Marked by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #4)(17)

One of the shifters making his way out of the hall bumped into my shoulder. He was about to move off, but he froze, nose twitching, then swung his yellow wolf eyes in my direction.

“Oi,” he protested. “Who are you? You don’t smell like Tansom.”

I stiffened as suspicious gazes swung in my direction, cursing inwardly. I’d tried to get Tansom’s scent right, but evidently, I hadn’t quite succeeded.

“Well?” the wolf shifter demanded, crossing his arms. “Show yourself!”

Reluctantly, I dropped my disguise. Gasps echoed through the crowd, followed by exclamations of surprise and anger. The words ‘bitch,’ ‘whore,’ and ‘traitor’ echoed through the halls, and I fisted my hands at my sides, claws digging into my palms as I fought to remain calm.

“Nice to see you guys too,” I sneered. “You’re welcome for bringing the Chief Mage back in one piece, and for rescuing all the shifters who were being kidnapped and enslaved by the Resistance.”

Quite a few of them – the shifter who’d called me out included – shifted uncomfortably and averted their eyes.

“We shouldn’t be so harsh to judge her,” one of them murmured.

“She has done good work lately,” another one said.

“Very good work,” Captain Galling confirmed in a louder voice, and I flashed him a look of gratitude and relief across the room.

“Who gives a f*ck?” Widler shouted, and it was then I noticed that he’d backed away, a look of disgust on his face. “She still works for the mages, doesn’t she? I bet they sent her in here as a spy, to make sure we’re good little peons and to report any of us if we don’t do what we’re told!”

There was a roar of agreement at that, and the crowd surged forward, murderous looks on their faces. The captain shouted at them to stop, but nobody listened.

I held up my hands, and the crowd halted as blue flame sprang to my fingertips. “Hang on, guys,” I said, holding them at bay with my magical fire. “I’m not here as a spy, dammit! I came here to help. My main objective is to find the Benefactor, the person who is financing the Resistance, and I have a lot of good information that could help you guys out.”

The crowd seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then somebody spoke up. “Aren’t you on the Resistance kill list? They’re going to think we’re helping you if we let you back in here, and then what? I’ve got my family to think of!”

More voices chimed in with agreement, and the crowd surged forward again, heedless of my magic as they cursed and yelled that they didn’t need the help of a filthy traitor like me. As one, they pushed me out of the main hall and slammed the doors shut on me as I landed on my ass in the entrance hall.

I stared up at the scarred, closed doors, hands braced on the equally scarred linoleum tile. I’d worked so hard to get into the Enforcers Guild. I’d wanted to be one of them since I was sixteen, had dreamed of fighting against injustice and making the city a better place. And now, they were throwing me out, calling me a traitor and telling me that my help wasn’t good enough for them.

Stop moping, Sunaya. There isn’t time.

I sighed. There never seemed to be time for wallowing in self-pity, was there? These days there were always lives at stake, and a big, bad guy that needed to be stopped. I wished that my enemy, for once, actually had a face. I hadn’t known Yantz was the guy behind the silver murders until the very end, and the same went for Danrian and the Shifter Royale. But even they were just puppets, their strings yanked behind the scenes by a greater force – the Benefactor. And we still seemed to be no closer to finding out who the hell he was.

I got to my feet, checked to make sure my weapons and harness were still in place, then left the building. As I passed through the entrance, I caught the scents of the male enforcers who were still guarding the entrance, and stiffened as my body throbbed in response. If even these guys looked good, I was in a bad way.

Fuck. I’d been thrown so off balance by my ejection from the Guild that I’d forgotten to put my illusion back on again. The two guards started at the sight of me, and I took off running. I wasn’t sure if I was running because I needed to get out of sight before someone from the Resistance took a shot at me, because I didn’t want to humiliate myself in front of those guys by letting my hormones get the better of me, or because I couldn’t stand to be near a group of people who, despite everything I’d done, still thought I was scum.

All I knew was that I needed a f*cking break.





7





I found a quiet place to change back into my teenage-boy disguise, but even that didn’t seem to help with the heat much. I was on edge, hungry, aching, my fangs and claws elongating beneath my illusion despite my efforts to stay in human form. I needed to take the edge off. I needed release.

I needed Iannis.

Leaning my head against the alley wall, I laughed softly to myself. Iannis? Even if he weren’t too busy fighting and governing to see to my needs, I couldn’t let him if he wasn’t prepared to commit. If I did, then he was no better than the string of other guys I’d used in the past when the need had taken me. Was this what I’d been reduced to? Skulking in alleys and pining for a guy I couldn’t have?

Angry now, I straightened up. I was better than this. Maybe I was in hiding, but I was still Sunaya Baine, and I’d never had a problem getting a guy into my bed when I needed one. If Iannis couldn’t help me, I’d find someone else who could. Even just once a day would be enough to take the edge off so I could focus and get some real work done.