Spy Glass Page 2

details?”

  “Of course.” His tone implied I lacked intelligence for

  asking such a question.

  So sweet. He had absolute faith in his heart mate.

  When the silence lengthened, he asked, “Does this have

  anything to do with losing your magic?”

  I suppressed my immediate annoyance over the word

  “losing.” Why did everyone insist on using that word? Losing something implied a potential to find it again. Same with

  “lost.” So sorry you lost your magic, Opal. As if all I needed to do was search for it. No. It was gone. Never to return. Unless

  I used blood magic and that I wouldn’t do. Besides being il-

  legal, it was far better to be without power than be addicted

  to it. Than to kill for it.

  “Opal?”

  Valek’s voice snapped me back to the problem at hand.

  Yelena sent him for a reason. She hadn’t shared my secret with

  him, but she thought I should. “I need some time. Can we

  talk tomorrow?”

  “Of course.” He bade me a good-night and disappeared

  into the shadows.

  My night was far from restful. The decision to inform the

  Sitian Council about my immunity to magic f lipped from

  yes to no and back again. My past dealings with the Council

  were rocky at best. Magicians who graduated from the Keep

  usually worked for the Council, but I had broken that tradi-

  tion by going out on my own. This wouldn’t have been too

  big a problem, except I took my glass messengers with me.

  The glass messengers that allowed magicians to commu-

  nicate with each other over great distances in an instant. The

  glass messengers I no longer had the power to create, rendering a whole network of relay stations obsolete.

  My new immunity could benefit the Council if they trusted

  Spy Glass

  19

  me and if I trusted them. Big if. My tendency to keep cer-

  tain abilities to myself had caused major trouble, resulting in the retirement of Master Magician Zitora Cowan, which left

  the Council with only two Master Magicians and the eleven

  elected members. One for each clan in Sitia.

  The best course of action would be to stay far away from

  the Council. But what would I do? No glass magic and no

  desire to craft vases, bowls and tumblers. Planning Mara and

  Leif ’s wedding for the next two and a half seasons would be

  torture. And I would know, having had personal experience

  with torture.

  I had to face it. I couldn’t make this decision alone. Yelena

  had already figured it out, but why didn’t she come to help me? She was the liaison between Ixia and Sitia—a neutral

  third party and my friend. Instead, she sent Valek. The most

  dangerous man in the world.

  A strange notion popped into my head. Was I the most

  dangerous woman in the world? I laughed. My few past at-

  tempts at stealth had mixed results—almost caught and almost

  killed. Not an impressive track record.

  By morning, no sudden insight had f lashed. Guess I would

  rely on my instincts. A truly terrifying prospect.

  Valek arrived on time and was the perfect gentleman as my

  father showed him the factory and his laboratory. The half-

  completed experiments in the lab fascinated Valek. He asked

  many questions, and, by the end of the tour, Father helped

  Valek gather a slug of molten glass to play with. Wielding the

  metal tweezers in competent fingers, Valek shaped the slug

  into a lifelike daisy. I had forgotten Valek’s sculpting skills with rocks.

  Blue eyes lit with enthusiasm, he said, “Opal, you never

  told me how extraordinary glass is.”

  The few times we had interacted had been during crisis situ-

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  Maria V. Snyder

  ations. No need to reminisce. Especially not with my parents

  nearby.

  After my mother rushed off to prepare dinner and Father

  returned to puttering in his lab, Valek and I took a walk,

  heading in no particular direction.

  “Have you thought about why Yelena sent me?” he

  asked.

  “All

  night.”

  “That would explain the dark circles under your eyes.”

  Trust Valek to notice.

  He paused. “But not why you look so…tired. Are you still

  having nightmares about them? ”

  Them, as in the seven glass prisons. Despite trapping those

  evil souls inside glass, their voices had haunted my dreams.

  The closer I had traveled to one, the louder the voice and the

  stronger the inf luence over me became. Valek had hidden

  them, telling no one their locations, but I could find them.

  Well, not anymore.

  “No. Without magic my connection to them is gone,” I

  said.

  “Then why so tired?” He kept his expression neutral.

  “The incident in Hubal drained me. I’m still recovering.”

  The truth.

  “I see.” He continued walking with a smooth stride. “I’ve

  read the reports about Hubal. Nasty business.”

  “The records are supposed to be sealed. How did—”

  “Because of Janco’s unfortunate and illegal involvement, I

  had full access to them.” Annoyance colored his tone.

  Janco was one of Valek’s second-in-commands. “He

  shouldn’t get into trouble. I asked for his help. It’s not—”

  “His

  fault?”

  I

  nodded.

  “Asking for help isn’t the problem. It never is. Janco should

  have brought your message to my attention, and we should

  have decided on the best course of action. Instead, he left

  Spy Glass

  21

  without permission and without telling us where he went.

