The orange glow on the horizon that emanated from the spot where the Victorian should be caused Nolan to press down on the gas pedal of Lily’s car as he sped toward it. Black smoke slithered into the sky, signaling the danger ahead. Lily pressed her hand into the dashboard, bracing herself as they took a corner too fast and the tires slid on the dirt road.

“Please, please, please,” she pleaded under her breath.

There was nothing he could say to comfort her.

“Fire.” Lily gripped his arm as a firetruck came into view. Orange flames consumed the back of the house. “Oh, no, Dante, please don’t be in there. Please, please, please…”

Nolan felt her fear rippling over him. He hit the brakes, slowing so he could turn up the drive. Deputy Herczeg’s truck blocked the way, and he skidded to avoid hitting it. Lily jumped out before they had come to a complete stop.

Nolan raced after her as she made her way across the front lawn. She leapt over a random garden gnome sitting cross-legged in the yard, and then the firehose coming from the pumper truck. When he caught up to her, she was nearing the fire.

He grabbed her arm, jerking her back. “Lily, watch out.”

A hard stream of water shot out from behind the house. She would have run right into it.

A fireman stepped into view. Nolan knew the entire crew. They were good people, and all had supernatural gifts related to the water. Captain Santos manned the hose at the nozzle. He had the strength of three men and didn’t need help directing the stream. There was a running joke in town about his bushy mustache being a thing of great beauty. Only a few men could pull off such a specimen, but as an ipupiara, he seemed to have a face made for it.

Three others—Kelly, Walsh, and Murphy—were finfolk. They could transform into three forms—fish, human, or a hybrid of the two. The last firefighter, Agnes, was a naiad, a rare kind of water spirit. She couldn’t be away from fresh water for longer than a few hours, so riding around on a pumper truck was a perfect job for her.

The pile of barn wood blazed, feeding a giant bonfire that did not look close to being under control. Scorched siding dripped with water on the back of the house. There was damage, but the structure was intact.

“Lily, look, the house is fine. I’m sure Dante and Polly are—”

“Polly!” Her cry cut him off. She tugged on his arm as if to command him to follow. Because of the firefighters blocking the way through the backyard, they had to run the long way around the house to reach Polly. “What happened? Where’s Dante?”

“I don’t know what happened, sugar bee,” Polly said, watching the flames. “This shouldn’t have occurred. Everything is topsy-turvy. There’s a force I can’t predict. We had no warning it was coming.”

“Polly, please.” Lily grabbed her aunt’s arms and made her look at her. “Where’s my brother?”

“Here. I’m here.” Dante came from beside the house. She hadn’t seen him on her way around and guessed his stupid ass must have been inside.

Lily threw her arms around his neck. “Where were you? Why the hell did you hang up on me? I was terrified. What happened? What if…?” She motioned to the flames. “I thought you were…”

“Get back,” Lieutenant Kelly ordered. He waved them away from the fire.

“The chick fireman bumped me, and my phone went flying.” Dante pointed to the barn. “I couldn’t get to it. I’m pretty sure it’s ruined. It was good while it lasted. I guess I just have to share your phone now.”

“Don’t say chick fireman.” Lily hit her brother’s arm. “They’re firefighters.”

“I said get back,” Kelly commanded.

Nolan lifted his arm to urge them away from the flames. He scanned the ground, seeing clear evidence of a burn pattern leading from the barn and the back of the house. This fire wasn’t an accident. His eyes shifted, and he focused past the blaze. He detected movement in the trees, but it was too far to make out who or what watched them. The roar of fire and water created a white noise that made it hard to hear past. Firefighters called commands to each other.

“Good, you’re all accounted for.” Deputy Herczeg held a small notepad as she stopped next to them. “You’ll have to wait until they clear the house before you can go inside.” She pulled a pen out of her front breast pocket. “Any idea who would want to burn down your house?”

“Maybe the same person who burnt our lawn, or spray-painted the siding, or knocked down the barn,” Lily said. “Maybe if you had taken our report seriously the first time instead of dismissing it, we wouldn’t be here.”

Herczeg slapped her pen down on the pad without writing anything down.

“We don’t know,” Dante amended for his sister. “It could have been the ghosts that showed up on the lawn, or—”

“Dante.” Lily tried to shush her brother.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Dante dismissed his sister. “It’s Lucky Valley. Like ghosts are a big secret. You’re dating a werewolf.”

Nolan looked at Lily to see her reaction. Her eyes met his, but she didn’t protest the comment.

“That fireman—sorry, firefighter—has scales,” Dante continued. “We’re witches. Polly tried to set me up on a date with a troll.”

