“Never trust a survivor until you know what they did to survive.”

I whisper the words to him, too late to change anything.

His eyes, wide with pain, shock, and terror, latch onto mine. “Rey,” he chokes, “why . . ?”

“That’s not my name. I’m sorry, Blake. I tried to warn you to stay away from me.”

“I know who you are, Elisabeth.” His voice is a whisper. “I stayed anyway. I hoped . . . I wanted to s...

“Have you already forgotten?”

She laughs, exposing teeth far too big for her mouth. It is a terrifying laugh, cold and cruel and coming from a child’s lips it is _wrong. _

_“In one tent you may view an execution, in the next a resurrection.”_ She blinks at me. “Remember that?_ You may be asked to dance with the most beautiful person you’ve ever seen, on a stage designed to steal your life force. ...

“Where the hell did you find this?!”

I shrug, leaning back in my chair. “Out and about.”

“Y-you—do you know what this is?”

“A very expensive space rock.”

“This is Junis, the rarest form of crystal fuel known to the Collective, never let out of government control—“

“Also known as one very expensive space rock.”

“I—yes, I suppose so. At this size, _very_ expensive. But how do you have it?”

“What c...

“When I was young, people always told me I would be a heartbreaker. I don’t think this is what they meant.”

“Yeah, probably not,” Lillie answered, looking down at the mess the two had made. Fourteen bodies lay at the pair’s feet, some in possession of more of their body parts than others. “It’s certainly a more exciting take on it, though.”

“Yeah. Exciting . . .”

“Oh, come on!” She knelt, digging...

“If you go missing while you’re here, no one will look for you. It’s part of the magic of this place—it was designed to make things easier for the predators. Once you’re gone you’re promptly forgotten by everyone, signs of your existence overlooked until they can be tucked away and vanished entirely by the city itself. I don’t know if there’s a way to get your stuff back once that happens, becayse...

I was eager once.

Struck by the incredible truth that I, out of all of us, had been chosen, I saw it as exciting. I could hardly wait to get started.

That excitement faded quickly enough once the real work started, and I realized just how hard a task it was.

Now, it threatens to engulf me, everything else fading into the background as my burden grows exponentially heavier.

It is astonishing ho...

I return to consciousness falling. The sky around me is dark, the roiling clouds lit up by periodic lightning bolts, strong wind blowing this way and that in no predictable pattern.

Then the clouds part, and I see what I’m falling toward.

Below me is a tortured landscape—sharp, broken-looking mountains like shards of obsidian, deep canyons full of rushing, raging water surging between mountain p...

“Hand it over, now!”

Cassius froze. He’d been alive long enough to know that those words were rarely good. He edged closer to the wall, peering around the corner.

Three guards loomed over a slim figure in the loose clothing of a non-Rider. She was clutching something to her chest—a book, he thought. She couldn’t be more than twelve years old.

The girl glared up at them. “No.”

“Um—no?” The guard ...

“No, Lila!”

I keep walking, ignoring the voice in my ear. “I’m not helping you anymore.”

“Lila! Lila, I need your help! Lila, don’t make me . . .”

I pause.

“Lila, please. Please help me, I am begging you, just one more chance . . .”

I turn back to the doorway. “No, Lucien, you’ve had your chances, and wasted them. I’m done helping you.”

Lucien is slumped on the other side of the barrier, smoky an...

When I look in the mirror, I see a demon looking back at me.

Let me elaborate.

My name is Morgan Ordell. I am sixteen years old. And I have a problem with mirrors.

It’s not as unusual as you’d think. Most of the people this side of the Divide have special abilities, gifts, curses, whatever you want to call them. I know people who can turn into bats or deer or foxes, purify water with a touch, o...