a few scars. I guessed he was five or six years older than me.
Long, thin face that could easily get lost in a crowd, but those hazel eyes… Amusement filled them, and a slanted smile transformed him from common to unusual.
“Think you can take me?” he asked.
I laughed. “That obvious?”
“Yes.”
“Can you blame me? I don’t know you, and shouldn’t
you be returning to work?” I pointed in the direction of the
prison.
“My name is Finn. I’m off duty. And I’m wearing a lieu-
tenant’s uniform and not a prison jumpsuit. Shouldn’t that be
enough to trust me?”
“No.”
He laughed. Letting go of my arm, he stepped away with
his hands up by his shoulders. “Smart lady. No wonder the
Councilor hired you as her assistant.”
Alarm f lashed through me. “How do you know?”
“COs like to gossip. Besides, I was consulted before they’d
let you in.”
“But I had a message.”
“Doesn’t matter. No one enters. No visitors. No messengers.
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No deliverymen. Not even Councilor Moon can visit her
sister, and for their safety, the Councilor and First Advisor are not even allowed inside. Authorized personnel only.”
“And you authorized me?”
“Yes. Now are you going to stand here all day, or are you
going to let me buy you a drink?”
Finn must have quite a bit of power within the prison. I
chose the drink. He led me to a tavern a few blocks away.
Called the Spotted Dog, the utilitarian decor lacked warmth,
but the patrons didn’t seem to mind. They generated their
own coziness, acting like one big family. It made sense since
almost all of them worked at the prison.
My arrival with Finn sent a ripple through the tavern. The
hum of conversation died for an awkward moment before
spiking back to life. In that time, appraising glances, surprised stares and hostile glares were aimed at me. A few women
mingled with the men. A couple of the women wore uniforms,
but the rest were in civilian garb. Finn and I sat at a table away from the general crowd.
If this group learned to trust me, then I’d hit the jackpot.
Finn had said the COs liked to gossip, and since I had no
idea whether the warden would deliver the names to Faith or
not, perhaps I would overhear information about the SMU
or discover the names of the elite officers. Big if.
Would I be welcomed here without Finn? Doubtful. How
much did Finn know about me? Did he know about Kade?
And was I really considering using him to obtain the informa-
tion I needed? How different was this from the story I spun
for Faith? I was sure these questions didn’t bother Valek and
his corp. Perhaps I should wait for the warden.
But the thought of waiting any longer sent nervous darts of
fear through my body. The desire to find my blood before…
What? My imagination created all kinds of scenarios. Spilled.
Used. Lost. Hidden. Far better to be proactive than not.
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“How long have you been working at the prison?” I asked
Finn.
He swallowed a gulp of ale and f lashed me his slanted smile.
“Feels like forever. Actually, I recently transferred in from a Bloodgood prison.”
“Do you plan to stay?”
“This move was a promotion and I’m hoping to work my
way to be a warden someday.”
A strange gleam shone in his eyes, and I couldn’t tell if he
joked or teased or if he told the truth. “You seem too nice to
be a warden. And I can’t imagine anyone ousting Grogan.” I
shuddered, remembering his fierce demeanor.
“It’s not a matter of usurping the man.” Finn leaned for-
ward. “It’s a matter of outliving him.”
The Lieutenant was serious. Yikes. “That bad? I thought
Wirral is a maximum security prison.”
“It is. You’ve seen the fortifications. However we house
the worst offenders from all over Sitia. And some of those
guys are amazingly creative and intelligent. It doesn’t happen
very often, but in Wirral’s long history, there have been a few escapes and riots and warden assassinations.”
Icy dread climbed up my throat. “Even from the SMU?”
Tricky had escaped from Ixia—an almost impossible task.
Would this prison be easier?
My obvious unease caused Finn to rush to assure me. “SMU
is escape-proof. See those guys?” He pointed his mug toward
a trio sitting at a far table.
They kept a distance from the others. Absorbed in conver-
sation, the average-sized men didn’t evoke any warm feelings
of safety in me. Plus I had learned words like impossible and escape-proof never worked. Someone, somewhere, at some time would prove it wrong.
“They’re the best of the best,” he said. “When we finish
our training, we’re all locked inside the prison for thirty days.
Those of us who escape or manage to outwit the COs in some
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way are given another year of training and assigned to the
SMU.”
Impressive. “Thirty days inside must have been—”
“Not fun. And since I transferred in, I still had to do thirty
days in Wirral despite my other time behind bars.”
“And?”
“I managed. And with my prior experience, I was assigned
to the SMU.” He relaxed back in his seat. “So don’t worry.
No one’s escaping on my watch.”
