Rage courses through me and I clench my fists as Moronoe rears up inside, ready to strike. Placing my hands on the table, I straighten my fingers and tell myself it’s not Tom’s fault, he has no reason to trust Morgan like I do, but that doesn’t stop my stomach churning with bitterness. The strength of Moronoe’s emotion frightens me, but if I’m honest, some of the hate I feel is my own. Merlin sent the shadow demons to kill me; he’s the reason my mother abandoned me. He’s the reason I grew up without a family, without a home.

‘I despise him for what he’s done.’

I’d still like to hear his side of things.

I slump back in my seat as an unpleasant thought worms to the front of my mind. What if Morgan’s right and Merlin is influencing his thoughts?

Tom raises his eyebrows. ‘You OK? What’s wrong?’

I press my lips together and look away.

‘Ivy?’

‘Nothing. Just leave it.’

‘Something’s upset you. Tell me what’s wrong.’

I shake my head and he leans across the table. ‘Please, Ivy, just tell me.’

Suddenly I’m back in the care home, fourteen years old and sharing a room with Katie. She knew I was upset and wouldn’t let it go. She kept asking and asking. I cover my face with my hands, not wanting to remember.

Tom pulls my hands from my eyes and a shadow flickers to my left. There’s something strange about the chair where I left the towel. The darkness around it is expanding and deflating. It’s as if someone is sitting there – not a person, but the shadow of a person.

‘Ivy?’

I swing my gaze back to Tom. He hasn’t seen. It’s right there, in the chair next to him, and he hasn’t noticed.

And then I see something else: a footprint on the floor, its outline defined in the flour, shaped like the hoof of an animal. Another one appears before my eyes, and then another.

I cover my mouth and stare at Tom, but he has his back to the room and doesn’t see. He shakes my arm, pulling my hand from my face. ‘Who’s Katie?’

A wound opens up inside me. He must have read my thoughts; I haven’t spoken her name aloud, not to anyone, not for years. My heart beats fast in my chest as panic courses through me. What if it’s not like last night, what if the demons …

‘Ivy. Who is Katie?’