My fingers tangled around the earring. The wraith shrilled in a voice like a knife sharpening as I drew back and struck, my fist sinking through the shadows.
I’d always thought of them as having density, but I’d neverfeltthem. My hand, lodged inside, moved slowly, as though through thick treacle. I yanked it free, the shadows clinging to my knuckles.
The wraith recoiled, freeing Kessian, who scrabbled behind me. The creature writhed, its darkness dissipating, peeling back from its face where I’d struck it.
Before it vanished, I glimpsed one familiar green eye.
Myeye.
Then it melted into nothing, leaving the room silent except for our panting breaths.
Kessian said, “It’s gone?”
“For now.” I didn’t know for how long. It had broken through Lunaris’s wards. With the amulet’s magic expended, I had no more defenses left. “The curse cure didn’t work. Neither did Coill Darragh’s wards.”
Worse, the air still felt damp and cool, like the essence of the wraith still lingered. I got the distinct impression it was trying to pry its waythrough the bars of whatever cage the amulet had confined it in. Like it was still there, separated from us by a terrifyingly fragile veil.
A snap above my head made me jump. Lunaris had unlatched the skylight. It opened for us.
I exchanged a look with Kessian. Heart hammering, I crawled through, pulling Kessian after me.
At once, I could see why she’d called us out.
We’d parked a quarter mile from Briar and Rowan’s cottage in a passing lane on the country road, with a view of the sheep fields and the forest beyond.
The tree canopy roiled like waves on a stormy sea, and something about it reminded me of smoke signals made by castaways calling for help. Or issuing a warning.
Kessian said, “Tal, we have to go.”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“I—I don’t know. I don’t think the amulet’s done more than buy us time. I think we need help.”
I didn’t need convincing. We went back inside, navigating to the driver’s cabin, but when I sat down and turned the key in the ignition, the engine revved but didn’t turn over.
That Lunaris hadn’t started it right away should have been my first clue something was truly wrong.
My second was the curling black shadows issuing from beneath her bonnet.
We’d escaped with her once before. The wraith wasn’t going to let us go again. No matter how many times I turned the key, the engine wouldn’t start.
Lunaris flung open her doors. Her message could not have been more clear.Run.
We clambered out onto the roadside, my bare feet hitting cold gravel. We ran. I risked looking over my shoulder once and saw a shadow phasing through Lunaris’s walls, struggling as if she held it back.
A knot formed in my throat. The wraith better not hurt her. I didn’t know what I’d do if the one constant in my ever-changing life was suddenly taken from me, too.
I risked looking over my shoulder when a bright light blazed, casting my own shadow long in front of me. Squinting, I watched as the antlered figure pulled itself free from Lunaris’s grip, the red beam of her taillights illuminating its grisly movements as it limped after us, wounded but dogged in its pursuit.
We turned a bend in the road. I could see the cottage ahead, but not how close the wraith was behind us.
Kessian stumbled. I put out an arm to steady him. “Almost there.”
But he tripped again, this time going down. He let out a groan, holding his hip as he tried to right himself, and I skidded to a stop to help him up. I wound an arm around his waist to support him, limping the rest of the way.
We reached the cottage, sweating despite the cold. I couldn’t see the wraith yet, but the wind shrieked through the trees in warning. The cobblestones and gravel chewed the soles of my feet, making the whole world feel sharper, too. I aimed to hammer on the cottage door to wake the couple inside, but before I could, Kessian grabbed my hand.
“Wait—”
