The women’s shaven heads were covered in electrodes, all flowing together into black cables like thicker versions of the ones I’d seen in the guardroom.

I called Talulah back. “I’ve got interesting news about those servers . . .”

NEW FIGHTING IN UKRAINE

Renewed military action between Russia and Ukraine is being blamed on a mythological creature known as the vodyanyk.

Described as malevolent, slime-covered water spirits, vodyanoi are said to live in rivers and other bodies of water. According to folklore, they would destroy dams and bridges when angered, and often drowned unsuspecting passersby.

Reports claim Russian supporters near the town of Luhansk began dying sixteen days ago. Each morning, three new bodies have been found washed up on the banks of the Siverskyi Donets River. At first, these deaths were blamed on pro-Ukraine militants. Multiple eyewitnesses now describe an elderly-looking man, covered in scales and seaweed, roaming the streets at night.

Russia has made no official statement, but Luhansk has seen an influx of armed soldiers, as well as tanker trucks said to be carrying poisons that could be used to kill all life within the Siverskyi Donets.

Government officials at a Ukrainian cabinet meeting disavowed any influence or control of the vodyanyk, but warned that Russia’s actions would only increase the creature’s anger.

Chapter 12

“If you could go back and do it over again—libriomancy, the Porters, and everything else—what would you change?”

“For one thing, I’d stay the hell away from the book that killed me.”

“You know what I mean.”

“You want to know if it was worth it. I can’t answer that, Isaac. We can know what was, but not what might have been. I oversaw five hundred years of magical history. The Porters spread throughout the world. The knowledge we amassed is beyond anything I could have imagined. We stopped countless threats. Was it the best possible outcome? Perhaps not, but I’m proud of what we accomplished.”

“Those five hundred years of secrecy also set up the ignorance and fear that are triggering backlash and war against people like us.”

“Human ignorance has never needed help. You think society would be more stable if magic had developed and evolved openly? Perhaps. Or perhaps kings and emperors would have added magic to their arsenal and committed atrocities to make the horrors of the past centuries look like schoolyard brawls. Perhaps they yet will.”

“Or maybe they’d have accomplished miracles.”

“Exactly so. It’s impossible to say. This is quite the gamble you’ve taken, Isaac. I hope the dice fall in your favor.”

EACH WOMAN—EACH COPY OF Kiyoko Itô—wore a simple black hospital gown. Unlike Babs’ secretary, these Kiyokos weren’t wearing the amulets that blocked me from reading their magic. I removed my glasses and sat down next to the bottom-most Kiyoko. “They’re from a Japanese novel.”

“Since when do you read Japanese?”