Lilia awakened suddenly, certain that something was wrong.
Her heart was leaping, although the unit was still. Montgomery slept beside her, his breathing deep and regular. She strained her ears but heard nothing. It was midnight.
She slipped from the bed carefully, to avoid disturbing Montgomery and went to the window in the living room. She opened it quietly, taking a deep breath of the cold wind that was blowing in from the north. The city was quiet and dark, sleeping.
There’d be snow by morning; she could smell it in the wind. The clouds were thick overhead, obscuring the stars, but the snow would shine the next day like a carpet of diamonds.
Or fallen stars.
And that was when Lilia knew what was wrong.
The calliope at the circus was silent.
She could usually hear the faint lilti
