Betrayed by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #5)(30)

“Her work,” Iannis said softly, anger burning in his gaze. “She is helping the Resistance manufacture weapons that spread disease and epidemics, you know. Some of which are specifically targeted at mages.”

“No!” Elnos recoiled, horror widening his eyes. “I know that Noria is committed to the rebellion, but she would never consent to something so horrible. How did you come to such a conclusion?”

“Such a weapon was used to attempt an assassination on the Minister during the last Convention,” Iannis said. “The Minister’s office tracked the substance to a doctor, who is now in prison. He told us the lab that tests and manufactures these deadly weapons is right here, in Nika.”

“It’s possible that Noria isn’t being given all the information,” I consoled Elnos, who looked stricken. “She may not know exactly what these weapons do, and she’s an engineer, not a chemist. I doubt she’s actually producing these substances. They’ll have her working on some mechanical project, most likely.”

“Perhaps,” Elnos said slowly, his gaze distant. “But Noria is no fool. She would figure it out eventually, and if she is willingly dedicating her time to such a horrific cause—” He broke off, shaking his head. “This is just so hard to think about. It’s like my mind just freezes. I don’t know what to do.”

We fell silent again as the waitress returned with our food. I paid her, then stared down at the tray she’d left on the coffee table. The meat pies looked and smelled amazing, but in the wake of Elnos’s distress, I wasn’t quite so hungry anymore.

“Let us focus on one thing at a time,” Iannis said, not unkindly. “We’ll eat now, and then you’ll take us to this hidden bunker. Once we get there and I can assess the lay of the land, we’ll decide our course of action.”

“Very well,” Elnos said, reaching for his portion of pie. We all dug in silently, and I tried my best to push away the heaviness that settled onto my shoulders. I’d be damned if I was going to sit here and act like this was our last meal together. Iannis and I had faced ridiculous odds in the past—we would do it again, and get my friends home safe.

I just wished I knew whether or not I could still call Noria one of those friends.





13





Still disguised as humans, Iannis and I left the inn with Elnos and made our way to the hidden Resistance compound. As Iannis had predicted, it was on the northern outskirts of town. Technically, that was walking distance, but it was a good five miles from the inn, and it took us longer to get there than I would have liked. We could hardly take the carriage and remain inconspicuous, and though Iannis and I could travel much faster than a brisk walk, Elnos had no such ability.

“This is where Annia and I made camp,” Elnos said quietly, leading us into a small clearing halfway up a hillside covered by dense forest. The trees provided cover, while allowing us to spy on the enemy. “I put up a special ward that repels the attention of patrols, so we shouldn’t be discovered.”

“Well done,” Iannis murmured as we carefully crawled up the hillside to get a better view. We’d trekked through the forest to avoid the guards patrolling the wire fence that surrounded the large plot of land before us. Within that plot sat a plain greyish building, about two stories high, and I counted twelve windows that I could see from the side. The rest of the building disappeared into the cover of the trees, making it impossible to see exactly how large it was without getting closer.

“There don’t seem to be many guards,” I said, taking stock of the security. One man sat inside the booth outside the main gate, munching on a bag of snacks as he kept an eye on the road. I spotted two more guards making their rounds across the perimeter.

“There are more than you’d think,” Elnos said. “Especially at night. The patrol that caught Annia prowls the surrounding forest. They also have guns on the rooftops.”

“What?” Guns were strictly forbidden in the Federation, their possession punishable by death. To find them in use here would be more proof that the place belonged to the Resistance. Sure enough, I picked out a small, humanoid shape on the rooftop of the main building, and another on the garage port. “By Magorah,” I growled, curling my hands around the blades of grass sticking up from the dirt. “These guns are really becoming an issue.”

“Bullets can be shielded against,” Iannis said, his eyes narrowed as he studied the main building, “though they are a nuisance. It’s the ward that worries me.”

“How big is it?” I asked, knowing he would be able to see it.

Iannis was silent for a moment. “It begins just inside the fence, and surrounds the buildings as well as a good portion of the wooded area. I’d say at least ten acres, total.”

“Shit,” I muttered, trying to wrap my head around that. “The facility must be huge, then.”

“Indeed,” Iannis agreed grimly. “This particular type of ward is most often tied to an object within its boundaries, usually referred to as an anchor. Getting your hands on that is the only means to shut the ward off, but of course you must first get inside. I believe Argon Chartis favors this method of warding.”

“That bastard,” I hissed, baring my teeth. “I wish I’d had the chance to kill him.”