Information flashed everywhere, magically appearing and disappearing from building walls and huge freestanding panels. Some of it glowed, as though lit from within by different colored fires. The Magoi here must be very powerful, more favored by the gods than even the magic-wielders in Thalyria.

Been in an accident? Call Mo. Mo’s your man. He’s got your back, especially if yours is broken.

All you can eat fried chicken! Every Friday night at Cluck Cluck’s!

Reading and comprehending another language instantly would’ve been exciting if Piers had any idea what was happening. As it was, the strange ease just worried him.

Could this be Atlantis? Or Attica?

No, Attica lost its magic ages ago when the people there stopped worshipping the Olympians. Their lack of devotion caused their magic to dry up and the gods to abandon them. Only Athena supposedly still cared what went on in what she’d once considered her world.

Piers sent off a silent but heartfelt prayer to Athena, the deity his family worshipped above all others. He wasn’t too proud to ask for guidance, especially since he was incredibly lost right now.

He turned and scanned the magic signage behind him.

Broadway is back and better than ever! Go to heartbeatofnewyorkdiscounttickets.com for the best prices the internet has to offer!

New and Used Cars! Delany’s Dealership has what you want at the prices you need! Special deals for veterans!

That last gigantic parchment on the wall had incredibly realistic drawings of the horseless wagons. Cars.

Piers grunted, internalizing the information. They had a name now. So did other things as he looked around. Reading the magic panels somehow helped him tame some of the unknown. Not enough, though. He still felt more lost than found.

A woman ran into the street while cars still moved forward, darting in and out of them like a cricket between hooves. One made a gods-awful noise. Someone yelled an insult, but she didn’t even glance over her shoulder. Piers narrowed his eyes. Did she not know about the glowing-man, red-hand magic? She’d get herself killed.

She raced onto the central island and came to a screeching halt not far from him. The cars on the opposite side from where she’d started didn’t provide an opening, whizzing by too fast for this cricket to risk launching herself into them. She sucked down air, her face red from cold and exertion. Piers swiftly took inventory. Tall. Blonde. A good runner—although he wasn’t sure how in those little boots that hugged her ankles. Her puffy pink upper body apparel rose and fell on quick breaths as she frantically looked behind her.

Something in the woman’s wide, frightened eyes made Piers’s chest tighten. He followed her gaze, seeing two men step into the street, risking the oncoming cars to narrow the gap to the target they were obviously chasing.