Betrayed by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #5)(48)

“Good morning, Lord Logar.” Iannis inclined his head courteously, and the rest of us bowed. “I am pleased to see you, and your reinforcements.” He glanced over at the other mages, as well as the caravan of steam cars and carriages they had brought with them, with the human drivers keeping well out of the way. Guess Iannis wasn’t the only one who’d been upgrading his fleet.

“Indeed. It looks like we’ll need them.” Logar swept his gaze over us. Fenris, who stood on my left, stiffened almost imperceptibly. He was uncomfortable around other chief mages, since there was always the risk that one of his former colleagues might discover his true identity. It was unlikely they would be able to tell that Fenris had once been Polar ar’Tollis, Chief Mage of Nebara, by just looking at him, but I would have been nervous if I’d been in his position.

“You have managed to accomplish quite a lot with such a small crew,” Logar finally said, his eyes stopping to linger on me. “I suppose that is in no small part due to your bride-to-be.” His hazel eyes warmed fractionally. “Congratulations on your engagement, by the way.”

“Sunaya has been very helpful,” Iannis acknowledged. “But we could not have accomplished this without the rest of our group.”

“Of course not.” Lord Logar turned his attention toward the compound. His eyes narrowed as he peered at the buildings through the wire fence. “So you have all the prisoners stored in these garages?”

“Yes. They will need to be rounded up before we demolish the compound.”

“Pity we can’t burn them all too, at the same time,” the Chief Mage said with disdain. “They deserve nothing less.”

“Do you consider yourself above the law, then?” Noria sneered. “That you feel it’s okay to kill off all these people without a fair trial?”

“And who is this young upstart?” Lord Logar asked, turning his gaze toward Noria. She stood between Rylan and Elnos, her wrists still magically restrained. “Is this the one you all came to rescue?”

Noria opened her mouth to answer, and Elnos kicked at her ankle. The two of them exchanged a heated glare, and Noria edged away from him, her freckled face pale with fury.

“This is Noria Melcott, the younger sister of Sunaya’s close friend, Annia Melcott,” Iannis said. “It is by coincidence that she turned out to be at this compound, and she was not directly involved in the production of diseases or experiments on children. She will be taken back to Solantha for trial.”

“Speaking of Annia,” I said quickly, before Noria exploded, “she’s back at the clearing with the mage and shifter children we rescued. They’re still asleep now, but they’ll need water, food and clothing when they awaken, and a nursemaid to care for them until their parents can be located. There are ten in all.”

“Excellent.” Lord Logar turned to two of his mages, a man and a woman. “Fetch the children, then get them into the carriages. They can eat in there. They need not witness what we are about to do. In fact, they should be sent to safety as soon as possible.”

“I’ll escort you,” Rylan said quickly, stepping forward. I suspected he wanted to personally ensure that they treated the shifter children with care, and I held back a smile as warmth spread through me. Rylan would always put shifters first, no matter what the situation. The thought eased the last of my fears about him defecting back to the Resistance—if he hadn’t been convinced they were planning to betray him before, this business with the shifter children would have done the trick.

Rylan led the two mages away, and Iannis set to disabling his wards. He looked well rested despite getting less than four hours of sleep, and, somehow, his long hair and robes were perfect. I’d had to bundle my rat’s nest of curly hair into a bun before coming down here, and some lovely bloodstains marred my wrinkled clothes. A great way to make a first impression as the Chief Mage’s future wife.

Stop that, I scolded myself, standing a little taller. I wasn’t some f*cking princess; I was Sunaya Baine. Half-shifter, half-mage, all warrior. If the mages couldn’t handle seeing me in disarray after kicking ass, that was their problem, not mine.

I glanced back at Elnos as the mages opened the gate and drove the first of the transport carriages through. He was still standing close to Noria, with Fenris flanking her other side. Conflict drew lines of tension in Elnos’s youthful face. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was thinking about letting Noria escape, to spare her whatever sentence Iannis decided to mete out. But would life as a perpetual fugitive be any better in the long run? I doubted Iannis would give her a life sentence, so it was probably better just to endure whatever punishment he decided upon.

“Don’t let Noria out of your sight,” I told Fenris. “She looks ready to bolt, and I’m not sure Elnos has the guts to stop her.”

“I have to agree.” Fenris’s yellow gaze slanted toward Noria. She still had the blanket from last night wrapped around her slim shoulders. Coupled with her wild hair and gaunt, shadowed face, she looked like a lost child. But the sullen look on her face dampened my compassion for her. Yes, she’d suffered, but most of my sympathy in this messy situation was for Annia and Elnos.

“I don’t know why you’re looking at us like we’re traitors,” I said aloud to her. “You’re the one who abandoned your family and friends to join a bunch of mass-murderers.”