Chapters (38)
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Cover
“I told my mom the first time I saw Obscura at the hospital.” Maren wiped a hole in the fog on her window and peered through. They’d reached the hilly part of town now, dotted with shabbier houses and sandy soil and empty lots. “But she didn’t think it was serious, and I didn’t want to stress her out any more than she already was. Then I told Lishta, and she did think it was serious, but she’s told me a million times that she’d ban me from the shop if I broke the rule. And I just kept breaking it. But what really messes me up is the fact that Hallie did the exact same thing.”
Amos drummed his fingers against his knee, and Maren braced herself for the inevitable lecture about how she should have confessed everything at the beginning of this mess.
“I can’t believe you’re actually feeling guilty about any of this,” he said finally. “Obscura’s even more diabolical than I thought.”
Maren sputtered. She’d been carrying the weight of this guilt for so long that she didn’t know how to let go of it.
“Every step of the way, she forced you to make bad decisions,” continued Amos. “She manipulated you. Both of you. There was no way you could have won.”
“I wasn’t trying to win,” said Maren. “I just didn’t want her to destroy my life. But she did anyway.”
“Well she’s not going to get away with it,” said Amos firmly. “So what’s your plan for when we get there?”
“It’s changed a little bit now that you’re coming,” said Maren. “Here’s what I’m thinking. When we get there, you’ll hide while I offer to help Obscura with her dream-making scheme. Then I’ll create some kind of distraction—not sure what yet. Meanwhile, you can sneak in and get Gran-Gran. Then you’ll both escape and call the police and they’ll come before Obscura realizes what’s going on.”
Amos wrinkled his nose. “What kind of distraction?”
“I don’t know. Do you have any ideas?”
“Slip her a bunch of nightmares?” He nudged his bag on the floor.
“That’ll be hard if she’s not asleep,” said Maren. “We’ll have to stay flexible, but you’ll be the secret weapon she doesn’t see coming.” She looked out through her fog hole in the window and checked her phone one last time. “This is our stop.”