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Well, he never clai ti side of the wall There was a virtual encampment of wizards in the countryside and lake resorts surrounding the town He’d had to duck out of sight when he spotted his erstwhile ally Claude D’Orsay with Geoffrey Wylie of the Red Rose They were inspecting the wall, testing it with cautious bits offor weaknesses, no doubt

What was up with that? Since ere they all chuainst the Roses Of course, there’d been no coh Leesha, and D’Orsay wasn’t supposed to knoho her partner was Like Leesha hadn’t betrayed hi to feel irrelevant It had been weeks since anyone had even tried to kill hi to kill you, you knew you were i more and more like a worthless piece of paper, since he didn’t have the means to consecrate it It hadn’t drawn anyone useful to hiht be a wizard, ruler over the Anaweir and the servant guilds, but the aristocrats who lorded over the Houses would never give hirew tired of basking in reflected rays What he needed was a new partner Or, preferably, a servant He could have his pick of the Anaweir, but he wanted someone who could contribute more

Someone like Madison Moss

As far as he knew, Madison had left Trinity He’d found no clues as to where she’d gone when he searched her room But if she wasn’t in Trinity, she was sorabbed a car fro lot and drove into Cleveland, found a public library branch and got online His search on Madison Moss turned up a number of hits from art shows in Coalton County, Ohio

Coalton County He’d followed Jason Haley south to Coalton County Warren had never been able to find out why he was down there

Now he knew And now that he had a name and a place, it shouldn’t be hard to find her

Brice Roper was beginning to think that being a wizard was overrated Yes, he could have al he wanted

But it had been that way all his life He was rich, he was spoiled, and ever since he could remember, he’d focused on what he didn’t have And what he didn’t have was the ability to get what he wanted fros, like i his father, which was i Those were his goals--i out of Coalton County for good

It gnawed at hiet about Roper Coal and his father and being humiliated on Booker Mountain

It was on his mind when he woke up, and it was on his mind when he went to bed, and it contaminated his dreams He brooded on it in class, and snapped at those brave enough to sit down at his lunch table All the charh-school seniors earing thin

It didn’t help that his father became more and more of a pain as he traveled further down the road to financial ruin Bryson Roper, Sr had for Booker Mountain, and she’d for was, Bryson, Sr was out of town a lot, trying to line up financing, cut so

Carlene was no help She claimed she’d talked to Madison until she was blue in the face, and it ure out where Madison fit into the s He’d asked around, and nobody had heard of a Witch Guild Nobody but wizards ever displayed that kind of power

What he wouldn’t adht of confronting her again

So he spent his days sleepwalking through classes, avoiding his father, and drea ride and handed his horse off to Mike He alking up to the house to take a much-needed shohen someone rattled up the drive in a Jeep and pulled up in front of the barn

They didn’t get ainst the split-rail fence that enclosed the paddock

It was a boy, a stranger of y white-blond hair and pale blue eyes that were so across the ground like a predator Brice felt both intense interest and prickling unease He glanced back to see whether Mike was still in sight, but he had led Annie into the barn

"Can I help you?" Brice asked, ai for a nonchalance he didn’t feel

"Maybe," the boy said, s for Madison Moss" His voice was soft, but, like his gait, it got your attention "I heard she lived up this road Is this the place?"

No, Brice wanted to say It’s not Now get the hell out of here

But he didn’t This guy was looking for Madison Could he be a witch, too? Was that why he was so inti a smile "What do you ith Madison?"

"Wefor her ever since," the stranger said "I wanted to surprise her"

It was an odd thing to say--kind of stalkerish--but Brice had the sense this guy didn’t care what Brice ht didn’t ain looking over his shoulder for Mike, who had not reappeared "What’s your name?"

"That’s not iet to her house?"

"Well," Brice said, ai for dismissive "I don’t want to send you up there if I don’t knoho you are"

The stranger struck quick as a snake, shoving Brice back against the fence He gripped Brice by the shoulders and sent a flood of Persuasion into hiical defense was feeble by coot the other boy’s attention