added to their annual pearl harvest.
The eight-foot-high stone wall contained only one gate.
The wrought iron was spotted with rust. Galen called to the
two guards on the other side. They opened it without hesita-
tion. The gate’s hinges creaked in protest.
The complex hadn’t changed in the year since I had visited.
A few stunted trees and scrub bushes grew in the otherwise
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barren landscape. The tangy scent of the sea filled the area
with a moist mist. Even though clan members moved between
the buildings, the only sounds to reach us were the constant
roll and crash of the waves and the shriek of gulls as they dived and fought over the discarded oyster shells.
Beyond the massive wall, small cottages built from bamboo
were arranged in perfect lines. Past them was a smattering of
sun-bleached public buildings. The beaches on each side of
the peninsula had a long structure built in the sand. On the
northern coast, children dived for oysters, carrying buckets of them into the shade of the sorting area. Adolescents pushed
wheelbarrows full of sand and hunks of black rocks on the
southern coast. Armed guards watched both. The excuse for
their presence had been to protect the clan from pirates and
thieves.
It was quite the operation. Pearls, diamonds and breed-
ing magic. My stomach felt as if I had eaten too many raw
oysters.
After leaving the horses in the stable, Galen led us to Walsh’s office. He ignored Walsh’s assistant. Her protest died on her
lips when he frowned at her. Smart girl. But she did hover in
the threshold, lacing her hands over her bulging belly. I swal-
lowed. She looked about fifteen years old—way too young to
be with child.
Walsh’s skeletal face lit up when he spotted me. He
stood from behind his desk and came around with his arm
extended.
“Opal, welcome back. It’s so nice to see you,” Walsh said,
f lashing stained teeth as he smiled. He wore all white. It
matched his long white hair.
I clasped his hand and suppressed a cringe at the creepy feel
of his bony fingers wrapped around mine. “I wish I could say
the same.”
He kept hold of my hand. Power swept over my skin. I
fought the urge to block his invasive scan. For the last fifteen
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349
days, I hadn’t needed another shot of blood magic. By not
using power, I extended the time between bouts of with-
drawal. According to Galen, I couldn’t avoid it altogether. I
sensed things would change. And not for the better.
Walsh patted my hand with his free one. “Your unique
powers have fascinated me. I’m looking forward to exploring
them with you. I’m sure you’ll love it here with time. Even
during the hot season, there’s a cool breeze from the sea. No
one bothers us with their petty political wrangling and back-
stabbing. It’s paradise.”
He finally released my hand and addressed Galen as if I
wasn’t standing right there. “She’s healthy and strong. A little old. We should breed her right away. But all in all a nice addition to our family.”
Even though I had been warned, I still gaped at him.
“Opal, wait for me in the reception area. I’ll be right out,”
Galen ordered.
“Penny, fetch our new sister something to drink,” Walsh
said to his assistant.
She gestured for me to precede her, and shut the door
behind us.
“What would you like?” she asked me.
“Nothing.”
She gave me a miserable look. Her drab tan skirt dragged
on the ground, and she kept smoothing the fabric of her dull
off-white tunic over her stomach.
“Water is fine,” I said.
Relieved, she rushed off. I pressed my ear to the door. They
talked about the black diamonds and plans to make super mes-
sengers. Since I already knew greed was a motivating factor
for Galen and Walsh, I wasn’t sure what I had been hoping to
overhear. The topic changed to me and I strained.
“How soon until she’s yours?” Walsh asked Galen.
“Not long. She has a soft spot for others.”
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“Then finish it. She’s dangerous right now. House her in
Footsteps sounded and I backed away from the door.
Galen was amused. “Any questions?”
“What did you mean by I have ‘a soft spot’?” I asked.
“You run to everyone’s rescue. I’m sure you wouldn’t
hesitate to save a drowning child. Come on. I’ll give you a
tour.”
I wondered when he had been here before as I trailed after
him. He headed straight for the south coast. The long wooden
building remained the same. Along the side open to the beach,
workers wielded boxes with bottoms made from wire-mesh
screens. They barely glanced at us. Using handheld spades,
they filled the box with sand and then held it in the water
f lowing through a chute. The water washed away the sand,
but left the rocks behind. After inspecting each black stone, a worker placed it in another box or tossed it onto a pile.
Galen answered my unspoken question, “Only the dia-
monds are kept.”
There weren’t many. “So not all those black rocks are
diamonds?”
“Chunks of useless lava,” he said.
He poured the diamonds into his hand and left. The next
building perched on the edge of a dune and resembled three
of the bamboo cottages stuck together.
