I looked away so he couldn’t see my blush. My heart … that’s what was waiting there. Held by a boy with hopeful eyes. But all I said was, “A patronage.”

“Not if you’re dead.” He took his amulet from the bed and shut it into the drawer. “You’re going to get your silver. But first I want you to make a copy of your amulet.”

I paused. “Mine?”

“From memory. You wear it every day, you must know how it feels by now.”

True. It was like a second skin to me. I could feel it from inside the drawer, although the strokes mingled with Jember’s. I took a heavy breath in an attempt to calm myself and then snatched up another piece of wood from the other room.

As complex as it was, it took only an hour to replicate mine. When I held it out to him, he looked at it briefly, unimpressed.

“Now construct mine,” he said.

I didn’t complain this time. Actions spoke louder than words, after all. But, as I worked, I suddenly realized that he was right. I couldn’t quite define every stroke in my mind. Some of them were looped, and I couldn’t quite figure out which way. Some had tiny nicks on one side that the others didn’t. Jember was my mentor, the best of his generation. But I hated to admit he was right.

If I couldn’t even construct his amulet while the strokes were mingled in the air with my amulet’s, how was I supposed to seal the hyena while all the chaos of the Waking was going on around me?

I paused and shook the strokes out of my head.

Try again, Andi.

By the time I’d copied his amulet, thread wraps and all, Jember was sleeping soundly. How long had it been? It had to have been nearly morning.

I widened my eyes and paced a little, fighting to keep myself awake now that my mind wasn’t occupied.

Meanwhile, Jember was asleep …

I looked at the drawer, chewing on my lip. I stretched my neck and back, then carefully opened it and took Saba’s letter out.

I still love you, it said, in small, rushed print, and excitement sprinted my heart. Can we forget everything and just spend my last days here together?

I stared at the words for a moment. Last days here? She meant … when she vanished along with the Evil Eye. The thought of it left needles in my stomach, but Jember shifted and I was forced to quickly put the letter away.

I touched his shoulder to wake him gently and held the amulet in front of his face. He took it from me, while I did some more stretches.

“Looking at my physical amulet was hindering you from sensing the strokes,” I heard him say.