Water Viper by RJ Blain

Author:RJ Blain
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Pen & Page Publishing

* * *

It took three hours to get the information Gentry requested, and the grizzly dumped the stack of papers in front of me. “You came up with the idea. You get to figure out what to do with this.”

I sank onto Gentry’s chair and stared at three-inch tall stack. Arguing had filled the time waiting for the information, and as the minutes stretched on, the theories had grown more absurd.

Anatoly’s suggestion someone wanted to revive Washington or one of the other dead cities held promise. If any Starfall stone could reverse such devastation, it’d be the Hope Diamond. A few things bothered me, including the issue of the second Starfall stone bursting at my feet, and why anyone would want to kidnap me over it, assuming the stone was the reason they’d taken me.

Nothing made sense. I erased the circle I drew on the map, careful to avoid damaging the paper. Unlike most Starfall stones, the public was welcomed—encouraged—to touch the Hope Diamond; it wouldn’t burst unless someone handled it, someone who hadn’t handled it before.

“Is the Hope Diamond close to bursting?”

A chorus of snorts answered me, startling me into looking up from the map.

Anatoly propped his feet up on the table, leafing through a pile of papers stacked on his lap. He pulled out a page and waved it. “Here’s a list of the dates and times it has burst. Its last known burst was over eight years ago. It’s been pulsing for a little under seven years. There are records of it bursting once a month, then there are gaps of a few years. This is its longest stretch without bursting.”

“Any thoughts on why it hasn’t burst?”

Gentry leaned over and snatched the paper out of Anatoly’s hand, slapping it onto the table. “Your guess is as good as mine. I’m of the opinion that’s why you were kidnapped; an unusual stone burst near you, so perhaps they wanted you to handle—and burst—the Hope Diamond.”

Of all the possibilities presented, that one made some form of sick sense. The closest I had gotten to the stone was the doorway in the National Archive before turning heel and running away from it. I dismissed the possibility of the stone having anything to do with me with a shake of my head. “That makes no sense.”

The grizzly turned in his chair and regarded me with narrowed eyes. “Have you ever touched the Hope Diamond?”

I shook my head.

“Been within five feet of it?”

I thought about the doorway in the National Archive, determined I hadn’t gotten within five feet of it, and shook my head again.

“Then the theory is sound. Steel Heart was created by the Hope Diamond. It burst for you. It would be a good gamble on their part.”

I felt the blood drain from my face, the shock of the stone’s name burrowing deep to my bones where it chilled my blood. “Steel Heart?”

With a little luck on my side, they’d assume my reaction was an expression of ignorance rather than disbelief, the fear of exposure, and recognition.

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