You can’t beg a spider to stop spinning its web. Sticky lies and silken promises, designed to ensnare, are in its nature.

Dash King, the new guy at school, wasn’t just any spider. He was the deadliest one I’d ever met.

I watched as he spun his traps—because I was in the center of his web. Willingly.

Entangled by his dangerous beauty and devious words, I did as he demanded, believing he would help me escape.

I’d forgotten that spiders don’t just trap you—they savor the slow torment of your fall, stringing you up for the whole school to mock.

But how do you hate a spider for doing what it must to survive?

He took my secrets, uncovered parts of me even I was afraid to face, and made me reach for the stars—only to watch me freefall back to earth without his web to catch me.

I thought he was making me into a spider.

I was wrong. I was his prey all along.

Two tortured souls trapped in an elite boarding school, forced to compete in deadly games. Some survive, but that doesn’t make them winners. A more dangerous rite awaits—and not everyone will make it out alive.