Spy Glass

by Maria V. Snyder

  “And if you’re not?”

  “The force blows you apart and brings the ceiling down

  on your head.”

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  329

  “Which

  one?”

  “The explosion collapsed two quadrants. Vasko’s going to

  be livid.”

  “Did many miners…” I couldn’t finish.

  “A handful died.” Galen dismissed the loss of life as insig-

  nificant. “He’ll be more upset about the time and cost to open

  up new shafts.”

  “That’s—”

  “A risk they’re well aware of and are paid extra for. And

  most of them still steal gems from the mines.”

  Another tremor vibrated under my feet.

  “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Galen brushed past me as he took the lead. When his

  shoulder had touched my upper arm, I felt magic. By itself, it

  wouldn’t cause me any alarm. Vasko was a shrewd business-

  man, and I could understand why he would hire a magician

  as his right-hand man. But the texture of the power reminded

  me of someone. I just couldn’t put my finger on who.

  My opinion of Galen increased as he navigated the maze of

  shafts, chambers and intersections with confidence. The trip

  seemed never ending.

  “How much longer?” I asked. My throat burned from the

  dust.

  “A few more minutes. We have to bypass the weak quad-

  rants.”

  When the shaft’s incline increased, I hoped I would see blue

  sky soon. I would never take it or fresh air for granted again.

  But the passage leveled off and ended in a room. Galen set the

  lantern on a desk, and I corrected my initial impression.

  “I

  thought—”

  “You thought wrong.” Galen rummaged around the office

  and found a canteen and two cups.

  Pouring water into both, Galen handed me one of the

  cups. Our fingers touched, and I finally recognized the ma-

  gician. Finn.

  I drew my switchblade and stabbed, aiming for

  his heart. He blocked the attack, but didn’t move quite fast

  enough to avoid the blade. It sliced his upper arm.

  Finn/Galen growled in pain and I slammed into a null

  shield. Acting on pure instinct, I f lipped my switchblade

  around and f lung it at him. It sailed through the shield, but

  he def lected it with his power.

  Then the shield pressed on me, forcing me back until it

  f lattened me against the wall, unable to move.

  Finn plopped into his desk chair and drank from his cup.

  “Too easy, Opal.”

  I glanced at his ripped and bloodstained sleeve. “Next time,

  Finn, I’ll slice higher.”

  He pulled off his glasses and wig. “Points for following the

  clues and linking me to Vasko, but I’m not his son Phinnegan.

  I’m really Vasko’s faithful dog.” He didn’t bother to hide the

  bitterness in his voice.

  “Then who is Junior?” I asked, managing to surprise

  him.

  “I didn’t think you’d learn anything useful from Vasko’s

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  office. Your Ixian teacher should be proud.” He watched

  me. “The Commander isn’t the only one with a network of

  spies in Sitia. The Council is more aware of what’s going on

  than you give them credit for. And Vasko’s tapped into that

  network.”

  “Is Junior working for the Council or Vasko?”

  “He’s me. I’m not related, but I have disguised myself as

  Vasko from time to time. Occasionally he likes to be in two

  places at once.”

  “Why tell me all this?” I pushed against the null shield, but

  it remained firm.

  “You’re going to be a player in this game. You should un-

  derstand the basics.”

  “What does Vasko want now?” I asked. “He already has

  my blood.”

  “No he doesn’t.”

  “But he sent you to Wirral?”

  “To gather information on blood magic. The existence

  of your blood was a nice surprise. One I failed to tell him

  about.”

  “Why does he…oh.” I connected the dots. “He wants to

  use blood magic to return Pazia’s powers.” All my actions,

  whether good or bad, inadvertent or on purpose have all spun

  in circles and returned with force, slamming right back into

  me. “Does he know about the side effects?”

  “Yes, but not to worry about your friend. Vasko would

  never endanger his daughter. Instead he has been experiment-

  ing on test subjects, trying to find a way to increase a person’s magic without the addiction.”

  “Should I be horrified by the mention of test subjects?”

  “Oh yes. I am. And I’m not the squeamish type. Vasko

  makes me look like the nice guy. Why do you think I’m so

  loyal?”

  “For your private office?”

  He laughed with genuine amusement then sobered. “If I

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  Maria V. Snyder

  were to betray or double-cross Vasko, I’d disappear in these

  mines. I’d either become a new test subject or locked in the

  cells below and left to die of thirst.”

  I reviewed his comments. “If you haven’t told him about

  the blood, isn’t that a betrayal?”

  He snapped his fingers. “Smart girl, I knew I liked you

  for a reason. If Vasko found out what I’ve been doing…” He

  shuddered. “That’s why I triggered the cave-ins. If everyone

  thinks I’m dead and buried under tons of rubble, no one will

  search for me. And I’m free to pursue other interests.”

  “Except I know.” A rush of cold fear swept through me.

