Bound by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #2)(4)

Looping my thumbs into my jean pockets, I walked down the pier, a bounce in my step as I headed over to Comenius Genhard’s shop, Over the Hedge. Comenius was a hedge-witch from Pernia, a foreign country across the eastern sea. He specialized in nature magic, his shop part apothecary, part charm-shop. He was also one of my best friends, and between my apprenticeship and the few Enforcer gigs I managed to get, I hadn’t seen him in ages. I was looking forward to dragging him out of his shop for a stiff drink so we could catch up.

Unfortunately, Comenius was nowhere to be found, either in his shop or in the apartment above the building. Annoyed, I leaned against the glass storefront and stared out at Solantha Bay, my eye drawn to the Firegate Bridge, its glorious red towers glowing in the light of the dying sun. It was seven o’clock, and the shop should have still been open. Where the hell was Com? At the very least Noria, his assistant, should be here, but the CLOSED sign told me the shop was completely empty. The same thing had happened last time I’d dropped by two weeks ago, which was highly unusual.

Maybe he’s out with his new girlfriend.

I pouted at the thought – not because I didn’t want Com to have a love life, but because it reminded me that my own relationships were sorely lacking right now. Sure, I wasn’t the only one in the single department – my friend Annia, Noria’s sister, was still unattached as far as I knew – but Noria had Elnos, and with Com’s time being taken up by someone too, I was feeling decidedly left out.

Shaking my head, I turned around and walked back up the pier towards my bike. I was being ridiculous. I’d never had much time for a love life before, and with my schedule monopolized by the Palace I certainly didn’t have time now. There was no point in pining over something I couldn’t have.

I slung my leg over the seat of my bike, then just sat there for a moment as I considered my next move. Maybe I should go track down Annia and see if she needed help with any of her current jobs. She’d thrown me a few bones the last couple of weeks, giving me some small local jobs that I could fit in between the cracks of my busy schedule, and she might have something for me now.

But as I scanned the crowds of people walking up and down the neat sidewalks of the Port, tourists and locals alike, I realized that I didn’t want to work tonight. For once, I wanted to be one of those carefree people, talking and laughing and enjoying the beautiful summer night with someone else.

So instead of heading down to Annia’s apartment in Maintown, I took off for Rowanville, leaving a white-hot cloud of steam in my wake as my engine let out a shrill whistle. I was going to have to load up on some more coal soon – the charm that magically replenished the water in the bike did not, alas, extend to the coal itself. Just one more expense to burden my alarmingly empty money pouch with.

A kind of nostalgia washed over me as I walked into The Twilight, the interspecies nightclub that had kept me financially afloat back when Garius Talcon, the former Deputy Captain of the Enforcer’s Guild, was refusing to give me work. The colorful strobe lights reflecting off the black lacquered surfaces were as annoying as ever, but familiar, and I waved to Cray, the big black guy behind the counter that I used to tend bar with. He didn’t smile, but he gave me a friendly nod, and I relaxed a little, relieved that he wasn’t going to try and kick me out. My last day working in the bar, I’d left him in the lurch when Roanas had called me for help, and in fact I’d nearly ripped Cray’s face off when he tried to stop me.

A pang of sadness for my dead mentor hit me in the chest, but I shrugged it off, determined to keep my spirits up tonight. Claiming one of the barstools for myself, I leaned forward on the counter and waited until Cray finished with his customer.

“Hey Naya,” he said in his deep, slightly gravelly voice. “Been awhile since I’ve seen you. How are things?”

“Hectic,” I said with a sigh, swinging my feet back and forth beneath the counter a little. “The Chief Mage keeps me pretty busy up at the Palace.”

“I can imagine.” His dark eyes swept over me for a second, and I could tell he had questions, but he didn’t press. “You want your usual tonight?”

I hesitated, on the verge of ordering a shot of teca and amaretto on ice, but I decided against it. Teca was one of the few alcoholic beverages that could get shifters buzzed, but after being shot up with drugs two months ago and nearly killed, I wasn’t in any hurry to be intoxicated again.

“Nah, I think I’ll just take a virgin sex on the beach. And a bacon cheeseburger.” My magic lessons with the Chief Mage always left me hungry, as using magic drew on my energy stores.

“Coming right up.” Cray’s lips quirked at the girly drink, and possibly the irony as well. There was something silly about ordering a “virgin” sex on the beach, but since I couldn’t get drunk I didn’t see the point of paying extra for the alcohol.

He served my drink with a cute little tropical umbrella, and as I sipped at the sweet, fruity concoction, waiting for my burger, I scanned the crowd to see if there was anyone interesting to talk to. To my surprise, I picked out Inspector Boon Lakin, hunched over the table in one of the booths toward the back of the club and away from the strobe lights. A fedora was perched atop his blond head, partially concealing his face, but I recognized the brown leather coat he was wearing even if the table did conceal most of it – that was definitely him.