Diamond Fire

The rehearsal dinner took place in the courtyard.

In twenty-four hours everyone was going to be dressed up, so for the rehearsal we went with casual. Tables were set out, covered with white tablecloths. Pitchers of lemonade and iced tea were distributed. Baskets of rolls were placed on the tables, next to simple centerpieces of wildflowers in plain glass vases. Valentina’s House Catering had prepared a traditional Texas barbecue, and platters of smoked meats made their way around each table—moist and dry brisket, smoked chicken and turkey, beef and pork ribs, sausage rings with jalapeno kick, followed by bowls of coleslaw, corn on the cob, and baked beans.

I sat at the head table, with Rogan and Nevada, together with Arabella, Bern, Leon, Mom, and Grandma Frida, and Mrs. Rogan. My seat was on Nevada’s left, because I was the Maid of Honor. My sister practically glowed.

I felt so bad. I had warned her that some crazy stuff was coming, but I didn’t go into specifics. It was either ruin the rehearsal dinner or the wedding. This was the lesser of the two evils.

Mrs. Rogan smiled at me. “It’s time, dear.”

I got up and walked to the raised porch where Rogan had set up a huge flat-screen tv. To my right stood a lectern covered with a length of blue cloth.

Rogan’s entire family was in front of me. My family too. So many people. They were all looking at me. My skin felt too tight. I glanced around the tables, noting the familiar faces. Lucian and June; Maria and Mikel; Markel and Isabella; Iker and Eva, sullen Xavier sandwiched between them; Ane and Lance; Zorion and Teresa . . .

I took a deep breath. I had spent a good hour writing the intro to my speech and trying to sound as adult as I could. “Recently we became aware that the Sealight tiara, which is traditionally worn by the brides of the Ramírez family, has been stolen.”

The courtyard went quiet, surprise and concern registering on people’s faces. The blue cloth hiding the lectern fell to the floor, revealing a blue pillow with the Sealight on it, its jewel still missing.

“We were able to recover the Sealight and in the process of our investigation, several facts have come to light, which I will now share with you.”

I looked at Elba sitting at the table with her parents, Mikel and Maria. Elba grinned at me. Keep smiling. Let’s see if you are still smiling when I’m done.

I smiled back and looked to the table where Markel and his wife, Isabella, sat. “Isabella Ramírez is buying and selling prescription medication and is using Elba and two other children, not related to the family, to distribute it. Here’s the footage of her resupplying Elba and collecting the money.”

The flat screen came to life showing Isabella counting off OxyContin pills into the jar and handing it over to Elba.

“The authorities in Bilbao are aware of her activities due to one of the parents of the other children filing a police report.”

A copy of the police complaint appeared on the screen. Bug really was a wizard.

The smile fell from Elba’s face. Isabella went bright red, then white. Markel stared at her. “Why?”

“Because you have me on an allowance like a child,” she snapped. “This man rations everything. He wants to know where every euro went. He would ration my tampons if he could.”

Maria was glaring at Elba. The next part was going to be even better.

“Maria Ramírez,” I said.

Maria jerked in her seat.

“Your husband is not bisexual. He is not having an affair with Lucian. Mikel is running a Ponzi scheme through Ramírez Venture Capital. To date, he has embezzled thirty-four million euros from investors. Lucian de Baldivia became aware of the theft, because his company provides cyber security for Ramírez Capital. He has been blackmailing your husband for the last five months. Here are the financial statements to prove it. They have also been sent to all of your email addresses.”

The courtyard exploded. Everyone shouted at once. Ramírez Venture Capital was the family’s piggy bank.

“I’ve made some bad investments!” Mikel yelled over the noise.

“You had no authority to make any investments!” Mattin Ramírez thundered. “You were supposed to sit on your ass and watch the money. That’s it. An idiot could have done it.”

“I will pay back every euro with interest!” Mikel shouted.

“How?” Ane demanded. “With more fraud?”

“There was no affair?” Maria cried out. “Why do you keep running away from me?”

“Because you drive me insane!” Mikel fired back.

Rogan leaned his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand, watching the chaos like it was a Saturday morning cartoon. Mrs. Rogan was rubbing her temples. Nevada leaned back out of her mother-in-law’s view and gave me a thumbs-up.

“I want a divorce!” Maria announced.

“I am not done,” I announced. “Please let me finish.”

“There can’t possibly be more,” Zorion Ramírez said.

The image on the tv blinked, replaced by Xavier at the fountain. I let his rant roll in all of its glory. When he got to the point of how he would inherit, the courtyard went completely silent. Everyone stared, horrified. The look on Xavier’s face was pure hate. I pressed pause on the remote and looked directly at him.

“Xavier, do you know why your plan won’t work?”

He cursed at me.

I pressed play. Two images appeared on the screen, side by side. Lucian and Eva. A third image, a document with the Scroll logo on it, popped up under them.

“We have obtained permission from Mattin Ramírez, who is the acting head of your family for the duration of this visit, to test your blood, which you left on my rapier. You do not share DNA with anyone in the Ramírez family. Your DNA profile, however, indicates with a 99.999998 percent certainty that these two people are your parents. You will not inherit, because you are not related to Rogan.”

The silence was deafening. Everyone was looking at Lucian and Eva.

Lucian bared his teeth while Xavier shot up to his feet. “It’s not true! Mom, tell them it’s not true!”

Eva swooned and fainted. Iker stared at her as if he didn’t know who she was.

“Almost forgot,” I said. I picked up Sealight, stepped off the porch, walked over to the children’s table and smiled at Mia Rosa. “May I see Sapphire, please?”

Mia Rosa raised her unicorn up. A bright blue jewel in the shape of a heart glittered in the stuffed toy’s forehead, the white fur around it stained with streaks of purple school glue.

“Did you try to bedazzle it?” I asked.

“The bedazzler wasn’t big enough,” Mia Rosa said. “I glued it.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s not yours.” I plucked the jewel from Sapphire’s head and fitted it back into the crown. The Sealight was whole again.

“You should probably give it back to your aunt,” I told her.

Mia Rosa, Prime Telekinetic, sighed. The tiara floated from my hands, dodging the guests with surgical precision, and came to rest gently on the table in front of Mrs. Rogan.

Behind me a table fell as Iker Ramírez threw himself at Lucian de Baldivia.

Epilogue

The wedding was beautiful.

Nevada looked like a princess with the Sealight tiara on her head, while Rogan looked like himself in a tuxedo. The powerful and magically elite of Texas had gathered in full force. The Herald had declared that an invitation to this exclusive wedding was the most coveted in the last ten years. They also snuck a mole into the wedding. I told Rivera to not bust them until after the vows were said. As the woman was gently expelled, her last post on Herald announced that Nevada’s lilac bouquet was to die for. Apparently power and wealth trumped the clashing colors.

The wedding ceremony ended, and the reception began. The guest list read like a who’s who of Texas Houses. Augustine Montgomery, Best Man, Prime. Linus Duncan, Prime. Lenora Jordan, Prime. House Harrisson, House Latimer, House Ade-Afefe, House Etterson, House, House, House . . . Even Grandmother Victoria managed to secure a temporary supervised release. She danced with Linus Duncan and had a civil conversation with Grandma Frida, both of which weirded me and Arabella out.

So many rich and powerful people gathered in one spot. Xavier would have loved it. Unfortunately for him and half a dozen other of Rogan’s relatives, their invitations had been revoked and they were even now flying back to Europe. Of the west wing, only Zorion and Teresa and Ane and Lance remained. June and her daughters were invited but declined to stay.