Burned by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #1)(63)

Fenris glared imperiously down at me, and my heart shrank a little – he’d never looked at me like that before. “Lord Iannis is the only family I have,” he said stiffly. “I don’t have anyone else, not that my past is any business of yours.”

By Magorah, I felt like the biggest fool in the world. “Fenris, I –”

“It doesn’t seem as though you have any more need of me.” Fenris bowed to us all. “I’m going to catch a cab back to the palace, where I can be more useful. Good day to you all.”

The bell on the door jangled as Fenris left the shop, and my heart sank straight into my shoes.

“I think I just won the award for biggest * of the year,” I muttered.

Noria frowned. “I don’t know, Naya,” she said. “He’s clearly hiding something.”

“And who are we to judge him for his secrets?” Comenius laid a hand on Noria’s shoulder, and she looked up at him with a startled expression on her face. His voice was gentle, but his clear blue eyes were stern, filled with that ageless wisdom that tended to grace magic users. “We all have them buried in our past, and Fenris is entitled not to share his secrets if he doesn’t want to, just as the rest of us are.” His gaze swept over me as well. I wondered if there was a spell that would enable me to sink through the cracks in the wooden floor, and if so, why I hadn’t learned it by now.

I ran a hand through my hair, and pain jabbed at my scalp as my fingers caught on some of the more unruly curls. “You’re right, Com. I shouldn’t have pried.”

Noria’s scowl returned. “I don’t think it’s wrong to be suspicious, especially since he’s allied with the enemy.”

I sighed. “It’s not as black-and-white as that, Noria. Actions speak louder than words, and Fenris has been nothing but helpful to me.”

Noria bit her bottom lip. “Maybe now, but when the time comes –”

I held up a hand, suddenly weary of all the “us against them” talk for the first time in my life. Couldn’t we all get along, instead of constantly going at each other’s throats? “Look, this isn’t really why we came here,” I told her, pulling out the little bag of drugs. “The Enforcer’s Guild took in a deer shifter who was super high off something that smells a lot like anticium – a hallucinogenic if I remember correctly.” I handed it to Noria, deciding not to mention the more gruesome details – there was no need for them to know. “I was thinking maybe your mage friend could compare it to the other sample and see if it was tampered with in the same way.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Noria’s eyes lit up as she took the bag. “Elnos says he’s totally cracked the code on how these dealers are sneaking silver into their drugs.”

“Really?” I sat up straight. “How?”

Noria frowned. “I don’t totally understand how it works, but he basically said he isolated some really rare derivative from a plant that only grows in certain countries in Faricia. Tribal warriors use it to cover up poisons, so they can’t be detected by the shifter slaves who have to taste and drink everything before their masters will touch it.”

“Kalois!” Comenius exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “I remember reading about it before – it’s a tropical flower. Brilliant! I don’t know why I didn’t think of it myself.”

My grin widened. “Aww, c’mon, Com, you can’t fit everything you’ve learned in that head of yours.” I jumped to my feet. “So, what are we waiting for? Let’s go get your mage friend so he can present his findings to the Chief Mage!”

“Umm, yeah, about that.” Noria shrank back in her seat. “He doesn’t exactly want to.”

I scowled. “Why not?”

“Well, to be honest he doesn’t really want to draw the Chief Mage’s attention toward our magitech experiments, and I have to agree with him.” Noria folded her arms.

I arched an eyebrow. “Magitech?”

“Yeah. You know, magic plus technology equals magitech.” Excitement lit her eyes again. “Speaking of magitech, the Herald and the Academy have partnered to sponsor a contest for magitech inventions. Whoever comes up with the best new technology will win a hundred gold coins!” She rubbed her hands together. “I’ve already come up with that jammer, so it shouldn’t be too hard to create something that’ll do the job. Elnos and I are so going to win.”

“I would be careful who you tell that to,” Comenius warned. “If you come up with something the Mage’s Guild doesn’t approve of, they wouldn’t hesitate to come down on you and Elnos, especially if you started making a profit off it.”

Noria shrugged. “Eh, I’m not worried. We’re just gonna make a prototype so we can earn the prize money. I’m more than happy to let the bigwigs worry about bringing it to mass market.”

The gleam in her eye suggested that she hadn’t completely discounted the idea of capitalizing on the invention herself, but I decided not to press, and instead brought the conversation back on topic. “Noria, if I get the Chief Mage to agree to grant Elnos amnesty in exchange for the information, do you think he would come?”

Noria blinked. “I don’t see why not. But do you really think you can do it?”