He shook his head. “You think I’m ‘stuck’ here? I was only planning to be home for four days. But after I met you, I canceled my trip to California. Even when you hated me—I didn’t want to leave.”

I stared up at him. “Are you serious?”

“I don’t lie to you,” he said.

“Who do you lie to?” I asked with a small half laugh.

“Basically everyone,” he said. “If lying means not showing people what you’re really thinking. What you really care about.”

I sighed.

“Do you believe me?”

“Yeah,” I said. “But why would your mother tell me those things? It was horrible.”

“Mom thinks she can will things into existence.” He seemed troubled. He stared at the floor. “But really, it’s because she can’t control us, and she knows it. And she can’t stand not controlling what happens here.”

“That’s kind of messed up,” I said softly.

“I’m going to talk to my father,” he said. “I’m worried about you. You need to be around people.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “Once school starts—”

“That’s more than a month from now.”

“It’ll go fast.” Suddenly it hit me. He was really leaving. My voice was hollow. “When will you be back?”

“Fall break.” His eyes met mine. “Middle of October.”

I nodded. And nodded and nodded. Okay, Margot, okay. You knew he was going away at some point. You knew it wasn’t going to be like some fairy tale where you’re the princess in the tower and the prince comes and kisses you and suddenly everything is great.

It was more like he came to the castle, found me in the tower, kissed me and woke me up, and then left without slaying the dragon.

The dragon . . . Why did I think there was a dragon?

He leaned down and kissed me softly. “You know I don’t want to go, right?” he asked. “She’s sending me away.”

“Because of us?” I asked. “Does she know about us?”

He shook his head. “Maybe. Maybe not. She’s just really angry with me in general. She says she can’t trust me.”

“Because you took your sister out for a walk?” I asked. “That’s ridiculous.”

“No, it’s more than that. She found out about lacrosse.”

“That’s sports,” I said. “She’s mad about sports?”

“She thinks I messed up the tryouts on purpose. She knows I’ve never really liked playing.”

“If you don’t like playing, why play? Why does she care?”

He shrugged. “Obedience performed against the will is the ultimate test of rectitude.”

I stared at him. “What’s that from?”

“It’s a thing Mom always said.” He rolled his eyes. “Some old family saying.”

“From Loretta?”

He looked confused. “You know about Loretta?”

“As much as I want to know. I found the book in the library. You know about Loretta?”