Scorched by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #7)(18)

“Shit.” I’d known that was a possibility, even strongly suspected it. But to hear confirmation… Dammit. I’d really hoped she was dead. “So she’s on the loose again? What is she planning?”

“We don’t know,” Garrett admitted, displeasure coloring his voice. “But we did catch one of the arsonists. After a lengthy interrogation, he confessed that he overheard she might be heading to Solantha. Something about ‘squaring accounts’.”

A chill went down my spine at that. Was I one of the “accounts” Thorgana intended to square away? She had every reason to want me dead, and Iannis as well—we’d thwarted her plans at every turn, and were the ones who had finally taken her down. I tried to catch Iannis’s eye, but his shimmering violet gaze was firmly fixed on Garrett.

“Not now,” he said to me in mindspeak. “We’ll discuss this later.”

Aloud, he said to Garrett, “While I do appreciate you taking the time to relay this information, I don’t see why you had to come out all this way. A simple phone call or telegram would have sufficed. We are more than capable of handling Thorgana, as we have proven in the past.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Garrett said, sounding thoroughly unimpressed, “but I am under strict orders from the Minister to find and capture her myself. Her compatriots killed dozens of mages during the breakout, never mind her other crimes. He will not be satisfied until she is back behind bars, and if she happens to be killed while resisting arrest, so much the better. Besides,” he added silkily, “if Solantha is about to be hit by an earthquake, I imagine your hands will be full with preparations to secure the city. You could use my eyes and ears, Lord Iannis. I am very good at what I do.”

There was a long silence, and even though I hated the idea of Garrett being here, I couldn’t find any flaw in his argument. We really were stretched thin right now, and Thorgana needed to be taken down. It would be just like her to use the commotion of an imminent earthquake as a cover while she cooked up some plot to hit us hard and take down the Mages Guild in Solantha.

“Very well,” Iannis finally said. “I cannot argue with your logic, though I will bring the matter of your jurisdiction up at the next convention. But as you say, we are very busy preparing for a possible big quake, and I will not be able to spare significant manpower to assist you with this search. Now is really not the best time for a manhunt,” he said ruefully, and I knew then that he really would have preferred to go hunt for Thorgana himself, if only so that he could get Garrett out of here as quickly as possible.

“I’ll help,” I said, drawing the gazes of both men my way. “There will be little time for my usual magic lessons, and I have a personal stake in finding Thorgana. I’m not going to sit on my ass while waiting for her to come and kill me.”

“Perhaps we can devise a plan to draw her out, with you as bait?” Garrett’s assistant suggested, his eyes gleaming eagerly as he studied me. From his expression, his mind was no doubt racing, chewing on calculations, studying all angles.

“It might be worth considering,” Garrett agreed. “Although—”

“Absolutely not,” Iannis snapped, his eyes blazing. “Sunaya is my fiancée, Director Toring, not a tool for your personal use.”

“She’s also right here in this room,” I said irritably. “And although I don’t love the idea of being bait, I wouldn’t be opposed to it in the right circumstances.” Iannis opened his mouth to argue, but I cut him off. “That’s not going to be my first plan of attack, and I definitely will not do anything like that without discussing it with you first. But I’m a trained enforcer with intimate knowledge of this city, including possible allies and suspects,” I pointed out. “I even knew Thorgana before we identified her as the Benefactor.”

“Did you really?” Garrett asked, sounding intrigued. “In what capacity? I can’t imagine a wealthy, pampered socialite like her rubbing elbows with an enforcer.”

“I did a couple of security gigs for her,” I said coolly, not appreciating the insinuation that I was riffraff. Garrett flinched slightly, as if realizing how offensive his statement was, and I wondered a little at that. Did he actually care about my feelings? I’d scented interest from him once or twice during our return trip from Garai, but lust didn’t necessarily translate to affection.

“I don’t like this,” Iannis said in mindspeak, simmering with ire. “However, someone needs to keep an eye on Garrett while he’s here—to make sure he doesn’t go poking into things he ought not to.”

“No kidding.” I held in a sigh. “I’ll do my best to deflect any questions about Fenris, and keep his focus on Thorgana.”

“Sunaya makes valid points,” Iannis said to Garrett. “She would be an asset in this search, and I can think of no one better to assign as your liaison. The two of you will work together to find Thorgana, but you will keep me informed every step of the way.” His eyes narrowed, and his voice turned dangerously soft. “I will not overlook another slight, Director Toring.”

“Understood.” Garrett said stiffly, his scent changing subtly—he was wary of Iannis’s power, if not outright fearful. I wasn’t sure how powerful Garrett was, but clearly, he did not want to provoke an actual conflict. “Shall we meet for breakfast tomorrow to discuss our plan of action, Miss Baine?”