“So where are we?”

“Well, the worm failed.”

“How?”

“I’m not certain. It’s gone. And the target is still alive.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Peter confirmed it.”

“Did he get what we wanted?”

“Apparently not.”

“Incompetent . . . I knew it was a mistake to try to use him.”

“. . .”

“And the damn house is still protected?”

“Yes, it seems so.”

“So I’ll ask again. Where are we?”

“In a holding pattern, I suppose. We don’t have another worm available. Even if we did, without knowing what happened to the previous one, we couldn’t be certain the results would be any different. If you have any ideas, please share them.”

“Is there any other way to bypass the security.”

“The spatial mage is too good. Even if we could take it down, she’d know right away and probably restore it before we got very far.”

“Can we distract her?”

“How?”

“I don’t know. I’m just brainstorming.”

“If we came up with a distraction, we would still have to take down the spells. I don’t know how we would manage that, either.”

“What about getting him to come out.”

“Unlikely. As far as I can tell, he’s basically a recluse.”

“Well, we have to come up with something. And soon.”