Owen's face glowed with a greedy victory as he peered at the Ice Moon. I yanked a few Curare-filled darts from the lining in the pocket of my cloak--another useful and practical gift from Valek. In one quick motion, I place a dart in a neck before they caught on.

"She's armed!" one yelled, diving for the floor. The others scattered.

Before I could aim another, Owen's magic heated the darts to red-hot in my hand. I dropped them, then attacked with my magic. But he had anticipated my next move and, once again, blocked me with a null shield. The men quickly reformed and I was almost back where I started.

At least, I managed to disable one. Four more to go. My cloak held a few other weapons, but a knife against one sword never worked out well for me. Three were well beyond my skill set.

Owen shook his head. "You would sacrifice your bother and heart mate to keep me from obtaining what is rightfully mine?"

"Obviously." Frustration and fear twisted tight inside me. "You've claimed you want to keep the power blanket safe from the Commander, but I don't need to read your soul to know you just desire all the world's magic for yourself." And would trap millions of peaceful souls. "That I cannot allow."

"Too bad you've no recourse to stop me," he said, turning back to the diamond.

Time for desperate measures. "Come on, Owen. Do you really think obtaining the Ice Moon would be this easy?"

He paused, but didn't look at me.

"You missed a critical defensive position."

"Your attempt to delay me is pathetic, Yelena." He reached to take the Ice Moon.

"You forgot to check the ceiling for guards. Captain Nytik attack!"

As expected, everyone looked up but me. I dove between two of the men. Rolling past the null shield, I raced toward Owen.

He grabbed the Ice Moon and held it high. "Stop or I'll drain the world's magic."

I didn't hesitate. Launching myself at him, I hit him square in the chest. We slammed to the floor.

The Ice Moon flew from his hands. It shattered against the wall, exploding into thousands of blue shards. That was...unexpected.

Owen scrambled to his feet. Shock turned to fury. "That wasn't the Ice Moon." He seized my shoulders, digging his fingers into my flesh. "You tricked me."

A slow clapping sounded behind him. Owen spun, reaching for his sword.

"Bravo," Valek said still clapping. He wore all black. A rope hung from the ceiling.

Relief and joy washed through me. I suppressed the desire to crush him in a hug.

"That was entertaining," Valek continued. "Although Yelena didn't trick you. That would have been the Commander's doing a long time ago."

Owen opened his mouth to speak, but, in one fluid motion, Valek hit him with a Curare-filled dart. When the drug paralyzed Owen's muscles, he toppled to the ground and his men bolted from the cavern.

When Valek didn't move, I gestured to the exit. "Shouldn't we--"

"No. It'll give Janco something to do. Otherwise he'll whine that he waited outside all this time and didn't have any fun."

"And Leif?"

"He's fine."

I wrapped my arms around Valek, squeezing him tight.

"Easy, love." He pulled back slightly. "You weren't worried? You saw my signs. Right?"

"Uh... I saw your signal that Owen is a liar, but that didn't help."

"And the other ones? The ones where I warned you that he can lie with his mind."

"Uh..."

"I guess someone needs a refresher course."

I snaked my hands under his shirt. "Yes, I definitely need to reacquaint myself."

"Not now. Janco is waiting."

"How did he get involved in all this?" I asked as I followed Valek from the mine.

Valek explained. "A lieutenant out on patrol sent a message to his superior officer about an odd group of travelers. Janco intercepted this messenger. He'd been on his way to MD-5 because he had felt something..."strange." Ari didn't come with him since he thought Janco's nausea was from overindulging at the pub."

I considered. "Janco's ability to sense magic is getting stronger the more he's exposed to it."

"Don't tell him that or he'll never leave Ixia."

I laughed, but sobered when I spotted Janco gleefully fighting Owen's men. "And what about Owen?"

"He won't leave Ixia alive."

Valek and I stopped at the Commander's Castle before returning to Sitia to finish our interrupted vacation. The Commander invited us into his war room. I hadn't been inside the round chamber in ages. The morning sun shone through the tall, thin stained glass windows that covered three-quarters of the round wall, painting the table and chairs with colorful light.