Marked by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #4)(28)

“What the hell is up with that?” I demanded. “Why is Privacy Guard refusing to help?”

“They’ve issued a statement that they’re suspending all activity pending the outcome of the ‘insurrection’, as they put it,” Captain Galling said tightly. “Because of that, we now have to look after our own prisoners and guard the building as well. We could have managed if we still had our previous numbers, but since a lot of us have left, it’s slim pickings around here.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, and I meant it. I didn’t envy Captain Galling’s job right now – he had too much to do, and too little manpower to do it with. The fact that Privacy Guard was refusing to lift a finger was just another straw on an overburdened camel’s back – and just what were they up to, anyway? Why were they standing back from the fight, when they should be taking advantage of the opportunity to make good money? Was the owner of the company allied with the Resistance somehow?

Something else to look into, I thought, adding it to the list.

“Don’t be sorry,” Captain Galling said, rising from his seat. “Be effective. You seem to be pretty good at nosing your way into the heart of things, Baine, so put that nose of yours to good use and find out who’s behind this. I’m sick and tired of all this fighting, and the last thing I need to do is drop dead at the business end of a Resistance rifle after my wife’s just been healed.” He shook his head, laughing bitterly. “That would be a cruel dose of irony, wouldn’t it?”

I smiled sadly. “I have a feeling that a lot of that’s been going around.”



Captain Galling arranged transport back to the Palace, which was a damn good thing because I was healing way too slowly for my liking. My shoulder had been bandaged up when I’d been unconscious, and it wasn’t bleeding, but it still ached like hell, and my headache was taking a long time to dissipate. I needed to raid the kitchen, and then I needed a few good hours of sleep.

You could see about finding Iannis, a voice in my head suggested as I trudged up the Palace steps. He’ll want to know you’re safe, and he’d probably be happy to heal you.

The idea lifted my spirits momentarily, and a quick consultation with my serapha charm told me that he was in the West Wing, maybe even in his rooms. But then I remembered he’d been up for close to forty-eight hours, and that he’d used his magic to bring down a rainstorm and heal who knew how many injured civilians. Iannis was powerful, but even he had limits. He probably needed a recharge by now.

The kitchen staff was gone at this time of night, the lights turned off and the ovens shut down, so I raided the pantry, loading up on dried meat, cheese, and bread. After all, it wasn’t as if I had anything to fear since there were no Privacy Guard employees in the Palace to try and jump me anymore. They’d done that the last time I raided the pantry, on my first night here, and nearly killed me. Of course, I doubted they’d have the balls to do it again now that I was an official apprentice, but still. I’d made sure to stay away from the kitchens when they were closed after that incident, until now.

I hauled my load to the little table in the corner and started scarfing it down, heedless of manners since there was no one around. I was halfway through a round of cheese when I heard footsteps on the stairwell. I paused, my senses going on high alert. Then I relaxed as I recognized the scent.

“Fenris,” I called. “Come to share a midnight snack with me?”

“Something like that,” he said, smiling as he emerged from the darkness. I’d turned on the lights, and his yellow wolf-shifter eyes squinted for a moment as they adjusted. As he stood there, I took a moment to study him. Fenris looked well enough, his dark hair and beard shining from a recent shower, but there were smudges of fatigue beneath his unusually heavy-lidded eyes. As usual, he was dressed in one of his old-fashioned tunics, this one a dark grey, but unusually, he had a short sword strapped to his waist.

“Can you even use that thing?” I asked as he approached the table.

Fenris smiled faintly and switched to mindspeak. “Mages have been known to engage in combative sports for pleasure, such as fencing. This blade isn’t the same thing as a rapier, but I think I can manage it if I have to.”

I shook my head as he took a seat across from me. “It’s still hard to believe you’re actually a mage,” I muttered, matching his discretion by keeping the conversation silent. You never knew who might be lurking in a corner of this huge building, listening to conversations that were none of their damned business.

He frowned. “I was a mage,” he corrected. “Now I am a shifter.”

“With some mage abilities,” I pointed out, arching a brow.

He sighed, picking up a crust of brown bread. “Perhaps I do not truly understand what I am,” he admitted out loud. “But I do know I am not who I once was.”

Same here, I thought as I polished off the rest of the cheese in my hand. As I swallowed my last bite, my shoulder began to itch, and I realized my regenerative abilities were revving up. Hot and uncomfortable, I shrugged off the jacket Captain Galling had lent me, draping it across the back of the chair. Oh well, at least it was my healing abilities causing this discomfort rather than the heat, which had temporarily abated beneath the stress of my wounds.

“Sunaya!” Fenris’s eyes widened as he caught sight of my bandaged shoulder. “I thought I’d smelled blood, but I didn’t realize it was more than a scratch. What happened?”