Page 34

"Mrs. Jenkins heard a little girl crying outside her window. She said something in the woods was awake."

His wings went rigid.

"Mr. Alvarez said the birds had left because they knew something was coming. And Mrs. Callahan..." I swallowed. "She was asleep. She said something beneath the trees was lonely and couldn't find the door."

Azaren went utterly still. Not frozen. Still in the way predators became still immediately before they struck. "What did the crying sound like?"

"I didn't hear it."

"The woman who did."

"She said it sounded like a little girl."

"And the others?"

"They didn't mention crying."

"Has anyone else?"

"Mags heard someone crying in the woods the morning after the Frankenfest."

His gaze snapped to mine. "You neglected to mention that."

"I thought it was Halloween weirdness."

"You live in a town populated by supernatural creatures. Halloween weirdness is not an acceptable category of evidence."

"It was the morning after a dragon set fire to the mayor's scarecrow."

"That dragon was visible."

"Fair point."

Azaren turned as much as the cramped closet allowed and stared at nothing, his thoughts moving behind his eyes.

"What did you find?" I asked.

His jaw tightened. "Reports."

"What kind?"

"Old ones. Scattered across decades. Most were dismissed as folklore or hysteria."

My skin prickled. "About crying?"

"Crying beneath the forest. Birds abandoning their nests. Animals fleeing without cause." His gaze dropped to me. "Patches of frost appearing in warm weather."

The patch of snow on the trail flashed through my mind. "I saw one."

"When?"

"The first morning. Before… before you revealed yourself to me. It was beside the path to Mrs. Wilton's cottage."

His expression darkened. "You didn't tell me."

"I thought someone had enchanted it for Frankenfest."

"Did you touch it?"