  Plus he made an illegal border crossing.”

  “But…”

  Valek

  waited.

  “I hope you didn’t demote him.”

  “What happened to him in Hubal was punishment enough.

  That blood magic is extremely potent. Yelena explained how

  it works, but I don’t fully understand why Ulrick and Tricky

  needed your blood.”

  I glanced at him. Was he pretending to be confused? No

  way to tell. The man had the best poker face in the world.

  “When I had my glass magic, if a magician attacked me, I

  could transform his magic into glass. Even if he didn’t attack, I could siphon…steal all his powers if I so desired. But Tricky discovered that I couldn’t drain him because he used my blood to increase his powers.”

  “So your blood protected them from your siphoning

  magic?”

  “Yes. At first, but when Zitora was dying and I was desper-

  ate, I realized my blood tattooed in their skin connected us.

  To draw off all their powers, I had to drain my own, as well.”

  I rubbed the scars on my arms. Not completely healed, the

  vertical ridges pulsed with an angry reddish-purple color, and

  resembled rungs on a ladder that climbed up the inside of my

  arms. A souvenir from Hubal.

  “How much blood did they take from you?”

  An odd question. And Mr. Stone Face only showed polite

  interest. “I don’t know. I lost track of the days. But I know

  they came every
day with a suction device. Most of the time,

  I passed out before they were done.”

  “According to Janco’s report, they held you for six days.”

  Valek’s comment seemed for his benefit instead of mine.

  We walked for a while in silence. “At least one good thing

  came from your sacrifice. No more nightmares. And since

  you can no longer hear the souls in the glass prisons, it would

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  Maria V. Snyder

  be prudent for me to collect them, and rehide them so you

  won’t be in danger any longer.”

  Surprised, I said, “You’d do that? Just for me?”

  “Of course, you’re practically family.” He smiled. “Besides,

  my decision to spread them all over Sitia and Ixia was poor.

  With them together, I can monitor the prisons better.”

  I gasped in mock horror. “You? Make a bad decision?”

  He laughed. “All the time. Why do you think I’m so adept

  at escaping sticky situations? It’s because I constantly find

  myself in them.”

  He was adept at so much more. I envied his skill and confi-

  dence. “The best decision you’ve made is hiding Gede’s prison

  in the snow cats’ den. No one is brave or stupid enough to go

  in there.”

  Valek snorted with amusement. “So which one am I? Brave

  or stupid?”

  “I didn’t mean—”

  “No worries, Opal. Actually it was easy to place that one

  in the den. I left a fresh-killed steer a half mile upwind and

  waited for the cats to leave.” He crossed his arms and tapped

  a finger. “I’ll need a better location for all seven prisons.”

  I tried to imagine the perfect hiding spot, but couldn’t think

  of one. Our aimless route led us into the Avibian Plains, and

  I scanned the area for Quartz.

  “Let’s get back to our original subject,” Valek said. “Why

  Yelena sent me. Any ideas?”

  Logic warned me not to tell him, yet my heart yearned to

  trust him. “I think Yelena sent you here to help me make a

  decision.”

  “Emerald

  green.”

  “What?”

  “You should wear an emerald-green-colored dress for your

  sister’s wedding.”

  “Valek,

  I’m

  serious.”

  Spy Glass

  23

  “So am I. With your dark hair and eyes, you would look

  stunning in that color.”

  We had traveled far enough into the plains to trigger the

  Sandseeds’ magical protection.

  Valek studied me as the power swelled then died. I hadn’t

  decided what I should tell him, but it seemed my unconscious

  mind chose for me.

  He waited. When the magic didn’t cause me to panic and

  insist we were lost, he asked, “Are you related to the Sandseed Clan?”

  “Not yet.” Once Mara married Leif, a distant cousin to the

  Sandseeds, I would be connected to them if they considered

  marriage a legitimate relationship. Or perhaps not. In that case and with enough time, everyone in Sitia would be allowed to

  roam the plains at will. “I don’t think so.”

  He chased the logic. “Do you have special permission to

  travel the plains?”

  “Without Quartz, no.”

  “I see.” His gaze turned inward. “Does the Sitian Council

  know?”

  “Nope.”

  Understanding f lashed on his face. “Ah…the reason for

  Yelena’s request. Who else knows?”

  “Zitora, Leif and Kade.”

  “My advice, don’t tell the Council about your immunity.

  Instead, come work for me.”

  Work for Valek? A complete shock and NOT a course of action I had ever considered. Stunned silence built, but I

  couldn’t form a coherent response. He remained serious and

  he seemed in no hurry for a reply.

  My emotions thawed from surprised to f lattered that he had

  asked me to be a part of his corp. Curious, I asked, “What

  would I do for you? Spy on Sitia?”

