After hours of driving through woods—far more than seemed right considering the distance on the map—the town had suddenly sprung into view, as much a part of the forest as the autumn leaves and thigh-thick roots. Entering it had reminded me of standing outside before a lightning storm, when the air is charged and thick.

It’s how I feel inside right now.

I hold my breath, trying to focus on the way it makes my throat burn instead of on the anger and sadness wrestling inside me. Liam never loses control of his emotions. He’s unbreakable, and I’ve done everything I can to resemble him the last few months, to not be a burden on him and my exhausted parents.

I have to be like him now more than ever—it’s the only way I’ll ever get answers about who killed my parents.

When I turn back around, the girl’s still staring at me, but the meat is on the ground and the cat’s gnawing at it.

Is that…blood in her blond hair?

It’s from the steak, I tell myself as I carry my bag up the steps. They’re lined with bright orange and white pumpkins, the ivy-wrapped iron railings tucked full of cornstalks and yellow leaves. There’s even a life-sized scarecrow by the front door, and I nearly miss a step when its arms rustle in movement.

The wind, I think, then mentally smack myself for feeling uneasy. Liam didn’t spend the last seven months drilling me in hand-to-hand combat to be frightened by a scarecrow. I was supposed to be able to defend myself in case the people we were running from ever found us. But they did find us, and all I did was keep running.

“Hello,” the girl says with a smile. It’s the kind that takes over a person’s eyes. Mom’s had done that too.

“Hello.” I shift my weight from one foot to the other. “Is this the, uh…Ravenfall Inn?”

“Sure is. I’m Anna.”

“Colin. Nice to meet you.” I hold out my hand. She stares at it but doesn’t take it. Feeling awkward, I lower it and shift my weight again. Her brown eyes have a strange intensity behind them, as though she knows more about me than I do. Maybe she does. What if she reads minds and knows exactly what I’m thinking? I cringe, then push the thought away.

There’s no such thing as psychics.

Anna smiles again, unblinking, but now she’s not staring at me so much as through me. The cat is definitely staring at me, though. This is getting weird.

Then the cat leaps at me.

“Ha!” Anna catches it in midair, twirling in a circle. “I knew you were going to do that!” she exclaims triumphantly at the cat, holding him out at arm’s length. “You’re getting predictable.”