Capture a Tongue

"Fuentes's estimate was seventy-two hours. Mine is—"

Kingsley tapped twice on the control panel and brought up a set of simulation data.

"If the U.S. launched a full assault, in theory, they wouldn't last forty-eight hours. If the U.S. used those pseudo-Ashwinder living bombs, they might last even less time."

"Is Cohen on the Mexico front?"

"We don't know. After the prison break, his movements vanished completely. He could be on the Mexico front, he could be in Nevada, he could be in Washington."

"We can't let him appear on the Mexico front," Vivi said flatly. "If the pseudo-Ashwinder living bombs are used at Fort Tepepetec, that fortress's Ancient Magic defense system may not be able to withstand them. The Aztec protective spells were designed to resist conventional magical attacks, not Magic-Absorbing Alloy fragments and compressed magical shock waves."

"Then what do we do?"

"We do what we're supposed to do. Go to Nevada, deal with Runcorn, and take control of the seal. Once Runcorn is dealt with, Graves's entire strategy will collapse. The U.S. forces on the Mexico front will lose their strategic objective, and the U.S. forces on the Canada border will withdraw. Graves will go from attacker to defender."

Kingsley took a deep breath.

"The two hours are up. Is the Portkey ready?"

"It's ready. Cassandra has finished adding the Concealment Charm. We're waiting for you in Hogsmeade."

Kingsley hung up, turned around, and nodded to the two Aurors behind him.

They were the two best people in the Confederation Auror Office—one was Amina Hassan, forty-one years old, Egyptian, skilled at breaking Ancient Magic traps; the other was Thomas Lynch, thirty-five years old, Irish, skilled at close-quarters combat spells.

The two of them stood up and followed Kingsley out of the monitoring room.

In the corridor, Kingsley