I read several lines, enough to identify the source of the spell. “They used a book called Our Lady of the Islands. The protagonist develops the ability to heal with a touch. What exactly did it look like when they healed Lex?”

“Dr. Parisi did the actual healing,” said Dr. Simpkin. “She called it a controlled partial manifestation.”

“It was like the book was a window and the lady inside the book reached out and shook hands with Doctor Alyce!” Lex added. “She put the book-lady’s hand on my forehead, then on my knee.”

“Makes sense.” With the NIH and everyone else looking for the slightest excuse to shut us down, we’d been going with the least intrusive measures possible. Alyce Parisi was a good libriomancer and an equally good doctor. She wouldn’t have done anything that risked harm to her patient.

Despite its effectiveness, I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the technique. Living manifestations of fictional characters were too unpredictable, especially intelligent characters. They couldn’t handle the transition to the real world. Lena was one of the only exceptions I’d encountered, and her existence and sanity had come with a cost. Even Smudge had struggled when I accidentally drew him from his familiar goblin tunnels into my high school library.

Partial manifestations—a single hand or arm reaching from the pages—were certainly safer. We’d used them in the past to take blood samples and such. But exactly how much of the character did we create in the process? Did the mind achieve any kind of momentary sentience? Was there a flicker of awareness, of existence spread between the real world and the magical potential of the text?

I stood and slid my glasses back onto my face. “Lex is great. It’s exactly what we’d hoped for.”

“That’s a good thing.” Toby’s hesitation turned it into as much a question as a statement.

“Yah, of course.” I was being paranoid. Whatever chaos was happening throughout the world, she was safe here.

“Is there anything magic can’t do, Uncle Isaac?”

“Plenty.” I forced a smile. “But wouldn’t it be boring if we could do anything?”

From her frown, she wasn’t convinced.

“Want to see something I can do?” I clenched my jaw, glanced at the phone, and subvocally dialed their direct extension. When the phone rang, I smiled at Lex. “It’s for you.”

She picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hi, Lex!”

Her face lit up. “Uncle Isaac? How are you doing that?”

“I told you. It’s magic!”

She climbed out of her chair. Her parents both swooped in to catch her if she fell, but she shooed them away. She grabbed my arm for balance and stood on tiptoes to study my mouth “Do it again.”

“You mean, do it again, please?”