If you don’t hear from us, please find and protect Nidhi. Then, contact Nicola Pallas from the Porters, and Isaac’s research team at New Millennium. They know most of what we’ve found. You’re the only person I know and trust with the power to succeed if we fail.

I’m sorry for asking this of you after you’ve done so much for me.

Love,

Lena

Chapter 14

“You never trusted inhumans. You never allowed them to be a part of the Porters. Why?”

“The Porters was an organization of people who used magic. Inhumans are magic, but they can’t use it the way we do.”

“Neither can Nidhi Shah, but she’s been with the Porters longer than I have.”

“It’s hard enough keeping the loyalty of people from different nations, different religious backgrounds, different philosophies about the world. How could I trust someone to put the Porters above his own species?”

“Some of them would have. Lena would have.”

“Right now, she probably would. But she’s evolved a great deal in recent years. Who’s to say she’ll remain loyal ten years from now?”

“You could make the same point about me. About anyone.”

“Oh, I was keeping a very close eye on you, Isaac. Tell me, do you think you could have done a better job building and protecting the Porters? That’s not a rhetorical question, by the way.”

“I don’t know. I’d like to think so.”

“Mm . . . so would I.”

“YOU ENCHANTED A LETTER opener?” asked Lena.

“I figured it was less conspicuous than carrying a full-sized sword.” I’d borrowed the old letter opener from the library’s circulation desk. It was essentially a dull plastic knife, nine inches long and bright red. The name of the library was stamped in faded black on the handle, along with a note to CELEBRATE READING: TAKE THE 2012 SUMMER BOOK CHALLENGE.

I’d copied the magic of a sword called Wayfinder into the letter opener, drawing on Fred Saberhagan’s The Complete Book of Swords. When I looked closely, I could see the typeface from the book wavering within the plastic.

“Gutenberg used to do something similar with his sword. A Katzbalger. I never got the chance to study it, but it looked like he’d transferred the powers of dozens of tomes into that blade. Wayfinder had the power to lead its wielder to whatever he or she wanted. The downside is that it doesn’t always choose the safest route.”

We’d tried finding Senator Keeler’s home the old-fashioned way, but every public database and directory had failed me. More significantly, several magical attempts had failed as well. Keeler was likely shielding himself with magic, just as we’d been doing.

“Why didn’t you use that thing to begin with?” Deb demanded. “Whip it out and tell it to take us to whoever’s in charge of this circus.”