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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

And here, Kane felt, came the twist. The remarkable maiming of Helena’s wondrous world was at hand. He sensed what Helena needed from her story now was not a resolution, but a very bloody revenge.

The eggs bulged, growing in size until they crowded the courtyard and pushed into the lower boughs of the flaming willows. Embers rained down from above, landing on the eggs and warming their precious metal shells.

Helena’s smoking body pressed between them, soaking the air with her malevolence toward the intruders.

There was a knock from within the blue egg, and suddenly a hole was punched open by a great and sparkling horn. Its lapis lacquer matched the crumbling eggshell. The immense insect legs that followed gleamed a metallic gold. Next the opal egg split open, a polished beak stabbing the air. An eye the size of a beach ball landed on Kane, unblinking.

The other eggs were breaking open now, too. Helena’s voice dripped with animosity.

“Now, my hatchlings, it’s your turn to feed upon the world.”

• Nineteen •

The Reception

Augustine Beazley’s wedding had been lovely, everyone agreed. But the reception was a total nightmare.

Firstly, there was the issue with the fireworks. They scored glittering streaks through the fogging night, only a few making it high enough to pierce the low clouds. The rest landed in the garden, igniting it, and several rocketed directly into the roof, igniting that, too. The guests, who had all assembled upon the patio to gaze expectantly at the sky, watched the disaster for as long as it took one rocket to drill right through the willows and into the crowd, sending lace and limb flying in a gay blaze.

Secondly, there were the monsters: Helena’s hatchlings, hewn from priceless metals and precious stones, summoned with only revenge in their minds. The great secrets of the Beazleys’ wealth, unleashed against the family’s assembled detractors.

The third thing was that the champagne was served warm. But no one minded that, on account of the monsters.

The one tearing apart the ballroom was a beetle. It was the size of an elephant, armed with a powerful horn and protected by a shell of faultless lapis lazuli. Its six golden legs skittered on the dance floor as two people circled it. The first was Cousin Willard, who had always been a bit odd and was known to protect bugs from the predatory swats of his mother. His intervention made sense.

The other person, however, should have run. She, of all people, deserved to pursue safety and comfort. It was her wedding, after all.

“This isn’t supposed to happen!” Ursula ducked as a chair hurtled by, shattering a mirror behind her.

“Forget it!” Kane screamed back as the beetle dug through the banquet furniture. The reverie had all but forgotten about his silence. “Just forget the stupid book!”