  “No. That’s my job.” He grinned. “I would like you to pro-

  tect the Commander from magical attacks when I’m away.And

  to help with any incidents that are tainted with magic.”

  “That’s rather vague.”

  He shrugged. “Dealing with magic is unpredictable, and

  each time it’s been an…education. It also doesn’t match my

  schedule, so magical problems tend to arrive when I’m out of

  town, leaving Ari and Janco to handle them.”

  I laughed at Valek’s queasy grimace. Janco hated anything

  magical. I became his new best friend the minute I could no

  longer access the blanket of power that surrounded our world

  and gave magicians their abilities.

  “Is the Commander attacked often?” I asked.

  Spy Glass

  25

  “No. He hasn’t been in years, but I still worry. And you

  know the old cliché. Better safe…”

  Than sorry. A good motto. One I should heed more often.

  While Valek’s offer tempted me, I knew deep down in my

  heart my new immunity should benefit Sitia. My home. And

  despite my troubles with the Council, their goals to keep Sitia safe matched mine.

  Valek watched me. “You’ve made a decision.”

  “I’m honored for the invitation, but will have to decline.”

  He nodded as if expecting my answer. “If you change your

  mind, let me know. There is no time limit.”

  Good to know. “Thank you.”

  “What are you going to do then?”

  “Tell Master Bloodgood and see what he recommends.”

  “He’ll inform the Council and it could go one of two ways,”

  Valek said. “They’ll debate for seasons or they’ll quickly figure out how useful you are and put you right to work. Either

  way—” mischief danced in his eyes “—I may request your spe-

  cial help from time to time. Through Liaison Yelena of course.

  Wouldn’t want to upset the Council…for your sake.”

  “As in you’d gladly upset them for another reason?”

  “Of course. I like it when they’re buzzing in concern and

  arguing with each other. Don’t tell Yelena that or I’ll be in

  trouble.” He winked.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll keep it to myself.”

  We turned around, heading back to the house. Halfway

  there, he asked, “Are you planning to tell your family and

  friends about your immunity?”

  I considered. “I’d need to minimize the number of people

  who know in order to be more effective when I help the

  Council.”

  “It’s a valid strategy, but as soon as you interact with a magician, he will learn of your immunity. Inevitably the word will

  spread. If you remain in Booruby, then you can probably keep

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  Maria V. Snyder

  your secret. Another thing to think about is, if you get sick

  or are injured, a healer can’t help you.”

  The

  downside.

  Valek crossed his arms and drummed his fingers. “I would

  suggest you send me a message if you’re in really bad shape.

  If you can.”

  “Why?”

  “I’ll send a medic down to help you. They are quite com-


  petent in healing without magic. Your healers are useless if

  their magic doesn’t work.”

  His comment drove a point home. Because the Commander

  had forbidden magic in Ixia, the Ixians studied medicine in

  a way my own people didn’t. I hadn’t fully contemplated my

  new situation. “What else should I be aware of ?” I asked.

  He scanned the horizon. The rolling terrain of the plains

  covered the landscape like a blanket. Quartz grazed, munching

  on the long stalks of grass. Every so often she would glance

  at us, but she remained on the hillock as if she sensed I didn’t need her.

  “Frustration.” Valek finally answered my question. “Know-

  ing magic is being aimed at me, but not knowing what type

  drives me crazy.”

  “Why?”

  “In a few situations, I didn’t know if a magician was trying

  to kill me, warn me off or trying to help. It’s important for

  deciding on my response. Sometimes it’s obvious what they’re

  attempting. If the person next to you suddenly freezes, it’s not hard to figure out. It’s when I’m alone that it’s harder. Another frustrating aspect is not being able to pick up where the magic is coming from. Unless the magician is in the room, I can’t

  determine a source. Perhaps you’ll have better luck.”

  Doubtful. “Any other problems?”

  “It can be exhausting when powerful magic is directed at

  you. It’s like trudging through syrup. It sticks to you and pulls on your muscles. It’s hard to move and to breathe.” He placed

  Spy Glass

  27

  a comforting hand on my shoulder. “There’re benefits, too.

  You’ll know who is a magician and who isn’t. You won’t be

  fooled by an illusion or be physically or mentally controlled

  by another. No one can read your thoughts. Although—” he

  smiled “—to truly take advantage, you’re going to have to

  work on keeping your feelings from showing on your face.”

  “That

  bad?”

  “To me, yes. You could play poker until you stop losing, or

  perhaps a few acting lessons would help you. Especially since

  pretending you’re affected by magic can be to your advantage.

  When you return to the Citadel, talk to Fisk, he’ll find you

  the perfect teacher.”

  Even Valek knew Fisk, the beggar boy turned leader of the

  Citadel’s Helper’s Guild. I remembered I owed him a…special

  visit for the ambush he had set up. He had been working for

  Master Bloodgood at the time, but I still wanted to talk to