Abbee realized Ipsu was arguing with the man who’d ordered death after death. Murder after murder. She’d been the weapon, and this man had used her against helpless people. Helpless children. Abbee was rooted to the spot. She couldn’t move. Could barely breathe. Her fear froze her in place.

“Take care of Lencoe?” Ipsu asked. “That’s what you call it?”

“Well, the hunters aren’t interested in her anymore,” the man said. “No small feat on my part. You’re welcome for that. The test was a bonus. Timing, really. The hunters still had a bounty out on her then. You’re lucky the hunters were offering more money for alive than dead, and the people who found her didn’t try to kill her outright. And you were right to keep her hidden. Something happened to the others.”

“What hap—no, stop trying to change the subject. We’re not done talking about what you did. It was too much, even for you.”

Abbee forced herself forward. She couldn’t believe Ipsu knew this man. Ipsu couldn’t be involved in what had happened to her. The idea made her nauseous. She crept toward Ipsu’s voice. Saw him through a break in the trees. He paced back and forth in a clearing not far from camp, in front of a man dressed in gray. She caught a glimpse of a plain gray jacket and trousers. The man stood facing away from her. She couldn’t see his face.

“What was I supposed to do?” the man asked. “Let the opportunity slide by? She’s the first of her kind. I wanted to know the extent of her gift. And I still do, by the way. You interrupted before I could finish. And killed Golug. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a blind mute who also likes creative projects?”

Ipsu stared at him. “Creative—”

“I don’t think she’s unlocked even a fraction of her capabilities. There were others from the golems, did you know? She’s not the only one. She’s the only one like her, though. A healer who only heals herself. Her talent is unique. And she’s the strongest I’ve seen so far of anyone who presented that night. She must have been really close to a golem at the moment she presented. Your girl’s on Brattle’s level.”

Abbee couldn’t take listening to this man. She got closer. She still couldn’t see his face. She needed to see his face. She couldn’t hunt him if she didn’t know what he looked like. She moved without care. Fast. She stepped on a branch, and it cracked under her foot.

“She’s here,” Ipsu said. “Go. We’ll finish this later. We’re not done, you and I.”

The man vanished.

Hurt and anger battled for supremacy in Abbee’s head. Ipsu had sounded like he was a willing participant in that gray man’s aims. Abbee ignored stealth and burst into the clearing. “Who was that?” Her voice cracked and croaked from disuse. “Where did he go? You know him. You—it was him. He was the one who—” Betrayal shook her to her core. “You … you knew.”

“I didn’t,” Ipsu said.

“Liar,” Abbee said with venom.

Ipsu looked surprised. Hurt, even.

Abbee felt guilty. Angrier for feeling guilty. She pushed away the guilt as her rage seethed. “You left me there for days.”

“I wasn’t sure,” Ipsu said. “I went back to the camp, and you weren’t there.”

“You said ‘don’t follow,’” Abbee said. “You know what that means.”

“I—” Ipsu grimaced. “I didn’t mean for you—”

All the hurt, rage, and pain Abbee hadn’t voiced for two months boiled up within her. She’d been wrong about the don’t follow. This was her fault. If she’d stayed in camp, none of this would’ve happened. Abbee brought herself up short. Her torture wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t. It was Ipsu’s. He’d led her to Joor. He’d been hiding his relationship with that wizard. “You knew exactly where to find me,” Abbee added, her voice rising with every word. “Because … because you’re working with him.”

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Ipsu shook his head. “I didn’t—”

Abbee vibrated with fury. She felt tingly all over. She was so angry that she barely registered the sensation. An intense jolt zapped Abbee’s entire body. The lush ferns near her feet turned brown, becoming dry and brittle. Three paces away, a massive oak tree shuddered as if struck. Its bark shriveled and cracked, and its giant canopy of leaves flashed from deep green to dark brown, and half of them fell in a huge rush. To her left, falling leaves from another stricken tree half obscured a stand of birch trees suffering the same fate, as their bark peeled away from dry trunks and their crowns lost all their greenery. The soil lurched beneath Abbee’s feet, turning from dense-packed earth to a dusty dune. The moist, earthy smell of summer vanished as every living thing in the clearing withered and died. The grass, the trees, the bushes, and leaves. Everything except Ipsu.

