He stepped through the door at the end of the passageway and into a room that in any other location would appear to be nothing more than a library belonging to a merchant or a well-settled member of the gentry. It was lit by candles. A cabinet to one side held weaponry of various kinds. Shelves on the walls held copies of penny dreadfuls, likely all that had ever been published.

A large desk sat along one wall with a tall chair turned away from the room, its occupant, no doubt looking out the high window that was curtained with translucent fabric, allowing lamplight in but obscuring the view from outside.

He often reported to the Dread Master in precisely this way. Never before had his report felt so dire.

“The Mastiff is dead, killed by Serena, who calls herself the Tempest. She has been the mastermind all this time. Nolan has fled, and we’ve reason to believe he’s a spy. The Dreadfuls have scattered, rushing to safeguard their families. The Tempest is preparing for a battle that is nearly at our doorstep.”

For so long, he’d forced himself to not even think the Dread Master’s name, to not allow even the tiniest indication of identity to enter his thoughts or slip free of his lips. He kept even his silent, mental references as neutral as he could. But it was time this organization fell under the leadership of the only one capable of seeing them through this war.

“I’m turning over the DPS to you. I will do all I can, whatever you ask of me. But they need to know they have you. With you at the lead, they can have some hope of survival.”

The chair shifted, and the Dread Master rose. A light fall of heeled boots clinked against the stone floor. A swish of fabric broke the silence.

Fletcher looked into the face of the only person who could give them a chance of emerging victorious in the coming war. “We are in your hands, Móirín.”

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

I could not possibly have written this book with any degree of accuracy without the preservation of and access to

• The Science and Practice of Medicine v. 2, written by William Aitken in 1866.

• “The Evolution of Light from the Living Human Subject,” written by Henry Marsh and published in The Provincial Medical Journal in 1842.

• The Medical and Physical Journal: Containing the Earliest Information on Subjects of Medicine, Surgery, Pharmacy, Chemistry, and Natural History, Vol III, published in 1800.

• The 1880s publications of the Folklore Society of Great Britain.

• Passing English of the Victorian Era: A Dictionary of Heterodox English, Slang and Phrase by James Redding Ware, published 1909

• The (modernly published) and invaluable works of lexicographer Susie Dent.

I further owe many thanks to

• Jolene Perry, for cheering on this series.

• Esther Hatch, for checking my use of Russian.

• Annette Lyon and Luisa Perkins, for encouragement and accountability.