IMAGINE a world in which there are no cars, trains, planes, or roads—just narrow paths meandering through the hills and forests. Most importantly, there is no electricity, and at night, it is extremely dark and dangerous. In the County, the world of the Last Apprentice, you would not walk to the edge of your village at midnight … because beyond its boundaries lurk ghosts, ghasts, boggarts, witches, and all manner of creatures that go bump in the night.
Sometimes these beasts encroach upon your village. They can kill, terrify, or drive you insane. You have only one option. You must send for the Spook, John Gregory, and his apprentice, Thomas Ward. They are good at their craft and will rid you of any supernatural infestation. But the world of the County is growing darker and more dangerous. In order to survive, Tom and the Spook must form an alliance with Grimalkin, the deadly witch assassin of the most powerful of the Pendle clans.
Feared throughout the County, Grimalkin wears all black, with leather straps crisscrossing her body; these hold sheath blades she has forged herself. Her trade is death and torture. As a warning not to cross her or enter her territory, she carves the symbol of scissors on trees—or any other surface she may find. Such sharp scissors she keeps strapped to her body, along with the knives, and she uses them to snip away the thumb bones of her enemies. These she wears on a necklace around her neck as trophies of those she has slain, with dark magic stored within them. Only the most foolish get in her way or attempt to thwart her purpose.
Here is Grimalkin, and this is a piece of her story.
She is out for revenge, and nothing will stop her.