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“So…” I sidestepped the puddle. The idea of walking through what remained of the Cursed Ones was too weird, even if whatremainedjust looked like water. “…what other magic can you do?”

“A lot.”

I crossed my arms. “That’s not an answer.”

“Sure it is. It’s just not the one you were looking for.”

I snorted. This invisible stranger was the biggest smartypants I’d ever met. He was an even bigger smartypants than I was. And that was saying a lot.

But my mood plummeted from one breath to the next—like someone had dropped me into a big bucket of ice water.

A primal, inhuman cry split across the Forbidden Zone. It was like the scraping sound of someone sharpening a blade, a dull gurgle, and some hollow, moaning noise I couldn’t describe as anything other than pure, mindless misery.

There were still Cursed Ones out there.

CHAPTER7

AN UNEXPECTED TURN

Actually, it turned out to be just one Cursed One, but it was the biggest, meanest, ugliest one yet. It charged forward like an enraged beast, broken chains jingling like bracelets from its thick wrists. I tried to freeze it in its tracks, just like I’d done to the other two, but nothing happened.

Ok, so that’s not entirely true. In fact,a lothappened. After I failed to stop the Cursed One, it backhanded me—hard. For a few terrifying moments, my body flew through the air, helpless, flailing. When I slammed into the Spirit Tree, I knew how all those insects felt when they splatted against the windshield of the Government supply trucks.

Something bubbled under the tree’s bark—then exploded.

White-hot heat flashed through my body like a wildfire.

And just when the pain began to fade, it hit me again.

And again.

And again.

Relentless and merciless, the searing whip slashed me.

Wave after wave after wave, the river of fire split down my nerves, burning me from the inside out.

I cried.

And I screamed.

And finally I curled up into a tiny ball and surrendered to the pain.

And that’s when it stopped.

“Are you all right?”

I opened my eyes, but I couldn’t see anything. The whole world looked like a blotchy watercolor painting.

“You were screaming for over five minutes,” the invisible stranger spoke out from the blurry abyss.

Only five minutes? It felt like someone had looped the end of the world on infinite repeat.

“I couldn’t risk removing you from the tree.”

I rose awkwardly to my feet, my vision swirling, my bones grinding in pitiful protest. I felt like I’d been run over and then electrocuted—repeatedly.

“What happened?” I croaked. My voice sounded like a squeaky wagon rattling over shifting gravel.