Local gods

Girls like Sylvie didn’t need magic; she was born with life set to Easy Mode. Sylvie used to have a theory about the kinds of people who did need magic—the ones who thought if they simply lit the right candle at the right time, they’d harness some cosmic energy—and it was that they were both smarter and stupider than other people. It takes her eight sweaty, curse-filled trips, but then they’re all in there, piled in the corner. Perhaps this will be what finally slakes the Illykan’s appetite for good.