having an affair with her boyfriend, Tom, and runs away from home. Desperate for change, she shaves her head and takes up living with a trio of homeless teenagers in an abandoned train station; Dave, Lolli, and Luis. Val's new friends introduce her to the faery drug, Nevermore, which she becomes addicted to. Consequently, she gets caught in the homeless people's secret relationship with the faeries living among them. Midway through the book, she begins to learn swordplay from Ravus, a local troll, and eventually falls in love with him. Ruth – Val's lesbian best friend. It turns out that she knew all about Tom and Val's mother. Several weeks after Val runs away, Ruth comes to find her and refuses to go home without Val. Tom – Val's ex-boyfriend. He was having an affair with her mother, which resulted in Val running away. Ms. Russell - Val's mother. She and Val's father are divorced. Val finds out that she was sleeping with Tom, Val's boyfriend, in the beginning of the book. Despite bad judgment, she genuinely cares for Val and is desperately worried when Val disappears. "Sketchy" Dave – Luis's younger brother. He is also addicted to Nevermore. Dave is not particularly loyal to anyone but himself, and strikes a deal with Mabry to frame Ravus for poisoning fey in exchange for her temporarily locking up Luis and also some more Never. Dave is in love with Lolli and resents his brother for her attraction towards him. Lollipop (Lolli) – One of the homeless teenagers Val lives with. Lolli is in love with Luis, but he does not return her feelings. Lolli has long, faded, aqua blue hair and only watches out for herself. She is also addicted to Nevermore and is responsible for Val getting addicted to Never. She is also the one who discovered the powers that it gives humans. Luis – Dave's older brother. He has the Sight and lives in almost perpetual fear of the faerie folk. As a precaution against them, he had multiple iron piercings put in his face. He is blind in one eye, which was put out by a faerie when he was very young. Luis is easily the most responsible of the homeless teens, and would do anything for his brother, Dave, even though Dave typically resents the help. Before the book takes place, he struck a deal with Ravus