I tugged on the rotten string and opened the sack. A tea-colored parchment lay inside, rolled up with a faded red ribbon. Freeing it from the burlap bag, I untied the binding and gently unrolled the document. Bits of fragile paper crinkled and fluttered to the ground in tiny squares.

Footsteps creaked behind me. A tremor of breath feathered the back of my neck. I froze, the hairs on my arm standing on end.

“What did you find?”

I whirled around, nearly jumping out of my skin.

“Sorry,” Wolf said. “Didn’t mean to scare you.” He peered around me and waved his flashlight into the hole. “Cool! Is the mirror in there?”

“No, but this was.” I showed him the parchment.

Wolf leaned over my shoulder and read aloud. “Last Will and Testament of General Samuel Cobb. Wow, bet the town museum would love to have that.”

I rolled the paper up and tucked it under my arm. “I’m sure the courthouse has an original. Anyhow, I was really hoping it was a map to the mirror, or some kind of clue.”

“Are you kidding? Sabine knew where she put it. She wanted to keep it hidden, not point it out.”

“You’re right. I’m not thinking straight. I just want to find the mirror, and be done with it. So far we’ve come up with nothing.” I chewed on my lower lip. “What if we never find it?”

“Don’t even go there. We’ll find it, you have to stay positive.” Wolf examined the small interior with his light. “Now let’s think about it. For one, the mirror can’t be in water so that rules out the swamp. Second, it can’t be someplace where it might get broken.”

“Or found,” I said. “Sabine would have been worried about the other slaves finding it, so I don’t think it’s here and...” My scalp tingled. “I got it!”

“Got what?”

“I know where it is! Come on.”

We rushed out of the shack, waded through the weeds, and zigzagged around the tombstones to the truck.

“Where do you think it is?” Wolf asked.

I climbed into the passenger seat and slammed the door. “The only place that makes sense and the only place it would’ve remained undisturbed, by orders of the general’s wife.”

Wolf’s eyes flashed. “The ballroom! Why didn’t we think of that before?”

I shrugged. “I just hope I’m right.”

Wolf started the truck, and we headed for the house. Rain wept onto the windshield. He flicked on the wipers and headlights. The high beams cast a haunting glare across gray fog rising from the ground.

“Can you turn on the cab light? I want to read the will.”

Wolf flipped a switch and I studied the document in the yellow glow. The general named each of his children and his wife. At the end, he mentioned the cabin and swampland around it being given to Sabine and her gentleman friend…

Wolfgang Bodine.

A sweat broke out across my neck. I suddenly couldn’t breathe. I closed my eyes, trying to catch my breath. My hands shook, as I told myself it couldn't be real. It was all some kind of sick joke.

“Stop the truck!”

Wolf slammed on the breaks. “What’s wrong?”

“Who are you? Or what are you?” I snapped.

Wolf put the truck in park. “What are you talking about?”

“You know very well what I mean. Look.” I shoved the paper in his face. “I thought your mother named you after a composer.”

Wolf frowned, his eyes scanning the document. He plowed a hand through his hair and slammed a fist into the steering wheel. “There’s something I have to tell you. But you have to promise not to freak out at me.”

“Go on,” I said.

“Remember when I told you I wanted your mom to contact the spirit world about my father?”

“Yeah.”

“That was only part of it,” Wolf said. He leaned toward me, his dark eyes staring into mine. “My great-great-great grandfather was a traveling magician. He’d heard about Sabine’s magical powers. But he thought it was just illusions and trickery. He had no clue it was black magic. He wanted to learn all he could from her. Legend says she fell deeply in love with him. But he only wanted her magical secrets. Scorned, she cursed all his male descendents. No one believes me, including my mom, but I know it was Sabine. Right before he died, he started having these weird dreams about her, and he started hearing this creepy humming song. I know my dad died because of her, I think she led him off course and caused his ship to go down.” Wolf’s voice deepened. “The same thing happened to grandfather shortly before he died. Everyone thought he was nuts but he kept saying he was hearing a woman’s voice singing to him, until one day he followed the voice into the swamp and was never seen again.” Wolf stared into my eyes, his features tight. “If I don’t help you break this curse, I’ll be her next victim. I’m the last of the male descendants.”

“So, is that why you took the caretaking job?” I asked. “So you could have access to the property?”

Wolf nodded. “But I had no clue about what I was doing so I went to Sassy. She told me if I could defeat Sabine by breaking the spell over the land, all other spells would be broken as well.”

