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“I don’t want that.” The words come out thin. I straighten, but my hands won’t stop shaking. “I don’t fucking want that.”

Before anyone can answer, the music outside cuts off. Every song. Every speaker.

Gone at once.

The sudden quiet presses against the house.

Then the old dinner bell rings.

My shaking stops.

Because after everything Mariah just told me, it doesn’t sound like a bell anymore.

It sounds like a summons.

The sound rolls through the house.

Rhett’s mark burns red making him hiss.

Malakai doubles over.

I grab him. “Kai!”

His knees hit the floor while his hands dig into the wood.

“What is it?”

He doesn’t answer.

Roots crack through the floorboards beneath his fingers.

“KAI!”

He screams. The sound rips through me and I drop beside him. His veins darken. Black lines travel up his arms. “No no no no.”

Ezra grabs his shoulders.

Rhett drops on the other side.

Malakai’s fingers claw into the floor. “I can feel it.”

“What?”

“The whole field.” His voice breaks. “Every root.” His back arches. “Every fucking grave.”

Roots erupt through the floor.

Mariah screams and Ali jumps off the bed.

The house shakes.

Malakai’s head snaps back.

Then suddenly…nothing.

Then Malakai collapses.

“Kai!”