Betrayed by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #5)(20)

Iannis’s eyebrows winged up. “I doubt it was a mage who did this. No self-respecting mage would use a bomb to assassinate someone, not when there are so many magical means of doing so.”

“Yeah, that’s the obvious reasoning, isn’t it?” I jabbed his chest with my finger again. “If a mage did use a bomb, it would automatically deflect suspicion away. And don’t go around telling me it’s impossible for one of your mages to be in with the Resistance. Not after what happened with Chartis.”

“Hmm. You do make a good point there.” Iannis’s grip on my arms relaxed as a thoughtful look entered his eyes. “I will consider what you’ve said.”

“Great.” Aware that Iannis didn’t want to talk about the subject further, I switched topics. “So, have you made any more headway regarding the Resistance prisoners?”

Iannis nodded. “A number of them have been sent to the mines already to carry out their sentences, or back to prison until the date of their execution. There are more yet who are still awaiting trial, including your cousin Rylan.”

“Right.” My mood darkened at the thought of Rylan Baine, my aunt Mafiela’s youngest son, and a high-ranking officer in the Resistance. He and I had been close once, but after his betrayal, I wanted nothing to do with him.

“I thought to consult with you before tackling his case, but it seems as though you do not wish to discuss the subject,” Iannis noted, stroking my cheek with his thumb. “Did something happen?”

“You can give him whatever sentence you want,” I bit out. “He’s a traitor, not just to our country, but to me as well.”

Concern darkened Iannis’s eyes. “What do you mean? Has your cousin done something else that I don’t know of?”

I let out a slow breath. “He hired a witch to put a spell on me so that I would forget to warn you about the Resistance’s plans to ambush you.” Hot anger surged in my chest just thinking about it. All those times I’d gone to Iannis, intending to warn him not to get on the dirigible, or to hire extra security, or whatever it took to keep him safe. Whomever Rylan had hired to put the spell on me had been damn good, because looking back on it, I still couldn’t tell that I’d been spelled. Every time I’d tried to warn Iannis, something had always come up to derail the conversation, and by the time it was over, I’d completely forgotten to tell him. If Rylan hadn’t admitted the truth to me, I would still have trouble believing it had happened.

But it had. And Iannis had almost been killed as a result.

“I see,” Iannis said slowly, but he didn’t seem nearly as angry as I’d anticipated. “So Rylan prevented you from warning me, because doing so would have put your life in danger?”

“Yes, but he doesn’t get to make that call. He doesn’t get to decide whether or not I’m allowed to protect you.”

“Indeed.”

I narrowed my eyes at Iannis. “You’re not seriously agreeing with Rylan’s actions, are you?”

“No, but I also can’t fault him for trying to protect you the best way he knew how.”

I huffed. “Men. You’re all the same when it comes to women. You’d rather hide us in the closet and keep us away from the action, even if we have skills and abilities that would be useful.”

Iannis arched a brow, then looked around the cabin. “Unless I’m very much mistaken, we don’t appear to be in a closet. In fact, I believe I’m taking you straight toward ‘the action’, as you put it.”

I smirked. “You’re such a smartass.”

“Your attitude is clearly rubbing off on me.” Iannis kissed me, quick and hard. “In any case, I will do as you suggest and assign an appropriate punishment for Rylan.”

“What about Thorgana Mills?” I asked, now that we were on the subject. “She’s on her way to Dara now, isn’t she?” I had very mixed feelings on letting her out of state—she was incredibly dangerous. But the Minister had insisted on her extradition, and since she was a resident of Dara and her crimes were national rather than local, we had no choice but to relinquish her. The Minister hoped to get her to reveal additional information on the recent plot to kill and supplant him. There were probably other plots we had yet to discover, but it would not be an easy task to drag them out of her.

“She will be leaving within the next few days,” Iannis confirmed. “I don’t intend to let her set foot off Prison Isle without the most stringent security.”

“Damn right.” He’d better have a veritable army accompanying her.

“There is also the matter of dealing with Father Calmias,” Iannis said. “He is proving quite troublesome.”

“How so?” Despite his vicious, genocidal gospel, the famous preacher struck me as rather harmless, physically. He had a grandfatherly air about him, and besides, he was human. The prison guards shouldn’t be having any trouble with him.

“Though he obviously incited the humans to riot and rebel, as you witnessed yourself, we can find no proof that he has done anything more tangible to aid the Resistance. The law is unclear on whether that is enough grounds for prolonged imprisonment, once an emergency is over. Many of his supporters are demanding that he be freed.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” On my way back from Shiftertown the other day, I’d taken a ride through Maintown to see how the humans were faring. Like the other sections of Solantha, repairs were underway. But I’d seen quite a few posters plastered around town with messages like ‘FREE FATHER CALMIAS!’ and ‘FATHER CALMIAS IS INNOCENT!’.