The jolt thrummed through Abbee’s limbs. She felt stronger, more alive, than ever before. She felt like she was bursting at the seams. She had to do something with all that energy. Put it somewhere. She focused all her rage, all her anger on a single point. Ipsu.

Abbee roared and rushed forward. Everything seemed to slow. Ipsu moved like he was encased in mud. Abbee planted her fist in his belly. He didn’t block her strike. Never even tried. He was still looking at where she’d just stood. He didn’t even respond to getting hit at first, as the electric sensation faded and the world returned to normal speed.

Ipsu folded around her fist. His breath whooshed out, and he stumbled backward. He went down. Rolled and popped back up to a crouch. His eyes were startled and even a little afraid.

Abbee stood, panting, fighting down her rage. She remembered to breathe. Four in, hold four, four out, hold four. She breathed and breathed. Her wrists itched. She looked and saw glimmermote all over her hands. A lot of it.

Ipsu massaged his stomach and kept his distance. He split his attention between Abbee and the ruined clearing around them. He stopped and watched her every time she moved. Watched her like she was a snake.

Abbee registered the withered ground. She’d never experienced anything like that electric feeling before. It had been incredible. And a little frightening. She knew she’d been the one to turn everything brown. It had been her. The wizard had done something to her. And Ipsu had helped.

“What did you do to me?” Abbee demanded, her voice rising. “What did you do?”

“I did nothing,” Ipsu said. “This was all you.”

“Everything was fine before you took me to Joor!” Abbee shouted. “Lured me there with a promise of fixing Lencoe. I bet it was you. I bet you told the movers about me.” The rage bubbled up within her again. “He’s a wizard, isn’t he? You let him experiment on me!”

Ipsu shook his head. “I tried … I cannot do—” He sighed. Gave a slight shake of his head. He turned around and walked away.

“You come back here!” Abbee shouted after him. “I’m not done with you yet!”

Ipsu didn’t come back.

Abbee went down to the river to wash off the glimmermote. She worried the entire time about what had happened to her. She’d become faster, even stronger, when she’d struck Ipsu. He hadn’t even blocked her strike. It shouldn’t have been possible, yet she’d done it. How? It made no sense. My gift is healing, not … whatever that was.

On the way back to camp, she went to the clearing. She inspected the withered plants and ground. Everything right from where she’d been standing. Abbee found dead plants and trees, bugs, a desiccated snake, and a few rodents. All shriveled and dry. She saw a shattered pine tree with a terrible crack running up its middle, exposing dry wood inside. No sap. Even the soil had turned to gray dust. Abbee knew that Ipsu was only alive because he was a refractor. If he’d been anyone else, he’d be dead. Dead like all those people stacked like logs in that horrid basement. This was her. Her gift. Her curse.

Abbee returned to their camp and found Ipsu gone. His pack was missing. She assumed he was camping somewhere else nearby, to give her space. She couldn’t think about him without growing angry. That liar. That betrayer. Who knew what terrible fate she’d avoided by getting away from him? Still, Abbee wanted to know what their plans had been. Who was the wizard? She knew the gray man was a wizard. Could’ve been a lightbender, sending an illusion to speak with Ipsu, but they’d have to have been close enough to see Ipsu. No, the gray man was a wizard. Abbee wanted to know who he was and what he had done to her. She stayed overnight, waiting for Ipsu to return.

He didn’t.

She waited three days. On the fourth day, she knew he wasn’t coming back. The longest he’d ever been away from her in all their travels was two days, and they’d communicated about his absence. This was different. He’d left. Abandoned her.

Akken was close. Ipsu had probably gone there to get supplies. Might still be there. Abbee needed to find him. Demand answers. She wouldn’t let him leave next time. Not until he’d told her the truth.