Understanding what I had done, I let go and knelt next to him. “I’m so sorry. Are you all right?”

“Whoa. That was intense.” He rubbed his wrist.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t—”

“Don’t apologize. I don’t say sorry when I choke you.” Sarn inspected his arm. “Wow, what a move. No bruising or anything. Can you teach me it?”

“No. I don’t…” I stood. Bad enough that I had found one of Devlen’s pressure points and used it to inflict pain, but the thought of teaching it to another sickened me. Horrified, I bolted to my quarters.

13

CURLED UP IN BED, I SHOOK UNDER THE COVERS. WHO WAS THE mutant now? Me. All that time Devlen had tortured me to get his way, I had been learning, remembering the locations of all those horrid spots on the body. I instinctively knew where steady pressure would cause relentless pain. Pain so bad, I had agreed to do terrible things. And I’d used it on Sarn.

By the time Kade arrived, I had decided to stay under the blanket. Safe. No students. No teachers. No babysitters. No Devlen. No Ulrick. No Council. The list was quite long.

The bed creaked under his weight. “I’m guessing your training session didn’t go well.” He pulled at the blanket, but I held it. “Opal, talk to me. What happened?”

When I wouldn’t let him remove the cover, he crawled underneath, worming his way next to me. His warmth seeped into my skin, calming the tremors. He said nothing for a while.

“I talked to Master Bloodgood,” he said.

I tensed.

“Relax. I asked for permission to borrow you for a few weeks.”

“What did he say?” I asked.

Encouraged by my reply, Kade wrapped an arm around my waist. “He said he would query the Council and the other Masters.”

“Good luck with that. By the time they come to a decision the storm season will be over.” Bitter and jaded. Who, me?

“I did stress the importance of a quick answer. Master Bloodgood seemed to think they would let you come with me. With concessions of course.”

“Let me guess. Skippy has to come along and I have to make a hundred glass messengers before I can go.”

“You’re right.” Surprise laced his voice. “How did you know?”

“Because I’m starting to think like them. I’m beginning to agree with them. I’m too dangerous. I can’t be trusted. They should lock me up where I can’t hurt anyone.”

“Opal, what happened?”

“If I tell you, you’ll be disgusted and leave.”

“If your self-pitying behavior and being suffocated by the blanket hasn’t driven me away, I doubt anything else would.”

“I’m not indulging in self-pity.” I scooted away and bumped against the wall.

“Then what are you doing?”

“Being realistic.”

“I see. Well…actually, no, I don’t. It’s too dark under here to see.”

“I know too much.” I sighed. How best to explain? “Right now I can tell you the location of all those hidden glass prisons. I can find a pressure point on your body and cause you pain. And if I held an empty orb, I can drain you of all your powers. I can’t…unknow all this. Can’t turn it off. And when forced into a desperate situation, I’m going to use this knowledge automatically and hurt someone.”

“The trail of bodies in your wake is concerning,” Kade said.

“I’m serious.”

“So am I. All right, so you know the locations of the prisons. Why aren’t you going around collecting them? Selling them off to the highest Daviian bidder? Don’t answer. Just listen,” Kade said. “You know where the pressure points are. Why aren’t you using them on Skippy, threatening him with them? And why aren’t you going around draining magicians of all their power? You’d be the richest person in Sitia with all those diamonds.”

“Can I talk now?” I asked.

“No. I’m not done. You haven’t done all those things because you know they’re wrong. And yes, when forced into a desperate situation, you will defend yourself with the weapons available to you. Think about it. The reason your back’s against the wall is due to someone attacking you. Not the other way around. Unless you’ve been picking fights?”

“I did grump at a dining-room server for spilling hot water on me.”

“Did you knock her out with one of your sais? Clamp down on one of her pressure spots?”

“Point taken.”

“Good. Can we pull the blanket off now? I’m dying under here.”

I pushed the cover off and squinted in the bright light. Kade’s hair clung to the sides of his sweaty face and hung in his eyes. Smoothing the loose strands behind his ear, I remembered when he had lectured me before.

We had been standing on The Cliffs and he encouraged me to have more self-confidence. At the time, saying I was an all-powerful glass magician had been a joke. Now, it seemed like a nightmare.

“Where did you go?” Kade asked.

“Back to The Cliffs when you said I was too young to understand.”

He laughed, and I marveled at the way the gold flecks in his eyes sparked.

“I remember the situation being rather dire and here comes this…this twelve-year-old to save us. She looked as if a stiff breeze could knock her over. I thought we were sunk.” He slapped his hand on his thigh. “Then I have to fish the girl from the sea. You resembled a drowned puppy.”