Betrayed by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #5)(61)

“Oh, Fenris.” I abandoned the desk chair for his bed, then wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug. “I’m sorry.” A lump began to swell in my throat. “I’m sure this is very hard for you.”

It was easy to empathize with Fenris—after all, my own hybrid status had made me an outcast, and until Iannis had taken me under his wing, I’d lived every day under the fear that I would be found out and executed. But at least those fears no longer plagued me. I was still learning to integrate myself into mage society, but it was happening. And if my lunch with Aunt Mafiela went well, perhaps I could find my way back into shifter society as well. But Fenris wasn’t able to do either of those things.

“I know I said to you not so long ago that my place was by Iannis’s side, and by your side,” Fenris said roughly, his arms tightening around me as he returned my hug. “But after nearly exposing my true identity in front of all those mages, I was reminded that my very presence here puts you both in grave danger. If it was ever found out that the two of you were knowingly harboring me here, and that Iannis had used illegal magic to transform me into a shifter, all three of us would be executed. You are my friends, and far too important for me to allow that to happen.”

“Stop this.” My nails dug into Fenris’s upper arms as I pulled back to glare at him. “Fenris, you stop this bullshit right now. Yes, Iannis and I might be part of the Minister’s task force, but don’t think for one second that you haven’t been instrumental in everything we’ve done so far. You’re important too, Fenris, and I f*cking need you. Iannis f*cking needs you. The entire Federation needs you, even if they’re too blind and ignorant to know it.” My voice broke a little as anger scalded my chest, and maybe a hint of fear too, at the thought that Fenris might walk out of our lives. “I can’t stand to lose another friend right now, Fenris,” I whispered. “I just can’t.”

Remorse flashed in Fenris’s dark eyes, and his expression softened. “I understand,” he said quietly. “We’ve been through quite a lot recently, haven’t we?”

“You could say that,” I said tiredly, running a hand over my face. “I was just getting over Roanas’s death, and now I’m faced with the likelihood of losing Noria. I don’t know what I would do if I found out you were leaving too.”

“Knowing you, you would probably come up with some harebrained scheme to chase after me, and get yourself into considerable trouble that I would have to help you out of,” Fenris said dryly, a grin tugging at his lips.

I grinned back. “Well, that is what you’re around for, isn’t it?” I asked, smacking him on the shoulder.

“It would seem so, at least for now.” Fenris shook his head, his smile fading. “I suppose that so long as there is still need of me, it would be a disservice to you and Iannis for me to disappear,” he said. “I will stay then, and help however I can. But if there is any sign that my presence puts either of you at risk, I will leave, and you must promise not to stop me.” Fenris’s eyes darkened as he locked gazes with me. “Promise me, Sunaya Baine.”

“I promise,” I said, trying to sound as normal as possible as the lump in my throat threatened to resurface. But what else could I say? “Now can you get your ass out of bed and help me get this list of suspects? We don’t have all day.”

“Yes, but it would help if you gave me some privacy,” Fenris pointed out. “I am far from decent.”

“What else is new?” I muttered, opening the door and walking out. Shifters didn’t really have a button on nudity, but as Fenris wasn’t born a shifter, I had to forgive him for being a prude. And I didn’t really need the image of his naked ass branded in my mind anyway.



“By Magorah,” I muttered as Rylan and I trudged back inside. We’d just finished questioning the head gardener, which had turned out to be just as fruitless as all the other interviews. “I’m starting to think you’re wrong, and the spy did flee the Palace.”

“Nobody ever said I was infallible,” Rylan admitted as we turned right, heading to the east wing. Fenris had taken half the suspects, leaving us with around thirty to question—and we’d just finished number eighteen. “It’s always possible the spy did bolt.”

“I really hope not,” I said as we headed for the guest bathing rooms. The next suspect on our list was Harun Zuric, one of the Palace’s handymen, and we’d been informed he was currently fixing a leak in one of the showers. “I’d rather not find out we wasted our entire morning on this.”

“It isn’t a waste,” Rylan pointed out. “Eliminating these suspects is important.”

I growled under my breath, but said nothing. He was right, but I was impatient to find my would-be killer now. I wanted to look him in the eye myself, dammit.

The sound of metal clanging against metal caught my ears as we rounded the corner, followed by the scent of sweaty male human. I pushed open the door to the bathroom to find a balding, heavyset man leaning half-in, half-out of the shower. His belt wasn’t doing a great job of holding up his workpants, and I wrinkled my nose at the sight of his hairy crack peeking out from beneath his powder-blue work shirt.

“Good morning, Mr. Zuric,” I called, and he shot straight up, banging his head against the metal doorframe.