Burned by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #1)(43)

“Yeah, well you can count me out.” I leaned back against my pillow, placing my hands behind my head and crossing my ankles. “No way am I hobnobbing with a bunch of snobby mages. Besides, I don’t have anything to wear.”

Fenris gave me a wry grin. “You won’t have to worry about either of those things. We’ll both be going in beast form.”

“We will?” I frowned. “Why?”

Fenris shrugged. “I usually come in wolf form because the others underestimate me. It lets me observe and listen in where Iannis can’t do so. As for why you’re coming, I’m not certain, but I suggest you follow my lead and do the same. You might learn some useful things.”

My mood lifted at that idea. Maybe I’d hear something that could give me a more solid lead regarding the shifter murders.

“Alright. I’ll do it. When is the banquet?”

“Tonight.”



I spent the rest of the day alternating between training and reading the primer on Loranian that Fenris produced for me – a pursuit that was both challenging and rewarding. By the time dusk began to settle over the horizon, I was a third of the way through the book, and had also deciphered a spell from the Agricultural Magic text that, in theory, would allow me to summon a spring rain in the middle of fall to water my crops.

Not that I envisioned ever needing such a thing. But still, the fact that I was even able to read it was a win for me.

Hungry, I wandered down to the kitchen to grab some food before the mages arrived, and then made my way to the banquet hall in panther form after ducking into my makeshift training room to change. It felt good to walk around as a beast, my paws padding silently across the parquet and carpets as I took in the castle using my panther senses. Though in human form my senses of smell and hearing were outstanding, they were even better as a panther – my ability to swivel my ears as well as detect odors through a secondary scent gland located above my upper teeth gave me an edge that my human form did not possess.

Strains of classical music emanated from the banquet hall, and I groaned inwardly, knowing it was going to be a fight to stay awake – classical music always put me to sleep. Hopefully whatever the mages said would be interesting enough to keep me alert. One of the double gilt doors was cracked open, so I nudged it a little wider with my shoulder and slipped inside.

I paused in the middle of the doorway to stare at the banquet hall. It had been transformed from a predictably fancy stateroom into a tropical jungle, replete with old trees with fat trunks and orchids hanging from their gnarly limbs. Dirt crumbled beneath my feet as I stepped, but when I pressed my nose to the ground I smelled nothing aside from the faintly soapy scent of floor cleaner.

It was an illusion, at least partially. A damned good one, too.

“Miss Baine.” Iannis broke away from the center of the room, where he’d been observing the servants as they set up chairs and tables and long, rectangular serving areas with silver trays of food. “Good, you are on time.”

“Sure am.” I did the ol’ stretch and yawn motion, exposing my long, white fangs, which was usually an intimidating maneuver. Iannis didn’t bat an eyelash. “Where do you want me to go?”

Iannis turned and pointed to a sturdy branch that jutted out from one of the trees and hung over the table. “You should find that vantage point sufficient for listening and observation. No doubt it will provide a thrill to some of the guests as well, to look up and see a black panther perched directly above them, ready to pounce.” Dry humor tinged the last sentence.

“I’ll do my best to be scary.”

“Wait.” He crouched down beside me as I turned to leave. “Before you go…”

He spoke a Word, and ran a hand down my sleek pelt from the top of my head to the base of my tail. Magic rippled through my body, and I yowled, springing away from his touch.

“What the f*ck was that?” I shook my body like a dog as tingles raced through my nerves.

The left corner of Iannis’s lips curled upward as he rose. “Just a simple glamour, Miss Baine, so the guests won’t pay you undue attention. I suggest you get up in that tree now.”

Huffing, I turned my back on him and did as he ’suggested’, walking across the room to where the tree stood. I rose up on my hind legs to dig my claws into the bark, and though I was worried that the tree might prove to be an illusion too, it held steady as I scrambled up it and onto the branch.

Funnily enough, this is one of the ways jaguars like to hunt, I thought to myself as I settled onto the branch. We like to hang out in trees above watering holes and wait for prey to come and drink, then pounce. I crossed my paws beneath my chin and allowed my tail to hang over the side, swishing back and forth slowly enough to be subtle, while obvious enough to alert anyone paying attention that I was up in the tree. I did not need anyone here freaking out… though if I’d been perched above a pond they would have a right to.

I suppose this is as good as a watering hole, I thought to myself as I looked down at the arrangement of round, linen-covered tables being set up below me. From this vantage point I could probably take down just about anyone, though I doubted the Chief Mage would be pleased if I did so.

“Are you doing alright up there?”

I looked across the room to see Fenris standing by the serving tables, wagging his bushy brown tail at me. I swung my own tail back and forth a little faster in greeting, happy to see him.