SINCE SPRING BREAK, LOOP had been counting the weeks, then days, till school ended. Now he was totally free! Okay, maybe he was on probation at home, but why spoil the illusion of complete freedom?

After perfecting the “dozen spectacular tricks for beginners,” the boys had become—drumroll, please—magicians! Not like Harry Potter or Merlin, but real-world magicians using sleights of hand. Magic was all they talked about now, especially today as they made their way to Conjuring Cats, where they hoped, finally, to get a key to the Vault.

“We’re going to blow their minds,” Loop said.

Then Dominic started talking in his know-it-all voice. “The goal of performing a trick is to make the ordinary seem extraordinary; the impossible, possible; the—”

Z punched his shoulder. “Magic’s for fooling people and making them laugh.”

“No,” Loop said. “It’s for freaking them out.” He lifted his shirt to show black stitches. They weren’t real stitches; he’d drawn them with his mom’s eyeliner pencil. In his opinion, they looked cool. That’s why he drew a row of stitches somewhere on his body every day.

“I wonder what’s in there,” Z said about the Vault.

Loop wondered, too. “I bet there are straitjackets, chains, and guillotines. I bet there’s an initiation ceremony. They tie you up, stick you in a box, and lock it from the outside. Then they wait to see if you can get out. I bet it’s airtight, so you have to hurry, before you suffocate to death.”

“I’m surprised you don’t think there’s a wormhole in there,” Z said.

“That’d be cool,” Loop replied. “Think about it. You step through a portal to another planet that’s a lot like our planet, except there’s magic and orange people. But they’re supernice. They like to trade their magic for things from our world.”

“Like what?” Z asked.

“I don’t know exactly. Maybe jelly beans or skateboards.” The boys cracked up. Even Loop laughed at himself.

“No,” said Dominic when they settled down. “I’m sure there’s a sage in there.”

“What’s that?” Z asked.

“A wise man. There’s always a wise man. He’s usually old and decrepit, but he knows lots of stuff.”

“What does ‘decrepit’ mean?”

“Old and hunched over and weak. Do I have to define everything?”

Z ignored the sarcastic comment. “Why would I want to see a half-dead guy like that?” he asked.

“Because he’s wise. He’s got answers,” Dominic replied.

“I want to see a half-dead guy,” Loop said. “I don’t care if he’s wise or dumb.”

They walked in silence for a while, considering it. Then they arrived at Conjuring Cats.

“Hello, boys,” Mrs. Garza said as they entered her shop. “Today’s the big day. Are you ready?”

Loop was ready. He was going to perform the Mafia Manicure. It had taken only five minutes to learn. He hadn’t even needed to read the instructions. That’s how easy it was. His confidence level was at 100 percent. He was totally going to ace this magic test!