Marked by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #4)(48)

Both of the soldiers’ faces turned bright red at that. “Impossible,” the second shifter spat. “You’re lying!” But his nostrils flared, and I knew he scented no lie or subterfuge from me.

“I’m not lying, and you’d be stupid not to listen to me,” I growled, then launched into my story. I told them about the three human males I’d met in Maintown last night, about their confidence that the human race would prevail over the others, and the disturbing sermon at the Ur-God temple. By the time I was done, all the hunger had drained out of Lakin’s expression, and even the two bird shifters looked troubled.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Shifter One protested. “How could the Resistance have been planning such a betrayal the entire time, while keeping us all in the dark? There are shifters higher up in the ranks, including your own cousin Rylan Baine. Surely, someone would have found out. You’re just misinformed!”

“I don’t know, Gyron,” Shifter Two said slowly. “I’ve noticed over the past year that only humans have been getting promotions. Don’t you remember how Tifon was passed over for captain in favor of that bumbling human idiot?”

“That’s true,” Gyron hissed, his eyes narrowing. “And right after that, he was sent off on a dangerous mission to the East that ended up getting him killed.” He straightened then, remembering himself. “But that still doesn’t mean she’s not lying, Urion! She works for the mages, remember?”

“I don’t ‘work’ for the mages,” I growled, drawing their attention back to me. “I’m an enforcer, see?” I held up my wrist so they could see my bracelet. “And in case you’ve forgotten, I’ve lived most of my life as a shifter. I haven’t switched sides just because I can use magic now.”

“Pah! The Enforcers Guild is funded by the Mages Guild, is it not?” Gyron accused. “How are you any different?”

“The Enforcers Guild is funded by the tax payers,” I pointed out. “Yes, those funds are paid out by the Mages Guild, and yes, we have to listen to them if they give us orders, but until all this bullshit with the Resistance started, they mostly left us to take care of the crime in this city on our own.” I decided to leave out the fact that Captain Galling had gotten lazy without someone leaning on him for results, and had allowed the Main Crew to become a bloated mass that cared more about the bounties than about solving actual cases. “Like you, I spent most of my life hating the mages and everything they stand for, but now that I’ve had experience on both sides of this line, I can tell you one thing.” I leaned forward, pinning the two shifters with as much intensity as I could muster. “If we don’t get our shit together and learn how to co-exist, we’re not going to be around for very long. The humans will play on our differences to make us tear each other apart, and then they’re going to sit on a throne made of mage and shifter bones and laugh while we rot in a mass grave somewhere.”

There was a long silence as the bird shifters sat on the couch, staring at me in shock. Finally, Lakin cleared his throat, drawing my attention to him – he’d remained standing by the door since there was no chair for him to sit in.

“Sunaya, I know you’re being truthful…but is it really as bad as you say?” He sounded a little pained. “Were all the humans at the Maintown temple truly on board with this?”

“They were practically rubbing their hands with glee,” I confirmed. “Trust me, Lakin, they’ve been having this message drummed into them for a long time. I’m not saying all humans are our enemies, but the ones who attended the sermon today have definitely been brainwashed into thinking that shifters and mages are evil, and that the only way they can live peaceful lives is to get rid of us. They think the Resistance is carrying out a mandate from the Ur-God, and they’re eager to provide whatever support they can to make sure that mandate is carried out.”

Gyron finally sighed, relaxing his shoulders. “Much as I hate to admit it, we can’t ignore the information you have provided. It bears further looking into, and we will discuss it with the other shifters in our platoon, in private.”

“Be sure that you do, because the best chance you’ve got of surviving is to get out of the Resistance while there’s still time. Losing their shifter soldiers will hamper the Resistance enough to delay their genocidal plans, at the very least.” A thought occurred to me then, and I asked, “Have either of you heard of a person known as the Benefactor?”

Gyron shook his head, but a flash of recognition lit Urion’s bright blue eyes. “I’ve heard whispers,” he said. “Mostly from the captains or other higher ups. All I really know is that he’s our main funder.”

“Yeah, that’s you and everybody else.” I sighed, dragging a hand through my hair. Dammit, but how could the person who was financing the entire Resistance be unknown to them? Why didn’t these morons care that their strings were being pulled by some unknown party, for sinister purposes? They were putting their lives on the line without even knowing for whom and for what.

“This news makes our earlier discussion moot,” Lakin told the bird shifters. “No way am I going to openly wear those red armbands, or persuade the clans to fight at your side. At least not until we have followed up on Sunaya’s warning.”