My stomach dropped. It had all been too good to be true. Wolf wasn’t hanging around because he liked me—he was hanging around because he had his own life to protect. I guess I couldn’t really blame him.

“Please don’t be mad,” Wolf said. “I want you to know something. I’m not just doing this for me—I care about what happens to you and Benny.”

I swallowed hard, choking back tears. Anger boiled inside me. “Why didn’t you tell me this before? Why the big secret?”

“Because you already had enough worries. Your mom was gone, you had Benny to take care of, and you’ve been so sick. I didn’t want to make things worse. It’s my fault for not telling you. I’m sorry.”

I stared into his dark eyes, confusion and anger twisting inside me. He’d been the only human in the whole world I thought I could trust. The one who stayed with me when others would have bailed. The one who took care of me, helped me with Benny. But would he really have helped us if his own life hadn’t been at stake?”

“I know I should have told you and I want you to know that I’m here for you, no matter what.” Wolf grabbed my hand, interlocking his thick fingers with mine, bonding me to him. “We’re in this together. No matter what the reasons are for us being together, I’m glad I got the chance to know you. To help you.”

Every inch of me melted into his stable grasp. I couldn’t help but believe him. He didn’t have to help us. He could have tackled Sabine on his own, leaving me and Benny to fend for ourselves.

Whatever his motives were, I needed him. I’d swallow down my feelings and keep focused. After this was all done—if we survived—I would have to see if there could be more between us.

Wolf put the truck into drive, steering into the night, a cold silence thick between us. I squinted into the fog as we approached the house, once so grand and filled with life, now just a decaying shell. I couldn’t let go of Wolf’s hand. The joints of my fingers had frozen with fear and anticipation.

He parked near the front porch. The night carried a chill that overwhelmed my fever, forcing my grasp from Wolf’s hand. I rubbed my arms and shivered.

“Take this.” Wolf tossed me his sweatshirt.

“Thanks.” I slipped it on, inhaling his now familiar woodsy scent and a hint of fabric softener.

We hurried inside, clamoring up two flights to the room with the dead birds. Even though every bone and muscle ached, I felt a surge of anxious energy.

Wolf pushed the door open. We stepped inside the moldering room. A wave of nausea curled into my gut and tightened my throat. The door slammed shut behind us. The lights flickered off and on. I reached for Wolf’s arm as a rattling came from beneath the carpet of bones.

Wolf held me in an iron grip and aimed the flashlight to the floor. All at once the skeletal remains of the birds rose into the air, and hurled themselves at us like darts, screeching with unearthly cries. Talons raked across my head, winding into my hair, clawing and ripping at my tender flesh.

“Run!” Wolf yelled. “I’ll hold them off.”

I bolted to the door leading to the ballroom as the skeletal flock rained down. I glanced over my shoulder. Wolf tried to wave them off, blood dripping from his head. He ducked, fighting his way toward the ballroom door, but they swarmed over him, covering him like a blanket of bones and feathers. I whipped off the sweatshirt and came to his side, swinging it in the air, knocking them away. They darted back, time and time again, clacking their bony beaks, striking with outstretched talons, and pinning us with glowing red sockets, where eyes had once been. We scrambled through the doorway and slammed it shut.

I switched on my flashlight and pointed it at Wolf.

He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the blood on his brow. “Is it bad?” he asked.

I took a look and shook my head.

Wolf jammed the handkerchief into this back pocket. “Good, let’s get going.”

We climbed the steps to the dark ballroom. Wolf waved his flashlight around the room, the beam dancing over dusty objects. “I’ll search this side,” he said, pointing to his right, “while you take the other side and the fireplace.”

“Deal.”

I felt along the hearth, searching for loose bricks or a secret hidden spot. I stuck my head inside the gaping mouth and peered in, shining the light into all the dark corners.

Wolf knocked on the walls, listening for hollow places. I searched the dining room table. Hidden beneath a layer of dust, I examined every plate, cup and saucer and looked underneath the placemats. Nothing.

I slumped into one of the old chairs and scanned the room. My gaze fell on the cake resting between two tall candles. It looked so gross and petrified but it was the only thing I hadn’t searched. I picked up a tarnished fork and tapped the hard lump. It made a hollow thud. My breath hitched in my throat. It wasn’t a cake at all, but a paper decoration, made of wire and paste.

I tore it apart. What lay inside made my heart leap.