Marked by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #4)(29)

“Someone took a shot at me outside the Enforcers Guild,” I said darkly. I recounted the story for him, starting with my apprehension of the thugs and ending with being knocked out by the enforcer I almost killed.

“It’s no wonder Iannis asked me to wait up for you,” Fenris said, his dark eyes glittering with fury. “Danger really does seem to stalk you wherever you go.” He pushed up from the table, and his chair made a screeching sound against the concrete floor. “Let me take a look at your wounds. I didn’t use much magic today, so I’m sure I can heal you,” he added in mindspeak.

“Don’t bother.” I held up a hand. Fenris’s magical reserves were limited, and I didn’t want him wasting them on me. “I’m healing well enough on my own, now that I’ve eaten. I just need some sleep, then I’ll be good as new.” It wasn’t a lie – I was regenerating well enough that my heat was starting to kick in again, responding to Fenris’s proximity. I bit down on the inside of my cheek, hoping the pain would distract me from the surge of hormones.

Fenris’s nostrils flared as he caught my scent, and understanding lit his eyes. “Very well,” he said, reluctantly returning to his seat. He eyed the rapidly diminishing pile of food. “I imagine you should be going to bed soon.”

“Soon,” I agreed, ignoring the dirty flashes the word ‘bed’ conjured in my mind. “But first, I want an update. How are things going on your end?”

“It depends on who you ask,” Fenris said ruefully. “But overall, not terribly considering that we no longer have Privacy Guard to help with the defense. We’ve warded off the entire Mages Quarter from anyone without magic. Doing so poses a problem for our human employees since they can no longer leave or enter, but it also makes this area the safest section in Solantha. I can tell you that the mages are much less troubled about going out and fending off Resistance attacks, knowing that their families are safe behind the wards.”

“Yeah, about that,” I said, remembering my decision to look into Privacy Guard. “Do you know who the hell owns Privacy Guard, anyway? I can’t help but think that their refusal to assist means their owner is involved with the Resistance somehow.”

“Yes, I also find their behavior highly suspicious,” Fenris agreed. “I will ask the appropriate department to investigate the company’s origins. In hindsight, it was a mistake to rely on a single private company to such an extent, and I will advise Iannis not to do so again. We will need to look into other private security companies in the future.”

“Or hire your own staff,” I suggested. “There are plenty of unemployed humans and shifters in the city who would probably thank you for it, even now. Not everybody who’s stayed behind is a Resistance supporter. Come to think of it, there are probably some lower-ranked mages you could employ as guards too.”

“That’s a good idea,” Fenris said, nodding slowly.

We both turned at the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and I scowled as Cirin Garidano, the Finance Secretary, walked in. “What the hell is this?” I snapped irritably. “Did I put out a memo that I was hosting a party down here tonight?” Talking to Fenris was one thing, but I wasn’t interested in an audience. Especially a male one.

Down, girl. The Finance Secretary was good-looking, but he was a little too similar to Iannis for my liking. Even if I was able to throw my conscience to the wayside, and even if Cirin was interested, I wouldn’t be able to help but think of Iannis anyway.

“You aren’t the only ones who get hungry in the middle of the night,” Cirin said dryly. He sauntered over to the table, plucked a length of summer sausage from the pile, then deftly unwrapped it with his long fingers. “I believe I’ve just as much right to this food as you,” he added when I bared my fangs at him.

“Fine. Well, if you’re going to intrude on my dinner, the least you can do is be helpful.” I kicked out a chair with my foot, gesturing for him to sit. As he did so, I blinked in surprise as I caught a whiff of smoke clinging to his clothes. “Were you out helping with the defense tonight?”

“Yes, then I had to go back to my office to take care of a few things, so I didn’t get a chance eat until now. The kitchen staff had a buffet set out in the dining hall for us, which I missed, so I decided to come here instead.”

“Oh.” I pouted a little at that – it would have been nice to have a cooked meal. “I guess it’s gotta be tough, doing Finance Secretary stuff while helping with the defense.”

Cirin shrugged. “Lord Iannis ordered all the more powerful mages in the Guild to scale back their normal duties until the emergency is over. I’m hardly the only one juggling paperwork with magical defense.”

“Thank Magorah I don’t have to deal with that,” I muttered around a mouthful of bread.

The conversation turned back toward the rising crime in the streets. I told Cirin and Fenris about the swelling prisoner population and the problems the Enforcers Guild was having due to being shorthanded.

“Many of the looters were honest citizens up until recently,” I said, waving a crust of bread in the air as I spoke. “I’m not going to deny that a good portion of them are *s, like the thugs I apprehended earlier today, but a lot of them are just desperate. It doesn’t seem right that they should have to endure the punishments we normally dole out for theft.”