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My wolf snarls low in my chest.

Maren catches it in my face. "What?"

"Go inside."

Her jaw sets. "There it is again."

"Please."

That stops her cold. I don't hand that word out lightly. She hears the weight in it.

Her eyes search mine. "Why?"

I'm already moving toward the garden. The smell thickens with every step. Something crossed the line here, and not long ago. I see nothing in the beds, nothing in the dark under the hedge.

But three deep scratches sit in the bark of the maple. Higher than a dog could reach. Too narrow for a bear. The edges are burned black, curling like paper that met a match.

"Maren."

She's right behind me. Of course she is.

"What is that?"

"Inside."

"Gage."

"Now!"

Her temper flares. Every strand of lights on the porch blazes to life at once. The plug's still coiled in her hand. Nothing's connected to anything.

My wolf answers it before I can. Magic.

Maren stares at the burning lights. "I didn't..."

"I know."

For once she doesn't argue. She scoops up the cat and gets inside, and I hear the deadbolt go.

I stay out until I'm sure the yard's empty again.

Before I go, I look back at her porch one more time.

The skeleton's head has turned.

It's facing me now. When I stood it against the rail, it was staring out at the street. Nobody's touched it since. The porch is empty, the door shut, Maren has gone inside.

And its skull is angled straight at me.

Plastic doesn't do that.

I hold its blank stare a moment longer. Then I go home.

I check every door. Every window. Every ward the Lantern Coven set around my house. Two of them have thinned since yesterday, worn soft at the edges like cloth rubbed too long.

I call Evelyn.

She doesn't pick up.