
If I can get closer to a window, maybe I can climb down. Looking across the roof in the dim light, I try to make out the pattern of snow guards, tiny triangular pieces of clear plastic that keep ice from falling in a sheet, tiny triangular pieces that were never meant to hold my weight. Sleepwalking is kid’s stuff, weird and embarrassing. If I do, then my carefully maintained pretense that I’m just a regular guy is going to fade forever. I bite the inside of my cheek to tamp it down. “Help,” I say softly, and feel crazy nervous laughter bubble up my throat. I laugh with relief, even though I am shaking so badly that climbing is out of the question.Ĭold makes my fingers numb. Kicking out, my foot finds a snow guard, and I press my toes against it, steadying myself. My palm comes down hard on a sharp bit of copper flashing, but I hardly feel the pain. I scrabble for something to hold on to as my bare chest slams down on the slate.

I try to steady myself, but my legs go out from under me.

When the black outlines of trees overhead rustle, I jerk in surprise. The night is quiet, the kind of hushed middle-of-the-night quiet that makes every shuffle or nervous panting breath echo. Teetering, I will myself to be as still as possible. I don’t even know how to get where I am, which is a problem since I’m going to have to get down, ideally in a way that doesn’t involve dying. I have no memory of climbing the stairs up to the roof. Below me, the bronze statue of Colonel Wallingford makes me realize I’m seeing the quad from the peak of Smythe Hall, my dorm. I suck in a breath of icy air.Ībove me are stars.

As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of a huge.I WAKE UP BAREFOOT, standing on cold slate tiles. He’s noticing other disturbing things too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. But his façade starts to crumble when he finds himself sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. You just have to ignore one small detail-he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.Ĭassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. He hasn’t got magic, so he’s an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. And since curse work is illegal, they’re all criminals. PublishDateText mediaType Audiobook shortDescription Cassel comes from a family of curse workers-people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. IsPublicPerformanceAllowed False languages OverDrive Product Record readingOrder 1 images
