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sort of person there is. The type who’s convinced that everything he does is for the greater good, so how dare anyone question him?”
    “Are you sure about this?” Jake murmured.
    “I feel like I’ve got a spike in my head from being near him,” she declared. “For me, that’s all the proof I need.”
    They both knew that Isabelle had a sort of allergy to evil. She could sense it even when no one else quite could. It was part of her role as Keeper of the Unicorns; she was responsible for the wellbeing of the protected unicorn herd that roamed the woods of the Bradford family’s estate back in England, Bradford Park. She shared telepathy with animals, clearly able to read their thoughts, but she could only sense the emotions of people…and the presence of whatever shadows lurked in their hearts.
    “What does Dr. Galton believe that’s so bad?” Jake persisted as they walked on through the crowd.
    “That some people are worth more than others based on their genetics,” she answered.
    “Aren’t they?” he asked.
    “Jake!” She recoiled from the question, then turned and glared at him, appalled. “No!”
    “ Sorry, I was just asking,” he mumbled.
    “Well, the answer is no. Not at all. And you must never forget it. Everyone matters , Jake. Every life has value. Not even a genius like the Prince of the Polymaths has the right to play God and decide who deserves to live and who’s not good enough. Who’s Fit or Unfit. The arrogance of such a notion is obscene.”
    Dani and Jake exchanged an unsettled look.
    “What do you mean, Unfit?” Dani asked worriedly.
    Isabelle considered how to say it. “ It’s almost too cruel to put into words, Dani. Dr. Galton is working on a theory called eugenics that picks up where Mr. Darwin’s evolution theory leaves off. He says why not help evolution along by weeding out the weak among us?”
    “But we’re supposed to protect the weak,” Jake said. “That’s chivalry.”
    “That’s right. More than chivalry, humanity,” she said sharply. “If you asked Dr. Galton and his ilk, he would say that the Unfit include the poor and unfortunate, people who are sick or blind or deaf or simple. Even those whose skin is considered the wrong color. If they had their way, they’d even let unwanted children die.”
    Dani and Jake gasped simultaneously, thinkin g of all their dear friends back at the orphanage. Unwanted children, all.
    “He would…kill them ?” Dani breathed.
    “Of course .” Isabelle nodded somberly. “What does it matter, if people are only animals, glorified apes? Killing them shouldn’t matter any more than exterminating rats or raising chickens for food, should it?”
    “But people have a soul!” Dani protested.
    “They don’t believe that,” Isabelle replied.
    “But I’ve seen them,” Jake interjected. “Ghosts. The spirits of people who’ve died. They live on. I know. I’ve talked to them.”
    “Say so and they’ll put you in a lunatic asylum.”
    “How horrible,” Dani whispered, shaking her head.
    B ut Jake was too furious to comment until he finally managed to growl, “Is Galton one of the Dark Druids? Tell me.”
    Isabelle put her arm fondly around his shoulders with a sad smile. “No, Jake. He’s just a scientist, and sadly, his views are not nearly as uncommon as they should be. I’m afraid, for all their intellect, some of these geniuses are blind to right and wrong. All of their inventions and discoveries, just like your gifts and mine, can be used for either great good or great evil.”
    She release d him from her casual half-hug to point at the Chemistry aisle. “If you want to see the good side, look at Louis Pasteur over there, for contrast with our Dr. Galton. Instead of trying to figure out which diseases classify someone as Unfit, Mr. Pasteur is trying to solve the whole problem of disease by studying this new germ theory. Have you heard of it?”
    “A little,” Jake replied.
    “Some people think that