A couple of other guests toss papers into the fire, lingering to watch them burn before drifting back to the main party. The music has shifted from the liveliness of before to something slower, haunting and beautiful. It drifts like a river out of the house and down to where we stand.

I sway to it, and catch Max doing the same at Colin’s side. His fingers twitch as if he wants to join, but he only wraps his arms around his stomach.

“Come on,” I say. “One dance before we take on the King of the Dead?”

A smile breaks across his face, and he starts shifting his weight. An array of high, ghostly voices join the song, singing in Irish. I know the trio of witches singing—Alice and her friends. Their voices are like a siren’s song; I can listen forever. I close my eyes, focusing on the sound of the music, letting it flow in and through me, filling me up with their power.

The song begins to pick up pace and I snatch both of Colin’s hands, spinning us in circles across the grass. We dance around paper lanterns and carved pumpkins, Max weaving between our feet. We laugh, and with each step my body grows lighter, as if I’m slowly turning into nothing but air. The world becomes a blur of color and light and sound, wrapping us in a protective cocoon, and for that moment, everything is perfect.

Then the music reaches its peak, and the lightness is crushed by an overwhelming sense of cold and despair.

I gasp, my eyes flying open. Colin tenses. The song comes to an end and we both fall still. My back is toward the house and a presence I don’t want to face. Footsteps sound behind me and I turn.

“He’s here,” says Rose with a shiver, her arms wrapped about her chest.

I swallow hard, my skin prickling with goose bumps. Rubbing them does nothing; the chill is from the inside.

I don’t want to leave the field, wishing for a second that if I don’t move, the moment won’t have to end. We won’t have to do this.

“Okay,” I say finally. “Let’s go.”

The three of us cross the field to the porch. Throughout the rest of the house, the party continues unchanged. For the out-of-town guests, this is just another celebration. They have no idea what lurks in their midst. Only the locals have sensed the change in the air, Alice among them. She clutches a pale gold crystal in her hand, the light pulsating as she begins her protection spell with the help of her friends.