“One of the girls reported missing was the daughter of a man named Moshe Horowitz, the name we found in the well. House Dazbog’s contacts were able to trace the name to a moneylender who lived in Odessa until 1881.”
“And?” asked Laila.
At this, Eva’s shoulders fell, and her gaze darted to Zofia. “Moshe Horowitz is dead. And so is his family. They were killed in a pogrom.”
All of them fell silent. Zofia did not want to think about the dead girl’s family in Odessa. They had lost their daughter, and then lost their lives. Before now, the dead girls had reminded her only of Laila. Now, she saw something of herself in them. That same powerlessness.
“The Fallen House patriarch targeted her because she was Jewish,” said Laila angrily. “He thought no one would think to look for her. That no one would miss her. All those girls… he—” She swallowed hard, and Zofia knew that meant she was near tears. “He thought he could get away with it.”
“How do you know that?” asked Hypnos.
Zofia noticed that Eva leaned forward curiously. Laila blinked back tears, then waved her hand.
“I found some writing near the bodies,” she said.
Eva’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not possible—”
Séverin cut her off. “Why would they carve the Horowitz name inside awell?”
When no one answered, he said it again.
“Why awell?” he repeated. “That’s not a normal place to memorialize the dead. There has to be a reason. Explore it again.”
Enrique made a choked sound. “After we nearly got destroyed by automaton goddesses, you want us to open all those doors again?”
“Who said theywouldopen?” asked Eva. “All but one of those Tezcats were completely boarded up.”
It was true, thought Zofia. The old man in Istanbul could have blocked their way back inside entirely.
“I want you to look at them, study them. Don’t go through them,” said Séverin.
Zofia noticed he was only looking at her as he said this. She quickly looked somewhere else.
“Let me be clear, I amnotvolunteering my blood to open up those doors again,” said Hypnos, crossing his arms.
“Am I alone in thinking this is a terrible idea?” said Enrique. “Killer. Automaton. Goddesses. We arenotopening that door.”
“The Istanbul Tezcat is closed,” said Séverin. “I merely want to know if there’s anything written on the other side, the way the bricked-up well has writing.”
“How do you know it’s closed?” asked Eva.
Séverin tapped a small Mnemo beetle on his lapel. “Because I’m watching it.”
Enrique blinked. “How?”
“Before the door closed, I threw a bug at the opening to keep track. That old man in Istanbul has a giant statue positioned at the entrance. He doesn’t want you to cross over, and neither do I. We have all the eyes we need on the place,” he said. “Zofia, Enrique… go examine the doors—”
“Andme,” cut in Eva sharply. “I saved their lives. I havejust as muchto offer. And, besides, you have no representative from House Dazbog on this search.”
Séverin looked from Enrique to Zofia. Eva was telling the truth, so Zofia did not correct her.
“She can come,” said Enrique.
Eva smiled with all her teeth and lifted her chin in Laila’s direction.
“We need to know what else might be there before Hypnos and I go into the leviathan tomorrow,” said Séverin. “In the meantime, I’ll be arranging what needs to be done with Ruslan and the matriarch.”
Laila rose from her seat, making her way to Zofia.