Finn asked me a few questions about my life and from them
I learned he knew I had been involved with Councilor Moon’s
rescue, but not all the details. Good.
As we talked, I kept an eye on the other SMU officers,
trying to memorize their faces. At one point during our
conversation, magic brushed me. A light inquisitive touch.
I scanned the crowd, but, besides the two drunken soldiers
glaring at me, no one paid me any attention. The drunks’
hostility didn’t match the magic, but making eye contact with
them was a mistake. They approached us.
Finn stiffened and said, “Don’t say a word.”
Anger radiated from them. A sheen of alcohol and malice
glazed their eyes. And they kept their hands on the hilts of
their swords. They were a mirror image of each other, except
the bruiser on the left had braided his hair into rows along
his scalp and his companion’s lank hair hung straight to his
shoulders.
“Hey, LT, do you know who you’re cozying with?” Braids
asked Finn in a loud voice. “That’s the Councilor’s new
assistant.”
“Why ’ ja bring the bitch here?” Lank asked, slurring his
words.
Finn placed his hand on my arm. A not too subtle hint to
keep calm. His gaze never left the men.
“She fired my cousin, LT,” Braids said.
The tavern quieted.
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69
Braids, sensing he had a larger audience, raised his voice and
addressed the room. “She put my cousin and at least a dozen
&
nbsp; others out of work.”
Lank said, “And why ’ ja think she was sniffing around the
prison? How many of us are gonna be fired?”
Not good. I glanced around. Others nodded in agreement,
siding with the drunks. No stopping it now. This was probably
going to turn ugly.
My recent streak of bad decisions continued. What had I been thinking when I agreed to a drink with one of the
prison officers? The rumblings of discontent over my presence
in the Spotted Dog tavern increased. A couple men moved
closer to the two drunks who had started this confrontation,
and one of the elite officers joined the growing mob.
Tossed out would be the best scenario for me. Beaten to a
pulp the worst.
“She cleaned out the riffraff,” Finn said to the two in my
defense. “Did us a favor, and you know it. Besides, you hate
your cousin, Cole. Said he couldn’t guard a baby.”
Not the right thing to say. Braids…Cole drew his sword.
“You takin’ her side, LT?”
Finn stood in one f luid motion. The tension thickened the
air, making it hard to draw a breath.
I rose to my feet, being careful not to make any sudden
moves. “Gentlemen, Councilor Moon has no intention of
changing anything at the prison. I was merely delivering a
message for her. I’m sorry about your cousin, Cole. If you tell me his name, I can try to find him another job.”
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71
He blinked at me as if trying to make sense of my words.
Before he could respond, Finn said, “The government will
be hiring construction workers to build an addition to HQ
when the weather’s warmer. Lots of jobs then.”
The friction eased. A voice announced that a barrel of
special ale was open and most of the crowd disbursed. When
a few more COs entered the tavern, cheerful calls to a rookie
hotshot erupted. Knowing a good distraction when I saw one,
I grabbed Finn’s hand and headed toward the door.
I didn’t release my hold until we were a few blocks away.
The setting sun cast long shadows along the street.
“Sorry, I didn’t think anyone would recognize you,” Finn
said.
Confused, I asked, “Why not? You did.”
“I’m naturally nosy.” He quirked a smile. “Actually, know-
ing who is who in town is part of my job. A new arrival might
mean someone is trying to aid a prisoner.”
“To
escape?”
“Escape, or just to smuggle in supplies. Trading goods inside
is very lucrative and every single item in there has two different uses at least. I keep track of all the merchants and delivery people. If I see a new face, I’m automatically suspicious. When I heard the Councilor hired a new assistant, I made sure to
get a good look at you.”
“I hadn’t realized there was so much involved with your
job.”
“A common misconception. Everyone thinks we just stand
around. But we have to be one step ahead of the prisoners or
risk being surprised by a weapon made of crushed glass mixed
in feces.”
I stopped. “You’re not serious. Are you?”
His queasy grimace didn’t change.
“Yuck. At least you have one more person who has a greater
appreciation of what you do. Thanks for the drink. I’d better
get back before the Councilor worries.”
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Maria V. Snyder
“I’ll escort you.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but Finn was my only link
to Wirral. “Okay,” I agreed. He could be my way inside.
We walked for a while in silence.
I mulled over what he had told me. “Do all the different
areas of the prison have specific titles like SMU?” I asked.
“Yes. There are a ton of official designations, but we have
nicknames for almost all of them.”
“Where does a rookie hotshot work?”
He laughed. “That’s the new guy in the SMU. The nick-
name for us is the hotshots. And rookies are the ones either newly graduated from training or new to the prison. I was
called the rookie LT until he arrived.”
