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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

In the gasp that followed, Kane addressed the other patrons.

“None of you will remember this. She’s going to erase your memories, too.” He looked at the Others. “If you come near my family again, I’ll kill you.”

The bells clattered as Kane ran from the diner. They rang again as someone followed.

“Kane!”

It was Ursula.

Despite his rage and fear, Kane halted. “I’m going.”

“You can’t. Not with those things out there. At least let us give you a ride.”

“I’d rather take my chances.” It was true; he would rather face the horrors of the night than spend another minute with these three.

Ursula shrugged off her flannel.

“Here. It’s cold.”

Kane took it. The warmth that seeped into his fingers felt intrusive. It smelled like her smell of soap and deodorant, and that felt intrusive, too. A million Trojan horses, a million betrayals trotting through his senses.

“Kane, before you go—”

He stalked off, listening for the bells that meant Ursula had left him behind. They never came, which meant she was still in the cold, watching his back, watching him forget her again. Hating himself, he slipped on the flannel.

Because Ursula was right. It was cold, and it was a long walk home.

• Thirteen •

The Female Anglerfish

When Kane slipped through his kitchen door it was two hours later. His feet ached from the six-mile walk. His shoulders hurt where his backpack dug in. His hand was swollen, his bruised knuckles split and seeping as though punching Elliot had curdled the bright magic hidden just beneath his skin. Now it rose through him darkly, like oil pushing up through layers of pressure and rock. Kane shook his hands again and again as he walked in tight circles in his kitchen, listening to the still house for any sound of his family. It seemed impossible that Sophia would have kept a lie going for him this long, yet he’d arrived home to peace, darkness, and quiet. Too much quiet. The way things had been, Kane was surprised the police weren’t here waiting for him. Yet his phone sat sleeping in his pocket. He had vanished from this world for an entire afternoon, and it hadn’t inspired so much as a text.

Kane was too relieved to question it. Being in his own room wasn’t an option, so he made for the living room couch. Right before he dove onto it, a lamp snapped on, and up stood Sophia from the recliner.

“Late night at school, I see.”

Kane hid his bloody knuckles behind his back while his sister studied him sleepily, pushing her glasses up her nose and adjusting her blanket. She must have nodded off waiting for him.