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I rolled onto my side and stared at the wall. It’d been two hours since Jessica left, yet I couldn’t stop thinking about our conversation. I’d told her so much—too much—and I had no clue as to what had gotten into me. The only girl I told anything to was the nameless shade, and Jessica wasn’t her—to my knowledge.  Anyone could be anybody. Even Mindy could’ve been a shade or a light, but we had no way of knowing. It was one of the main reasons I stopped being friends with Crystal and Robb. What if they ended up being someone I had to kill? I didn’t want to think about that.  My door creaked open, and I listened to soft footsteps tiptoe across my carpet.  King of gods  I sighed. “Get out of my room, Noah.” He groaned. “How’d you hear me?” Because I’m a shade. “You’re loud,” I said, flipping over to face him. The brunette boy blinked his brown eyes and clutched the half-empty bag of cookies against his chest. I sighed again. “What do you want?” “I thought we could share the last few,”

I clutched my mother’s car keys and hesitated at the walkway. Welborn’s house was blanketed with so much blackness that it appeared to be a shadow even though I was several feet away from the front door. The weathered wood was black, and curving lamps twisted around the doorframe, creaking as the wind pushed against them. Even the curtained windows were dark, barely allowing the golden glow from inside to escape.  Why did he have to live in a place like this? Otherworldly evil monarch  I shook my head as I ran toward the front door, but something brushed my shoulder, and I yelped. It was a branch. Get ahold of yourself, Jess. It was nothing.  “Hello, young lady—” The man’s voice split the air, and I jumped, nearly dropping my stuff. When I turned around, ready to defend myself, the older man blinked his pitch-black eyes. “Can I help you?” he asked. I dropped my hands, my cheeks burning. “Is Welborn—er—Eric here?” I stuttered, failing to control my composure. My heart was still poundi

“You have to concentrate, Shoman,” Urte bellowed over the explosion as I slammed into the white wall, gasping for breath.  My black T-shirt was shredded, and my skin was burning. I was already drenched in sweat, and it stung my eyes. The simulation room was kicking my ass.  I pushed off the wall and leapt to the side as a beam of light struck where I’d been standing. The wall shattered, dust flying over my arms, and I cursed, dodging another attack. My muscles strained against the abrupt movements.  Minutes before, I was acing my fight with Urte. I was quicker and stronger than he was, but his light replica was beating me every time. Her realness was eerie. She was tall, and her striking white hair blinded me. Her dark eyes were hollow, yet they followed me as she lurked from one corner of the room to another. Even for a light, she was impossibly flawless.  She easily dodged anything I threw at her.  Urte warned me she would appear real, but I hadn’t expected the illusion to be so—ph