By his intent demeanor, I had no doubt he meant it.

“Justice will be served, not revenge.” Zitora frowned as she contemplated. “What would Sir do once he finds out Tal has no power?”

I mulled over her question. The memory of being eaten alive by beetles came to mind. Tal would suffer, and I couldn’t produce any sympathy for him. “If they’re planning to harvest storms, then they would have to find another Stormdancer.”

“Impossible,” Kade said.

Zitora and I shared a smile.

“Nothing’s impossible,” I said, repeating Zitora’s advice to me at the start of this whole mess.

“My Stormdancers wouldn’t work for Sir.”

“Are you sure?” Zitora asked.

Kade refused to back down.

“Sir could coerce or bribe a Stormdancer to work for him.” I squirmed in my chair, thinking how easy it had been for Sir to force me to help him. If he had discovered my deception with the sand recipe and punished me again, I knew I would have given him the right numbers.

“A valid point,” she agreed.

My thoughts turned to Tricky. Sir had two magicians working for him, could there be others?

“Could they have their own Stormdancers?” I asked.

“No,” Kade said.

Zitora shot him an annoyed frown. “If a Master Magician can be corrupted, I’ve no doubt a Stormdancer can be, too. If you have nothing helpful to add, then be quiet.” When she seemed satisfied, she asked me, “What did you mean about the Stormdancers?”

“You said before that not all magicians are Keep trained. Does the Stormdancer power only manifest in the Stormdance Clan members?” I paused, glancing at Kade.

“As far as we know,” he said with a stiff tone.

“Then what if one of the clan married a Krystal Clan member? Say they live in Mica and raised a family. Could one of their offspring have the ability to capture a storm’s energy?”

“Possible. But who would teach the child?” Kade leaned forward, finally getting into the spirit of the discussion.

I turned my thoughts back to the problem. “There could be a Stormdancer with a grudge.”

Kade made a sound, but kept silent.

“Go on,” Zitora urged.

“A rogue who decided to leave and start his own group of dancers. But he can’t make the orbs so he hires Sir to help him get the recipe. No.” I shook my head. “Sir wanted to stop us from helping the Stormdancers with their orbs. Why would the rogue sabotage their orbs?” Wheels turned in my head as I followed the logic. “To make them give up the recipe!”

“Why would the Stormdancers tell the rogue the recipe?” Kade asked.

“They wouldn’t, but the glassmakers would. Their orbs are shattering and killing people. They’re desperate to make them right. Sir shows up with an offer they can’t refuse. Tell him the recipe in exchange for the reason their orbs are so brittle. Except we’re called to help and ruin the rogue’s plans. He sets Sir on us and when that doesn’t work, he captures me.”

“A possible scenario,” Zitora said.

“It’s pure conjecture,” Kade said.

“It’s an exercise in logic, thinking past the facts. The Masters and I do it all the time. Opal speculated a possible reason for Sir’s actions by making an assumption. The rogue. Now, let’s assume it’s not a rogue dancer but an owner of a factory who wants the orb’s energy to power his equipment. There is a lot of jealousy over the orbs. The other clans believe the Stormdance Clan should share.”

Before Kade could defend his clan’s actions, Zitora launched into another round of questions. I struggled to produce possible answers to how and why a factory owner would try to procure Stormdance orbs.

When fatigue slowed my responses, we stopped for the night. Zitora headed to our room, but I needed to retrieve a few things from my saddlebags.

Kade followed me to the stables outside. “You should never be alone. Sir and his gang are still at large. And don’t forget about Blue Eyes.”

“I found out his name is Devlen, and I won’t forget about him.” I shuddered, remembering his possessive hunger. “At least your Stormdancers are safe.”

I found Quartz’s stall and hunted through my bags, turning my back on Kade to hide my spider-filled orb. I was so engrossed in my task, Kade’s quiet voice surprised me.

“I didn’t travel all this way just because I was concerned for my Stormdancers,” he said.

Afraid to meet his gaze, I kept sorting through my bag even though I no longer remembered what I had been searching for. “You didn’t?”

“No. I…”

I waited.

“I…wanted to ask you about your sister Tula.” His voice changed back into his normal tone.

Closing my bags, I wondered what he had really wanted to say. I stood and faced him. “What about her?”

“How long did it take before you could think of her without…” He tapped his chest.

“The burning pain?”

“Yes.”

“Two to three years. But don’t go by me. Everyone grieves in different ways. For some, it could take longer or shorter. I do know it never disappears. An ember still smolders inside me. Most days, I don’t notice it, but, out of the blue, it’ll flare to life.”

The air around me pressed against my skin as if charged with magic. I stepped closer to Kade, seeking to connect with him, ease his pain.