Hunted by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #3)(24)

Lust surged through me at the idea, reminding me that my heat was barely two weeks away. I clenched my teeth as fire spread through my lower belly, hotter and more potent than the blaze in front of me. I already ached to quench it, although I knew it wouldn’t matter. Having sex before the heat peaked didn’t take the edge off – when the time came, it was always explosive and there was no escaping it.

Besides, there was only one person I wanted right now, and he was lost somewhere on these vast plains, close but nowhere near close enough.

“Your friend is very spirited.” The log shifted a little as Aman-Wa, the tribe’s shaman, sat down next to me. Grey streaked his dark hair, though aside from the deep laugh lines on his face he did not look so very old. His more colorful tunic separated his status from the other tribe members – the only person who was dressed more elaborately was the chieftain, who sat on the other side of the bonfire wearing a feathered headdress and beaded tunic, his arm slung across the slim shoulders of his wife as he talked and laughed with a tribe elder.

“Annia has always known how to have a good time.” I grinned at the shaman, but Fenris shifted uncomfortably on my other side. I wondered if he was intimidated by the shaman, or if there was something else that bothered him about the man. My instincts told me Aman-Wa was easygoing and sincere, but then again I didn’t know as much about these people as Fenris seemed to.

“She may have red hair and pale skin, but in spirit she could easily be one of us.” The shaman’s dark eyes sparkled as he watched Annia grab hands with one of the half-naked males and start dancing with him. “Our men have been eyeing her with more interest than perhaps is wise.”

“Well, I hope none of them get too attached,” I half-joked. “Annia is a bit of a heartbreaker, and we are leaving in the morning.”

“To find your mage.” Aman-Wa nodded soberly, turning his head to look at me. His eyes dropped down below my neck, right to where my serapha charm rested beneath my shirt. I’d removed my jacket due to the heat of the fire, and alarm raced through me as I wondered if he could see it through the cotton fabric.

Impossible. It’s a black shirt and it’s dark out. I had to fight against the urge to look down and check for myself.

“The stone you wear beneath your shirt, it holds a piece of the man you seek, does it not?”

I sucked in a breath, feeling like I’d been sucker-punched in the gut. “How the hell do you know that?”

The shaman smiled, and gently took my hands in his. “The spirits allow me to see what most cannot,” he told me. “I know the one you seek is important to you, just as I know that you are not merely a man-beast. There is power inside you that is wild and untamed yet.” He squeezed my hands gently.

I bit my lip as panic crackled through me. “Is this something you hold against me?”

“No,” the shaman said. “While we do not like the mages who rule this country, you are more beast than mage, and your heart is pure. It is for this reason that I offer you advice.”

“Advice?” I asked uneasily, and Fenris shifted behind me. I could practically hear his ears perking up.

“Should the stone fail to lead you to your friend, head in the direction of the mountains.” He pointed to the mountain range opposite the one we’d crash landed in. “A group of white men are camped there, about a day’s journey from where the flying machine crashed near the mountains. Our scouts have confirmed that they are holding prisoners.”

Fenris stared at the shaman. “I always understood that Coazi fiercely defended their lands from invasion. How could there be a camp of white men there? Would you not chase them off?”

The shaman looked grave. “So we would, but they are in the area of another tribe. If Halyma wanted them gone, they would not dare stay there. Nobody defies Halyma.” From his voice, I gathered that this Halyma, who must be the shaman or chieftain of the other tribe, was not a person Aman-Wa would lightly take to task.

Fenris and I exchanged a look of alarm. Had the Resistance bought off this other tribe somehow? If they were in league with the Coazi, that was more bad news.

I wanted to jump to my feet and take off in that direction so I could find out what was going on. Instead, I took a deep breath and squeezed the shaman’s hands, which were still in mine. “Thank you for this information. We will use it wisely.”

The shaman smiled. “I am sure you will. But let it sit in the back of your mind for now. You will have hard days ahead, so relax tonight.” He patted my knee, then took his leave, disappearing around the bonfire to talk to someone else.

I immediately whirled around to face Fenris. “Did you hear everything he said?” I demanded.

“My ears are as good as yours,” Fenris reminded me with an arched brow. “And yes, I heard what he said. There is a group of white men camped out in the plains.”

“And they’re holding prisoners!” I hissed, bracing my palms against the log as I leaned forward. “Iannis could be one of them! We have to go check it out.”

“Right now? In the dark? While Annia is high as an airship?”

I growled, whipping my head around to find Annia. She was sitting on one of the logs with the man she’d been dancing with, halfway in his lap, with one hand on his broad shoulder and the other splayed across his chest. They were flirting heavily with each other, which was amazing because I doubted they were speaking the same language. But then, lust is a pretty universal emotion.