“Did I ever teach you to worry about window boxes?” Dad shook his head chidingly. “Remind me, Mia. Who put your first tool in your hands and taught you exactly how to use it?”

Tears stung my eyes, blurring his familiar, beloved face. “You did,” I whispered.

I’d always wanted so badly to make him proud.

Now, his mouth was bracketed by white lines of pain…but his smile still shone with pride as he patted the metal supports that I had built him. “Haven’t I been telling you to do more of your work out in the sunshine?”

By the time I joined the twenty-person-long, torch-bearing procession, they had already reached the great black walls of the castle and were milling around in front of it. I recognized their leader from the group that had visited us on our first day in the neighborhood: the town’s mayor, a tall, upright man with a close-shaven face, a rigidly straight nose, and a fanatic’s zeal in his blue eyes. Mayor Hall’s face broke into a fierce smile as I walked up to join all of them, pulling an open wagon packed full of metal behind me.

“We hoped you’d join us, friend! I’m only thankful that you’ve survived ’til now. The last people who owned your cottage fled the very day after the necromancer arrived. We’ve all feared terribly for your safety, but don’t worry—we’ll end this creature and his monsters now. The sunlight weakens them, you see, and they all have a terrible fear of fire.”

I shifted closer to the door of the big black castle looming over us. Everyone would be asleep in there for hours, but I lowered my voice anyway. “What happens when they’re not afraid?”

“I beg your pardon?” The mayor frowned, glancing around at his supporters.

“When they’re out and about and not frightened,” I said patiently. “Do they actually eat people? Ever? Or do they just wander around moaning and getting some exercise?”

His brows snapped even tighter together. “What kind of a question is that? They’re monsters! If they haven’t eaten anyone yet, it’s only a matter of time. You should be grateful that we’re saving you! Unless…” His eyes narrowed. “You haven’t been corrupted by the necromancer’s dark magics, have you?”

Grumbles broke out behind him. Suspicious gazes heated my skin. Torches rose higher in anticipation.

“I’ve never spoken a word to him,” I said as I took a final step and planted myself between the torch-wielding group and the big black door that protected all the minions. “But I do believe in being a good neighbor—and I don’t particularly like fire, myself.”

“Now, see here, young lady—!”