Michael pulls a leather billfold from the pocket of his cloak, opens it, and takes out a white folded paper. It’s an origami bird. “I’m still worried about leaving you knowing Inquisitors are looking for you. Take this pigeon,” he says. “Use it if you need me.”

Even if I know it’s not these Inquisitors who are looking for me, it seems that someone else is, so I do need to be careful. I take the bird from him, and I’m surprised to find that it isn’t made of paper but of something that feels like lightweight clay.

Michael reaches over and strokes the bird’s beak. The flat wings unfold and begin to flutter. The bird elevates off the top of my palm and hovers there, wings flapping, its faceless head twitching from left to right.

I’m transfixed by its delicate beauty.

“It’s like magic,” I say in wonder.

“Or advanced science.” Michael winks. “This is a homing pigeon golem. It will find me wherever I am, anywhere in the world. You can write a message inside, or just send it off if you’re in danger. All you need to do is flick its tail, and it will know to find me.”

“This is… impossible.”

“Your understanding of what is possible and impossible is about to change,” Michael says with a smile. The sentiment tangles in my chest, making it hard to breathe, whether from amazement or fear, I’m not quite sure.

“This golem utilizes magnetoreception—the same force that allows real pigeons to navigate using Earth’s magnetic field—and it is entirely scientifically possible.” He reaches over and strokes the bird’s beak again. It folds flat and floats back down into my hand. Michael’s hand comes down on top of it and presses it into my palm. His fingers are warm and strong, and I try my best to ignore the growing tension coiling inside me as his eyes find mine earnestly. “Promise me that you’ll deploy the pigeon if you need me and that you’ll keep it with you at all times while you’re still at risk.”

“Okay,” I say, quite sure that I am indeed at risk—but of what, I do not know.

4

“And he was a native English speaker with an American accent?” Counselor Avellino asks me for the third time.

“Yes,” I confirm, trying to sound polite instead of pissy. I’ve been interrogated by the Families about every single interaction I had with Michael and then asked to repeat it all again. And despite my promises to Michael, I’ve told them everything. Well, besides the fact that I went on a date with my mark before I realized who he was.

“And he said only some of the exiles traveled to the Americas?”

Counselor Avellino is the Families’ lawyer and, let me tell you, he knows how to cross-examine a witness.