Burned by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #1)(34)

“Noria –” I reached for her as she turned away, but she was too quick, and she slipped out of the room in the blink of an eye. I sagged, the weight of guilt and defeat crushing my spine. “By Magorah, Com. What have I done?”

Comenius took me in his arms, and I rested my head on his shoulder, soaking up the comfort he offered. “She just wants to be like you and Annia,” he said softly.

“I know,” I said miserably. “But I want a better life for her than what we have, and instead she keeps pushing herself closer to the edge. And now because I keep trying to push her back, she hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you.” Comenius pulled back, and reached down to grab something off the coffee table – the jammer. “If she did, she wouldn’t have left this for you.” Smiling, he placed it in my palm. A warm tingle spread through my body as he closed my fingers around it. “Keep it with you, for now. I don’t know how it works, but I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“Don’t go,” I murmured as he stepped back.

His pale eyes shimmered with sadness. “You know I’m needed back at the shop,” he told me. “And besides, I’m reasonably sure the Chief Mage would not be pleased to find he has an additional houseguest.”

I scowled. “Fuck the Chief Mage.”

He arched a brow. “That would be an interesting way to escape your death sentence.”

I sputtered. “I’m not –”

“I know,” he said, squeezing my arm gently. “But I wouldn’t blame you if you took advantage of his interest in you. Think what you want, but there is a reason he hasn’t killed you yet.”

“Yeah, because I’m a puzzle he hasn’t had the chance to solve yet,” I muttered. “As soon as he cracks me, I’m gone.” But I couldn’t help but wonder whether or not there was any truth to Comenius’s words.

Comenius only smiled and shook his head. “Stay safe, Naya.” As he left me alone in the room, my head and my heart were swirling with so many thoughts and emotions I thought I would burst.





Chapter Nine




I spent the rest of the day caught up in a maelstrom of confusion, guilt, and anxiety that made me envy humans for their ability to drink their problems away. I was worried about Noria, worried about Rylan, worried about the shifter murders and my complete inability to do anything about them.

And on top of it all, I was also worried about the Chief Mage’s intentions toward me.

What if Comenius is right? I thought as I flopped down onto my bed, my belly full of beef stew and bread – yesterday’s leftovers by the smell of them, but at least I was getting fed. What if the Chief Mage’s interest is more than clinical? I thought about the fact that even though he was cold and dispassionate, he’d also shown me some kindnesses. I was out of those magic-suppressing shackles, he’d expended his own magical energy to heal me, and he was going out of his way to find my father.

Going out of his way? Are you kidding me? Finding your father is part of his investigation… he’s definitely not doing it for you.

A knock on my door derailed my train of thought, and I sat up as the scent of the visitor reached my nose – it was Elgarion. My heart rate sped as I crossed the room to answer the door – what did the Director’s apprentice want with me now?

I opened the door to see him standing in the hall with a candle in his hand. Ice filled my veins as I caught sight of the two guards standing behind him.

“What do you want?”

“The Chief Mage commands your presence,” Elgarion said stiffly. His dark eyes glittered in the candlelight, and I knew he was still thinking about the way I’d embarrassed him back in the storage chamber the other day. But I could hardly hold onto that thought – I was still stuck on the fact that the Chief Mage had sent for me in the evening, far earlier than I expected to see him again.

“Where?” I demanded as I reached for my jacket. My makeshift crescent knives and stakes were still in the pockets, and I was not going anywhere near those guards without them. “And why?”

“To his quarters,” Elgarion told me. “As for why, I cannot say. But he does not like to be kept waiting.”

As if I give a f*ck about that, I wanted to snap, but I kept my mouth shut and followed Elgarion. He led me past the Chief Mage’s study and further back through a maze of corridors until we reached a door near the end of the West Wing.

“The Chief Mage will join you shortly,” Elgarion said, opening the door to reveal a large sitting room.

“Wait.” I hesitated, my foot on the threshold. “There’s no one here?”

“The Chief Mage insisted that this be a private meeting.” Disapproval was stamped all over Elgarion’s stony face.

“Then why did you bring these guards along?” I asked, incredulous.

Elgarion stiffened, then drew his robes around him. “Good night, Miss Baine.”

I gaped as he swept back down the corridor with the guards in tow, as the truth suddenly dawned on me. Elgarion, the apprentice to the Director of the Mage’s Guild, was afraid of me. Feeling smug, I grinned after Elgarion’s retreating shadow before I sauntered into the room.

The smugness faded as I looked around the large, empty chamber, which, while decorated in the Chief Mage’s colors, was cozier than I expected. The wall to my left was lined with bookshelves, and the one on my right was dominated by a large bay window that offered a beautiful view of the Firegate Bridge stretching across Solantha Bay. Couches made of dark, heavy wood and upholstered in blue and gold were grouped around a marble hearth where a roaring fire crackled. The flames illuminated the gold threading woven through the plush blue carpeting covering the floor, which sank under each step I took.