Chapter 14 · Untitled Chapter

The knife passes through nothing.

The other Ivy—the thing wearing my face—breaks apart like ash in wind. My hand keeps shaking after the blade hits the stone and rings across the room.

"What the hell was that?" Leon catches me before my knees give out. His arm locks around my waist, his heartbeat hammering against my shoulder. "Ivy, look at me. Are you hurt?"

"I don't know." My voice comes out thin. "I don't know what just happened."

Selina's back is pressed to the far wall. Blood drips from her sleeve onto the floor. "It talked."

"I heard it," I say.

"No." She swallows. "You heard it. I heard her."

The three of us stare at the empty patch of stone. Tipped-over chairs lie scattered around it. The room still reeks of burned hair, thick enough to taste.

Then I see the robe.

Black wool lies in a puddle where the thing vanished. It looks ordinary, like someone dropped it beside a laundry basket. When I pick it up, the fabric is cold and bone-dry. Too heavy for cloth.

"Don't touch that." Leon reaches for it.

"Too late."

Something scratches against the inside of the collar.