazing … Zeppo!”

A woman stepped from behind a screen in the corner of the room and strode purposefully to the center. She appeared to be younger than his mom and wore a simple white blouse with black pants. But while her appearance was ordinary—almost dull—her eyes shone with focused intensity. For several seconds she appraised her audience in silence, lingering slightly longer than necessary on Henry.

“Good evening.” Her accent was thick and filled Henry’s head with images of old vampires in dark crypts. She shifted her eyes without moving her head until they connected again with Henry’s.

“I said, good evening.”

Caught up in the moment, Henry replied, “Good evening.” He didn’t mean to imitate her accent—it just came out that way.

Billy snickered, and her eyes pounced on him with such force that he popped out of his chair and stood at rigid attention. “No, ma’am,” he sputtered, though no question had been asked.

Brianna edged forward in her seat, clearly impressed.

“Yes, young lady.” Zeppo addressed Brianna. “There is much power in the eyes as well as the voice.”

Can she read our minds? Henry immediately tried to think of nothing—to make his mind a blank slate. But the thought of making his mind blank was still a thought! She would know what he was trying to do. There was no escape!