I ran in the direction the pulse of my amulet led, down the stairs and around the corner, ignoring every other Manifestation I passed—all except for the horde of rats, which ran over and under my feet, making it hard to keep up my speed. I was hot and sweaty from the struggle in my room, so I barely felt the cold. I squeezed my fingers into my sweater to get rid of excess blood, though my heart pounded heavy and painful in my fingertips. I put on my welding goggles, smudging warm blood on my face that quickly turned cold in the air around me.

My amulet pulsed to the point it echoed through my body painfully, and when I turned the corner I saw why.

In the meager light of the dying embers, I saw Tom’s body crumpled on the ground, a dark puddle slowly pooling beneath him, his eyes staring at nothing.

And standing over him, looking straight at me, the reflective green eyes of …

Oh God …

A hyena.

Without a shadow of a doubt, this was no mortal beast, no Manifestation. It was the curse itself. The Evil Eye incarnate.

I only knew that because Jember had cleansed one—the only debtera in the last twenty years, maybe even fifty, to successfully do it. But he’d never taught me how he had cleansed it. All he’d said was if I was ever offered a job to do so, to run in the opposite direction and never look back.

It suddenly occurred to me where Jember’s leg and humanity had gone, and the reality of my imminent fate hit me like a fist to the skull.

“Please, God,” I prayed, grasping my amulet for comfort, but its pulses were so heavy, so painful, they felt like screams of terror.

The hyena stepped over Tom’s body, the tinkle of bells with every step, the mane on its hunched back standing on end.

I took out my silver disk and got to work.

You have no plan, Andi.

The hyena padded closer, its growl mingling with the crackling of the embers.

Did you expect the Evil Eye to just sit still and watch you work?

At least, thank God, my amulet shield reached three feet. I sat down and got to work.

Seven strokes in, I heard the scratching of sharp nails against the hardwood stop in front of me, felt the hot breath cloud my oxygen … heard the growl dangerously close to my face. I glanced up, just to make sure the amulet was doing its job. Three feet really wasn’t much when a bloodthirsty demon hyena was standing by.