Bound by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #2)(9)

The first couple of files were pretty dull – they were all bounties for small time thieves or racketeers, stuff I’d seen a thousand times before – but the fifth file I opened proved to be much more interesting.

“Get this,” I told Lakin, scanning the first page. “Looks like Sillara was looking into some shifter disappearances.”

Lakin raised his gaze from the file he was looking through. “Shifter disappearances? You mean kidnappings?”

“Not sure.” I shrugged as I flipped through the notes in the file. “As far as I can see there were no ransom notes left, or any demands made on the family members of the victims. They just disappeared, and were never heard from again.”

“Huh.” Frowning, Lakin moved some of the boxes aside so he could sit next to me. “Is there anything tying the victims together other than the fact that they’re shifters?”

I pursed my lips. “According to Sillara’s notes, they’re all in their early twenties, and nearly all of them are clanless, with the exception of one.” I pulled out a letter and passed it to Lakin.

Lakin’s eyes widened as he read the letter, which was the original request sent in to the Enforcer’s Guild that sparked the case. The letter had been sent from a wolf shifter family that belonged to the Solantha wolf pack, several days after their son Tylin had gone missing.

“I remember that name, Tylin.” Lakin looked up at the ceiling, tapping his chin in thought. “Roanas had a file on him too. From what I understand, he wasn’t able to find out what happened to the boy, and the family just assumed he’d defected to the Resistance.”

“I bet that’s what a lot of the families ended up thinking.” I pulled out the list of names, my heart sinking as I read through them again. Many young shifters, especially the ones born into poorer families, ran off to join the Resistance in hopes of a better future. The clans tried to take care of their own as best they could, but the government levied heavier taxes on the shifter community, and in return for leaving shifters alone they expected them to take care of the majority of their own welfare programs and civic upkeep. The Chief Mage, who wasn’t from Solantha, had seemed surprised when I’d mentioned this to him, and with any luck he might dig into this issue eventually and help out Shiftertown and the other shifter communities scattered across the state. But from what I understood, the Chief Mages who ran the other forty-nine states in the Northia Federation were more than happy with the arrangement. As far as they were concerned, mages had created shifters, and if they weren’t allowed to use us as slaves anymore, they weren’t going to help us either.

Lakin and I spent the next half hour going through Roanas’s missing persons files, cross-referencing them with Sillara’s list. We crossed off every person who was a known member of the Resistance, and unsurprisingly, the majority of the names we were left with matched up with Sillara’s list.

“I wonder how she compiled this list,” Lakin murmured, staring down at the two sheets of paper, which he’d laid out side by side on the coffee table. “I see how she got Tylin’s name, but her notes on the others are sparse. It’s almost as if they’ve gone missing.”

I frowned. “If someone went to the trouble of taking the notes, why wouldn’t they just take the entire file? Seems like extra work to me.”

Lakin shrugged. “I’ve worked on cases where I felt it necessary to keep the most important notes in a separate file at home, away from my office, where my deputies and others couldn’t access them. It’s possible Sillara did the same.”

I nodded – that made sense. I couldn’t count the number of times I’d taken work home with me. “So that means either the separate file is still at her home somewhere, or it’s been destroyed.”

“Sillara’s partner said there were no work-related papers at their place. I’ll have to question her again to see if there was any sign of a break-in recently.” Lakin braced his hands on his knees, then pushed himself to his feet. “In the meantime, though, I’d like to go ahead and interview the families and friends of the shifters on this list. Perhaps something new will come to light.”

“I’ll come with you.” I rose to my feet as well, eager to continue tugging on this thread.

Lakin hesitated. “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but I think the interviews would go easier if you didn’t come along. The residents of Shiftertown … well, they’re not sure how to feel about you just yet.”

I opened my mouth to protest, then closed it again. Lakin was probably right. The shifter community wasn’t friendly towards mages to begin with, and on top of that I was a reject of the Jaguar Clan. Nobody around here was going to be welcoming me with open arms.

“That’s alright,” I said casually, as if Lakin’s rebuff didn’t bother me. “I’ve got to get back to the Palace anyway.”

A look of chagrin shadowed Lakin’s eyes. “Sunaya –”

“No, seriously, it’s fine.” I held up a hand, not wanting his pity, and flashed him a grin. “You’ll let me know if you dig up anything interesting, right?”

“Of course.” Lakin’s face relaxed into a smile, clearly deciding to let it go. “I really appreciate your help today,” he said as he walked me out.