Charles studied me through his mechanical eye, a black-glass-and-chrome bionic replacement with telescopic, X-ray, and infrared modes, as well as a laser capable of cutting through one-inch steel in twenty seconds. With magic out in the open, he’d begun harvesting body modifications from various science fiction novels. His eternal complaint—one of them, at least—was his inability to access tech from his own books.

The risk of stories infecting your mind and thoughts was exponentially higher when the libriomancer was also the author. Gutenberg was the only person I knew who had successfully performed libriomancy with his own work, and even then, the attempt ultimately killed him.

Charles drummed the metal fingers of his left hand on the desk. He’d also given himself the ability to sense magnetic fields, a sense of smell as powerful as that of a turkey vulture, and upgraded adrenal glands. “Well?” he said. “Are you going to tell us what this is about?”

I took off my jacket and set it over the crystal ball. “Talulah, we’ll need privacy, please. Magical and mundane.”

She cocked her head, but popped open her briefcase and brought out one of her books. She skimmed the pages and created a device that looked like a thick smartphone. “That will jam any listening devices.” A second book produced a small dagger, which she placed next to the jammer. “And that should disrupt magical spying.”

I opened Smudge’s cage and lifted him free. “I have a new research project for this team, one that takes precedence over your current work.”

Charles was the first to react, rising to his feet and placing both hands on the table. “That’s bullshit.”

“I’ve got a cat coming in tomorrow with FIV,” added Vince. “You expect me to just let him die?”

“I expect you to multitask. Talulah, I need you to find out everything you can about the USCGC Kagan. Crew details, mission logs, and a breakdown of its activities for the past year.”

‹What’s going on, Mister Vainio?›

‹I don’t know yet,› I answered. ‹Maybe nothing. I don’t want to prejudice your research with rumors.›

“Coast Guard?” asked Vince. “Are we doing military research now?”

Smudge crawled up my arm and settled onto my shoulder, cool and calm. “You’re helping me with a puzzle. The less you know, the easier it will be for you to plead ignorance if this goes badly.”

Charles huffed up like I’d slapped him in the face and pissed on his three-hundred dollar shoes. “If there ever comes a day when I deliberately embrace ignorance, I’ll have lived one day too long.”

Vince jerked his chin at Charles. “What he said.”

‹I agree.›

“Isaac was in Lansing,” said Vince. “Odds are this has something to do with the attack.”