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Chapters (53)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Letter from the Author
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Contents
  6. • One •
  7. • Two •
  8. • Three •
  9. • Four •
  10. • Five •
  11. • Six •
  12. • Seven •
  13. • Eight •
  14. • Nine •
  15. • Ten •
  16. • Eleven •
  17. • Twelve •
  18. • Thirteen •
  19. • Fourteen •
  20. • Fifteen •
  21. • Sixteen •
  22. • Seventeen •
  23. • Eighteen •
  24. • Nineteen •
  25. • Twenty •
  26. • Twenty-One •
  27. • Twenty-Two •
  28. • Twenty-Three •
  29. • Twenty-Four •
  30. • Twenty-Five •
  31. • Twenty-Six •
  32. • Twenty-Seven •
  33. • Twenty-Eight •
  34. • Twenty-Nine •
  35. • Thirty •
  36. • Thirty-One •
  37. • Thirty-Two •
  38. • Thirty-Three •
  39. • Thirty-Four •
  40. • Thirty-Five •
  41. • Thirty-Six •
  42. • Thirty-Seven •
  43. • Thirty-Eight •
  44. • ∞ •
  45. • Thirty-Nine •
  46. • Forty •
  47. Epilogue
  48. Acknowledgments
  49. Excerpt from Be Dazzled
  50. One
  51. Two
  52. About the Author
  53. Back Cover

Behind her, Dean and Sophia crept from the desk to the stairs. Helena turned to see what Kane was looking at, but Kane grabbed at the whistle to keep her attention.

“Now, now,” she laughed, snatching it out of his reach. “I’ll hold on to this for now. We must be very, very quiet, Willard. Wherever did you find this? Not here, I assume. This metal is dead as can be.”

Kane couldn’t help himself. He frowned deeply as she strung the whistle onto a chain around her neck that also held a key. She dropped them both beneath her collar with a safe pat.

“Don’t be like that. I understand. I have treasures, too. See?”

She lifted the suitcase carefully, as though the eggs within might break open.

“I wonder, do you remember our family’s secret? Anyone who knows is bound to our family forever, Father says, which is why none of us are free to go into the world and make our own lives.” When she said this, she said it with the flat polish of a well-worn motto, though it was cold and not her own. “Come, let’s get you back to the party. I’m sure your mother is irradiating nearby guests with her worry by now.”

They advanced up the stairs and into the library, then into the corridors. The sounds of merriment could be heard again, and he saw the pale glow of the ballroom deep in the distance. Helena stopped and wouldn’t get closer.

“Willard, listen,” she said. “I need to say something to you in case I don’t get a chance after tonight.” She took his hands, warming them in hers.

“I’m sorry about what our family did to you. I understand what it is like to hate the life you are given, and the form you take, and I understand the determination to find a new life and to create a new form.”

Perhaps because of Kane’s furrowed expression, she whispered, “I know about your piano tutor. I know you wanted to go with him. I very much understand why.”

She hugged him. Kane didn’t think it possible for her voice to soften further, but it did.

“Maybe no one has ever told you this, and maybe no one ever will, and so I will be the one: I forgive you. Whatever sins they say about you, they are forgotten in my eyes. I see you not as what they made you, but as you wish to be. I hope you can forgive me, too. And I hope you can forgive Katherine.”

Helena collected herself, all shaking breaths and wet cheeks. She scooped up her belongings, kissed Kane on the cheek, and she was gone.