If You're Reading This, It's Too Late

This is the second book in the Secret Series, a five-book middle-grade adventure series following the events of The Name of This Book Is Secret, in which Cass and Max-Ernest rescued a classmate from the villainous Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais, leaders of a sinister organization called the Midnight Sun.

The story opens with Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais breaking into a museum of magic and stealing the Sound Prism, a translucent orb with a honeycomb texture divided by a silver band. Ms. Mauvais holds it to her ear and declares she can hear a creature she believes will lead her to a mysterious power known as the Secret.

Cass, a young survivalist with distinctively large, pointy ears, has been plagued by recurring nightmares featuring a graveyard, a monstrous creature, and a haunting song. She and her best friend Max-Ernest, an extremely logical and compulsive talker, are waiting to join the Terces Society ("secret" spelled backward), a clandestine organization that opposes the Midnight Sun. A coded letter from the old magician Pietro Bergamo had promised they would be contacted, but four months have passed with no word.

At school, Cass finds a note disguised as a grocery list. Max-Ernest decodes it: MEET DOCK 3, 12 P.M., PIETRO BERGAMO. During a class field trip, they sneak away to the dock. A new student named Yo-Yoji, a guitarist from Japan, follows and agrees to act as lookout. A magnificent ship pulls in, and a man on the prow welcomes them aboard as Pietro. Only after Cass and Max-Ernest board do they realize the man is Dr. L, Pietro's twin brother, and that the ship flies the Midnight Sun's flag.

Tied up on deck, they meet the Skelton Sisters, Romi and Montana, teenage twin pop stars who are Midnight Sun members. Ms. Mauvais appears and demands the location of the homunculus, a man-made miniature human grown in a bottle. Neither child knows what she means. She threatens to feed them to sharks.

Imprisoned below deck, Max-Ernest uses escape techniques learned from studying Harry Houdini to free them. In the cargo hold, they find a dictionary of alchemy whose illustration of a homunculus matches a sock-monster Cass sewed from scraps, inspired by the creature in her dreams. They also discover the Sound Prism in a trunk and overhear Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais discussing their need for the homunculus to locate the grave of Lord Pharaoh, an alchemist whose burial site holds dangerous secrets. Cass takes the Sound Prism.

That night, their teacher Mr. Needleman climbs over the ship's rail, dripping wet, and orders them to jump to a waiting speedboat. Once aboard, he rips off his fake beard to reveal himself as Owen, a Terces Society spy who had been disguised as their teacher. Owen explains the coded message was bait to lure the Midnight Sun ship so he could plant a tracer. He reveals the Sound Prism was stolen from the Terces Society, not knowing Cass already has it. Distrusting Owen for letting them fall into the trap, she decides to deliver it directly to Pietro.

Using an address from a matchbook Max-Ernest found in Owen's car, the children locate the Magic Museum beneath a mini-mall. After solving password riddles, they descend into a basement workshop and meet Pietro Bergamo. Unlike his ageless twin, Pietro's face bears the marks of time: wrinkles, scars, and a bushy mustache. They also meet Terces members Mr. Wallace, a fussy archivist; Lily Wei, a receptionist who doubles as a sword fighter; and Owen in yet another disguise. Cass presents the Sound Prism, and Pietro gives them a mission: find the homunculus before the Midnight Sun does. He tells Cass the Sound Prism belongs to her and that she alone can use it, though he cannot explain why.

Cass is grounded for the rest of the year. One night, she tosses the Sound Prism into the air and hears it emit the same haunting song from her dreams. In detention at school, Yo-Yoji identifies the notes as C-A-B-B-A-G-E-F-A-C-E, spelling "Cabbage Face." Max-Ernest grows jealous of Yo-Yoji, leading to a rift. Pietro sends Max-Ernest hidden documents including a manuscript titled "The Legend of Cabbage Face."

