Stolen Night (36 page)

I would scream for you if you would hear me. I would burn this place to the ground if it meant you would see the smoke. I love you – I know this. Yet I cannot recall who you
are.

I must go and close the pages of this journal. I sit here in a lounge suit ready to attend the funeral of Jane Hamlin. Someone has already knocked on my door. The whole of Wickham Boarding
School is going. Odd. Just now, as I was about to put down my pen, did a phrase come to me as though it were coming to my mind from a very long slumber. I wonder if my parents taught it to me
before their deaths, though I was too young to remember.

Evil be he who thinketh evil.

Do you know the meaning of this? Perhaps it is another clue. Another way to find out who you are.

Evil be he who thinketh evil.

Whoever is killing these students should heed this advice.

Until then,

Rhode

First, thank you endlessly to: Ruth Alltimes, Emma Young and Jennifer Weis. How can I thank you enough? What words can I choose that could possibly do justice to the support,
patience and guidance of this novel? I’ve enjoyed all of it. The Macmillan family has made me a better writer.

Mollie Traver: Thank you for your guidance and your time. I can’t wait to work with you again on book three. (If I ever need an elevator buddy, I’m calling you.)

Rebecca McNally: A keen eye, a wonderful editor, and now at a new home. Thank you so much for your editorial guidance. I feel lucky to have worked with you and hope to do so again soon! Book
three won’t be the same without you!

A. M. Jenkins: Thank you for that afternoon at the VCFA picnic tables. Your passion and dedication is unparalleled. Working with you made me a better writer. Working with you showed me what it
means to be a great teacher. I miss you!

Kirby Kim, my awesome agent: I can’t wait to work on book three and dig our heels into this final book.

Matt Hudson: Your guidance from the get-go was always brilliant and always appreciated. I miss our editorial talks and hope we can work together again soon. Next time, the milkshake is on
you.

All of the VCFA community, especially the Keepers of the Dancing Stars: Keepers are for keeps!

The CCWs: Laura Backman, Judy Gamble, Gwen Gardner, Maggie Hayes, Mariellen Langworthy, Claire Nicogossian, and Sarah Ziegelmayer. I love our monthly meetings. You add so much joy to my writing
life.

Also big thanks to: Franny Billingsley, Josh Corin (a wonderful reader), Amanda Leathers, Monika Bustamante, Heidi Bennett (vampirequeennovels.com), and Cathryn Summerhayes, my wonderful UK
agent.

Also thank you to: David Fox, Michael Sugar and Anna Deroy, and all the WME West crew.

And of course my sister, Jennie: You always know what’s best. For my writing and for me. I love you.

Mom and Dad: I don’t know how else to say thank you for your endless support. ‘If you don’t try . . . you don’t get!’

And last but not least, Kristin Sandoval: Everything I write in this spot seems incomplete. So, simply, thank you. Thank you for reading my novel endless times. For being honest. For having a
hawk-like editing eye and showing me the way when I just couldn’t see it. For our Skype calls, and for your patience. You are unbelievably talented and giving. This book would not exist
without you. I’m so grateful we met. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Rebecca Maizel holds an undergraduate degree from Boston University and an MA in English from Rhode Island College. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Writing for Young Adults
at Vermont College.

Books by Rebecca Maizel

Praise for
Infinite Days
:

‘
Infinite Days
is a grab-you-by-the-throat, ignore-the-world-around-you, fall-completely-in-love-with kind of book, the kind I haven’t really read since
Twilight
. Yep. I just used the T-word’ AllThingsUrbanFantasy.blogspot.com

‘
Infinite Days
builds to an exciting conclusion, and leaves the door wide open for a kick-ass sequel’ www.wondrousreads.com

‘There is no other vampire book like it and if you have a love for immortals but are fed up with reading more or less the same story over and over again, then
Infinite
Days
is the ideal book to pick up . . . Maizel’s writing is beautiful . . . Her voice is very unique and has an eloquence to it that I wish we could see more of in young adult
fiction’ www.yabookreads.com

‘I found myself thinking about this novel long after I’d put it down . . . It plays around but still retains the haunting and tortured tone of all the best vampire
stories’ www.amazon.co.uk

First published 2012 by Macmillan Children’s Books

This electronic edition published 2012 by Macmillan Children’s Books
a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com/childrenshome

ISBN 978-1-4472-2805-9 EPUB

Copyright © Rebecca Maizel 2012

The right of Rebecca Maizel to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital,
optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be
liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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