off the old man. I’ve got to get back. I’ll send the drone out as a decoy, to buy you some extra time, just in case. Don’t forget to pick up the old man. I locked him in the utility shed by the south gate, you can drain him once you are a safe distance away. “
“What are you going to tell them?”
“That she used the Iris to overwhelm me and got away. Then they’ll assume she ran into Cormac on her way to the dorm.”
“Are you sure that will work?”
“As hotheaded as she is, they won’t bat an eye,” Taron said, his voice growing fainter by the second, telling me they were walking back up the hall. I pressed my ear harder against the crack, straining to hear as Taron continued. “As for the rest, you tripped the charm on the boy’s dorm so they already know that something is going on, and they know that the old man is missing. When he doesn’t come back and they find the Alchemist’s book here, the story will practically write itself.”
Their conversation drifted out of earshot, but it didn’t matter; I had a plan. I removed my Sciath, and set it down on the stone floor and stepped on it, bouncing up and down. Slowly the soft gold started to bend, collapsing under my foot. I picked up the now flat, deformed square and took it to the one bricked-up window and began bending it over the ledge. I had to lean all my weight on to either side, stretching the bevel setting that was holding the large emerald in place. I flipped it over, bending it the other way, then back again, over and over, weakening the metal, loosening the stone a little more each time. My hands were throbbing and my palms bleeding, but finally I had it so weak that I no longer needed the ledge and could continue bending it with my hands alone.
I heard footsteps in the hall and knew I was out of time. I dug into the loosened facet with my finger and yanked the emerald free, nearly cutting the end of my finger off. I hid the stone in my bloody palm, then took the now stoneless Sciath and started banging it against the bricks covering the window.
“Hey!” Cail yelled, barging in at the noise. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He grabbed my arm, throwing me to the floor. He picked up my mangled Sciath and held it up laughing.
“You really thought you could dig your way out through a stone wall with this?” he mocked, tossing the lump of gold to the far corner of the room. “You’re not as bright as you get credit for, love.”
With my Sciath stone safe in my hand, I took a deep breath and braced myself. I didn’t know how much time I would have before he figured me out, but I knew it wouldn’t be a lot. He knelt down in front of me and pulled the Iris and a small glass bottle out of his pocket. That must have been the vial Taron had mentioned. I didn’t know what it was, but it gave off a strange sensation, as though something in me was being drawn toward it. It reminded me a little of the magnetic feeling I had whenever I was near Alex, only this feeling was in no way pleasant. It was like an uncomfortable sucking that I couldn’t help but shrink away from.
“Now then,” he said with a slimy sneer, “let’s get this done, shall we?”
He grabbed my free hand, forcing the Iris into it, but this time the moment the Iris touched my fingers I was ready.
The feeling that coursed through me at contact wasn’t at all like the first time. Now that I had my Sciath stone with me, the power of the Iris melted into me like butter into bread, mixing with my ability, giving me a rush like nothing I’d ever imagined. It was as if I were suddenly floating in space, looking out at hundreds of stars, each star a different Holder. I could not only sense Cail, but every Holder for miles and miles around, from the fully developed, to the weakest unawakened child.
I focused on the group nearest me, and easily recognized Min, Alex, Anderson, Reid, Jocelyn, and even Taron. He had made it over to them and was probably telling lies about me right now. I singled out Mr Anderson and shot my