In the front room, Quinn worked at a table. He concen-
trated on the black stone in his hand. When he finished, he
glared at Galen through the shaggy hair hanging in his face.
Unaffected, Galen smiled and handed the young man the
diamonds he carried.
“More for you to charge,” Galen said.
Quinn remained silent, but he turned his attention on me.
With a f lash of recognition he leaped to his feet. “You!” He
rushed me.
I stepped to the side, dodging his attack. He hit the wall
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351
and pushed off, coming at me again. Running out of room to
maneuver, I blocked and punched him. The hard muscles of
his torso did more damage to my fist than to him. He wrapped
his hands around my neck and squeezed.
“You bitch! You left us here!”
No air to respond, I slammed my arms down on the crook
of his. Nothing. My vision turned to snow. I could be nasty
and dig my thumbs into his eyes or strike his neck with a
knife-hand, but I didn’t want to hurt him.
“Opal, use your magic,” Galen said. His voice sounded
faraway.
No. Darkness claimed the edges of my world. Then with
a jerk, the pressure on my neck released. Air burned in my
throat. The pain didn’t stop me from sucking in huge lung-
filling gulps.
When I regained my senses, I looked up. Galen held the
adolescent in a headlock.
“Anot
her person to add to your fan club, Opal,” Galen said
in amusement. He released Quinn, but kept a wary eye on
him. “You two should try and get along. After all, you’ll be
working together.”
Quinn glowered at me as he tugged his shirt down and
swept his black hair from his face.
“Working how?” My voice squeaked. Quinn was seventeen
years old at most.
“There’s an interesting little twist to those super messengers.
If I or any other magician charges the black diamond with
magic, the damn thing cracks after the magic is used.”
“Like the clear diamonds?”
“Exactly. But if Quinn here charges the blacks, they work
fine and he can recharge them again and again.”
“Did you enhance his powers with blood, too?”
“No. Quinn’s a Bloodrose. He does it for his clan.”
By the young man’s disgust, I knew Galen’s explanation
was far from accurate.
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“And my job?” I asked.
“Until you’re mine, you can encase the black diamonds in
glass and teach Quinn how to do it,” Galen said.
He opened the door to the back room. The f loor was con-
crete instead of sand and the walls were covered with stones.
room, which even had a chimney. Barrels of lime and soda
ash had been stacked in the corner.
“Everything you need is here. Get started. I’ll be back later.”
Galen paused next to Quinn and whispered something to the
young magician before leaving.
I waited for Quinn to attack again. But after shooting me
a venom-filled glare, he returned to his table. It was the first time in half a season that Galen wasn’t with me. The hard
knot in my chest eased just a bit and knowing I’d have access
to a kiln gave me a tiny crumb of hope. But I’d need allies. I
approached Quinn.
“Go away,” Quinn said in a low growl. He kept his gaze
on the diamond in his hand. “Or I might do something you’ll
regret.”
“Then I’ll just add it to my list.”
He ignored me.
“I’m sorry for leaving you here, Quinn.”
He continued to stare at the stone, but I sensed a change
in the way he held his shoulders. Wearing a loose tan tunic
over white pants, Quinn blended in with the bamboo walls
and fine white sand under his bare feet.
“It was a mistake. An oversight. An inexcusable laziness
on our part. Pick one. I could list reasons…or rather excuses
for why we walked away, but it doesn’t help you.” I drew in
a breath, trying to organize my thoughts. “I will fix it. And
I’m going to need your help.”
He leaned back as if lost in thought. I waited. Finally, he
met my gaze. “You’re going to need a miracle.”
Progress. “They’ve been known to happen,” I said.
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353
“Not here. Although many of our new family members
think being invited here is a miracle when they first arrive.
We entice them from the streets and homeless shelters with
promises of food. We welcome them in, provide them with
clothing and shelter. They’re happy until they learn the price of admission—working and obeying Walsh. Until they discover
they can never leave.”
“One woman escaped with her children.”
“No she didn’t. They found and killed her.”
“But they didn’t find her children.”
His surprise only lasted a second. “Good for them. I hope
they stay hidden.”
“Would Walsh kill the children?” Even with all his creepi-
ness, he didn’t act the type.
“No. Just drag them back here, and force them to work
magic for him.”
Like Quinn. “What does he hold over you?” I asked.
“My sisters’ lives.”
I swallowed a dry lump, and felt it land with a thud. “Tell
me what’s going on.”
Anger f lared. “You don’t know the havoc your little visit
caused?”
“Sorry,
no.”