Cass and Max-Ernest reconcile and read the legend together. It tells of Lord Pharaoh, an alchemist who created a homunculus in a flask. The creature endured years of cruelty until a court jester with pointy ears befriended him. The homunculus told the Jester that a housekeeper had called him Cabbage Face. The Jester freed him, and Cabbage Face eventually vanquished Lord Pharaoh, buried him with his dangerous alchemical secrets, and lay across the grave as its guardian. He vowed that whenever the Sound Prism called, he would come. Cass also finds a loose birth certificate from the file with her same birthday but unfamiliar names. She fears the Terces Society mistook her for someone else and hides the document.

Cass connects her dreams to a newspaper article about a creature at Whisper Lake that a toddler called "Garbage Face." She organizes a camping trip with her grandfathers, Max-Ernest, and Yo-Yoji. At the lake, she tosses the Sound Prism from a boulder, and its song echoes across the mountains. At three a.m., the homunculus appears at their tent, only 21 and a half inches tall, gruff, and indignant that a child summoned him. He demands Cass prove she is the Jester's heir by opening the Sound Prism and finding the Jester's name.

The Sound Prism splits open to reveal a riddle. Max-Ernest determines the answer using Greek mythology: the Jester's name is Hermes, the god of thieves and magic. The homunculus confirms Cass as the rightful heir, recognizing the Jester's lineage in her pointy ears. He reveals that Lord Pharaoh's grave contains alchemical waste so dangerous it would kill everything nearby if released. Cass lures him to the Terces Society with false promises of lavish banquets, smuggling him off the mountain in a backpack. At the Magic Museum, Cass learns Yo-Yoji was already a Terces associate recruited to watch over her and Max-Ernest. Before she can process this betrayal, the homunculus discovers the promised feast is nonexistent, escapes, and vanishes into a crowd of circus performers filling the museum.

Meanwhile, Amber, a popular classmate, has been recruited by Ms. Mauvais as a spy. She records the Sound Prism's song on her cell phone. The Skelton Sisters weave the melody into a pop song and perform it at a sold-out concert to lure the homunculus. When Cass, Max-Ernest, and Yo-Yoji attend and recognize the trap, Yo-Yoji leaps onstage to disrupt the performance, but the homunculus has already entered the crowd, drawn by the song. The Midnight Sun captures both Cass and the homunculus. Backstage, Dr. L threatens to torture Cass. Unable to bear seeing the Jester's heir harmed, the homunculus surrenders his skeleton key. Max-Ernest and Yo-Yoji escape with the Sound Prism and overhear Cass directing them from the departing limousine to find Pietro and meet at Whisper Lake.

At the snow-covered graveyard, the Midnight Sun excavates Lord Pharaoh's coffin. Cass, tied to a tree, is freezing. Just before Dr. L unlocks the coffin, Pietro arrives on horseback with the Sound Prism, using it to impersonate Dr. L's voice and command the Midnight Sun to disperse. Circus performers from the Terces Society charge in as reinforcements. Owen frees Cass, while Lily Wei battles through gravediggers, though Ms. Mauvais escapes. Pietro confronts his twin and pleads with him to come home, but Dr. L refuses. Pietro throws snow in his brother's eyes and flees on horseback. Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais escape by helicopter.

Max-Ernest and Yo-Yoji roll a boulder over the grave, sealing it permanently. The three children kneel and take the Oath of Terces, a riddling poem written by the Jester. The homunculus's centuries-long vigil ends with the grave sealed; the boulder serves as his monument. Cass says good-bye and tosses the Sound Prism into the air one last time.

Afterward, Cass overhears her mother and grandfathers arguing about a secret. She confronts them and reveals what she has figured out: She was adopted, and her mother was afraid to tell her. She shows the birth certificate, which bears her original name. Her grandfathers explain that 12 years ago, a baby was left on their doorstep in a box labeled "Handle With Care" on the night Cass's mother was mourning she might never have a child. Cass affirms her mother is still her mom, and the family embraces.

Months later, Max-Ernest performs a magic act at the school talent show, with Yo-Yoji providing guitar accompaniment. Using a booth called the Gateway to the Invisible, on loan from the Magic Museum, he makes Amber disappear and reappear blindfolded in the parking lot, delighting the school. Cass spots Pietro walking away, having helped from behind the scenes. She grins, grateful for the benefits of belonging to a dangerous secret society.