Chapter 1

My brother brought his new girlfriend home today. The moment his fiancée, Lexie, saw me, she slapped me across the face.

"Caleb! I'm warning you! If this little bitch doesn't get my brother out of prison, we are done!"

My mother looked at me. I was pale and coughing up a storm, but she just screamed, "You useless girl! You're going to take your brother-in-law's place in jail. If you mess this up, I'll beat your face bloody every single day!"

My father threw his heavy glass mug at my forehead. "You're nothing but a money-pit. We should have sold you off when you were ten! Prison has free food and a bed. You should be grateful for the luxury!"

They all knew my secret. I am the only Blight-Bearer in the world.

I can absorb any disaster or illness meant for someone else.

But what they didn't know was my second secret.

I am also a Blight-Reaper!

I can take the hits, but I can also give them back.

And when I return the debt, they won't be able to handle the cost!

1

If I remembered correctly, Lexie Vance had been a nightmare since middle school.

She had already done time a couple of years ago for brutalizing another girl.

Her brother was even worse―a total waste of space.

He spent his days gambling, drinking, and picking fights. He was a regular in the county jail.

I held my burning cheek and stared them down. "Your brother is in for murder, Lexie. His execution is scheduled for two months from now."

"I can't just swap places with a dead man walking."

Being a Blight-Bearer meant taking on misfortune.

But dying for a stranger? That was insane.

My mother immediately lunged at me, trying to kick my ribs. I spun away just in time.

"You ungrateful brat! We're just asking you to take the heat, not actually die! I gave you life, I can take it away if I want!"

My father stood up, towering over me. "Girls are worthless. Now that we actually need you, you try to run? I should have married you off to that sixty-year-old pervert years ago."

Eight years ago, when I was ten, my powers hadn't woken up yet.

My parents tried to sell me to a creepy, one-legged old man from the edge of town.

If Caleb hadn't stepped in to save me, I would have been tortured to death back then.

I looked at Caleb. He was the only person in this house who ever spoke up for me.

He was also the person I had absorbed the most pain for.

"Caleb, did you bring her here just to watch me die in two months?"

Ever since Caleb dropped out of school, he'd been running with gangs. If I hadn't taken his hits for him, he'd have been buried in a ditch years ago.

Caleb looked away, unable to meet my eyes.

"Skylar, it's not what you think. I finally found someone I love. Just… just stop making things difficult, okay?"

I leaned against the cold wall, my heart sinking into my stomach.

Of course. Birds of a feather flock together.

Caleb was just as rotten as the rest of them now.

Lexie saw my silence and took it as submission.

She started stuffing grapes into her mouth, spitting the skins onto my shoes.

"Hurry up and use your voodoo, you little freak! That cell is no place for a human. My brother needs to be out of there yesterday."

My parents nodded like eager dogs.

Everyone knew prison was hell, yet they were more than happy to shove me into it.

"I won't do it," I said firmly.

Lexie's eyes nearly popped out of her head.

The next second, she threw herself onto the living room floor, screaming and thrashing.

She started pounding her own stomach with her fists. "Fine! If the Miller family wants to treat me like this, I'll just kill this baby right now! I'll make sure your bloodline ends today!"

"Caleb! We're over! I'm going to the clinic to get rid of your son! You'll be childless by dinner!"