Even though she knew the man was an illusion, Abbee still itched to drive a rusty blade straight through his heart. She hoped he was here in the complex somewhere. She wanted to do to him what he’d done to her—even though she knew she couldn’t. He wouldn’t last. He’d die too fast.

Kai wiped his chin and looked up in surprise. “You two know each other? You know Cragg Rawley?”

Abbee hadn’t known the voice had belonged to an underworld kingpin. She’d never met the man before. Never even thought he existed. But here he was—well, an illusion of him—and he was the man who had ordered so many people to die so she’d live through a repeated knife in the heart.

“We’ve never met in person,” Cragg said, “but I know—”

“How dare you?” Abbee hissed. “You … you … How many died because of you?”

Cragg arched a brow. “Ah, don’t you mean because of you?”

Abbee brought up her arm. Clack-clack-clack. Bolts whizzed through Cragg’s chest and cracked into the wall behind him. Abbee swept forward and looked down at the floor, searching for a round gray stone. The illusion anchor. She knew it must be here. She didn’t find anything except sparkly dust. “There’s no anchor.”

“He’s close by,” Kai said.

“How close is close?” Abbee asked. She went to the doorway and looked down the hall. It stretched about twenty meters and ended at a T-intersection.

“Don’t bother,” Cragg said. “Neither of you is on my ‘up close and personal’ list.”

“Why do you have a warp restriction ward in here?” Kai asked. “There’s nothing left.”

“I do hope all your internal organs are still in the right spots,” Cragg said. “I’ll be honest. I’d forgotten about the ward. I set it up a long time ago, but you’ve never visited.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“I’m aware,” Cragg said. “Daughters are quite a handful, I’d imagine. Never had the pleasure of children myself. Or the agony? All the parents I’ve ever seen have looked weather-beaten.”

“Where’s Emma?” Kai demanded.

“Oh, she’s around,” Cragg said, “though I’m not sure you’ll want to see her. You came a long way for nothing.” He gestured at the empty room. “And I do mean nothing.”

“What did you do with all of the glimmermote?”

“Most of it blew away,” Cragg said. “I hope you didn’t want it for anything.”

“Was that you who submerged Veronna’s inbound receiving room in lava?”

Cragg nodded. “Took some doing to keep the magma from freezing. How did you get out?”

“Maybe I’ll show you sometime.”

Abbee watched the wizards verbally spar. She wondered if it had been like this in the Tower, back when it had still stood and there had been hundreds of wizards in it. All trying to get a leg up on one another with information. I know more than you do. It was like watching children squabble. She didn’t care about any of it. She wanted to know where Cragg was so she could kill him. Do to him what he’d done to her. A knife in the back, over and over.

“Are you here to give me the cipher?” Cragg asked. “For someone who’s shown little interest in their contents, you make everyone go through a great deal of effort to read the journals. Selfish, Kai. Very selfish.”

“I don’t give away valuable things for free,” Kai said.

“Yes, but I pay you up front, regardless of what I get back. Temmit’s soup recipes aren’t exactly gem-worthy.”

“Look, there are dangerous things in there, and I want to know what you’re looking at. You and your friends are morally suspect.”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Cragg’s brows shot up. “Says the person who experimented on his own daughter.”

“I wasn’t experimenting,” Kai said. “Emma’s abilities are different. Extremely volatile. She needs to learn control, and I doubt you’d be a good teacher in that department.”

Abbee frowned. Twelve years with Ipsu, and this Emma still needed to learn control? Abbee wondered what Emma was. A wizard? Kai had mentioned that he hadn’t taught her how to warp. But as Abbee listened to the two wizards talk about Emma, it sounded like she was something else. Something different. Dangerous, even.

“What are you looking for in the journals, Cragg?” Kai asked. “Ekon was cagey about it today in Akken. You know, when he told me where you were.”

Cragg rolled his eyes. “That man runs his mouth like no other—which is bizarre, given his position.”

“Are you handing out illusion anchors to the network now? In addition to your fancy bolt throwers?”

Cragg waved his hand. “Insignificant compared to your contributions.”

“Mine?”

“Kai, we wouldn’t be standing here if not for you,” Cragg said. “None of us. It’s all you. All of it. Even the parts that people lay at Vani’s foot all started with you.”

“And you’re finishing it? Helping the hunters stamp out the remaining wizards in the world?”

