Devils & Thieves (Devils & Thieves #1)(24)

There was a table for almost every kindled power here. Not every family was represented in person—my mom’s family, the Cabreras, were scarce in the States and based in Brazil, and the Kitsamuras were based in Japan. However, there were other kindled who, through our tangled family trees, had inherited the powers associated with those family names. Apart from the Medicis, who had their own trading space, the only one not represented was the Croft family. Their tollat magic had been both famous and despised in the kindled world—it included the ability to siphon others’ magic and use it as one’s own. But the Croft family had died out in the late nineteenth century, and to my knowledge, no one had turned up with those powers in the past fifty years or so, with one notorious exception.

Henry Delacroix, the former president of the Deathstalkers. With his death, it appeared the tollat magic had gone extinct. Our kindled world had lost a slice of its vibrancy and variation, but no one thought it was a bad thing.

I spotted the Niklos table and headed for it. They possessed animalia magic—the ability to talk to animals, control animals, sometimes shape-shift into them. I’d never met my grandmother Niklos on my mom’s side—she’d died before I was born—but I’d always been interested in her magic. Talking to animals seemed like a very useful ability. Katrina was a Niklos and apparently had that power, but she was nowhere in sight anymore, thank God.

Alex wandered over to the Stoneking table and fingered a cut with a swirling silver design on the front.

“Let me ask you something,” she said.

“Okay.”

“Do you think it’s possible to bind another family’s magic to your own?”

I thought about that. “I heard that if you mix your blood with another kindled, you get temporary access to their power and a sort of rush.” Blood magic was severely frowned upon in the kindled community. My dad had once told me it led down a dangerous path, but he wouldn’t explain much more than that. I’d only been about ten at the time. “I’ve heard that it’s addictive. Is that what you’re talking about?”

She bit her lip. “I’m thinking about a lot more than mixing your blood with someone else’s. But blood is the key, right?”

I gestured at all the cuts around us. “That’s how you make these. It’s the only way to share power. A measure of blood plus a specific incantation or rune combination to trigger the magic.”

“Yeah, of course, but that’s using your own magic. I’m talking about stealing someone’s power for good. Getting it directly from blood instead of a cut.”

My eyebrows rose. “Are you planning to—?”

“No!” She glanced at the entrance to the tent as if she was worried someone was listening. “I’m just wondering about something called blood power, and how dangerous it is.”

“Why?”

She bit her lip, apparently not yet ready to spill.

I let it slide for the moment. “The only way I’ve ever heard of taking another person’s power without a cut is doing blood magic—but that’s more about combining and mixing power, isn’t it? Oh, and there’s tollat magic. Siphoning someone else’s power.”

“That’s only temporary, too, though. Right?”

I ran my fingers through a hanging display of cuts strung up on leather cording, sneezing as the scents mixed and hit my nose. “I guess we’ll never know. But you’re talking about something permanent? What’s up?”

She shoved her sunglasses up on the top of her head and looked over at me. “That thing I wanted to tell you… I found something of my dad’s, some notes he was keeping before he died and—”

The tent flap rustled as someone entered, cutting Alex off. We both turned to the newcomer.

Darek stood in the doorway. He looked from me to Alex and pulled back a step. “Hey.”

A flutter of excitement burst open in my chest, along with a stab of anxiety.

Alex tossed a terra charm back to its table. Her earlier seriousness disappeared, replaced by a flirtatious smile and a batting of her eyes. “And who are you?”

“Darek. Delacroix.” He grinned, stepped past me, and offered his hand to Alex. “Alex, right? We actually met briefly at last year’s festival. I guess I’m not that memorable.”

She blinked at him. “I must have been trashed. I can’t imagine forgetting that face.”

He gave me a quick glance, still smiling. “Fair warning—I’m a Deathstalker. I know we’re mortal enemies, but I can’t help but appreciate beautiful girls when I see them.”

She narrowed her eyes, but I could see the half-smitten smile creeping across her lips.

I suddenly felt a little sick.

“Is that right?” She shook his hand. “I suppose lines can be blurred for one day. This is my friend Jemmie.”

Darek gave my hand a brief shake and turned so he faced us both. He’d showered and changed recently, his blond hair still damp and raked back from his forehead. He was now wearing ripped black jeans and a white T-shirt, a pair of sunglasses hanging from the collar.

“Were you looking for something in particular?” Alex asked. Her eyes flicked to me, speaking our unspoken language. This one is cute, the look said. See, you should have worn short shorts!

If only she knew.