It made sense, which was unexpected, considering the
source. “Since Finn’s not here, maybe he’s at the Citadel with
Vasko.”
“Then Finn’s in for a nasty surprise. Valek’s there, as well.”
He grinned. “I would love to see the two of them fight. Finn’s
not as good, but he’d hold his own.”
Unless he cheated and used a null shield. “Where’s Ari?”
“Fulgor. It’s the only major city between here and the
Citadel.”
“Finn would avoid it. The Sitian authorities have an arrest
warrant out for him.”
Janco snorted. “No offense, but the Sitians are way out of their league on this guy.”
“None taken.” I returned the folder to Vasko’s hidden
drawer. “Any news on my blood?”
“It’s not in the compound. This is my last building.”
“I’ve been through it. No luck.”
“Did you check the safe?” Janco asked.
“I didn’t see one.”
He tsked. “He’s a paranoid patriarch with trust issues and
the richest man in Sitia. He has a safe. Actually, I already found two in his private residence.” A superior little smirk twisted
his lips. “But no blood.”
Even though I was impressed by his ability to bypass a dozen
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guards, I wouldn’t say so. Instead, I tugged on all the wall art as Janco searched through the bookcases. I found a safe hidden
behind an oil painting of sand dunes.
Safecracking hadn’t been included in my training. Janco
quickly set to work and pulled the heavy metal door open.
“Remind me never to store my valuables in a safe,” I
said.
“They are effective for the most part.” He rummaged inside
and removed a tray of gemstones. “Too bad I’m not a thief or
I could retire.”
“Anything
else?”
“Just more files. Sorry.” Janco tried to cheer me up. “We
know who Finn is now. It’s only a matter of time before we
catch him.”
I pointed at the tray. “Have you heard or seen anything
about those black diamonds while working in the mines?” I
asked.
He picked one up, and rolled it between his fingers. “It
doesn’t look like a diamond. Are you sure? It feels weird.”
Dropping it into my palm with distaste, Janco rubbed his hand
on his shirt.
A familiar stickiness clung to the stone. “It’s real. And it’s
charged with magic. You don’t have any power, but you’re
sensitive to magic. Aren’t you?”
Janco scratched his goatee. “I’m not sensitive. I’m
allergic.”
The next morning at breakfast, I asked Pazia about her older
brother again. By the way she frowned, they weren’t close.
“I haven’t seen him in ages,” she said.
“Sounds like you don’t get along with him.”
“He’s a bully, but he stopped bossing me around once my
powers came in.” She smiled. “My magic was stronger than
his and it galled him!” Then the humor dropped from her
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face. “Now I’m not worth his time. We avoid each other. It
works for me.”
“What’s his name?”
“Phinnegan. Why all the questions?”
Yes! I kept my voice steady. “Just curious. I didn’t even
know you had brothers until I met Walker.” I changed the
subject even though I wondered just how long ages was.
Pazia escorted me to the command center, but she stopped
outside the building. “Galen said a guide would be waiting
for you at the mine entrance. Come to the glass shop when
you’re done.”
When I reached the lower level, I encountered two men.
They argued, but ceased their discussion as soon as I appeared.
They both wore yellow helmets and orange coveralls. No
dirt stained the one on the left, but mud spattered the other
man’s.
“I’m
Opal.”
Mud-spattered man said, “He’ll be out soon.” They entered
the mines.
With nothing else to do, I explored the area, searching for
another entrance. Eventually, a lanky man slipped out from
behind the mirror. His black hair hung in greasy clumps to
his shoulders and his skin looked as if it hadn’t seen the sun
in years. He wore oversize dark glasses.
“I’m Galen,” he said. Instead of shaking my outstretched
hand, he handed me a clean pair of orange coveralls and
pointed to a privacy screen. “Regulations. Leave your back-
pack on the shelf. No one will bother it.”
I changed. The durable material chafed against my skin,
but the fabric blocked the chilly air. When I stepped out, he
gave me a helmet for safety.
“Shall we?” He swept his arm out toward the large
tunnel.
I glanced around. The other men were gone. “I thought
you’d—”
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“You’re our special guest.” He grinned. Black grit discol-
ored his teeth. “I would be remiss in my duties if I assigned
just anyone to show you around. Besides, you want to visit a
highly restricted area.”
His bulky glasses blocked his expression, but there was
something…off about him. Creepy seemed mild. Why the
dark lenses? Perhaps this tour wasn’t a good idea, but it was too late to change my mind. I followed Galen into the mines.
At first the walls of the tunnel rose high above my head.
Lanterns hung every couple of feet and a nice breeze fanned
my face. The damp smell of earth alternated with the sharp
tang of rock.
