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Forests were supposed to be full of birdsong and animals chittering. Silence meant you had stumbled somewhere the veil was thin. If you were unlucky, you would wander into a void—the dimensions bordering the mortal realm, filled with demons and spirits and, worst of all, Skullstalkers.

Skullstalkers like the Bygone.

Ruby slid her dagger out of her pocket. It was well-kept and shiny, just like it had been when the last witch of Sweetsguard had given it to her. Ruby polished it every morning before breakfast.

“Okay,” she murmured, pressing the dagger tip against her palm. “Let’s begin. Paimon, protect me.”

It was probably useless to evoke his name now. But she had been a devoted follower of the local goat deity her whole life. Despite his silence and her fading magic, she couldn’t stop hoping he still heard her.

She sliced a red thatch through her lifeline.

“Open the way,” she whispered, her voice vibrating through the trees in an otherworldly echo. “Charter me to the Skullstalker void of lost souls, where all wander endlessly. Show me the Bygone.”

Her magic was weak. A small, thin circle appeared in the air, slow and struggling. It was already trying to close and hadn’t even opened properly.

“Come on,” she gritted. “Please.”

She reached out. Her bloody palm touched the circle.

Blue light exploded through the forest. Ruby stumbled back with a gasp. Blue light glimmered in her hair before fading, leaving only the sparks thrown by the wheeling circle in front of her.

For a moment, it had almost been like when Paimon was around. No, that wasn’t right—for a moment, she’d felt more power than Paimon ever gave her. But that feeling was fading, and time was running out.

Ruby braced herself. She couldn’t see the horrors that waited, but she could see darkness: heavy and swarming. Black tendrils reached out of the portal to brush her cheek.

She shivered. Then she stepped into the dark.

The forest vanished, and the burning blue portal vanished with it. For a second, there was only darkness. It was light and airy, trailing over her skin and snaking around her neck.

Ruby let out a terrified noise. She was going to get eaten before she even got to talk to the Bygone!

Then, the darkness relented. Ruby opened her eyes.

She was standing in the middle of a shrouded forest. Skeletal trees protruded from the earth, shadows dripping off the leaves.

Ruby shuddered. It looked like an enchanted forest from a fairy tale—one you were never supposed to enter.

There were no doomed souls. Ruby had been expecting at least a few. All the stories involved damned souls who had been wandering so long they forgot who they were.

Something barked beside her. Ruby startled, swinging her knife toward the sound.

“Don’t eat me yet,” she yelled. Then she stopped.

A dog spirit sat contentedly among the shadowy leaves. It was large and shabby and mostly transparent, its big tail wagging as it cocked its head at her. If it was corporeal, its fur would probably be snow-white.

“Oh,” Ruby said, sagging with relief. She held out a hand cautiously, trying to remember any warnings about dog spirits. But the dog didn’tlooklike a secret demon. It trotted up to her and licked her hand.

Ruby laughed, amazed. Its tongue felt like the lightest feather against her palm.

“And hello to you too,” she said warmly. “Don’t tell me he stoleyou. My day’s already going terribly; I couldn’t stand adding another tragedy on top of it.”

The dog woofed quietly, its tail thumping harder.

Ruby watched its happy stature. The forest surrounding them seemed like a miserable place for a spirit to spend its time, but it seemed content enough.

“Well,” she said, scratching its ghostly scruff. “You seem okay. Even if you did get?—”

A low, dangerous voice spoke up behind her.