Back in Mrs. Raptis’ living room, Henry found Helena Hathaway seated with her mother, Emily the nurse again stationed in the corner, watching over Ioanna. Tension stained the atmosphere, made it bitter, and Helena paled when she saw Saoirse enter with the group.

Henry hurried to allay her fears. “It’s quite alright, Mrs. Hathaway. As Inspector Zhou can attest, the police’s magical consultant assured us that Ms. Evans’ wards were exactly what she promised they would be, nothing more. She didn’t cause your husband’s accident and is, in fact, very eager to help us catch the true criminal.”

Inspector Zhou mumbled something of an assent.

“If that’s true, why didn’t the wards protect my son-in-law?” Mrs. Raptis asked. The woman had grown, if possible, colder since their last meeting.

“In this case, the creature that came for Mr. Hathaway was simply stronger than any protective ward could have stopped.”

Helena ran her fingers nervously through the ends of her dark curls. “Is that supposed to make me feel better, Mr. Bell? The creature you speak of — it’s coming for us, too, isn’t it? That’s why you’re here? Will we really be able to stop it?”

“Nearly a dozen undercover officers are watching the house,” Inspector Zhou assured her. “And if the beast gets past them, we now have not one, but two powerful sídhe here as a final line of defense. You will all be perfectly safe.”

Henry glanced at Saoirse, one of the supposed powerful sídhe. She winked at him and shrugged, and Henry bit back a smile. Fortunately, if the rumors about the Uí Anghau were true, Taise would have more than enough magic for the both of them. And the assurance seemed to settle Helena, at least. She relaxed back into the sofa and nodded. “I thank you for your assistance, then. We leave ourselves in your hands, even if I do wish you would explain what’s coming and why.”

“I promise to make everything clear once the culprit has been apprehended,” Henry said. “Mrs. Hathaway, Ioanna will be staying with you tonight, correct?”

“Yes. We had an extra crib moved upstairs already, like you asked.”

“Wonderful. Emily, will you show us to the nursery?”

Emily nodded, rising with Ioanna in her arms and leading them to the small nursery at the back of the house. The room had two large windows, the curtains on each pulled open to reveal a ghostly, fog-dense yard. The glow from the church and the busy street barely reached here, leaving the room illuminated only by the pale moonlight that spilled inside.

“I’ll have the servants light the lamps,” Emily said. She turned to leave, but Henry stopped her.

“No, this will do fine,” he said, finally pulling the baby doll out of its box. Ignoring the confused looks he got from Emily and Inspector Zhou, he asked Taise, “The cú sídhe hunt by scent, I assume?”

“Yes,” Taise said, amused. “I’m not sure how long a doll is going to fool them, Henry. The cú sídhe are clever, and once they have their prey’s scent, they never lose it.”

“I figured as much, but it doesn’t need to fool them long. It just needs to fool them. Can you do something with magic to make the bait more alluring? Or perhaps to disguise Ioanna? Something to ensure the hound comes here, first, instead of wherever Ioanna’s sleeping.”

Taise thought for a moment, then reached out and gently touched Ioanna’s forehead. Nothing changed except that, for a moment, Henry thought the red of Taise’s eyes looked deeper, darker. Emily clutched Ioanna to her.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t harm her,” Taise assured Emily. “I only temporarily softened her scent. Wrap the doll in some of Ioanna’s clothes — something she wore recently — and it’ll be difficult for the hound to tell them apart.”

Emily tried to pass Ioanna off to Henry so she could retrieve the clothes, but when Henry froze, Inspector Zhou stepped in to take the baby instead, carrying her off to a corner of the room and cooing at her under his breath when he thought no one could hear. Together, Henry and Emily dressed the baby doll, wrapped her in blankets covered in Ioanna’s scent, and laid her in the crib.

“I can’t believe you’re using our Sherrie as bait,” Saoirse teased. She didn’t lift a finger to help as all this went on, only watched.

“I’d rather the hound got Sherrie than the alternative,” Henry countered.

“My, this is an awful lot of fuss for a dog. What’s so special about these cú sídhe, anyway?”

Taise frowned at Saoirse. “You’re sídhe, but you don’t know the stories?”

“I know the stories,” Saoirse blustered, recovering quickly. “I just don’t know what’s true and what isn’t. I only just found out the hounds were real an hour ago, after all.”

In the rest of the house, servants went about their nightly tasks, treating this as though it were any other evening. They barred the front door, put out the lamps, closed the curtains. Mrs. Hathaway stopped in briefly to tell them she was retiring for the evening, and to take Emily and Ioanna upstairs with her, and before long, the house was quiet.

Henry sat on the ground in the vacant nursery, the others doing the same. From Henry’s left came an exaggerated yawn. “Wake me when something happens,” Saoirse said, settling back against a small pile of toys and stuffed animals.

“We’re supposed to listen for anything suspicious,” Inspector Zhou snapped.

“Isn’t that what your officers outside are for?”

To Henry’s right, Taise shifted, his leg brushing against Henry’s as he laughed. “Human officers won’t be able to stop one of my hounds.”

“Their job isn’t to stop it,” Henry said. “They’ve been given orders to let it though.”

Saoirse sat up. “What? Why?”

“Because Taise’s right. Rather than get someone hurt trying to stop the hound, they’re to watch and capture whoever’s commanding it. Taise can deal with the cú sídhe himself. Right, Taise?”

“Of course,” Taise said smoothly.

“If I’d known that was the plan, I would’ve asked to hide upstairs with Emily and Mrs. Hathaway,” Saoirse grumbled, settling back into her makeshift bed.

The group settled in to wait. It was only a matter of minutes before soft snores came from Saoirse’s corner of the room; Taise snorted and Inspector Zhou rolled his eyes, but all of them — barring Saoirse — stayed vigilant, listening for any sign that the cú sídhe might be coming. Occasionally, they heard the soft cadence of muffled voices passing on the street, or the rattle of an evening carriage. But with each quiet minute that passed, the silence grew heavier. Henry watched out one of the windows, tapping his finger repeatedly against his leg. What if he was wrong? What if no one was coming?

Eventually, Inspector Zhou clapped a hand over Henry’s own, stilling it. “Stop that,” he said, his voice uncharacteristically gentle, though Henry suspected that might be due to the necessity of whispering. “You’re sure whoever killed Hathaway is after the kid, right?”

Henry nodded.

“So we’ll just come back tomorrow night, and again, and however long we need to until the killer is caught.  Even if they don’t come for the baby tonight, it won’t be a waste as long as Ioanna stays safe.”

“You’re right. Thank you, Inspector.” Outside, the bells of the church began to ring, calling out to mark the time. Henry counted each of the twelve tolls, then released a heavy breath.

Inspector Zhou rubbed his arms. “Did it get cold in here all of a sudden?”

Henry frowned. He hadn’t noticed it happen, but the air around them had drastically changed — it felt charged, magic flitting at the peripherals like it did in the spaces between worlds. He opened his mouth to say so, but just then, a howl ripped through the night.

“Huh?” Saoirse asked groggily, sitting up and blinking at her companions. Their eyes had adjusted to the night enough to be able to make out her expression — and to see the way it shifted to terror as she noticed something behind them, past the nursery door and out into the hallway beyond. “What is that?”