And then I jolted up from my work. The hyena’s head was leaning forward at the three-foot mark, and then it backed away and rushed forward, slamming its head on the same spot again. Again. And again. It was making short work of my shield, already a foot closer than when it had started.

My heart raced. Oh God. There was no way I could finish the amulet at this rate.

But what other choice did I have?

I got back to work quickly, ignoring the slams of the hyena’s head against my shield.

But the more the hyena pounded, the worse the rumbling in my amulet became, until I had to pause, nauseated.

Keep going, Andi.

I wasn’t nearly done.

God help me. Give me strength …

I’d paused for too long. By the time I’d flinted my pen I felt the hyena’s hot breath on my face. I pulled my legs in closer. Did I have any shield left at all—?

Something grabbed me, dragging me around the corner, and I screamed and hit at it, dropping my barely half-baked amulet to the hardwood floor. But with one hand sliced open my fighting didn’t do much good. I closed my eyes briefly as my back hit the hallway wall, thankful I didn’t bite my tongue off from the jolt. Two strong hands gripped my arms, pinning them to my sides.

I glared at Saba, now eye level with her. “Let me go.”

She shook her head.

“Don’t make me break you again. I’ll do it if I have to.”

Her grip tightened, and I had to force myself not to wince.

She shifted her body to block me as the hyena padded slowly out of the room we’d just been in. But I barely saw it, barely had time to feel fear or determination before Saba opened the door across the hall from us and threw me inside.

“Saba, stop it! Let me out!” No light came through, save for the meager bit beneath the door. My hand landed on a wall, and I followed it to another wall, to … another wall. All the while the hyena’s presence felt weaker and weaker, less and less, until I could barely sense even one stroke. “Saba!”

The last wall led me to a door, but by then it was too late. Locked. I banged on it with my good hand. “Saba!” I jiggled the knob, kicking the door as I did. I reached in my pocket for my knife, cursing myself for not snatching it off the floor before running out of my room.

I screamed out my frustration, then lowered myself to the ground to search for something to help me. There had to be something I could use to pick the lock. What kind of person had empty closets in their house?

And then I realized, I couldn’t feel the hyena’s presence at all.