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"Evidently they lied" I picked up the other pieces "Where did you buy theo house down by the dock that deals in stone andover to the lit candle and studied it again "Quarry’em in by the shipload for h they had to start i ’e sold now: Talian- about the Talians forging the the operation, like the one that had robbed Rina’s poor old gent Wiggins of his bacco boxes, only on a rander scale "But everyone still believes they’re from the queensland"

His shoulders hunched "We knew, but silver’s silver Don’t lish or Talian"

Unless so in the city has dreamstone inside it then why haven’t the stones affected the people?"

"Because it’s always been thought stuff and nonsense Stones alork their char the broken piece and shuffling back from it "No Couldn’t be They’d never put so h to do that?"

I went after hi to the floor "Why aren’t they working, Mr Jasper?" When he didn’t speak, I shook him "Tell me"

"A stone don’t work its charm if it’s raw Never been spelled," he added, his eyes wide and his voice going hoarse "Raw stone soaks up power a hundred tier it’s left unspelled, thewhat lives: people, animals, plants That’s why all stone’s spelled for the first time in the quarries, before it’s shipped To keep us safe" His face screwed up and he clutched at his chest "I can’t take any ood"

"Calm down" I helped him over to his chair and tucked his blanket round his were never spelled, then they’ve been absorbing power for months"

He closed his eyes "Aye Go away"

"One more question, Mr Jasper, and I will" I bent down so I could see his face "What happens if a e tries to spell all these raw dreaive el Raw stones stay connected to each other, like they are under the ground before they’re mined That and all the power they’ve soaked up will cause the spell to spread on its own There’ll be nowhere to hide from them then"

I didn’t want to leave him like this, but I had to find Zarath before he cast the spell "I’ll ask one of your neighbors to take you to the hospital"

"Don’t bother I’m the only one what has a carri" He sounded more peevish than worried "I’d rather spend my last hours here, in my place"

I felt horrible "Is your heart really that weak?"

"Not el The stones" He made a fretful sound "With that kind of power, as soon as the spell’s worked, we’ll all go into the dreams Every man, woman, and child in the city No one will ever wake up fro back to the docks sooner than I’d planned I persuaded the charm maker to let me borrow his transport, which he stored in the ave me his keyfob, which he said the door me in

"I’ll return it as soon as I can," I promised

" ’ Twon’tinto the hearth’s e up, so I hurried down to the corner and presented the keyfob to the lad working the door

He lookedas he did "You’re not Mr Jasper"

"How astute of you to notice," I praised hihter, Constance Payne"

He frowned "You’re Old Jasper’s kid? But he weren’t neversorrow, hed "After enduring decades of needling guilt, he cah and low for me until ere reunited Now here I aolden his final years For which tonight I need his carri Where is it?"

"In the back Stall thirteen" Reluctantly he handed back the keyfob "You shouldn’t be out driving by yourself,people and setting fires Burnt the Hill, they did"

"Thank you for the concern, but I’ll e" I walked back to stalls, found the one numbered thirteen, and surveyed Mr Jasper’s transport Of course it was as old and cantankerous-looking as its owner, but as soon as I punched the ignition and cranked the ed to life As I wasn’t used to driving, I tookit out of the stall, then drove to the front, where the doorlasshield I had to squint against the s out of the old coal burner into my face