Burned by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #1)(8)

“What about your cousin Rylan?” Comenius asked. “He might have heard some rumors about this underground.”

“Huh.” I hadn’t thought of that. “I haven’t heard from him in a long while, but I should ask.” Rylan was a member of the Resistance, a ragtag band of humans and shifters who lived on the outskirts of civilization and worked tirelessly to overthrow the mages. He was the only one of my cousins I was close to, which was ironic considering that I worked for law enforcement. Unfortunately, his way of life meant I didn’t get to see him much.

“I think that’s a good idea.” Comenius paused. “Are you going to be alright?” he asked, his voice gentling. “I mean, if you lose your job at The Twilight –”

“I’ll be fine,” I cut him off, not wanting him to worry. For all of his self-preservation instincts and tendencies towards conservatism, Comenius could become a freaking mother hen when it came to keeping his friends safe. “I’ll figure out a way to make ends meet.”

“You haven’t come to me for amulets in a long time,” he said quietly. “Which means that you haven’t been going after any new bounties. That Talcon fellow has been giving most of them to the Main Crew, hasn’t he?” His brow darkened.

“Com, stop.” I rose to my feet, agitated now. Most of the Enforcers Guild was made up of small crews – eight to ten people, usually – but there was always a Main Crew of at least forty people who got the best bounties. Unfortunately, since the Main Crew didn’t have to work so hard to get their bounties, they were also pretty half-assed when it came to their job – and Brin and Nila were part of them. “There’s no need to worry about this, because I’m going to change it.”

Comenius sat back, skepticism written all over his face as he crossed his arms and looked up at me. “And just how are you going to do that?”

“By solving these poison murders,” I declared, jabbing my fist in the air like a torch. “If I can show up the current Main Crew by catching this murderer, Galling will add me to the Main Crew roster and I’ll get access to better bounties. Then Talcon will have to show me some respect.” The thought of pressing a proverbial boot to Talcon’s neck brought a fierce grin to my face. He wouldn’t dare mess with me if I was on the Main Crew.

“Hmm.” Comenius appeared to give the matter serious thought. “The idea definitely has merit.”

I was about to roll my eyes when a loud buzzing sound filled the room as my Enforcer bracelet, a tiny bronze shield charm threaded through a brown cord, vibrated against my wrist. “All nearby Enforcers to 228 Garden Street,” a tinny voice blared, projected by the bracelet. “Rogue shifter out of control.”

“Well, shit.” I patted my legs down to make sure my weapons were still strapped on me – chakram pouch on the right leg and crescent knives on the left. “Sounds like there’s trouble in Rowanville. Gotta go!”

I sprinted out the door and down the pier toward my bike, the thrill of the hunt racing through my veins. Emergency calls paid high, and were first come, first served, so if I took down this guy there was no way Talcon could skimp on paying me the bounty. Jumping on my bike, I started up the steam engine and raced out of the pier. My wheels screeched as I skidded onto the main street and blew past two mages coming out of a shop. I laughed as their robes flew up around their ankles and flipped them the bird as they shouted after me.

I didn’t care about them, didn’t care about any of my other troubles right now. All I knew was that I had a bounty to catch, and I was going to cash in on it even if it killed me.





Chapter Three




I heard the screams long before I skidded to a stop in front of 228 Garden Street, a nice little one-story family house in one of the suburban Rowanville neighborhoods. The high-pitched wails of children curdled my gut, but I sucked in a breath and steeled myself for whatever nightmare I was about to face. I got off my bike and approached the woman sobbing hysterically in the front yard. Her dark hair was a wreck, the once-nice dress she wore shredded in places, and her leg was bent at an odd angle. Inside the house, I could hear loud thumping and crashing; the rogue shifter must be wreaking havoc in there.

Anger bubbled up inside me as I touched the woman’s shoulder to get her attention. Why the f*ck was nobody helping her? It had taken me nearly ten minutes to get here from the Port. There had to be an Enforcer in the area who could have gotten here faster.

“Ma’am,” I said as Noria’s bike pulled up behind me – she’d grabbed a protesting Comenius and insisted on following me here. “My name is Sunaya Baine, registered member of the Enforcer’s Guild. Can you tell me what’s going on?”

“Please!” the woman shrieked, grabbing my arm with bruising force. Her powder blue shifter eyes were crazed with fear, and my nose told me she was a rabbit shifter. “My babies are still in there! You have to get them out!” Tears poured down her raw cheeks as her body trembled.

“Can you tell me what’s in there with them?” I asked, my heart pounding. “What kind of beast?”

“It’s a rhino shifter,” she sobbed as the house shook behind her. “He charged in, all wild and crazy, and went for me and the children. I couldn’t get to them, so I came out here for help… but…”