The gemstones lay embedded in the rock walls. They were raw, of course, uncut and completely untouched by man. They lacked the polished look of a finished stone, but my Stone magic let me see the pure fire inside them, the beautiful potential they possessed. More seams of coal ran around the diamonds, making the gems seem as though they were resting on a velvet tray. I could also hear the diamonds. They resonated with the same sort of brilliance the stone in Tobias Dawson’s safe had. Often, the more intense a gemstone’s vibration, the more beautiful and valuable it was. If the song skipping through my head was any indication, there was several million dollars’ worth of uncut diamonds nestled in the heart of this mountain—just waiting for someone to come and claim them.

Tobias Dawson stalked to the center of the cavern. The giants dragging me followed along behind him. The dwarf snapped his fingers, and the two brutes threw me down.

I put my hands out to break my fall, but the stone still dug into my palms and scraped my already raw, bloody knees. Even being a Stone couldn’t protect me from being injured by my own element like that. I huddled on the ground, once again scanning the area for anything I could use. Any sort of weapon. Hell, I’d even take a bolt hole at this point. Folks who said you were a coward if you ran away from a fight usually didn’t live long themselves. I wouldn’t care if I was called a coward, as long as I was still breathing in the end.

The top of the cavern was damp, and phosphorescent mold covered most of the jagged stalactites, a strange, pale green contrast to the rest of the gray, brown, and black rock. A drop of water fell down from one of the stones and spattered onto my upturned cheek. I looked up, backtracked the drop, and realized a steady stream of water rushed down one wall of the cavern. Still more water dripped from other stalactites over my head. Hmm.

That might be useful.

Tobias Dawson walked in a loose circle around me.

His snakeskin cowboy boots clattered on the rough stone.

“Do you know where you are?”

I put my hands on the ground and pushed myself up to my feet. Spots swam in front of my eyes again, but I blinked them away. “I have a pretty good idea.”

It was hard to talk through my broken, throbbing jaw, and my words came out mushy and mumbled. Just the way my face felt.

The dwarf stared at me. “You broke into my office, into my safe.” His floppy mustache bristled with anger.