“Nobody’s done any stamping for years. If you came out of your bolt-hole more often, you might realize that.”

“Hard to stamp when there’s hardly anybody left. And if they aren’t looking, why send me traced gemstones? Even when you know they won’t help. Every time, a traced gem. You’re nothing if not consistent.”

Cragg gestured at Abbee. “And it finally worked out.” He turned to her. “The great Abbee Danner. Ipsu talked you up like no other. He was so sure about you, but he was wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Abbee asked.

“He was very wrong. Disappointing, even. You broke so fast.”

Cragg spoke like he’d known Ipsu. “I don’t believe you. You’re lying.”

“It turns out that, just like every other Class Five, you can’t control your emotions under duress.”

“Duress?” Abbee echoed. “Duress? You killed children in front of me.”

“You did that,” Cragg said. “You. You couldn’t control yourself. Brattle had the same problem. You Class Fives are all the same. You try to be strong, but you snap like twigs.”

“You had someone push a knife into my heart,” Abbee growled. “Over and over. You never gave me a choice.”

“Believe what you want,” Cragg said. “You could’ve taken only a little from them, but you’re greedy. You took everything they had.”

“That’s not true,” Abbee said. It wasn’t. She knew he was talking about her latent. She couldn’t conjure it at a whim nor control how much she took from people. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“You knew she was a Class Five,” Kai said, “but you didn’t tell Ekon about her? I thought you were working together.”

“We’re not friends,” Cragg said.

Kai frowned. “But you—”

Cragg pointed at Abbee. “I didn’t kidnap you from Ipsu. He brought you to me to be tested. He knew you’d follow him into the city. You failed the test miserably, by the way.”

His statement echoed Kai’s earlier theory, back in Akken. That her ordeal had been some sick, twisted test, and Ipsu might have known about it. Abbee couldn’t bring herself to believe it. “You’re lying,” she snarled. “I was jumped by movers. Kidnapped. He rescued me.”

“Believe what you want,” Cragg said, “but no, he didn’t. He came to collect you because I was done with you.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Kai said. “He’s trying to rile you up.”

“It’s working,” Abbee said.

“Well, get a handle on yourself.”

“He abandoned you.” Cragg curled his lip. “That’s the thing about abandoning something—you do it because something’s worthless.”

Kai walked in front of Cragg and snapped his fingers under Abbee’s nose. “Hey. Look at me. He’s provoking you on purpose. Don’t let him.”

“You don’t know what he did,” Abbee said.

“And I’m sure it was all very terrible,” Kai said, “but he’s an illusion, and you can’t do anything to him. I’m a bit surprised, to be honest. Ipsu said you were the best warrior he’s ever trained.”

Abbee blinked.

“He talked about you a lot. Said you were the hardest to rile up, that you mostly riled him up.”

Cragg spoke over Kai. “Ipsu left you because you were no longer worth the investment.”

Abbee wanted Cragg to stop talking. She wanted to make him stop with her fists.

Kai shook his head. “Ipsu told me that he had nothing left to teach you. He said that you had to battle your darkness. You had to face it alone.”

“Alone?” Abbee echoed. “I needed him. He left when I needed him the most.” She looked over Kai’s shoulder at Cragg. “You shut up.”

“He was done,” Cragg said. “Dumped you like trash.”

“Ipsu knew,” Kai said. “He knew leaving you would hurt. But he also said that you’d survive your ordeal. You’re a fighter. The best.”

A welter of pride and sadness warmed Abbee. “He said that?”

Kai gave Abbee a rueful grin. “Emma’s going to be mad when she meets you, you know.”

“What? Why?”

“Because Ipsu compared her to you whenever Emma failed his expectations. You’re the bar, Abbee.” He raised his eyebrows at her. “And you better show up as the rock Ipsu trained you to be, and not some gibbering, wailing lunatic because some tired old crank poked you.”

“Crank?” Cragg echoed.

Abbee heard a crackling sound coming from the hallway beyond.

Cragg looked toward the open doorway on the other side of the room. “Okay, backup plan it is. Kai, you’re right about one thing.”

“What’s that?” Kai asked.

“Emma is indeed mad. At you. Apparently, you never told her what really happened to her mother.”

Kai stilled.

Cragg smirked at him. “Brace yourself, old man. You’re about to have the talk.”