Unbound (38 page)

They didn’t answer immediately, which was encouraging. Mmadukaaku and Paige looked at one another, carrying on a silent conversation. Finally, Paige put her hand on Jeneta’s shoulder.

Jeneta stared at her fire-spider. “They’ll be coming for me. For all of us who do magic. I want to help.”

Mmadukaaku looked at Nidhi.

“It would help her regain a sense of control over her own life,” Nidhi said quietly.

He pressed his lips together like he wanted to stop the words from escaping. “All right.”

“Thank you.” I smiled as Jeneta offered an ant to her spider. “What are you going to call her?”

“Nkiruka.” She raised her head. “It means a good and hopeful future.”

My name is Isaac. I’ve been a libriomancer for most of my adult life. Until recently, I was a member of the organization known as the Porters.

I’ve seen these people sacrifice their lives to protect you from monsters that would haunt you for the rest of your days. I’ve also seen them commit the pettiest acts of greed and selfishness.

Both of these extremes remind me that they’re human. The Porters aren’t gods. None of us are. We’re simply people who have learned new ways of poking the universe and making it react.

I recently got some advice from a . . . I guess you’d call him a friend. (Though if he was a
real
friend, he’d return my car!) Anyway, he’s lived through this kind of world-altering change before, and he says it’s going to be a bumpy ride. He also reassures me that we’ll get through it. Empires rise and fall. Human beings live and die, but humanity survives. It’s what we’re best at.

None of which is all that comforting when you discover a nest of vampires living a half mile below your local supermarket, eh? Or see winged monsters terrorizing ancient churches.

You’re going to hear that magic is a dangerous threat that needs to be eradicated, and that it’s the salvation of mankind. There’s truth to both sides. Magic is powerful, dangerous, and potentially deadly.

So was the printing press. So was language for that matter, and nuclear power and gunpowder and the Internet and so much more.

Magic is amazing. I’ve walked on the moon. I’ve spoken with men who died centuries before I was born. I’ve seen treasures that were thought lost to history, and I’ve met beings who taught me that there’s no limit to the variety and imagination of our universe.

According to myth, Prometheus stole fire from the gods, and was sentenced to eternal torment for his crime. Well, the Porters
aren’t gods. Nor should humanity have to steal the magic you’ve helped to create.

Magic is a gift. Like fire, it can burn. And like fire, it’s going to change everything.

You’re gonna love it.

Bibliography

Titles marked with an asterisk (*) were made up for this book.

Al-Sufi, Abd al-Rahman.
The Book of Constellations of the Fixed Stars
.

American Psychiatric Association.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V)
.

Bradbury, Ray.
Fahrenheit 451
.

D’Aurillac, Gerbert.
Selected Writings on the Mind of God
.*

Baum, L. Frank.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
.

Beddor, Frank.
The Looking-Glass Wars
.

Britain, Kristen.
Green Rider
.

Brontë, Charlotte.
Villette
.

Collins, Suzanne.
The Hunger Games
.

Conrad, H. Allen.
Time Kings
.*

Dahl, Roald.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
.

Dunbar, Paul Laurence.
The Collected Poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar
.

Glenday, Craig.
Guinness Book of Records
.

Golding, William.
Lord of the Flies
.

Gray, Henry.
Gray’s Anatomy
.

Herbert, Frank.
Dune
.

Ikeji, Lisa.
Heart of Stone.*

Knight, Damon.
A for Anything
.

Kress, Nancy.
Beggars in Spain
.

L’Engle, Madeleine.
A Wrinkle in Time
.

Lewis, C. S.
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
.

———,
The Magician’s Nephew
.

Lucian of Samosata.
True History
.

Mahfouz, Naguib.
Arabian Nights and Days
.

Martin, George R. R.
A Dance with Dragons
.

McCaffrey, Anne.
Dragonflight
.

North, Pearl.
The Boy from Ilysies
.

———,
The Book of the Night
.

Pan, Stuart.
The Foretelling
.*

Regan, Dian Curtis.
Princess Nevermore
.

Rothfuss, Patrick.
The Name of the Wind
.

Rowling, J. K.
Harry Potter and the Goblin’s Scepter
.*

Travers, P. L.
Mary Poppins
.

Shelley, Mary.
Frankenstein
.

Stoker, Bram.
Dracula
.

Stone, Margaret.
Red Night
.*

———,
Time Wyrm
.*

Wright, James.
Nymphs of
Neptune
.*

Looking for more?
Visit Penguin.com for more about this author and a complete list of their books.
Discover your next great read!