This was Rookskill. And his parents had sent him here.

“Keep up, Isaac,” Colin called from ahead. “When you reach this spot, don’t be surprised. Just push through. You’ve been cleared.”

“Cleared? What am I pushing through?” But Isaac’s words didn’t stop the boy and his dogs.

Colin and his pack were almost across the meadow, the dogs nearly lost in the tall grass. Isaac picked up his pace, brushing through the brittle stems that snapped and whispered as the chill wind stung his cheeks. He didn’t have much time to wonder what Colin meant before he felt a soft, invisible wall of air, and he pressed on, and it popped around him like a bubble.

Isaac stopped once more and looked back. The forest remained on the other side of the invisible wall.

Isaac’s childhood stood on the far side like a long-ago tale. The trees bent together and the branches interlaced. The thorny shrubs crowded together and the path was lost behind the shimmery veil.

Isaac turned back to the castle, his skin prickling. “Hello? Colin?”

“This way,” Colin called. “Don’t dilly-dally.”

“What is dilly-dally?” Isaac called back, to no response.

The closer Isaac drew, the smaller he felt. The castle loomed, a towering shadow, leaning over him. Some of the windows were cracked, some boarded up. Heavy blocks of stone had fallen from the parapet into piles along the foot. The great front door was almost smothered in dead ivy. A damaged sign was propped against the outer wall, barely legible.

ROO   KILL   ASTLE      REN’S  ACAD      The sign was broken off as if a huge bite had been taken out of the wood.

Clearly, Isaac thought, upkeep was not one of the priorities around this Rookskill.

But Isaac felt something, rising from the very ground. A hum that grew and throbbed, from his feet right up his spine. A deep heaving and sighing, like waves beating on a cliff, like a distant heartbeat. A hum that Isaac recognized now as his own reaction to magic, a reaction that defied simple explanation.

It was the same hum he’d felt when he’d arrived at the hut with his parents.

The same hum that emanated from the casket.

The same hum he’d heard in the ring of standing stones, and when he’d seen the monster with red eyes.

Yes, magic. That’s what it was.

This Rookskill was rich with it. The very earth breathed magic.

“Here we are,” Colin called. “Keep up, then.” Colin and the dogs had reached the front door, and Isaac sprinted to catch up before the door closed in his face. The sky was nearly dark.

The door was open just wide enough for him to enter. He stepped over the threshold.

Being inside was not much better than being out. In fact, it might have been worse.