to find his voice. I
it was crushed. We thought ev
eant to be funny. "It wasn' t destroyed. It can' t be.
a hand, its skin thin and papery, and placed it on my forehead. Her touch
she stated, as if o
into her pale eyes, and for a second, I thought I saw s
my neck, out through my limbs. The violent shivering stopped. The pounding in my skull softened to a dull ache. For the first tim
real one, that filled my
ef. "He' s better. David, l
d himself. His eyes were wide with disbeli
ixture of awe and fear in his e
ust pushed it back for a moment. It' s still there. It'
e room vanished instantly, rep
e was the first price you paid for your carelessness. The boy was the second warning. If you don' t fix
ne a hammer blow. Another one of
ease," she begged, her voice cracking. "Please, you h
beg for anything in his life, nodd
observation. She wasn' t a benevolent helper. She was a
w towards the forgotten cemetery. "You have broken a pact that was older than your gran
asked, confused
thing, carved from dark wood. You must find it. You must restore the a
?" Mom asked,
a flicker of something un
find the box first. And you must do it quickly. I