Zell was trying not to shake or tremble. He was very glad that his species didn’t sweat when nervous. He kept his most stoic demeanor firmly in place. As far as anyone else in the room needed to know, he was just reading reports as usual.

  He’d been keeping an eye on several promising trainees, including the woman with the dog, and it was sheer luck that hers had been one of the feeds on his screen when her bloodlines had begun to awaken. Bloodlines couldn’t awaken without a Core to use as an anchor, but hers had tried. And when they didn’t find a Core to anchor to, they’d tried to build one. With no affinities to build a Core around, her magic had gone for the worst possible affinity-neutral choice. Or the best, depending on one’s point of view.

  One press of a button, and he’d saved her, but he might have doomed himself. If anyone discovered that he’d authorized a Pure Spirit Core, he was a dead being walking. No one had seen a naturally formed Pure Spirit Core in centuries. They were called ‘Godsparks’ or ‘Heavenbreakers’, depending on the politics involved and the character of the one who possessed it. He may have just allowed the creation of a living weapon or a calamity of epic proportions.

  He regulated his breathing. His hand barely shook as he tapped the commands that would turn the woman’s Core inward, hiding its nature. He disguised it as a rare but not unheard-of variety of neutral Core. It would grow more slowly with its face hidden from the cosmos, but it was far, far safer that way. Then, he accessed the hidden root account that he’d been cultivating for decades and carefully edited the logs.

  She would be killed if anyone discovered what her Core truly was. He would be killed if anyone even suspected he had any connection to its formation. Everyone in the control room would be purged. He was taking the biggest risk of his existence. He didn’t even know if she was worth contacting or not. She was strong, a survivor. She cared for the dog, so she wasn’t heartless. But. He had yet to see her interact with other people. He had no idea what sort of person she was.

  He would have to monitor her very carefully.

  If she could be turned into an ally, she would be worth the effort.

  It was nearing the end of his watch, so he downloaded the profiles for the top five forerunners of this new world onto his tablet. He was relatively certain that three of them would be worth contacting, but it was a huge risk. Careful thought and planning were called for. It wouldn’t be only his life he was risking.

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  All through his walk back to his quarters, his mind whirled like autumn leaves in a windstorm. He fought to keep his thoughts in order and his features calm. A Heavenbreaker. If she can be recruited… ‘Don’t think of it. There are many steps yet,’ he admonished himself. With a twist of mana, he cast Divide Focus, hiding away the dangerous knowledge under layers of everyday concerns. Lord Delar had Mindwatchers on his security staff. Even a flicker of hope at the wrong moment could betray him.

  He opened the door of his quarters and was greeted by a squeal of delight. “Apa! Apa, look, Linala let me use her paintsticks to draw you a picture.” Kaari barreled into his knees and wrapped her arms around them, a colorful drawing clutched in one hand. His face lit up at the sight of her, and he knelt for a hug. Her silver-blue hair was pulled back in a bundle of braids, and his breath caught when he saw how much she looked like her mother. She was getting taller, losing the baby roundness of her face. She would be too old to greet him like this soon.

  “Let me see this drawing you made. Oh, yes. You have your mother’s eye for color and her clever hands. You will be as talented an artist as she was someday, I have no doubt.” The sharp stab of sorrow in his chest made it hard to breathe, but his command of his face was good for more than just fooling his overlords. It was for her that he was doing this, her and the memory of her mother, Nashi.

  “Apa, will you tell me more about the Uman lady and her dog tonight? I like the dog. See, I put it in the picture!”

  Zell blinked at the image. She’d drawn a woman and a dog facing off against a moss-covered stag, just as he’d described them to her. It wasn’t the polished artistry of Nashi’s works, but the spark of talent was there.

  “I would be honored,” he said, his voice warm and proud.

  And as he spoke to her that night, the deeper part of his mind would already be calculating. Quietly choosing the right sleeper agent to send down to the surface. Setting the first stone of a path only he could see.

  If this Heavenbreaker could be brought into the fold…

  There might be hope.

  Kaari might live free someday.

  And he would burn every world in the Dominion to make that happen.