A solid, strong, far-too-smooth arm wrapped around my neck from behind. I gagged, dropping the bat to grab Saba’s arm as she lifted my feet off the ground. I clawed at her arm, trying to dig my fingers beneath hers, to let up the pressure enough to catch my breath. She wouldn’t budge so I kicked back at her, throwing my entire weight into it, slamming her back against the wall. I heard a crack so I kept going, slamming my heels backward until she let go.

I never thought Jember’s Real World Prep training would come in handy until now—when, instead of being short of breath and panicked, I was more clearheaded than ever. I snatched up the bat and swung at Saba, breaking off her arm in one big piece. I rammed it at her stomach, stabbing a hole through it.

Saba’s eyes were wide with fear—fear of what I couldn’t tell since, out of the two of us, she couldn’t feel pain. But there was determination in her expression, too, as she nodded at me. Do what you have to do, her expression said. So I pulled the bat out of her stomach and broke off her face. Then her shoulder. Her legs. I kept hitting and hitting until Jember shouted, “Focus, girl, it’s breaking through!”

That’s when I finally paused, staring at Saba in pieces on the floor, like a broken doll. This was more horrific than if we had just scattered her across the desert. I had to remind myself she couldn’t feel it. That if I didn’t do it one of us might die before Jember had a chance to finish the amulet.

“Andi, run!” he said, and I didn’t question it. I pulled my small knife, prying one of the nails out of the wall and stealing the amulet there, holding it in front of me as I ran past the hyena. Jember let me pass him before following, but I could hear the hyena’s head ramming against one of the last two shields between it and us.

“Pick a room!” Jember shouted over the wind as we ran past the stairs. I didn’t put much thought into it. We ended up in a small study I had never spent much time in. Neither did anyone else, clearly, because the fireplace wasn’t lit.

Jember locked the door behind us. “Near that corner,” he said, tipping his chin toward the only one with any moonlight touching it.