  “I’m a casualty, too.”

  “Yep. Otherwise your friends and family would tear Sitia

  apart looking for you. And they are way too powerful for my

  liking.”

  “They’ll do it anyway. Unless there’s proof of my death.”

  “The searchers will find your backpack and if they dig

  deep enough, they’ll find a crushed female corpse wearing

  your clothes. She’s approximately your age, size and weight

  and has the same hairstyle. Although I must admit, the short

  cut looked better on her.”

  I closed my eyes, letting grief for the anonymous woman

  overcome me for a moment. Then I shoved it deep. I would

  need to focus. “Why bother with this elaborate ruse?”

  “I’m tired of playing in Vasko’s sandbox. I’ve a new partner.

  He’s a simple man and only wants one thing in exchange for

  giving me control over the black diamonds and the super mes-

  sengers.” Galen gazed at me as if appraising a vein for hidden

  gemstones. “Aren’t you going to ask?”

  “Who is it?”

  “Aren’t you curious what he wants?”

  “No.”

  “Ah, denial. Doesn’t matter, you’ll find out soon enough.”

  Galen pulled a dart from his coverall and approached me.

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  333

  “You don’t need that,” I said, thinking fast. “I’m lost down

  here. I can’t run away.”

  “Nice try, but I’ve a few tasks t
o finish before we go.” He

  jabbed the dart into my arm. As my head spun, he dropped

  the null shield. I sagged forward and he caught me.

  “Believe it or not, you’re better off with me,” he whispered

  in my ear.

  A pounding headache woke me. I kept my eyes closed,

  wishing I was immune to Finn’s…er…Galen’s sleeping drug,

  since the magic immunity didn’t do squat against him. Im-

  mobilized and lying on my back, I smelled the familiar aroma

  of damp minerals. Opening my eyes didn’t change a thing.

  Pure blackness surrounded me.

  The rough f loor scratched my back as I squirmed, but I

  couldn’t move my arms or legs, so he must have secured them.

  The crook of my right arm throbbed.

  As the drug wore off a strange feeling of being satiated

  welled. Alarmed, I confirmed my coverall remained on. What

  had Galen done to me while I was unconscious? I yanked and

  pulled and tried to free my limbs, but the bands holding them

  down didn’t budge.

  I waited. The damp air seeped into my skin, numbed my

  hands and caused bouts of uncontrolled shivers. Keeping my

  thoughts on the positive, I ignored the panic building in my

  dry throat.

  My muscles stiffened and ached. Galen had a nasty sense

  of humor if he thought this was better than… What? Vasko

  using me as a test subject? Sounded bad, but what tore my

  heart was my family and friends believing I was dead. What

  if I never saw them again?

  My biggest regret was not apologizing to my mother, not

  explaining everything to her and not taking her into my con-

  fidence. The reasons seemed petty now. I had wanted to save

  her from worry and grief, but the real truth was I wanted to

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  Maria V. Snyder

  save myself from the hassle of having to explain my actions

  to her and dealing with her reaction.

  And I had pushed Kade away, too. Running off after my

  blood, I only thought of myself and no one else. At least now,

  he’d be free to find someone to settle down with. What about

  Devlen? Would he continue his rehabilitation? I hoped so.

  My thoughts lingered on all the people who would be af-

  fected by my so-called demise. Not only my family, but Nic,

  Eve, Yelena, Ari, Janco and Valek. The list lengthened when

  I added, Tama, Faith, Reema, Teegan, Fisk and Zitora.

  With all these people in my life, how could I whine about

  feeling empty? What a brat!

  After an eternity of blackness, a glow pushed it back and

  then burned my eyes. Squinting, I peered at my surroundings.

  A small cave with one opening that led to a tunnel which

  housed the source of the growing brilliance. Boots crunched

  on loose stones, coming closer.

  As the footsteps neared, I shut my eyes, pretending to be

  unconscious. The light shone on my face, stabbing straight

  through my closed eyelids. After a shuff ling scrape, a clink

  sounded.

  “Opal?” Galen asked. “I know you’re awake.”

  “The light’s…too bright,” I said. Speaking took effort and

  my voice rasped as if I had gargled rocks. I thought longingly

  of the cup of water he had offered me before.

  Metal rattled and the glow dimmed. I opened my eyes. The

  lantern had been placed as far away as possible in the meager

  space. Galen crouched down and lifted my head with one

  hand and tipped a canteen full of water to my mouth with

  the other. I gulped it down greedily, making a mess and not

  caring if it was poisoned or not. The water poured over my

  cracked lips and soothed my throat.

  He pulled the bottle away and shrugged off his backpack.

  With a hand dipping inside the pack, he met my gaze. “I forgot

  to ask. How do you feel?”

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  335

  “Do you want me to list my complaints? Or should I just

  roll it all into one big tale of woe?”

