Hidden Roots

HIDDEN ROOTSThe hunt continues. The contamination spreads. And Grace Pritchard is running out of time.Six months after burying the first cursed objects from the Confession Tree, Grace has learned three things: Malcolm's protective methods only slow the inevitable. The contamination spreading through her body will never stop. And she can't do this alone.Enter Marcus Webb Jr.—son of the man her brother murdered at the tree more than twenty years ago. He should hate her. Instead, he becomes her unlikely partner, helping Grace track ten more cursed objects across North Carolina. A cradle that drives new mothers to madness. A spinning wheel that won't let go. A rocking horse in the hands of a monster.With each collection, the wood grain climbs higher. Grace's hands crack like old timber. Her eyes reflect light in ways that make people look away. Malcolm's equipment and rituals buy her time, but everyone can see the truth: Grace is transforming into something that isn't quite human anymore.The Grounding Ritual nearly kills her. Forty-eight hours of agony, peeling away strips of wooden flesh, screaming until her voice breaks. It works—barely. But Malcolm warns her the next time might not.Because deep beneath the surface, something is stirring.The Confession Tree was cut down. Its wood carved into forty-three objects. But some roots run deeper than anyone knew. And Grace is about to discover that her hunt is far from over.Book 2 of The Darkwood Legacy - Where body horror meets Appalachian folklore, and redemption has a price measured in pieces of yourself.For readers who loved THE TWISTED ONES by T. Kingfisher and BETWEEN TWO FIRES by Christopher Buehlman.