Marked by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #4)(9)

“So,” I began, but before I could ask what Iannis wanted to discuss, he pushed me up against the wall and crushed his lips against mine. My mouth opened in shock, and he took advantage, nipping my bottom lip as his tongue stroked mine, filling me with his dark, exotic flavor. The kiss was somehow gentle despite his aggressive body language, savoring rather than trying to devour. Warmth ignited low in my belly, then spread through me like wildfire, and I dug my fingers into his broad shoulders, clinging to him as my body begged for more. I was perilously close to heat, and I knew if Iannis decided to take things further, I would be powerless to stop him despite the ultimatum I’d given him back in Dara. The one where I’d said I wasn’t going to sleep with him until he made a decision as to whether or not he wanted to be with me.

Eventually, Iannis broke the kiss, but his hands remained firmly curled around my waist. His violet eyes seared me as they searched my face, and more warmth flooded me as I realized that beneath the burning desire was relief.

“When I returned to the Palace and discovered you were sleeping in your room instead of your apartment, I asked an aide to do a little investigating,” Iannis said. “They only told me the news a few minutes ago. Are you all right?” he asked, stroking my cheek. “Did those bastards hurt you in any way?”

Oh, I could just melt. The way he was looking at me, as if he could not bear the thought of losing me, made me want to just sink into his embrace and never let go. But I couldn’t let that happen, not until he told me, with real words, how he actually felt. Besides, we had more important things to worry about.

“I’m fine,” I told him, pressing the heels of my hands into his shoulders – a subtle sign that I wanted space. He moved slightly, but not enough to cool the inferno he’d sparked. “The Resistance set fire to my apartment to draw me out so they could kill me. But I got everyone out of the building and made sure to stick close to the crowd so they couldn’t get a clear shot at me. I was disguised as an old woman, and with so many witnesses, they didn’t want to risk killing bystanders, when they couldn’t tell if they had the right target.”

“Smart,” Iannis said. “But they never should have come so close. And even if you have nine lives, Sunaya, they must be nearly used up by now. I’m assuming you’ll abandon this foolish idea about living outside the Palace now? You’ll be much safer here.”

“Only until the crisis is over,” I said coolly, folding my arms across my chest. I wasn’t about to let Iannis think I was moving back in permanently. If he decided he didn’t want me as a lover, that we were only going to be master and apprentice, then I most definitely wasn’t willing to live in the same building as him.

Iannis’s eyes darkened. “You’re being ridiculous,” he insisted. “Life would be easier for both of us if you lived here. We could –”

“If you start telling me that we could get more master-apprentice stuff done if I lived in the Palace, I’ll punch you straight in the nose,” I warned. Shock flared in his eyes, and I used the opening to plow forward. “You know damn well you’ve only got so much time in the day, especially now that you’re out fighting the Resistance. How am I supposed to move on if I’m constantly living in your shadow? Hearing your voice? Inhaling your scent? And watching you and Director Chen make eyes at each other when she seduces you?”

He blinked. “What? That’s not –”

The intercom speaker on Iannis’s desk crackled to life. “Sir, the Minister is on the phone for you. He says it’s urgent.”

“Very well. Put him through.” Iannis sighed, then moved away, giving me much-needed breathing room. “We’re not finished with this conversation,” he warned before picking up the ringing phone.

“No,” I said softly as I slipped out the door. “I imagine we’re not.”





4





My feet took me from the Guild offices to the library on the lower floor of the West Wing. I’d been here before, seeking out Fenris so he could help me with the bank investigation I was conducting only three weeks ago. An investigation that had eventually led to the discovery of a group of kidnapped shifters who were forced into illegal fighting matches. Perhaps I’d find Fenris in the library again – he was generally a calming influence, and great for bouncing ideas off when I had a puzzle to solve. I had hardly seen him since Iannis and I returned from Dara, and truth be told, I missed him.

Unfortunately, the library was completely deserted, aside from a grey-haired librarian who sat quietly behind her desk, a fragile old tome open as she hand-penned notes from it. I glanced around the huge room that could have easily fit the entire Shifter Courier building inside it, scanning rows of bookshelves so tall they nearly touched the soaring ceiling, and wondered if there was anything in here that might be of interest to me.

You could always research the Tua.

Huh. That was an interesting idea. Not exactly relevant to the current catastrophe, but interesting. I’d recently discovered that Iannis was part Tua, and had extra abilities this heritage afforded him. I wondered if researching the mystical, long-lived race of his grandmother might give me better insight into Iannis himself.

Probably not. But what else do you have to do? It’s not as if Director Chen is going to assign you anything useful.