As we traveled, I noticed scratches and deep grooves marred
the walls. The passageway shrank and the light dimmed. When
the ground angled down, I imagined the dark corridor before
us as the gullet of a large beast, swallowing us.
My guide grabbed one of the lanterns to carry with us.
He paused every so often and pointed out an interesting rock
formation or geological feature.
If it wasn’t for the current of air, I might have panicked. The tunnel zigzagged and we passed so many other branches and
caverns that I was soon lost. The distant sound of machinery
echoed off the hard walls. I spotted a few miners, but soon
we were alone with the darkness being held back by that one
lantern.
I felt the pressure of the mountain on my shoulders, remind-
ing me about all that weight hanging over us. I asked Galen
about cave-ins.
“Unlikely. This section is new. We haven’t opened it up
yet.”
“What about along the way out?”
He chuckled without humor. “Down here, anything can
happen.”
I decided to quit asking questions. We entered a narrow
shaft. My arms brushed the walls and Galen hunched over. The
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moist smell intensified as the airf low died. I moved closer to him and almost bumped into him when he stopped without
warning. Another dry chuckle.
He held the lantern up, illumin
ating the end of the shaft. It
widened slightly like a head on the end of a match. I moved
closer as he tapped the black wall in front of us. The pock-
marked surface appeared porous.
Galen pulled a small metal tool from his pocket and scraped
at the black stone. A few pieces broke off and clattered to the f loor.
After a few minutes, he handed me a smooth black rock.
“A diamond hidden in the lava.”
Magic radiated from the stone so I ran my hand along the
bumpy wall of lava, but didn’t feel any power. I suspected he
planted this diamond here.
Pretending to be awed, I asked him how he could see it
with his glasses on.
“My eyes are sensitive to the light.” He tried a smile, but
it failed.
The slight catch in his voice meant he lied. A person could
change his hair color and style, grow a beard, add putty to
his face, put lifts in his shoes, or stuff his clothes with cotton.
But one thing that was impossible to do without magic was
change his eye color. Seeking a disguise, I asked if I could dig for a diamond.
He handed me the scraper. I opened up a small hole, but
didn’t find anything. He swept his fingers inside and pulled
another stone free, using sleight of hand. Before my training
with Valek I would have missed the subtle motion. That and
the fact the stone pulsed with magic.
I kept quiet as we started back to the surface. Why would
Vasko set up this elaborate ruse? Perhaps he didn’t want anyone to know where he mined the diamonds. Then why not refuse
to give me a tour? Because he wanted me to back up his claims.
It would have worked if Vasko knew I could feel the magic.
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Another realization hit me. Galen wouldn’t have used
charged diamonds if he had been warned about my immunity.
Which meant Finn hadn’t been here since our encounter in
Hubal. No Finn. No blood.
I pulled my morose thoughts back to Vasko. Nothing il-
legal about hiding the source of the black diamonds. No one
had reported them stolen. Unless he imported them illegally
from Ixia? The Commander and Valek hadn’t known about
the other diamond pit in the Northern Ice Sheet at first. Why
would this be different?
A rumble shook the ground under my feet. Galen cursed.
“What was that?” I asked, coughing on dust.
“An explosion or a cave-in…or both.” He handed me the
lantern and jabbed a finger toward the ground. “Stay here.
Don’t move. I’ll return for you.”
The panic must have shown on my face because Galen
gave me the two diamonds. “Here’s more incentive for me to
return.” He disappeared into the blackness.
If he had been joking about the diamonds, it failed to amuse
me. I clutched the stones in my fist. The sharp edges dug into
my palm, but the pain wasn’t enough to distract me from the
situation. The lantern’s f lame stayed steady. No breeze, but
before I worried about running out of air, I remembered a
fire couldn’t burn without it.
Waiting was torture; I decided to continue up the shaft
until I reached a junction. I reasoned that Galen would still
be able to find me. The next intersection resembled all the
others we had passed on our descent. At least there was a little more room for me to move. I turned a circle, searching for an
airf low. Nothing stirred.
Resigned to wait, I sat on the ground, crossing my legs
under me. My thoughts kept trying to imagine all types of
horrible scenarios. I clung to one piece of logic. This wasn’t
part of Vasko’s revenge for Pazia. He needed me to confirm
the legitimacy of his messengers to Irys and Bain. Besides,
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Pazia, Nic and Eve knew I was down here. No. I wouldn’t
contemplate this as a murder attempt.
Instead, I examined the black diamonds. The rough uncut
gemstones lacked beauty, but held an incredible amount of
magic. Too bad I couldn’t use it to communicate. Then again,
what would I say? I’m stuck at the intersection of Rock Boulevard and Rock Street? Come get me.
