Chapter 4: Carnival Prizes and Broken Dreams

The floating words said Sarah would fall into the lake at the Fall Festival. Because I’d held up Luke, he wouldn’t save her in time—she’d get sick, and he’d resent me forever.

So I decided to let them go together. Maybe if Luke was happy, he’d remember the Morgans’ kindness and not destroy us when he left for D.C.

I forced a smile so wide it hurt. But the truth was, I’d resented Luke. Resented his coldness, his ability to walk away.

Until I learned that every time I got sick as a kid, Dad would punish Luke—making him stand outside in the freezing Chicago wind, sometimes for days. All because I was weak.

Luke was only ever meant to be my good luck charm. His status was barely above the staff’s. He could have left for D.C. long ago, but Dad stopped him, afraid my health would collapse again.

No wonder Luke didn’t like me. No wonder Sarah called me a curse. She saw Luke as a person, not a talisman.

I pressed my face to the table, clutching my ugly little pouch, feeling the ache of missing Dad—who was out of town again. Everything was always about me, and that’s why he did those things to Luke. But it was also because of me that he’d meet such a bad end.

When Dad gets back, I’ll—

"Are you...crying?"

The pouch was snatched from my hands. Ethan Mitchell’s laugh filled the room. "I get it now—you’re crying because your embroidery is so ugly, right?"

"Ethan! James! Mitchell!" I snapped, half-laughing, half-indignant. He’d climbed the fence, dirt on his jeans, and somehow made me feel lighter just by being here.