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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

Ursula tore against the soldiers who had her arms. For a dazzling flash the shield vanished, but it was only so that Ursula could plant a sturdy kick into Kane’s stomach. Like a rag doll he crashed backward, right into Poesy’s sanctuary, slamming into the desk headfirst. His vision went gray, and the sight of the doors closing was the last thing he saw before unconsciousness claimed him.

• Thirty-Three •

Sanctuary

Something cold and wet prodded Kane’s eyebrow. It made a high-pitched whine.

Kane’s lurched awake. He blinked at his surroundings, momentarily dazzled by golden brightness. Was it sunset? Why was everything soft and sparkly? Was this heaven? Why was there a black dog in heaven?

Ms. Daisy pawed Kane’s knee impatiently and let out another whine. Like a playful sheet of ocean surf, Kane’s memories pulled away, then swished over him all at once.

The merged reveries. Poesy’s dramatic arrival. The crumpled Dreadmare. Shattering glass and spitting gunfire and…

Had Ursula drop-kicked him?

Wincing, Kane felt new tenderness on his stomach. His collarbone. He focused on the pain, afraid of what came after, but the horror didn’t wait for him to be ready. It dragged him under itself and pressed the breath right out of his lungs.

Kane rushed to the doors and forced them open. There was nothing on the other side except the second half of an empty room. Kane was by himself. Cast out. Banished. Alone, with no way to return and nowhere left to run.

He sank back to the floor.

Ms. Daisy barked. A curious bark, aimed at the boy who had just tumbled into her house and was now hiccup-sobbing on her stoop. She nosed an empty bowl at his feet.

Kane swiped away his tears. She was hungry. How long had he been unconscious?

Ms. Daisy distracted him from crying by nudging his hand and then her bowl again, which was about the only thing not tossed about the room. The sanctuary was an utter mess. Most of the carpet had gone crunchy with glass. Charms and artifacts were everywhere. Kane’s backpack was here, vomiting its contents where Kane had dropped it. The chandelier dangled from the top of the black doors like a popped-out eye.

Dean had certainly put up a fight. That much was clear.

The dog seemed a little embarrassed about the mess. She gave Kane low looks full of eyebrows as she navigated through the destruction, leading him to a closet just outside the main room. There he found many coats, canes, and leashes. Slumped at the bottom were bags of dog food, like you’d find in any store. Their normalcy felt eerie in the surreal space.

Water was easier to find. Poesy had left a carafe of water on her desk. Kane drank from it, then poured the rest out into a teacup for Ms. Daisy to share.