Hunted by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #3)(30)

I arched a brow. “Are you sure about that?”

“Sure enough to bet our lives on it.” Fenris strode past us, taking the lead with his compass firmly in his hand. “Now let’s go and find these traitors before they kill the delegates they do have in their possession.”





10





Three hours later, I stood on one of the topmost branches of a pine tree, one arm gripping the trunk as my other trained a telescope on the abandoned mining village at the base of the Sarania Mountain Range. Men were moving in between a handful of dilapidated brick buildings and sagging wooden cabins. The buildings had been painted over to approximate the dry, pale coloring of the desert landscape, making the compound difficult to spot from the sky. Many of the buildings sported boarded-up windows and missing slats in the siding. Only to be expected, considering that mining on tribal lands had been outlawed over a century ago, but I still wasn’t looking forward to spending time here.

“Can’t really see much going on from here,” I admitted to Fenris, who was waiting on the ground with Annia. “There are a few guys stationed at the entrance, and two on the rooftops with bows. A few guys are coming and going in the streets, but I have a feeling most everyone’s indoors.”

“Very well. Why don’t you come down then, before they spot you, so we can get on with our plan?”

I snorted. “They’re not going to spot me.” My perch was too far away for me to be easily spotted amongst the sea of trees, and I wasn’t sticking my head out like an idiot for anyone to take a shot at me. But I shimmied back down onto the ground anyway.

“So what’s our cover story?” Annia asked as I placed my hands on Fenris’s shoulders and muttered an illusion spell to change his features. I lightened his hair, made him taller and thinner, and got rid of his beard. It was doubtful anyone out here would know him, but I was sure the higher-ups in the Resistance would be keeping tabs on Fenris because of his unusual relationship with Iannis. No way was I taking chances.

“We’re going to tell them that we’re recent recruits, and that Rylan Baine sent us out here.” I stepped back from Fenris, then used the spell to give myself short, platinum blonde hair, yellow jaguar shifter eyes, and a shorter but curvier frame. “From what I can see, they don’t have any electrical lines set up, so they won’t be able to send telegrams. By the time they reach my cousin and ask him for confirmation, we’ll be long gone.”

“If they don’t have electrical means of communication, it’s highly likely they will have a bird shifter of some kind to relay messages,” Fenris said, looking worried.

“Yeah, but even if they do, it’ll take a while for him to deliver the message and then get an answer,” Annia said. “At least a day or two. That’s more than enough time to get the information we need.”

It took us another thirty minutes to emerge from the tree line, and as soon as we did the guards stood up straight at the sight of us. The two guys on the roof trained their bows in our direction, and I was glad that we had a shooter on our side as well. Annia might not have had the eyesight of a shifter, but she was still damn good with her crossbow.

“Stop right there!” one of the guards stationed on the ground shouted, stepping forward. He was a human, with short black hair, and like his comrades was dressed in a long-sleeved khaki shirt and pants. The only bits of color were the red band tied around his upper arm, and a medal pinned above his heart that was shaped like a drop of blood. A hand went to the hilt of his sword, testing the blade’s clearance, though he didn’t draw. “Hands in the air!”

We halted immediately, doing as he said. I wasn’t worried about the vulnerable position – my reflexes were faster, and I could slice his arm off with a chakram faster than he could draw his sword. Of course I had my magic too, but I didn’t want to give that away since I was posing as a full-blooded shifter.

Seeing that we’d obeyed without hesitation, the guard relaxed fractionally, though his fingers didn’t stray from his sword hilt. “What business do you have out here in Coazi territory?”

“We came to join the Resistance,” I called back.

The guard cocked a brow. “Did you now? All by yourselves?” He looked skeptical. “New recruits must be vouched for by current members of the Resistance, and they never come to this particular place.”

“I was given directions to this camp by my uncle, Rylan Baine,” I told him. “As you can understand, he’s a little too busy to bring us here himself.”

The two guards exchanged a look – Rylan was an officer in the Resistance, and well known. “Rylan Baine’s niece, eh? What’s your name?”

“Mika Baine,” I lied smoothly, using the name of my cousin Melantha’s daughter, who I’d rescued from the Shifter Royale just days ago. It was better to use an actual family member’s name than to make someone up – Rylan would have to ascertain Mika’s whereabouts, which would be difficult since Solantha was in an uproar, and would buy us extra time. “These here are my friends, Felix Lamos and Anaris Maren.” I gestured toward Annia and Fenris, who were standing to my right, without lowering my hands.

“Well it’s nice to see some new faces,” the other guard, a handsome blond with green eyes, spoke up for the first time. “Especially women, as not too many of those come our way.” He sent Annia a wink, and she gave him a flirtatious smile. “I’m Private Willis, and this here is Sergeant Brun.”