Talulah nodded. “New Millennium has measures in place to protect our privacy. If he’s asking for additional shielding, it means he doesn’t trust those measures.”

“You think there’s a mole in New Millennium,” guessed Charles. “Do you believe we’re at risk of a similar attack here?”

“If that was the case, he’d have gone straight to Dr. Palmer.” Talulah shook her head. “You think she might be in on this?”

“I don’t know.” This kind of insight and intelligence was exactly why I’d wanted these three for my team, no matter how annoying some of them could be.

“If you’re so paranoid, why trust us?” asked Charles.

“I’m taking a chance,” I admitted. “But I’ve worked with you for close to a year now. I’ve seen your passion for your work, and for the things New Millennium could do. I don’t intend to let anyone corrupt or destroy what we’re doing here, and I don’t believe you would, either. I think I can trust you. Am I wrong?”

I looked at each of them until they answered out loud. The copy of The Goblin Wood I’d tucked into my pocket remained silent. They were telling the truth.

“Are any of you familiar with a group called Vanguard?” They looked at one another, shaking their heads. “They’ve been warning inhumans about police and government raids, helping to relocate them, and so on. The FBI believes they’re connected to these attacks. I don’t know if they’re directly involved, or if someone’s just recruiting extremists from the Vanguard pool.”

“I’ll ask around,” said Charles. “I have a lot of friends in the inhuman community. I’ve gone to them for research with my books.”

I looked across the table at Talulah. “Earlier today, I spoke with Babs about investigating these attacks. She got scared.”

“Scared?” Vince repeated. “Babs Palmer?”

“Scared of you?” Charles added, sounding equally incredulous.

I pushed my annoyance aside. “Not of me. Scared for me, maybe. Scared of what will happen if we dig into this.” I paused. “I can’t and won’t order any of you to do this. If you want out—”

“You’ve worked with Dr. Palmer,” said Talulah. “Do you believe she could have been involved with those attacks?”

“I believe she’s ambitious, arrogant, and potentially dangerous,” I said slowly. “I don’t think she’d help murder innocent people, but that’s not good enough. She’s one of the top people at New Millennium, and she’s in charge of security. If whoever’s behind this decides to target us next . . .”

Talulah’s brow was furrowed, and she kept chewing her lip. “I’ll do some digging.”

“All of the primary targets were people who’d spoken out against magic,” said Vince. “Coming after a group like New Millennium would be a complete one-eighty.”