Stage Set for Villains - Shannon J. Spann

The gods are dead. All that s left are the Players . .The performers of the Playhouse are as worshipped as they are feared, their enchanting shows bending hearts, minds, and even reality itself. Vicious, godlike, lethal. Eighteen-year-old Riven Hesper knows the dangers better than anyone, after her own encounter with a Player resulted in a curse that is slowly killing her.When the Playhouse announces the spectacle of a lifetime a chance for one mortal to steal a Player s immortality Riven sees her last chance to live.Desperate for answers, she infiltrates the competition. There, she finds Jude, the Playhouse s brilliant, merciless Lead Player, whose charm is as dangerous as his Craft, and strikes a deadly bargain to save her life.But with time running out and the Playhouse s secrets unraveling into a disturbing picture, Riven faces a grim possibility: she might not be the hero of her story after all. In fact, she may be the villain.Because the Playhouse doesn t just tell stories.It rewrites them.