“Here you go.” Faith dropped a thick file folder on my
desk. “Delivered this morning.”
Her amused tone drew my attention. I glanced at her. She
stood with one hand resting on her cocked hip. Her short hair
was tucked behind her ears as always, but she smirked.
Oh no. “What’s the catch?” I asked.
“The warden wasn’t…happy with your interruption two
days ago.”
“And?”
“And you’re barred from entering his prison again.”
I shuddered, remembering the conditions. “That’s fine by
me. So why so smug?”
“You’ve met the man. Not much upsets him, but our request
plus your audacity—his word, not mine—in not trusting him or his people has galled him. He has issued you a challenge.”
Faith was downright gleeful.
“Why me? You wrote the request,” I grumbled.
“Come on, Opal. The warden isn’t an idiot.”
“Since you’re dying to tell me, go on.”
“He challenged you to find anything, anything wrong with his correctional officers or his prison.”
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73
“He’s that confident?”
She
nodded.
Nothing was perfect. “Tell him I accept his challenge.”
Faith whistled. “Bold.”
“What’s bold?” Tama Moon asked from behind Faith.
The First Adviser jumped a foot. “Don’t scare me like
that!”
“Sorry.” But the Councilor didn’t appear apologetic. In
fact, her eyebrows were pinched close, puckering the skin on
her forehead. “What are you two plotting?”
I noted her word choice. Plotting. Paranoid vibes wafted
from her.
Quicker to respond, Faith said, “Nothing.” However she
couldn’t lie convincingly, which added to Tama’s suspicions.
“Nothing important,” I said. “Nic challenged me to spar
with him. My sais against his sword, and I not only accepted
but claimed I would win.”
Tama released a breath and her shoulders eased down a
fraction. “That is bold.” Her frown remained. She shoved a
stack of files at Faith. “Here, I need you to check the payroll numbers and send them down to accounting.”
Faith clutched the packet to her chest and shot me a worried
glance before hurrying away.
“Opal, I need to speak to you in my office.”
I studied her as I followed. Uncombed white-blond hair
hung in clumps as if she just rolled out of bed. Her hands
hugged her arms. When we reached her desk, she snatched a
paper from the surface and waved it at me.
“What is this?” she asked.
I reached for the sheet and touched magic. A thick bubble
resisted my hand, but I pushed through and took the paper
from Tama. Damn it, Zebb. We had a deal. I squashed my
desire to find him and crack his head open with my sais. He
had just undone weeks of improvement, sending Tama back
to where we started.
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Maria
V. Snyder
Instead, I kept my face neutral as I scanned the letter. When
a person was convicted and sentenced to prison, all his assets
were turned over to the Sitian government to put toward the
cost of his incarceration. The letter was a standard reversal of assets to the Moon Clan and not something that would need
the Councilor’s approval. Except in this case, the prisoner
was Akako, Tama’s sister. Akako’s signature meant she agreed
to the terms stated in the letter, and it was countersigned by
Tama.
Confused, I tried to determine what she was really asking.
“You approved the transfer.”
“I know that! Look here.” She stabbed her finger at a line
of text below her signature.
I squinted at the fine print. “You also waived your right to
purchase her assets. Is that bad?”
“Of course it’s bad. She owned my parent’s house! I want
to buy it. It’s a good thing I found that before it went to the realty office.” She rounded on me. “How did you do it, Opal?
Stick it in the middle of a bunch of papers so I wouldn’t see
it when I signed it?”
Her accusation took a moment to sink in. She believed I
had tricked her into signing away her rights. “I didn’t—”
“Don’t lie to me.” She snatched the paper from my hands.
“This is an act of espionage.”
“Why would I do that? What would I gain?” I tried to
reason with her, but she wouldn’t listen.
When she called for her guards to arrest me, I realized the
magic must be inf luencing her. Zebb’s way of getting rid of
me? Seemed complicated, but I could have underestimated
him.
The two guards rushed over. Nic and Eve were off duty.
Bad timing for me, but not for the magician. With panic build-
ing in my chest, I touched Tama’s wrist, hoping my immunity
to magic would somehow cover her and break the spell. No
luck.
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75
She shrieked and yanked her arm back. The guards grabbed
my shoulders, pulling me away. My mind raced through my
five years of magical instruction at the Magician’s Keep,
searching for something, anything that would help.
“Wait,” I said to the guards. “She’s being inf luenced by
magic. If we don’t break it, it’ll be just like before when Akako took control of the clan.”
They
hesitated.
“Trust me.” I snagged an idea. “Don’t let go of me. Keep
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