  “Sarcasm aside. Do you feel like your old self ?”

  A little zing of… What? Fear, hope and panic zipped.

  Galen withdrew a package wrapped in leather. With theatri-

  cally slow movements, he peeled the layers off. The vibrations

  reached me first, humming deep within my chest. He uncov-

  ered a glass tiger—one of mine! An inner fire glowed from its

  depths and the magic trapped inside sang to me, welcoming

  me. My heart squeezed with a moment of joy. Then despair

  crushed it. Even though my magic had returned, it wouldn’t

  do me a damn bit of good against Galen.

  He had watched my face as he sprang his surprise. “You

  can thank me later.” Setting the tiger on the ground near my

  head, he reached into his pack and drew out a vial filled with

  a bright red liquid.

  My

  blood?

  He f lourished it. “This isn’t what you think it is. I already

  injected all your blood back into you.” To emphasize his point, he touched the sore spot on the crook of my right arm. “This

  blood is mine.” Galen set it next to the glass tiger, then re-

  trieved a couple syringes from his pack, lining them up in a

  neat row.

  “I told you Vasko’s been experimenting with blood magic.

  He hasn’t discovered the perfect combination, yet, but his tests have produced a number of strange results. A few of them

  caused the complete opposite effect—test subjects who craved

  even more power.”

  Questions formed, but they stuck to the roof of my mouth

  when Galen began rolling up my right sleeve past my elbow.

  He picked up one of the syringes and filled it with his blood.

  Then did the same for the second syringe.

  “When you inject a magician’s blood directly into another

  magician’s bloodstream, it doubles the receiver’s power. It also quadruples the consequences.”

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  Maria V. Snyder

  He tied a rope around my upper arm and rubbed a thumb

  over the crook of my arm.

  Panic burst from my chest with one word. “No!” I thrashed

  and strained, channeling every bit of strength I had into breaking free. Nothing worked.

  Galen didn’t have to wait long until exhaustion swept over

  me and I stilled. No food equaled no energy. Unable to watch

  him, I turned my head.

  “You may be interested to note that injecting a magician’s

  blood into a regular person does nothing but make them stink

  of magic. They remain unable to access the power source.”

  A prick of pain then pure fire raced through my arm. An-

  other prick sent it rushing across my shoulders. I screamed

  when it engulfed my heart and magical energy consumed me

  as if I burned alive. Power f lowed through my body, sending

  a healing wave. All my aches and pains disappeared. Strength

  returned and instinctively I knew I could pick Galen up and

  smash him into a wall.

  The magic swirled around me, loose and messy and grow-

  ing. I realized I had grabbed too much just like Teegan. Modi-

  fying my advice to him, I imagined the power as molten glass.

  I gathered it and returned it to the cauldron or rathe
r the

  blanket of power. The effort left me shaking.

  “Impressive,” Galen said. “You have excellent control. You

  must have learned something useful at the Keep after all.”

  Galen repacked his supplies. “With my blood, you have my

  skills as well as your own glass magic. I can move objects, heal and read people’s emotions enough so I know if someone is

  lying or not. And there might be a few hybrid powers with

  the mix.”

  When he unlocked the cuffs holding me down, I puzzled

  over why he would give me such power, but after sorting

  through his explanation fear bloomed in my chest.

  “You mentioned consequences,” I said. “What are they?”

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  337

  He shouldered his pack and helped me to my feet. I wobbled

  as a dizzy spell threatened.

  When I steadied, he grabbed the lantern. “I’ll tell you on

  the way.”

  I followed him through the mines. We encountered no

  one. After we navigated a series of turns, he slowed so I could walk next to him. “There are four side effects to your current

  condition. One. You can’t harm me with your magic. Or,

  more accurately, our magic.”

  Icy fingers stroked the back of my neck as I remembered

  Galen had injected his blood into me. A creepy sensation f lowed over me as if a million ants crawled on my skin.

  He tapped a finger on his chest. “Every beat of your heart

  mixes our blood together.”

  I stopped. “I was hardly a threat to you before.”

  “Remember when you insisted to Ulrick you wouldn’t be

  ruled by an addiction? That you were smart enough to avoid

  blood magic?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well.” He spread his hands wide. “You weren’t smart

  enough to avoid it. As for the question of addiction, time

  will tell. You feel fine now, but it won’t be long before you’re begging me to give you more power.”

  “I—”

  “That’s two consequences. Do you want to know the other

  two now or later?”

  I leaned against the wall. “Now.”

  “Brave girl. The third side effect is we’re connected. You

  can block your emotions from me by using magic, but each

  time you use our magic, our connection grows stronger. Even-

  tually, you’ll be unable to resist my orders.” He smiled. “I’m

  looking forward to that one. Especially since right now you’re

  stronger than most magicians.”

  Panic squeezed my insides. I panted with the effort to draw