Hunted by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #3)(37)

“I’ll come back with reinforcements as soon as I can,” I promised. “But if I don’t go now they’ll just catch me too, and then nobody will find Lord Iannis.”

“Al…right…” Bosal sighed, releasing my hand as he slumped against the wall. “Just hope you come back…before they decide to kill us.”

Yeah, I thought as I took my leave. I hope so too.





13





I woke up the next morning with ravenous hunger clawing at my belly. By the time I’d made it back to the cabin last night, I’d been exhausted from all the magic I’d used, and had collapsed into bed after telling Annia and Fenris what I’d learned. Sleep had helped somewhat, but if I was going to recharge I needed food. Lots of food.

A tinge of pink washed over the dark sky as Annia and I made our way to the kitchens, a mere suggestion of dawn that made me grumpy as hell as I was not an early morning person. But we had to get the soldiers fed on time, and besides, I could use the opportunity to stuff my face so that I wouldn’t be too irritable by the time everybody showed up.

“By the Ur-God,” Annia muttered as she began opening tub-sized cans of corned beef hash. “We’ve been here less than twenty-four hours and it already feels like we’ve been assimilated into the camp.” She spoke quietly so that the sleepy-eyed soldier on guard couldn’t overhear.

“Tell me about it,” I said around a mouthful of cookie as I kneaded dough. It honestly felt weird that we were feeding the very people who were responsible for Iannis’s disappearance, but we didn’t have nearly enough manpower to take them on, so we had to blend in. “If we don’t get out of here soon, we might just find ourselves in uniform.”

Annia snorted. “Do you really think that Rylan will slip up like that?”

“No,” I admitted with a sigh. “He’ll figure out what I’m up to, and since he’s a lapdog for the Resistance he’ll rat us out for sure. And don’t forget the tiger shifter, Daresh. He’ll denounce us in a heartbeat, when that spell wears off.”

My heart ached at the thought of my cousin Rylan – he and I had been so close as cubs, and I hated that we were on opposite ends of this brewing war. He’d tried to get me to join the Resistance, and when that had failed, in an effort to keep me safe he’d warned me several times to keep my nose out of their plans. We still loved each other, but I knew that if the Resistance caught me here Rylan wouldn’t lift a finger in my defense. To him, the cause was more important than family.

“The fact that Rylan would do that only makes me more certain that I don’t want Noria anywhere near the Resistance,” Annia whispered fiercely, the crackle of frying meat covering her vehement words. “When we get home, I’ll knock some sense into that stubborn head of hers, even if it means sending her off to a foreign country.”

“She’d either find her way back here or just join up with whatever passes for the Resistance over there.” I shook my head as a wave of exhaustion that had nothing to do with my lack of sleep washed over me. “I’m starting to think that the only way to keep Noria safe is to help the mages crush the Resistance.”

Annia’s eyebrows shot up. “Never thought I’d hear you say those words.”

My lips twisted in a wry smile. “Must be a sign of the end of times or something.”

A somber mood settled over us. We quietly finished cooking the rest of the meal and laying out the food on the serving counter for the men to help themselves. Soldiers started trickling in, and though they were a little bleary-eyed, their faces were washed and their uniforms were clean. The fact that these men took their duties seriously and had pride in their appearance told me that they were truly dedicated to their cause. I shuddered to think of the kind of force they would become if they had experienced military leaders commanding them.

As before, Annia took control of the serving line, greeting the soldiers with smiles and cheer that had them brightening up and grinning back at her. Even Captain Milios, who gave us both the stink-eye as he walked in, huffed out a reluctant greeting to her as she handed him his morning coffee. I watched him as he surveyed us with those keen eyes of his for a long moment before taking his food and sitting down at his table, which was angled perpendicular to the other tables and centered along the wall so that he could observe everyone at any given moment.

About ten minutes into breakfast, a soldier burst in through the doors and rushed straight to Milios’s table. “Captain, captain!” he shouted. “There’s an airship circling the plains, and it’s passing near us!”

Instantly, soldiers rushed from their tables to peer through the windows set in the back and front walls. They ignored Milios’s shouts, crowding around the few windows that weren’t broken so they could see what was happening. Annia and I had our own window in the kitchen, so we hurried over to see what all the fuss was about.

I spotted the airship instantly – the taut canvas was tinted royal blue, and Canalo’s emblem, stamped on the side in gold, shimmered in the early morning light. My fingers curled at my sides, and I sneered up at the rescue ship. Had the Council heeded my request to join their rescue team, we’d be a lot closer to finding Iannis. Instead, they were circling the plains fruitlessly, while we were stuck down here feeding these misguided soldiers. If the mages at least had a shifter aboard, Fenris and I could have communicated with them via mindspeak and gotten them to rescue their colleagues in that putrid mineshaft. Instead, I watched them sail by overhead with frustration searing my chest.