“I suspect that these guys are relatively new at the whole secret society thing. I doubt they’re more than a century old. They misjudged how people would react to their lunacy, which tells me they hadn’t put as much thought into it or haven’t been planning it for very long. And any organization, however secret they may think they are, can’t stay completely hidden for very long. It’s the nature of sentient creatures to gab about ‘secret’ things. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we should take them lightly, but even their successes so far seem a bit amateurish.”

Veronica mulled that over in her head. “I’m glad I...