“She’s a lovely girl,” Polly interrupted.

“What’s wrong with trolls?” Herczeg asked. She put her pen back in her pocket.

Dante had the good sense, for once, not to open his smart-alecky mouth.

“So I was right. This is a Goode problem, not a police problem,” Herczeg concluded. “I have no jurisdiction over ghosts. Only those supernaturals who have permanent corporeal form.”

“It might not be ghosts. It could be…” Lily hesitated and looked around. Seeing a gnome, she pointed at the pointy-hatted suspect. “It could be gnomes.”

“What?” Polly gasped. “The gnomes are our friends. They protect.”

“They appear all over the house like creepy little voyeurs,” Dante said.

“Quiet, Florus,” Polly scolded, “or no cupcakes for you.”

“And plastic pink flamingos helped by spray painting your house?” Herczeg arched a brow. “You do know they’re lawn ornaments, right?”

“It’s not the gnomes,” Polly insisted. “And flamingos can’t spray. They don’t have hands.”

“I’ll talk to the sheriff about checking the surrounding woods,” the deputy said. “Until we hire more help, there are only two of us. We’ll do the best we can.”

“Ask some of the shifters,” Nolan suggested. “We can run the entire area in a few hours.”

Herczeg checked her watch and then shook her head. “No. We’re not going to do that.”

“Why not?” Lily asked. “Do you think it’s too dangerous? Nolan, I don’t want you putting yourself in danger. Maybe you should let the police handle it.”

The deputy gave Nolan a meaningful look and glanced up at the sky. How could he have forgotten what tonight was?

“She’s right. We can’t do it now. We’ll do it tomorrow.” Nolan turned to watch the flames. He’d known the wolf inside him for so long, that he’d not even thought about the tingling in his limbs, the warning that always came before the full moon.

He took Lily’s hand and pulled her away from the others. The orange firelight danced on her features. He wanted to protect her, more than anything. This threat wasn’t a prank, couldn’t be shrugged off or explained away. It wasn’t ghosts, or gnomes. It was serious. And he couldn’t stay to protect her.

“What is it?” Lily reached to touch his arm.

“I have to leave.” He looked at the fire, the muddy ground, anywhere but at her face.

“What? Now? With this?” She stepped between him and the fire, forcing him to look at her. “Nolan, you can’t go. I…” Her voice dropped. “I need you.”

“You need me?” The words gave him great pleasure.

“I need your help.” Her eyes begged him. “Please stay.”

“Get your brother and Polly and go book a room in town for the night.” Nolan turned as he heard a shout. A beam collapsed into the pile. Flames arced. “Make sure you lock your doors.”

“I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me again.” Her words were drowned out by several shouts and the rush of water from the hose as Santos stepped closer to them.

“It’s a full moon,” he tried to explain.

“Go, go, go,” Santos shouted.

“What?” she yelled over the noise.

“Left,” Kelly ordered.

“No, right,” Walsh countered.

“I can’t come because it’s a full moon,” he said louder.

She plugged her ear facing the fire and yelled louder. “What?”

“It’s jumping to the house,” Santos said. “Get in front of it.”

“Nolan, now!” the deputy ordered.

“What?” she repeated before lifting her hands in irritation. She gestured at the fire, crying, “Just put the damn fire out already!”

A loud whoosh of air rose around the barn. People stumbled for footing. Their hair blew toward the flames. The fire turned almost instantly into a mushroom cloud of dark smoke. The water stream continued to fly from the hose onto the smoking boards for a few more seconds before Santos closed the nozzle.

Silence was punctured by dripping water. Movement seemed to happen in slow motion as the firefighters stopped working. Lily’s hands shook as they remained lifted toward the barn. Her stunned expression remained frozen.

“Lily.” Nolan took her hands in his.

“My sugar bee is a fully baked little cookie,” Polly exclaimed.

“Did I…?” Lily looked at him helplessly.

Her hands seemed to buzz with energy in his.

“That was awesome, Lily,” Dante said. “So much cooler than levitating a chair.”

“Let’s pack it up,” Santos ordered, his voice not as gruff as before.

“Nolan, let’s move,” Herczeg said.

Nolan looked up at the sky. “I have to go. I’m sorry.”

She gripped him tighter.

“Nolan, do you have a trap here?” the deputy asked.

“No.” He shook his head.

“I’ll give you a ride to your house. Let’s go.” Herczeg didn’t wait for him to agree.

Nolan wished he could explain more about the Dawson curse, but was only able to say, “full moon,” before running after the deputy. It may already be too late, but at least the deputy would know how to stop him if he turned before making it to his chains.