It fit the mindset we’d seen from Potts and others. Put the sirens beneath the hospital, using the patients as human shields. ‹I’ll head over there next. Good work with the dowsing rod. I’d expected Kiyoko to have magic-dampers blocking your efforts.›

‹She did,› said Vince. ‹That’s how we found them. You can’t just take a marine creature out of the Atlantic and drop her in a bathtub. Sirens can survive away from the ocean, but they need time to adjust. If McGinley wants his sirens healthy enough to sing, that means salt water, a filtration system, pipes to circulate and oxygenate the water—›

‹I couldn’t find the tanks,› Charles cut in. ‹Vince suggested dowsing for pipes. We found several water pipes that weren’t on the plans. I traced them beneath Metrodora, where they all vanished. That empty area has to be the shielded room where they’re holding the sirens.›

‹What we haven’t figured out yet is how to reach that room safely,› said Talulah.

‹I’ve got an idea about that. Keep the research tower locked down. Babs should have called security off by now, but we don’t know who else is loyal to McGinley. I’m on my way.› I turned to Lena. “Will she be secure here?”

“They’re not going anywhere.”

“Good.” I looked down. Even in death, Deb smirked like she’d just eaten someone’s canary. “Then let’s finish this.”

I hurled another gate through the wall in front of us, sending a diamond-shaped chunk of steel and cinder-blocks into nonexistence. I stopped only long enough to use another book to conjure wings onto my shoes, and to grab Lena. Then we were flying toward Franklin Tower.

Halfway there, with the two of us twenty feet above the ground, the sirens began to sing.

TRANSCRIPT OF A CALL FROM U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR PETER MALIK TO SPECIAL COMMISSION DIRECTOR AAMNA BERCHA

Malik: Aamna? This is Peter Malik. Approximately fifteen minutes ago, our security team moved us into the Metrodora Hospital Tower. They’re saying we’re under attack by an as-yet-unidentified enemy.

Bercha: Is your team safe and accounted for?

Malik: We’re all here, and nobody has been hurt. Security’s telling us we’re confined to this room, a cafeteria near the center of the tower, until they receive the all-clear.

Bercha: What’s the nature of the attack?

Malik: We don’t know yet. There was a commotion at the administration building, and we heard a series of gunshots. I saw what may have been a sniper firing at the admin building from another tower. Our escorts are muttering about another Vanguard attack. One mentioned a rogue libriomancer named Isaac Vainio, believed to be working with Vanguard.

Bercha: I’m calling Washington. We’re pulling your team out of there.

Malik: Understood. I recommend—