Sitting across the table from Devlen, I felt unsettled. He had done nothing to alarm me, but the atmosphere in the Weir Inn’s common room seemed charged. The normal buzz of conversation was muted as if the others were afraid of being overheard.
I glanced around. Town guards sat at tables and leaned against the bar. More than usual or was I just ultra-aware of them because of my situation?
I questioned Devlen on Ulrick. “Where did you leave him?”
“We parted company at the Tulip Inn on the western edge of town.”
He stuck to his story and I had no way to force the truth from him. “I’ll play along. Did he say where he planned to go?”
“I suggested he find a mentor to teach him how to use his new powers and to increase them.”
“With blood magic?”
“Of course. You cannot add to your magical abilities otherwise.”
I considered my own history with magic. At first, I had thought I possessed one trick—to capture magic inside my glass animals. But when Kade exhausted himself filling orbs with storm energy, I joined my essence with him and helped contain the lethal might of the tempest. Then I discovered the skill to harvest another’s magic.
“Your magic was always there, Opal. You lacked the confidence and the knowledge to fully use it.”
“You can read my mind?”
“No. Your face. Your expressions are easy to read. Despite your adventures with the sinister side of life, you remain an open and kind person.”
I would call them my misadventures.
Devlen relaxed against the back of his chair. “You do not agree. Just because you are smarter and more cautious now, you are not jaded and suspicious. When you meet someone, you think the best of them until they prove you wrong. It is refreshing and a little frustrating, especially in Ulrick’s case. He has not proven you wrong.”
“Mind games and sweet talk. You’re very good at those. You only know me through Ulrick’s memories.”
“And you have forgotten I was born a Sandseed and learned how to control my magic from the Story Weavers. Just because I chose to leave my clan to be a Warper does not mean I have forgotten my training. When I had magic, I scanned each person I touched. If they resonated with me, I had full access to the story threads of their life. Past, present and future.” He leaned closer. “You resonated deep within me. More than any other.”
He played with my emotions, conning me. I pushed aside his insinuations about knowing my life story. Focusing on the original topic, I asked, “Who would Ulrick seek out to teach him? According to the Sitian Council, all the Warpers are dead.”
Devlen propped his elbows onto the table and rested his chin on his hands. “Why are you asking me questions when you do not believe my answers?”
“Perhaps I’m hoping you’ll slip up and tell me the truth.”
He huffed. “Okay, fine. I told Ulrick there were three other Warpers who had escaped. They might have moved on, but two were living in Ognap and the other was somewhere near Bloodgood lands. I assume Ulrick would head east to Ognap. If the two Warpers are still there, he would find them.”
“How?”
“By their smell.” Seeing my confusion, he added, “It is not discernible by regular people or magicians. Only Warpers can smell it. Handy for a number of things, especially for finding spies in our midst.”
Ulrick could be in Ognap by now. If he was, then it would prove Devlen’s claims that Ulrick agreed to the switch. If he found the other Warpers, then they’re all together and I would have to deal with three powerful magicians. But it would also mean I could drain and neutralize three more blood magicians. Which was fine with me. The sooner the better.
Before, Ulrick’s skills were limited—his glass vases also trapped magic within them, but the magic transferred emotions rather than thoughts. Could he still use his own magic? Or had it remained with his body? I asked Devlen.
“No. Besides not knowing how to blow glass, all my own magic stayed with my soul.”
“How does blood magic work?” I asked.
Devlen sipped his ale. “Everyone has a soul. Therefore, everyone has magic. But not all can access the power source and use their magic potential. Only magicians can link their magic to the blanket of power.”
“I know all this. I studied at the Magician’s Keep for the past five years.”
“Humor me.” His finger traced the wood grain on the table. “Blood magic binds a person’s soul magic to his blood. It attaches energy to a physical substance. After the binding is achieved, blood can be drawn from the person and injected into another. The Warpers would mix the blood with tattoo ink and inject it into the skin.”
Devlen rubbed his arm as if remembering the prick of pain. “For the first level of the Kirakawa ritual, only a small amount is needed. The blood gives the Warper a boost of magic, and instead of drawing a thin thread of power from the blanket, he could pull a thicker strand. If the blood…donor is not a magician, the boost is weaker than blood from a magician.”
His gaze trapped mine. “This is where it becomes interesting. If the person receiving the blood is not a magician and the donor is not a magician, nothing happens. But if the nonmagical person injects blood from a magician, he gains the ability to connect with the power source. He becomes a magician. Think about it. Everyone could be a magician. Everyone would be equal. What is wrong with that?”
A persuasive argument, except for the one thing. “But it’s addicting. No one stops at the first level. The first few levels are benign, but once you get to level nine—”
“Ten is when the killings begin. And at level twelve the heart’s blood is harvested from the chambers of a heart. The final step reaps the most potent magic. Because the heart is where the soul resides.”
I shuddered, remembering the bloodstained sand at the Magician’s Keep. Sudden pride at my deeds during the Warper battle flared. Those who knew how to perform the last two levels of the Kirakawa had been imprisoned in my glass animals and hidden. Devlen had hoped to use me to find his captured mentor and finish the Kirakawa.
“What level were you on?” I asked.
“Eight.”
The word hung between us like a dark cloud. I pondered his explanation and encountered an anomaly. “The magic blood is injected into your skin, but when you switched bodies with Ulrick the tattoos didn’t go with you.”
“Correct. The extra magic stayed with my body. When I entered Ulrick’s, I only carried my original magic, which was strong.” He tapped his mug on the table. “Interesting. The addiction clung to me even when I swapped bodies.”
Horrifying was closer to the truth. If Devlen switched back to his body, he would have access to magic again and Ulrick would still be addicted.
He touched my hand. I recoiled. “When you stole my magic, you took away my greed for power. You could do the same for Ulrick.”
Ulrick had been frustrated with his limited magical abilities. To render him without any magic at all would be devastating. “I’m not sure he would want me to.”
“Does not matter what he wants. If you do not drain him, he will desire more magic and he has learned how to acquire it.”
With blood magic. “How could you say it doesn’t have to be ill used? Eventually anyone using it will advance to a point where he needs to kill in order to satisfy the hunger.”
“The desire to increase your power does not influence what you choose to do with your magic. Once acquired, I could do good things like heal and help others with it. The Daviian