"Eighteen million five hundred thousand!"
"Nineteen million!"
The bidding war raged on without pause.
A slab of teal-veined jade that size, fully exposed and ready for masterwork carving, could easily fetch thirty-five million dollars once processed into finished pieces. Everyone in the hall understood the math, which was precisely why the competition remained fierce. Paddles rose and fell in rapid succession as buyers jockeyed for position.
Quinn felt the pull of that stone more acutely than anyone else in the room. The ambient ethereal essence radiating from within its crystalline structure was dense and abundant, practically calling out to him. But this was no longer blind gemstone speculation. This was a straightforward auction for an entirely exposed slab, and he could hardly ask
