The Knaveheart's Curse by Adele Griffin

The only phantom Maddy’d met this week was Dakota’s dad, and he was stuck in his portal. Could he be called out to break the curse? Could he help spiral the Knave to a dusty grave? And which Knave? The last thing Maddy wanted to do was send her sister spiraling.

At the house, more terrible news. Pete and Hudson were sitting on Lexie’s bed. “Alas, she’s asleep,” said Hudson.

“No!” Maddy slapped her hand to her forehead. “Then Lexie’s blood is blackening to Knav-ish ink. The dire destiny is coming true!”

“I’m sorry, Mads—it happened so quick, it took me by surprise.” The pupils of Pete’s yellow werewolf eyes had enlarged, like two worried eclipses. “Right in the middle of trashing her pressed-fern bookmark collection, she collapsed. Now she won’t wake up.”

Maddy peered over. Wrapped from head to toe in mosquito net curtain, Lexie lay like a chrysalis, openmouthed and snoring.

“No, no, no! Wake up, Lex!” Maddy jumped up and down. “Fire! Police! Hey, Lexie—you’re late for karate class!”

“I already tried all that. It’s no use,” said Pete. “I’ve also put her hands in ice water, pinched her . . . I even let a silverfish crawl up her arm.” Pete bit his lip. “I really thought that’d do the trick.”

“She’s still growing.” Hudson pointed. “Behold. Her shirt cuff buttons are popped, and her toes have broken through the tips of her boots. See?” He pinched Lexie’s exposed big toe. Then tickled it. Nothing.

“Oh, poor Lex. She looks so uncomfortable, too.” Maddy patted her sister’s limp hand. She felt helpless. Of all the rotten destinies.

“Let’s pull off her boots and replace them with her fuzzy bunny slippers,” suggested Pete. His voice cracked. “She loves those bunny slippers.”

“Good idea.” But as Maddy leaned down to retrieve them, she spied more than her sister’s fuzzy bunny slippers under the bed. Also pink, but not cute, that rubbery tip of . . . uh-oh, was it really . . . ? Maddy pronged her fingers. By the end of its fleshy tail, she lifted up a dead rat the size of a soda can.

The guys drew back in disgust. “Nasty.”

Maddy swung the rat like a pendulum, testing its weight. Light as a husk. “Guess this is what stained Lexie’s teeth pink. She must’ve chugged it.” Maddy sighed and dropped the rat in a trash bag. More proof—vigilant vegan Lexie wouldn’t harm an ant, much less drink a rat.

“What happens if Lex turns Knave?” Pete asked. “Be honest. I can take it.”

“She’ll have to give you up,” said Maddy as she pulled off Lexie’s boots and replaced them with the slippers. “Knaves are land robbers and plague spreaders. Pretty much the opposite of anything you’d want to be around.”

“But I want to be around Lex more than anybody else,” Pete burst out. “What can we do to stop the transformation?”

“Good question.” Maddy wished she had an answer. Pete looked like he was going to melt with anxiety. “Our best lead is tomorrow night at Club Lullaby. Zelda’s performing. We’ve also got her guitar pick. Maybe we can use it as a lure to make her re-transform Lexie. Zelda can take any other heir. But not my sister.”

“And if she doesn’t cooperate?” asked Pete.

Maddy shrugged, though inside she quaked to say it. “Then it’s war.”

“War? What kind of cock-a-doodle plan is that, Mads? You can hardly cross the water to get to Lullaby without petrifying,” Hudson reminded.

“We might only be hybrids, Crud, but we’ve still got some awesome vampire energy!” Maddy burst out. “Where’s your Old World fighting spirit?”

“Maybe you should tell your parents about all this,” suggested Pete. “They’re part vampire, too.”

But Maddy and Hudson knew better. If their parents found out, all they’d do was tell the Argos, who’d hand over Lexie as quickly as loose change. One hybrid vampire sacrificed for the good of many.

“It’s not the Argos we need,” said