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The kids recoil from him, several beginning to scream again. One hisses at the fae king, her pointed teeth bared.

“Stay,” several say to me again. This time they grab my exposed forearms, and when they do …

The air in my lungs leaves me.

I’m falling into myself. Down and down, into the darkness, past cages and cages of women, some who batter the doors of their cells, some who are lying far too still. Floor after floor of them blur together as I plummet.

Then the world flips until I’m no longer falling down, but fallingup. And then I’m not falling but flying.

I land at the foot of a throne, the wings at my back spread wide. My surroundings vanish, replaced by a forest. I’m soaring through it, and the trees seem to howl. I fly out of the woods only to crash into my old kitchen, the room soaked in blood.

My stepfather pushes himself off the ground, his body coming to life.

Oh God,no.

He looms over me, his eyes angry. From his head sprout antlers. They grow and twist with each passing second. He stares me down, his face shifting until I’m no longer staring at my father; I’m staring at a stranger, one with chestnut hair, tan skin, and wild brown eyes.

The man in front of me is covered in my father’s blood, and as I watch, he licks a stream of it off his finger.

“My,” he says,“aren’t you a pretty, pretty bird.”

He and the room fade, and the darkness swallows me whole.

Chapter 14

February, seven years ago

My alarm goesoff next to me, just as it has been for the last thirteen minutes. I don’t have the energy to untangle my arms from my sheets and turn the thing off.

Today is what I like to call a Hail Mary day. Because nothing short of a miracle can make me get out of this bed.

Most days I’m good. Most days I can pretend I’m like everyone else. But then there are the days when I can’t, days when my past catches up to me.

Days like today. I’m too depressed to get out of bed. I’m being dragged under by all those bad memories.

The doorknob turning. The smell of spirits thick on my stepfather’s breath. All that blood when I finally killed him …

One of my floormates bangs on the door. “Callie, turn off your freaking alarm before you wake up the whole school,” she yells, then walks away.

Somehow I manage to turn the alarm off before burying my face in my pillow.

Not five minutes later, I hear the lock to my room click. I begin to sit up when suddenly, the door blows open, and in steps the Bargainer. If anyone’s out in the hallway, they don’t notice his entrance.

“Get up,” he growls.

I’m still a few steps behind him. My mind’s having a hard time comprehending that the Bargainer is here in my room at this hour. Technically it’s still dark out, so it’s still the time that he reigns.

But a morning visit? That’s a first.

He strides the rest of the way to my side, and just from his expression alone I can tell that he means business.

He pulls my blankets off of me, a comforting hand touching my back. “Up.”

How did he know that me sleeping in thirteen minutes more than usual wasn’t just plain laziness, it was a relapse?

He deals in secrets.

I groan and bury my head back in my pillow. I’m too tired for this.