He surged to his feet, and I moved so the table remained
between us. Instead of attacking, he ran a hand through his
messy hair as if to collect his thoughts. Dark smudges under
his gray eyes gave him an older appearance. His muscular build
must be a result of all those years swimming and diving for
oysters.
Quinn pulled the chair farther out and pointed. “Sit down.
This is quite a tale.”
Not wanting to upset him, I perched on the edge of the
seat.
“Your glass magic fascinated Walsh,” Quinn said. “Since he
knew I had an…affinity for glass, he asked me to make those
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glass messengers. I couldn’t. My magic sticks to the glass, but that’s it.”
“You make the cold glass!” I said.
A f lash of pride. “Yeah.” But then he switched to sarcasm.
“More money for the Bloodrose Clan. Yippee.” He kicked
the sand. “At least it worked better than the sea glass. That
didn’t go at all like I had hoped.”
The sea glass had been found by Heli and brought back to
the Stormdancers’ cave. Infused with magic, the glass made
everyone go crazy with desire. They had fought over the pieces
until I figured it out and diffused the magic.
“Was the sea glass a message for help?” I asked.
“Yes, but I couldn’t control my power so it backfired.”
Heli had been right. She had said she was close to deci-
phering the code. Mixed emotions rolled through me. If she
understood the plea for help, would she tell Kade? Or rush
to the rescue on her own? Knowing Heli, she would come
alone and get herself into trouble. At least she was busy with
the storm season.
“The issue with the messengers was resolved, but Walsh’s
fascination with the quirks of magic, his words not mine,
continued. He decided to implement his breeding program
to see what would happen.”
I asked Quinn why the clan obeyed Walsh. “You outnum-
ber the guards and he’s the only one with magic.”
“A few have tried, but they’re caught and punished. The
first offense is a beating and confinement, but after that they force you to watch them hurt someone you care about….” He
shuddered. “Everyone’s terrified.”
Valek’s lessons in strategy bubbled in my mind. “A few
people won’t work anyway. Everyone needs to be committed. If the entire clan attacks at a prearranged time, it would be hard to counter.” I tapped my leg. “You’ll need a leader. Someone
to convince them and to organize them. You’ll need captains
who could be in charge of different areas.”
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355
Quinn stared at me as if I had gone insane. Perhaps I had,
but as much as I wanted to fix this situation, I couldn’t do it myself.
“If I’m caught helping you, my sister…” He shook his
head.
“Where are they holding her?”
“She�
�s Walsh’s assistant. If I make any trouble, she’s within
easy reach.”
“Even at night?”
He spat in disgust. “Especially at night. Who do you think
is the baby’s father?”
Bile pushed up my throat. “Walsh.”
Bitterness rolled from Quinn. “Give the lady a prize.”
Walsh already started the program, but he wasn’t the only
magician. “Did he—”
“He sends a new girl to me every couple of nights.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“Don’t worry. He still gives me some privacy. We rumple
the bedding and make appropriate noises to entertain the
guards outside my door. But Walsh’ll figure out what I’m not
doing soon enough.”
“When no one becomes pregnant.”
“Yep. Then my privacy will be gone.”
“Don’t wait for that time. Take action. All those girls are
probably grateful and their families would support you.”
“Won’t work. We don’t have weapons. Walsh’s guards can’t
be bribed. We can’t get messages out. And now they dragged
you here,” he said. “Just as screwed and helpless as the rest of us. Do you really believe you can fix it?”
“No idea. But I’m going to try.”
Over the next few days, I bided my time and worked with
Quinn. With the kiln up and running hot, I created the super
messengers as ordered. Galen seemed distracted and I took
advantage. We experimented with the glass. In addition to
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creating the cold glass, Quinn could produce hot glass as
well.
I dwelled on the positives. Quinn was free of blood magic.
There had to be a way to capitalize on that. He could also
move around the compound without causing suspicion. Each
night as I slept in the brig—a large cottage with a couple of
locked rooms, bars on the windows, a cement f loor and an
area for a guard—I planned out Quinn’s next lesson.
I taught Quinn how to thumb a bubble and we made an
orb. Any glass container would work, but an orb reminded me
of Kade and happier times. After I cracked off the orb into the annealing oven to cool, I showed him the amazing versatility
of glass.
“If you sand the edge with the f lat side of a diamond, it will become sharp enough to cut skin,” I said. I also instructed
him on fighting tactics, and how to spot weaknesses in an
opponent.
Quinn understood my hints. During one session, he rounded
on me in anger. “It’s easy for you to talk about a rebellion. You have nothing at stake. You have all this magic, yet you obey