Scorched by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #7)(20)

“But what are you going to do?” Tears stung at my eyes. “You can’t go back to Nebara.”

“No,” Fenris agreed. “I would not endanger my parents by returning there, just as I will not continue to put you or Iannis in danger by staying.” His rugged features softened—he must have seen the anguish in my face. “I may have been the one who escaped a death sentence, Sunaya, but Iannis did not just help me get away—he also used forbidden magic to turn me into a shifter. If Garrett finds out the truth, Iannis’s life will be forfeit as well.”

“If worst comes to worst, we could all leave the country,” Iannis suggested, but I shook my head.

“No. You’ve fought too hard for your people, and have made more progress uniting the three races than any Chief Mage of Solantha has before you,” I said firmly. “We can’t abandon them now, especially not with this earthquake on the way. As much as I hate to say it…” A lump swelled in my throat, and I had to force it down. “Fenris is right. The easiest thing is for him to go.”

But it’s not fair! A voice in my head howled. He’s family. He was supposed to be the best man at our wedding. To be the godfather to our future children. How could Fenris do any of that, if he was on the run?

“I will not miss any of the important events in your lives,” Fenris said, seeming to read my thoughts. He met my tearful gaze with a valiant smile. “Even if I have to do it in disguise, I will be there when you two are married, and when your children are born.”

I couldn’t take it anymore. My heart brimming with emotion, I stepped over Iannis, then knelt in front of Fenris’s chair and threw my arms around him. “You must tell us where you’ve relocated to,” I whispered fiercely as I squeezed him tight. “I want to be able to come and visit you, to meet your own wife and children when you have them.”

Fenris started a little at the mention of wife and children. “I don’t know about that,” he said, a wry smile in his voice as he embraced me in return. “But I will send messages as I can, so that you know I am still alive.”

“You’d better.” Pulling back, I wiped my sleeve across my teary eyes. “And I have no doubt that you’ll meet a fine woman someday and have a whole brood of children. You deserve to live a full life, Fenris, with all the joys and pitfalls that go with it.”

“Yes,” Iannis agreed, wrapping his arms around me as I returned to sit next to him. “And while we will miss you, I fear that staying here in the Palace has not truly done you any favors.”

“No,” Fenris agreed ruefully. “I have appreciated the opportunity to lie low and absorb as much magical theory as I have been able to these past few years. But living in a Palace, surrounded by mages, has not prepared me for life as a shifter. If I am to truly become Fenris, and make the most of my new existence, I must go seek my fortune in humbler surroundings. I have a good bit of gold saved up, and I will be able to settle comfortably wherever I choose, so do not worry about me.”

We discussed the particulars of Fenris’s departure for a little while—he was going to pack in secret, ready to depart at a moment’s notice should Garrett come too close to the truth. In the meantime, Fenris would spend as little time in Garrett’s presence as possible, and if they did have to be in the same room, he would do it in wolf form. Garrett couldn’t use mindspeak, and he wouldn’t be able to question Fenris as a wolf.

“Fenris will be fine,” Iannis said as the two of us burrowed beneath the blankets in his huge bed, long after Fenris had left for his own room. “He may no longer have all of his magic, but he is very clever and resourceful, and his shifter senses are much more developed than they were when I first brought him to the Palace. He will be fine on his own, and there are many places in the Federation where he can live a comfortable life so long as he keeps his head down.”

“I know.” Laying my head against Iannis’s bare chest, I tried to comfort myself with the steady beating of his heart. But I couldn’t help fearing that despite all our careful planning, we were teetering on the brink of disaster.





8





I tried to sleep, but though Iannis’s arms were snug around me, his powerful body wrapping me up in a cocoon of warmth and safety, I found myself restless. Even though I’d told Fenris that I understood and accepted his decision, turmoil continued to writhe and roll around in my chest, churning my thoughts into a muddled mass of worry.

What if Fenris didn’t manage to get away in time? What if Garrett and his assistant found enough evidence to arrest and convict him? Iannis would be stripped of his role as Chief Mage, and he might very well be executed alongside Fenris.

No way, a voice in my head argued. Iannis wasn’t a victim, and he wouldn’t meekly submit, either. He was clever and resourceful enough that he might be able to flee the Federation. But what kind of life would he have after such public humiliation? I would also lose any prestige and favor I might have gained in the mage community. I didn’t know if they could execute me after all I’d done for the Federation, but I would no longer be in a position to help the shifter and human communities. And that was unacceptable.

Careful not to wake Iannis, I slipped from the bed as quietly as I could. He mumbled a little in protest, but dutifully curled his arms around the pillow I pushed against his chest. I took a moment to admire the way the moonlight filtered in through the window above the headboard, highlighting his alabaster skin and making his dark hair, the color of cherry wood, shimmer. Long lashes fanned out against high, razor-edged cheekbones, and his full mouth, normally so firm and stern, was slightly parted. The sheets had slipped down to his waist, baring broad shoulders and a strong back that tapered into lean hips. Scratches marred the pale skin beneath his shoulder blades, left over from our lovemaking last night, and I was filled with a sudden urge to lean over and kiss the small wounds. Wounds that he’d chosen to leave rather than heal. But I didn’t want to wake him, so I turned away, then quietly returned to my room via the secret passage in the corner.