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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

Adeline swayed as Poesy pulsed power into her. Like leaves rustled up from the ground, her wounds peeled from her body. She choked and twitched, resisting the warm glow that spread beneath the deep color of his skin, reviving her. She had freed herself of those awful pointe shoes and cradled one blade in her arms. She looked alive and powerful; she still looked ready to fall apart.

“Ms. Adeline Bishop,” Poesy purred. “The smartest. The most cunning. I was careful when I curated my pantheon to only invest power in those wronged by this reality. But even so, all the others refuse to see this reality for what it is: a failure. But you can. You know. There is a position of power for someone of your caliber in the reality I envision. At my side, you would be everything.”

“Why would I help you?” Adeline asked, but her voice was a faint and blue echo of her usual searing wit.

“Sophia Montgomery will die if you don’t. But I can save her, like I’ve saved you. I can save your friends, too. I can salvage any soul you value, but only if you purge every last thought from Mr. Montgomery’s head. Our world will never be safe so long as he possesses the will to undo it.”

Adeline wouldn’t look at Kane at first. When she did, it was with open wonder. She was thinking about this. He wanted to reach out to her, but he felt like his hand would pass through her like a ghost. They existed in two different planes. More than distance separated them now.

Poesy’s voice swelled upon cicada song. “Every life you value for a life Mr. Montgomery has thrown away twice. Finish what you started. Wipe every memory from his head.”

“Do it,” Kane said.

Adeline’s wonder turned to shock, then disgust. “What?”

“Do it, Adeline. Take my memories,” Kane repeated, looking at Sophia. At everything he was fighting for.

“I can’t.”

“You have to,” Kane said. Then, quieter: “Believe in me one last time.”

By the thrust of her jaw, Adeline understood. She wobbled toward Kane, and her eyes flared their storm-cloud gray as they peeled Kane’s mind open. There was no pain to Adeline’s telepathy, just the whistle of memories as they faded beneath her corrosive gaze. His fingers curled around his backpack strap. It was impossible to remember what he’d just been doing, but if he kept going, kept trying, maybe there was a chance he could…

Adeline’s eyes darkened, her face bright with a smile. She had found the memory Kane needed her to find. She adjusted her grip on her blade and in one, elegant dash, she crossed the stage and drove it deep into Kane’s chest.