"Something about the boy or his guardian are certainly drawing the attention of the shadows," Flagstaff said. "And a lot of attention at that."

"My thoughts exactly," agreed Felicia, rising from her chair. "Come with me," she told Flagstaff, leading him to a dark corner in the room. She made a small gesture, and a rectangle the height of a door blazed like fire upon the wall. She passed through it, followed by the rabbit. They emerged into the adjoining room. A rising moon shone through the windows. Asleep in a small bed was the young skunk-child, Billy. "This is him," she told Flagstaff in a low voice.

"Seems innocent enough," Flagstaff said, leaning over to observe the boy.

"But see," said the vixen. She passed a hand over the boy's sleeping face. The air over the small body shimmered like a summer haze, rippling and wavering as bands of colors appeared and surrounded Billy in a sheath of light. "His aura. See anything interesting?"

Flagstaff leaned farther, his face almost touching the colorful band. He hemmed and hummed, like a studious physician, and he brought out his magnifying glass to peer more closely at the aura. Long minutes of his studying went by without a word. He passed the glass up and down over the length of the sleeping boy, before standing upright again and he motioned to Felicia that they should return to her room. The vixen allowed the aura to fade back to invisibility before following the rabbit.