CHAPTER 37

CHAPTER 37

Catherine’s ankle had begun to bleed again, but she walked on. Did it keep reopening because her magic lost strength as her body did? She slowly became aware of thousands of glittering lights not belonging to the sky. They were everywhere. Some were perfectly still, others moved slowly, and the rest skittered wildly in every direction as if their purpose was to fill every untouched spot. Catherine found herself looking for prisms along the forest floor, but there was nothing but plain soil.

From her encounters so far, she half expected to hear music, but there was no sound other than the increasing beat of her heart and her untamable breathing. The lights seemed to have individual personalities. They reminded her of eyes. Her forearms prickled as she pushed on, hoping they wouldn’t follow her. With a shudder, she thought of eyes in portraits of people long dead.