I was being silly, but it gave me an idea. I looked on the
walls of the connecting shafts, searching for directional mark-
ings. The miners had to get lost from time to time. Wouldn’t
it make sense to name the shafts or at least indicate an exit?
An array of scratches lined all the walls. Perhaps the miners
could read them, but I couldn’t.
Focusing my energy on what I did know, I mulled over a
reason Vasko would lie about where the black diamonds had
been found. Perhaps he discovered them in a more accessible
or even public location, and didn’t want his competitors to
find out. Unlike my glass messengers, these super ones didn’t
require any special magic. Any magician could charge the
diamonds and any glassmaker could encase them in glass.
Therefore keeping the location secret was key.
If he imported them from Ixia, Valek might already be
suspicious. Before, he had Ari and Janco investigating General
Kitvivan’s illicit operation. Except this time all three of them have been here in Sitia helping me.
Fisk might know if any of the blacks have gone through the
underground market in the Citadel. He had been the first to
Thinking of Fisk, I remembered my promise to investigate
the Bloodrose Clan.
I shot to my feet as my brain made a connection. My helmet
tumbled to the ground as I raked a hand through my hair,
pulling all the clues together. It was a huge leap of logic. But I believed the reason the blacks looked so familiar was because I had seen them at the Bloodroses’ complex.
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327
The second building where Walsh’s men had captured
Quinn. Instead of oyster shells and long tables filling the space, boxes with mesh screens like the ones I had seen in Vasko’s
sorting building, mounds of sand and black rocks littered the
area. I had been so worried about Quinn f laming out I hadn’t
given the strange contents a thought.
Walsh’s actions against the other oyster farms made more
sense. Not only could he affect the pearl prices, but he could
keep the others from discovering that those black rocks are
actually diamonds.
But once I considered it fully, there were more than a few
holes. Those rocks could indeed be rocks. If they weren’t,
then how did Walsh figure out the rocks were diamonds? I
remembered the sea glass Heli had found. The pieces had been
scratched, and there were only a few substances hard enough
to scratch glass. Diamonds being one of them.
But why would Walsh team up with Vasko? Even with
these questions, a visit to the Bloodrose Clan was overdue.
One problem. Galen hadn’t returned. I checked the oil level
in the lantern. Half-full. I settled back on the ground. Devlen had been right. Waiting wasn’t easy. And how long should I
stay here before trying to fi
nd my own way?
The diamonds still clutched in my hand could scratch a
mark into the wall. Perhaps I should explore—
A rumble rolled through the shaft. The lantern jiggled and
small stones rained down. I donned my helmet as dust filled
the area.
Then a blast of fresh air cleared the cloud. Unfortunately,
the wind extinguished the f lame.
The complete absence of light was a unique experience to
me. Even at night there was always the moon or a distant fire
or a lantern. Without any real hope, I waited for my eyes to
adjust. The darkness clung and pressed, feeling tangible like
magic.
Perhaps the coveralls I wore had matches in the pockets.
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This had happened before. Pazia had warned me about the
lanterns.
Relaxing my grip on the diamonds, I opened my fist. A
dim orange light glowed from my palm. I blinked a few times
to clear my vision, but the weak radiance remained. Teegan
had said I shimmered when I touched magic. Probably why
he called me Fire Lady. Unable to see it for myself, I didn’t
really believe him. At least it was useful in this situation.
I searched the pockets, and only found the items I had taken
from my pack—my lock picks and switchblade. Waiting was no
longer an option, I turned in a circle and stopped when I felt the breeze full in my face. The air had to come from somewhere
and I planned to find the source. I scratched an arrow pointing in the direction I traveled and walked into the wind.
At each intersection I marked my route. I ignored the doubts
and worries bubbling on the surface of my mind. When I
reached a shaft with lanterns hanging from hooks, the pres-
sure eased in my chest. The glass was still warm, which meant
these had been lit before the blast of air.
Encouraged, I increased my pace. A crunching shuff le
sounded behind me. I turned. Galen rounded a corner. Thank
fate! He held a dim lantern.
He slowed. “I told you to stay put. You’re lucky I found
you. Otherwise you’d die down here.”
“Sorry. When you didn’t come back, I thought the worst.
What happened?”
“They were enlarging a cavern and hit a stink hole.”
“What’s
that?”
“There’re bubbles of gas trapped underground. When you
drill into one, a horrible stench hits you first, then it reaches the lanterns and…boom! If you’re lucky it’s a f lash fire and
you walk away with minor burns.”