Betrayed by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #5)(31)

“You chopped off his leg,” Iannis reminded me. “That is an impressive feat in itself. Chartis may be a traitor, but he is an experienced mage, and I would not feel comfortable allowing you to face him in a duel.”

“Well then, you’d better kill him yourself,” I retorted. “Because he seems to be tripping us up at every turn.”

“I guess Director Chartis wasn’t told exactly what is being produced inside the bunker,” Elnos surmised. “I can’t imagine any mage helping the Resistance develop a mage-killing disease, no matter how much he might hate you, Lord Iannis.”

“You’re probably right, but that doesn’t make me feel better,” I grumbled.

“I suppose you’ve triggered the alarm yourself, Elnos,” Iannis said. “What happened when you did?”

“Nothing much.” Elnos shrugged. “No guards came out. But the patrol doubled, and Annia and I could barely leave the camp after that. I believe they won’t actively go after a mage, since they likely have no way to defend against magic aside from the ward Chartis set up.”

“That must mean they haven’t perfected the weapon they’re working on,” I commented.

“Yes, or they’re simply unwilling to use it yet,” Elnos said. “Besides, they would have to have a very fast-acting disease for it to be of any use as a defensive weapon.”

“Do you think I might be able to slip through?” I asked. “Since I’m only half-mage, perhaps I won’t trigger the wards.”

“I doubt it,” Iannis said. “This particular spell is very sensitive, and will recognize you as a mage even though you are half-shifter.”

“The bracelet charm Annia wore did not set it off, so small magical artifacts and enhancements seem to go through,” Elnos observed. “But hardly a person with any degree of inherent magic.”

“Isn’t it worth a try, at least?”

“I do not believe it would be wise to trigger the alarm again,” Elnos argued. “They’ve just begun to relax, since nearly four days have passed since that incident.”

“I agree,” Iannis said firmly. “There is no use alerting them to our presence and losing our element of surprise.”

“Okay, so then, what do we do to get in?” I demanded. “If you’re not willing to let me try, then who else? I guess we could try recruiting a local human as our inside agent, but I doubt they’d be willing.”

“Sending in an untrained human would be far too risky,” Iannis said sternly. “No, I’m afraid we’re going to need to head back to Parabas and confer with the local Chief Mage.”

“Do you think he’ll have any solutions to offer?”

“Not likely,” Iannis said regretfully. “I imagine he will come to the same conclusion I have—that our only choice is to annihilate the entire place.”

“What!” I nearly jumped to my feet before remembering that we were supposed to stay hidden. “You can’t do that! Noria and Annia are in there!”

“I must protest as well, Lord Iannis,” Elnos said, desperation tingeing his voice. “I came out here with Annia to rescue Noria. I refuse to see our efforts wasted.”

“I understand, but we cannot risk the safety of the entire nation over two lives,” Iannis said, his voice hard. He locked eyes on me, his gaze burning with intensity. “I told you that this might happen, Sunaya.”

“Yes, and you also told me that it would be a last resort!” I said hotly, tears burning at the corners of my eyes. I couldn’t lose Annia, not after all she’d done to help me, and I couldn’t bear to see Noria meet her end in such a horrific manner.

“And so it will,” Iannis said gently, laying a hand on my forearm. “I cannot take action on the compound without conferring with Lord Logar, since this is out of my jurisdiction. So no matter what we decide, I must return to Parabas and meet with him. But if there is any way I can get your friends out safely, I will see that it is done.”

“Okay.” I let out a slow breath. That was the best response I could hope for really. I mentally prepared myself to leave the compound and my friends behind, to return to Parabas with Iannis and try to find a solution. Hopefully, nothing else would go wrong while we were gone.

“In the meantime, you and Elnos should stay here,” Iannis said, surprising me. “You can keep watch on the compound and perhaps eavesdrop on the guards and staff when they are in town. It is unlikely that Noria is allowed to go out, since she is a new recruit, but not impossible. If you find anything useful, or if you do manage to breach the wards by some miracle, Elnos can send me a message by ether pigeon.” He gave Elnos a stern look. “Is that understood? I do not want to be met with any unpleasant surprises when I return.”

“Yes, My Lord.” Elnos bowed his head.

“How long are you going to be gone for?” I asked, torn. On the one hand, I didn’t want to be separated from Iannis, but a weight had lifted from my shoulders at the news that I wouldn’t have to leave. Maybe I would be able to find a way in while Iannis was gone, and get Annia and Noria out before he came back with an army of mages to flatten the place.

“No longer than two days, I estimate,” Iannis said. “Lord Logar is a busy man, but he will not want to delay acting on such an urgent issue.”