A Dance With Death — Amanda Linsmeier

He laces his fingers into my hair and gently tugs me in, his powerful hand threaded into the wet strands. I whimper, from fear more so than pain. It doesn’t hurt. But each word is enunciated as he warns, “Do. Not. Ever. Steal. From. Me. Again.”Corliss Bell would do anything to bring her older sister, Aven, back to life. She’d give up her dreams of being a professional ballerina. She’d resign herself to never leaving the small seaside town of The Pins. Hell, she’d even make a deal with a demon. After all, demons are masters of death.When a town mystic tells Corliss there’s a demon living nearby who may be the key in returning Aven to life, she’s emboldened by the idea of getting her beloved sister back. Corliss sneaks into the demon’s dilapidated mansion to beg for his help. But instead of finding him, she discovers a pair of enchanted red ballet slippers and steals them. Under the strange, obsessive spell of the stolen shoes, Corliss is hailed as a prodigy and welcomed onto the stage of the prestigious Red Clover dance hall to rapturous applause. However, Corliss starts having unsettling nightmares and hearing voices. And she’s fairly certain someone—or something—is watching her.The demon comes to reclaim what is his but finds Corliss and the slippers hopelessly intertwined. He imprisons her in his mansion, forcing her to dance for him every evening as punishment for stealing. Far from a helpless captive, Corliss begins working out a plan to bring Aven back to life, as soon as she can convince the demon—Orrin—to help her. But first, she has to prove that she’s not just some common thief. As she slowly realizes she may not hate Orrin nearly as much as she pretends to, she finds herself diving deeper into his strange, dark world.Hauntingly beautiful, with lush prose and a vividly creepy atmosphere, A Dance With Death is a compulsively juicy read that will wind its way into your psyche. Part horror, part magic—this is the gothic love story you didn't know you were missing.