“Did you hear what you just said, Isaac?” Derek let out a long, slow breath that smelled faintly of pipe smoke. “You put a bomb in that fellow’s head. You Porters were judges and executioners, and people know it. Fact is, you are dangerous.”

“Of course we’re dangerous. So are you. So is every paranoid, trigger-happy idiot ordering vampire-hunting kits off e-Bay or melting antique candlesticks to make silver bullets. You know what’s more dangerous? Entire nations doing the same damn thing.” I raised a hand before he could argue. “You’re right, the Porters screwed up sometimes. I screwed up. I also saved a lot of lives, and we could save a hell of a lot more if people would just let us. There are kids dying out there, Derek. People who need our help. We can’t fix everything, but we can do so much better than we are right now, and all anyone wants to do is talk about preemptive magical strikes and how many people they can kill with the next libriomantic superweapon.”

“What do you suggest?” he asked. “Should we abandon national defense, let you run off to produce your magical rainbows and unicorns, and wait for some genie from the Middle East to wish the American people into turnips?”

“That’s not how genies work, you ignorant—”

“Isaac.” Nidhi spoke quietly, making me realize how loud I was getting.

I sat back, pulled off my glasses, and rubbed my eyes. “I’m sorry. I know you’re trying to navigate this mess the best you can, but it’s not enough.”

“You think I don’t know that? You get to go home to Vegas to play in your lab. I have to jump back into that snake pit every day.” He sounded as tired as I felt. “How’s Lex doing?”

Vaughn had an excellent memory for people, and never failed to ask about my niece. “She’s excited. Nervous, too, but mostly impatient to be done. I’ll be flying back to Vegas later tonight so I can be there for her procedure.”

“We need more success stories like hers,” said Vaughn. “Show the world how magic restored a little girl’s leg.”

“We could have showed the world a year ago,” I pointed out.

“Isaac, you know this has to be done by the book. If there’s the slightest possibility of things going wrong, you could do more harm than good.”

“Tell that to Lex and her parents.”

Before he could answer, Nicola’s cellphone buzzed on the table, playing the opening bars of a Harry Connick Jr. song.

“Excuse me.” She picked up the phone and turned away.

Vaughn’s phone went off a moment later. My hands clenched. I hoped it was coincidence, but I wasn’t surprised when my own communicator chimed to signal an incoming call.

“This is Isaac. What happened?”