Diamond Fire (Hidden Legacy, #3.5)(28)

It was almost brunch time, and I was walking through the garden of Mountain Rose, carrying a mimosa in each hand.

“Turn to your right ahead ,” Bern said into my earpiece.

I turned and stopped at the neat little table with two chairs. The grounds were full of these little nooks, pretty places to sit and enjoy the outdoors. I turned toward the path and concentrated, letting just a little of my magic through. It came sluggishly. I was still tired from yesterday. My books said I would get better with practice. I tried not to think about how I would get that practice.

“Incoming in three, two, one.”

Maria Ramírez stumbled onto the path. She wore a white sheath dress that had a modest neckline but left her tan shoulders and arms bare. A thick gold chain hung from her neck and a matching cuff bracelet encircled her forearm.

I gave her a peek at my feathers and cast my shiny magic lure with my voice. “Would you care for a mimosa?”

Maria froze. Her expression relaxed and then she started toward me. “I would love one.”

We sat at the table and sipped our mimosas.

“It’s peaceful here,” Maria said. “It’s nice.”

“It is nice,” I said, saturating my words with more magic.

“Have you seen my husband?” Maria asked. “He would like it here.”

“No. Tell me about your husband. What kind of man is he?”

“He’s gentle and smart. And I love him so much. That’s why it hurts so much when he betrays me.” Tears welled up in Maria’s eyes. “He betrays me with men. I can’t compete with that. I can be prettier, I can be thinner, but I can’t be a man. And that’s what he likes.”

Oh God. “How do you know he likes men?”

“He had a secretary and I would catch them sneaking off together. When I would find them, all conversation stopped. And then the secretary was fired, but Mikel paid him five hundred thousand dollars. I saw the record of the payment in his office. Then there was the gardener. I would see them meet when they thought I wouldn’t notice. They would pass each other pieces of paper like children in school. Love letters.”

“Have you read one?”

“No.”

Somehow, I doubted folded pieces of paper equaled love letters. Drugs would be a much better explanation.

“And now he’s doing it again. Do you know who he is doing it with?” She leaned toward me. “Lucian. My husband is having an affair with Lucian. I saw Mikel leave in the middle of the night to meet with him.”

Maria gulped the rest of her mimosa. “I must find him.” Her eyes widened, her lower lip trembled. She looked panicked. All of her emotions were focused on Mikel. I wouldn’t get much out of her and it would be cruel to try.

“I think he went down that way.” I pointed down the path and pulled my magic back.

Maria jumped up and headed down the path without looking back.

None of that made any sense. If Lucian was bisexual, he would have had affairs with men as well as women. Lucian had a voracious appetite and he denied himself nothing. If he’d wanted men, he would have had men and there was no record of any male companions.

I texted Rogan. “Sorry to interrupt. Do you know why Mikel paid a large bonus to his secretary after firing him? There is nothing in the files.”

“No, I don’t but ask my mother.”



I texted Mrs. Rogan the same question. A grey bubble let me know she was typing the answer. It was taking her a while. I drummed my fingers on the table and drank a little more of my mimosa.

“That wasn’t a secretary, dear. That was Angel. He is what people of my generation refer to as an illicit love child. Mikel had some wild days and managed to father a child at sixteen. The family compensated the mother well, but when Angel grew up, he wanted a relationship with his father. He’s a sweet boy, but it didn’t work out. Mikel wasn’t what Angel was hoping for. Any progress on Sealight?”

“Not yet and thank you.”

“You have my full confidence.”



The phone chimed. Mrs. Rogan sent me a selfie of her and Mia Rosa in Mrs. Rogan’s office. They were giving me the V for victory with their fingers.

If Lucian and Mikel weren’t having an affair, why was Mikel sneaking out to meet him?

A thought occurred to me. “Bern, can you send a text message but make it appear to come from someone else?”

“Yes. Whose number do you want me to spoof?”

“I’ll tell you when I get home.” This will work better if I wasn’t here. They would let their guard down if all of us were gone.

I couldn’t leave yet. I was due to meet with Paul Sarmiento in ten minutes. I had asked Mrs. Rogan to set the meeting up for me, so Paul wouldn’t have any excuses to duck me.

“That was impressive,” a man said.

I glanced up. Paul was leaning against a tree.

“Are you planning to do that to me?” he asked.



I faced Paul. He had caught me using my magic. He knew my secret. Normally I would’ve tried to escape the confrontation. But something happened in the past few days, somewhere between the poisoned cake and Xavier calling me a mouse. It seared the shyness out of me.

One time our parents took us for a winter vacation in Colorado. We skied and rode sleighs all day and I had the most fun my eight-year-old self could remember. On the evening before we were supposed to go home, I snuck out of our cabin at dusk and rode my sleigh down the hill into the woods. It was so pretty, snow was falling softly, and for a while I wandered around. Then the sun had set, the wind picked up, and it went from magical to being scary. The snow had covered my tracks and I didn’t know where to go. I tried calling but nobody came. The cold was biting at my face, and I realized I had to save myself. I picked a direction and I walked. After a while, I couldn’t feel my feet or my fingertips. It was so cold, and it hurt so much, that eventually I got used to it. I accepted it and got numb. I just kept walking through the pain, until my dad found me and carried me back to the cabin.