Burned by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #1)(50)

The bell tinkled as I opened the door to Comenius’s shop, which looked exactly the same as it had the last time I’d walked in here. Of course, that had been less than a week ago, so I shouldn’t have expected anything different, but still, the normality brought me comfort.

“Naya!” Noria dropped the coins she’d been counting back into the register and dashed around the counter as she caught sight of me. I laughed as she flung her arms around me and hugged her back, relieved that she wasn’t mad at me. “I’m so glad you’re here! How did you get out? Did Rylan rescue you after all?”

“No.” I clamped my lips shut on the scolding I wanted to give her for sending Rylan into a trap in the first place – she’d only been trying to help, and in the end the Chief Mage had simply used the situation to his advantage. “I was released.”

“Really?” Comenius popped in from the back of the shop, his stern face all smiles. I embraced him as well, inhaling his comforting sage and thyme scent. “How did you manage that?”

I stuck out my tongue at him. “The Chief Mage made me his apprentice.”

“WHAT?”

For the next ten minutes I was peppered by a barrage of questions, which I answered as best I could. Comenius was stunned, but happy, while Noria was flat-out confused.

“But I don’t understand,” she whined plaintively when I’d finished explaining to her that I was going to have to live at the palace until I’d finished my apprenticeship. “He’s the enemy, Naya. How could you?”

“Not all mages are the enemy,” Comenius pointed out mildly. “After all, you’re working with a mage at the Academy right now, are you not?”

Noria pouted. “Yeah, but he’s not the Chief Mage.” She worried her lip for a moment. “He’s still working on analyzing that drug. He’s pretty busy between classes and his own projects right now, but I hope he’ll have something for us by next week.”

I nodded, sobering a little as my mind turned back to the murders. “Has there been any other news?”

Comenius shook his head. “No murders since the last one reported by the Courier.”

I ran my tongue along my upper teeth, frustrated. “That’s supposed to be a good thing, but…”

“You feel like you need more leads, and you don’t have anything,” Comenius finished. His frustrated look told me that he commiserated, which made me feel a little better. “I know what you mean, but until we get an answer back regarding the drug, I don’t have anything concrete to go on.”

“You know,” Noria said, her brow puckering thoughtfully. “You could easily take this chance to run off to the Underground and join up with the Resistance, now that you’re free. I don’t see why you’ve got to be beholden to the Chief Mage.”

I scowled. “Noria, I support the Resistance too but I’ve already had a taste of what it’s like to be a captive criminal, and I don’t like it. I’m much happier on the other side of the table where I get to catch the bad guys, and I can’t do that if I’m a wanted fugitive.”

Brackets formed around the edges of Noria’s mouth. “But what if those bad guys aren’t really bad guys, but just people exercising rights that have been unjustly taken away from them? Like you with your magic?” She jabbed her finger into my chest. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I’m not sure that being an Enforcer is actually a good idea. All I’d be doing is supporting our corrupt regime. When I’m done with college I’m joining the Resistance.”

I bit back a groan at Noria’s defiant look. This is what I got for trying to convince her not to be an Enforcer – an even worse career decision.

“Have you spoken to Annia about this? Or your mother?”

“ Annia’s still out of town on a mission.” Noria wrinkled her nose. “But I don’t have to talk to her. I’m old enough to decide for myself.”

“Yes, but I’m sure she’d still want to hear about it.” I laid a hand on her shoulder, gentling my voice. “She’s your sister and she loves you, just like we all do.”

Noria looked away. I sighed, then continued. “Besides, my reluctance to become a criminal isn’t the only reason I’m sticking around. I’ve got to solve these murders. Not to mention that having inside access to the palace will allow me to pass on useful information to Rylan.”

“Oh.” Noria perked right up. “Well, I guess that’s okay then.”

“Still, though,” I amended, my frown returning at the thought of Rylan. “I can’t say that I’m too happy about the Resistance’s methods of, well, resisting.”

Comenius raised his brows. “What do you mean?”

I relayed the conversation I’d heard from the two mages back at the banquet about the terrorist attacks, and by the time I was finished both Comenius and Noria were scowling.

“There’s no way that’s true,” Noria insisted, her dark eyes burning.

“At the very least we don’t know the full story,” Comenius declared, ever the conservative. “The mages could have been embellishing their story, or even leaving key things out.”

“Exactly!” Noria planted her hands on her hips. “You can’t trust anything they say.”