Evidence? Of what exactly? Natalie dropped her phone in the woods after class, that’s all. And she’s been so sick, she hasn’t noticed it’s missing.

Yeah right—I don’t need the little voice in my head to tell me how ridiculous that is.

Instead, I study the damage on the trees. The burned branches and trunks could mean Natalie was out here practicing her magic. Or… They could be signs of a struggle—that’s what the cops call it in all those TV procedurals.

There’s a flutter of red in one of the low-hanging branches. A snag of wool, the fibers frayed and soot-stained. Now that really is evidence. My leg bones turn to marshmallow as I carefully pry the threads from the twigs and fold them safely away in my pocket along with the phone. I realize I might be messing with a crime scene and consider putting everything back where I found it, but the green light weaves through the branches, leading me out of the thicket and back toward the lake. It swishes left and right across the water.

“What are you?” I call out to it, my voice quavering a little less this time. “Why did you bring me here?”

The flames don’t answer. They grow smaller, fading until the wind snuffs them out, leaving me shivering on the shore with the first bell ringing in the distance. I step back, yelping when I hit a solid body I didn’t realize was standing right behind me.

“You should get to class,” Toivo says with all the authority of a big brother, plus a generous dollop of the arrogance he’s developed since turning seventeen.

“Did you see it?” I stammer.

“See what?” he answers with a glare that could douse a bonfire.

“Don’t be like that. You must’ve seen it. The liekkiö.” There, I say it out loud.

“Taika.” Toivo turns my name into a reprimand the same way Mom does. “You’re going to be late.” But he doesn’t take his gaze off the lake, his eyes filled with shadows.

“If you’re too scared to admit what you saw—”

“Stop it. You didn’t see anything because there was nothing to see.”

His hands curl into fists and his shoulders hunch. Fear or anger? I can’t tell, but it can’t be anything good if it’s making him even more of a jerk than usual. He turns and trudges down the path without saying another word, thinking he’s won.

I shove my hands into my pockets, clutching Natalie’s phone. Whatever the green light was, it led me to the phone. And that voice—it called my name and asked me for help. Me!