“Well, they’re both absolutely lovely, so no surprise there.” The Zhang and the Robbins families deserved every bit of happiness that came their way. “If she’s anything like my mother, she’ll be angling for marriage and grandchildren, but to be fair, you and Jade would have unthinkably cute—” He had an abrupt thought. “Would your children be unthinkably cute paranormals?”

“Possibly.”

“Why do you say that without fear?”

Zhang huffed a laugh. “Who knows? Magic is so unpredictable. My family tends toward walkers—I walk on the astral plane, my mother can pass through anything but lead. But Sasha and Pavel Ivanov have very different magic, and most of the time, people don’t have magic at all.” His smile faded. “A paranormal exhibit at the world’s fair would draw a crowd. Might draw someone who knows how to destroy a relic. Except...”

“Except France is next door to Germany, and Baron Zeppler is almost certainly going to visit an exhibit like that.” Arthur swallowed. “It would be a dangerous place to take Rory.”

They couldn’t possibly take Rory to Europe, not with a mind full of history’s secrets that the telepathic Baron Zeppler could pluck from his brain. But going back to Paris would mean Arthur could be gone for months, not just weeks, without Rory.

Then again, it wasn’t just Europe that Arthur was worried about.

Zhang noticed his hesitation. “Anywhere could be a dangerous place for Rory right now,” he said gently, like he was the one who was reading Arthur’s mind. “Zeppler knows he’s alive. He’s got to be frothing at the mouth at the idea of getting his hands on a psychometric.”

Arthur stared into his coffee cup. “I’m aware.”

He’d been anxious and on edge since they’d left the city, because he wasn’t there to protect Rory when he could be a target. It didn’t help that in the space of a couple weeks, Rory had nearly lost his life to both the Hudson and Delaware Rivers, or that sometimes, when Arthur closed his eyes, he could still see Rory falling from the top of the ocean liner before the river itself had risen to save him.

“Pavel helped Ling and my mom set more guardian magic, before he put the lodestone on,” Zhang said, in a reassuring tone. “His alchemy is something else. No new paranormals are coming onto the island without us knowing.”

“I suppose.” If Arthur wasn’t literally trying to save the world—

“The sooner we destroy the pomander, the sooner we can get back to New York,” a woman’s voice said.

“Jade.” Arthur stood. “Did you have any luck?”

Zhang had stood as well, and without her heels, Jade had to stretch up and he had to stoop to kiss. “Hello, darling,” she said, grinning at Zhang like Arthur hadn’t even spoken.