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.”
“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.
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 influencing 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 building in my chest, I touched Tama’s wrist, hoping my immunity to magic would somehow cover her and break the spell. No luck.
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 influenced 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 hold, but let’s walk in a circle around the Councilor. We don’t have to get close to her. She’ll be in no danger.”
“No. Arrest her for espionage and for attacking me,” Tama ordered.
“You’ve been guarding her for half a season. Something isn’t right. Trust yourselves,” I said.
“Once around and then down to the cells,” the guard on my left said.
“No tricks,” the other said.
Wedged between them, I stepped to the side, keeping the Councilor in front of me. I reviewed my plan. Magicians pulled threads of magic from the blanket of power surrounding the world. They aimed these strings of power at people or objects. Since the magic around Tama wasn’t from anyone in the room, I needed to find the direction of power. After that, it would be pure guesswork.
She glared at us as she turned to follow our progress. I hoped the magician wouldn’t spread his influence to the guards. In that case, I would be screwed.
Three-quarters of the way around, I started to worry. What if the magician was in the room above or below? And when did I decide it wasn’t Zebb?
After a few more steps, I entered a stream of magic. It pushed against my back. I stopped.
Confusion spread on her face. She reached toward me. “Opal? What…”
The magic moved and she jerked. “Get her out of here!” she yelled. “She’s a spy and should be locked up.”
“I blocked it for a moment,” I said. “You saw her change! I need to get closer.” I dragged the guards three feet and I stepped left and right, searching for the stream. Once again the magic slammed into my back.
The Councilor sagged into her desk chair. “Listen to Opal,” she said in a weak voice.
When the magic moved, I stayed with it. “Get Zebb,” I ordered the guards as I shrugged them off. “Hurry!”
I expected Tama to protest, but she pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them, making herself into a smaller target either by instinct or intelligence. It didn’t matter. By this time, I stood close to her and shielded her with my body.
The magical pressure increased and I used every bit of energy to keep from being flattened. Where was Zebb? Gasping for breath, I strained against the attack. My calf muscles burned with the effort. Sweat stung my eyes.
When the door banged, I yelled, “Null shield!”