Marked by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #4)(14)

His face flushed, and I grinned a little, understanding. I’d gone to Comenius twice in the past when my heat had become too unbearable to ignore, and even though we’d no longer been in a relationship at that time, he’d been more than happy to oblige. But now he had Elania and that was no longer possible, so he was concerned about what I might do without a ready outlet.

“Don’t worry about it, Com,” I told him. “I’ll figure out a solution, even if it means I have to walk around like a teenage boy for the next week.”

“Why are you disguised as a teenage boy, anyway?” Annia asked. “Are you also on a reconnaissance mission?”

“I wish.” I sighed, thinking back to Chen’s directive – that she wanted me to stay out of the way and not do anything. “Honestly, I’m just trying not to die.” I stood up and began to pace as I told them about the warning message the Resistance had left on my door yesterday, and the fire I’d narrowly escaped in the early hours of the morning.

“Heiliger Strohsack, Naya!” Comenius exclaimed. “You waited to tell us about this until now? You could have been killed!” He wrapped me in a tight hug.

“I know, but I wasn’t.” I hugged him back, briefly resting my cheek on his chest as I inhaled his woodsy, herbal scent. The ache in my lower body flared up in proximity to a male, and I hastily extricated myself from his grip. Logic and heat didn’t really go together, so it was better if I didn’t touch Comenius, or any other male I wasn’t planning on taking to bed.

“Anyway, I’ve got to stay in disguise when I go out in public, which sucks. But at least it helps with the heat, so that’s something.”

“You could always jump the Chief Mage,” Annia said, waggling her eyebrows. “I’m sure he’d understand your…situation. He’d probably even be happy to help.” She grinned.

“Annia,” Comenius scolded.

“I’m afraid he’s a little busy,” I said, not sure whether I should laugh or cringe. “Don’t worry, guys. Seriously. I’ll figure it out.”

“I might be able to help.” Elania’s musical voice drifted from the stairwell, and I turned as I heard her footsteps creaking on the wooden steps. She sashayed in a few moments later, and I was surprised to see her in a black top and pants rather than the tight, low-cut dresses she preferred. Over her clothing, she wore a stained apron, and the smudges of dirt on her usually perfect face and the duster in her hand told me she’d been cleaning downstairs.

“Help with what?” I asked as she glided over to Comenius. “The heat?”

“Yes.” She planted a kiss on Comenius’s cheek, then turned to face me. “My mother used to make an anti-aphrodisiac that was quite effective. Her customers were usually tired women who wanted to stave off their randy husbands. They would mix a few drops in their man’s beer when he came home from work, and unless said man had an extraordinarily powerful libido, he was content to leave her alone for the evening.”

“Huh.” I’d never even considered such a scenario between married couples, but I could understand an overtired housewife wanting to go to bed early every so often without spreading her legs. “Well, if you’ve got some, I’ll try it out.”

“It’ll only take a few moments to make,” Elania promised. “Let me just get washed up.”

She disappeared into Comenius’s bedroom, then returned a little bit later with the dirt removed from her face, wearing a long, high-waisted black dress with no sleeves. She tied a glittering purple apron over her dress as she went into the kitchen, then bustled around, chopping up herbs and boiling water.

Resigned to the wait, I sat down in the wicker armchair next to the sofa and turned back to Elnos and Annia. “So are you two already packed, then? Do you need help with any other preparations?”

“No, we’re good,” Annia said softly. There was a faraway look in her eyes as she stared at the opposite wall. “I’m not sure how long we’re going to be gone for, Naya. It could be a week, or it could be months. Part of me feels I’m being selfish by doing this, that I should be staying here to help defend the city and fight off the Resistance.”

“It’s okay.” I reached over and squeezed her hand. “You’ve done a lot already, between helping me with the Shifter Royale case and rescuing the Chief Mage. And depriving the Resistance of Noria’s talents has got to be worthwhile in itself. No one would dream of faulting you for wanting to go after your sister.” I turned my head to glare at Comenius. “Right?”

He sighed, looking away. “I suppose not,” he admitted. “And perhaps while you’re there, you may learn something useful that will help the Federation in their fight against the Resistance.”

“We are planning on gathering as much intel as possible,” Elnos acknowledged. “Comenius has agreed to receive my transmissions by ether pigeon and deliver any urgent information to the Mages Guild.”

I arched a brow. “Ether pigeon?”

He nodded, then held out his hand and spoke a few Words. Magic swirled above his palm before taking the shape of a ghostly, glowing blue pigeon. “Mages used to send these to carry messages between war camps, during the Conflict. They’re used much less often since the advent of telegrams, but the spell is far from obsolete.”