“So, uh, there is a cache of crystals inside Mount Shasta?” Casper asked.
“Is that all you can think about?” Sharif snapped. “This poor man has been suffering for a couple hundred years, and—”
“Sharif,” Jayani said, her whisper harsh.
He looked at her, his eyebrows furrowed together.
“We can't trust him,” she whispered.
Doctor Shanmugam fell to his knees at her feet. “Of course you can! I'm so sorry, Jayani, your Grace! I swear I won't hurt you! I'll do anything you say! Please, spare my life, take all my crystals, banish me from Earth, remove me from my ill-gotten position of power here, cast me into Magasca Prison on Karata if you must, but please, please spare my life!” And he dropped his head to the ground, weeping disconsolately.
“Sharif, step over here.”
He felt her words comp
