This boy, whoever he was, was clearly dangerous. I didn’t understand how, but I could feel it from his presence alone. “Where is the autumn stone?” He stepped toward me with each word until my back was against the stone wall, and his breath washed down my face. “I-I don’t know. I thought that was it!” I lowered my voice. “I promise.” “That’s unfortunate,” he muttered. He ran his hand down his scruffy face, cold eyes still locked on mine and holding me in place. “I would ask, but I don’t exactly know which piece of furniture my parents are,” I answered sharply. The boy smirked at me. “That was an unintended side effect of the enchantment, I’m afraid.” “You mean…you cast the spell?” “I enchanted the rose and turned you into a beast,” he confessed. “I had nothing to do with the rest.” My lips parted and I looked him up and down, renewed disgust on my tongue. No wonder I felt something off about him. He possessed magic. That’s what the metallic tang in the air was. His magic. Disgusting, murderous, threatening magic. “Don’t hate me so much. I wanted to get in and out before anyone spotted me. Now things are far more complicated.”