Scorched by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #7)(27)

“Is that so?” Skonel sat up straighter, his brow furrowing. “Why hasn’t the Enforcer’s Guild been notified? My office has the right to know if a notorious terrorist is hiding out in our city.”

“I’m informing you right now,” Garrett said coolly, and I had to hide a grin. For once, it was nice to see his snooty behavior directed at someone other than me. “I didn’t want to send any information over regular channels, in case it was intercepted. The last thing I need is for Thorgana to discover we are hunting her.”

“Understood,” Skonel said with a stiff nod. He turned his glittering gaze on me, and it was clear he wasn’t happy I’d been genned in on this before him. “I assume you will be working with us now, to apprehend her?”

“As needed,” Garrett said, his voice still chilly. “Lord Iannis has assigned Miss Baine as my liaison, and since she is a licensed enforcer, I assume that is sufficient for now. If we need more resources, she will contact you to arrange it.”

A muscle twitched in Skonel’s jaw. “This agency is not at your beck and call—”

Garrett stood up, bracing his palms on the edge of the desk. The air in the room was suddenly suffocating, charged with power, and Skonel leaned back, his eyes wide. “We do not have time to sit around here having a pissing contest about jurisdiction,” Garrett hissed, his eyes blazing with cold anger. “The Minister of the Federation personally sent me to Canalo to apprehend Thorgana Mills. He is the highest authority in this nation. Do you wish to take it up with him?”

A lesser man would have started babbling apologies, but Skonel simply held Garrett’s gaze for a long moment. “I do not wish to supersede the Minister’s orders,” he finally said. “I just wish to be kept informed. Thorgana Mills is a dangerous criminal who, from what we’ve seen in the past, is not afraid to maim or kill large numbers of innocent people to get what she wants. I need to be kept abreast of her activities so I can ensure the safety of our citizens.”

“Of course,” Garrett said smoothly. He sat back down in his chair, his expression placid once more. “I will endeavor to keep you informed. But so far, we know very little, only that she is likely hiding out here.” He gave Skonel a quick rundown of what we did know—that she’d broken out of the prison on purpose, and that she was supposedly heading to Solantha for revenge.

Captain Skonel was stroking his jaw when Garrett finished, his strong features tight with concern. “Revenge could mean any number of things,” he said. “Obviously, Miss Baine and Lord Iannis will be prime targets, but so is the Enforcers Guild, as well as any of the Shiftertown inhabitants who turned on her in the end.”

“Have you heard any rumors about secret weapons or viruses?” Garrett asked. “Presumably, Thorgana will want to make a big splash when she makes her move. We have reason to believe she may have a few tricks up her sleeve—something her tame scientists might have been working on before they were captured.”

“I’m afraid not,” Skonel said. “I’ll make sure the crew foremen keep their eyes peeled for anything like that though.”

“Make sure they report any mysterious illnesses, or strange magical phenomena,” I said. “Anything that could seem like a symptom of a virus, or a malicious spell. Thorgana is not above fighting fire with fire—she’s still allied with Argon Chartis, as far as we know.”

“An excellent point,” Garrett said, his lips thinning. “I will never understand why such a brilliant mage chose to ally himself with that deranged woman. She will try to kill him at the first opportunity.”

“I agree,” I said. Thorgana’s hatred of mages was all-inclusive—there was no way she would be content to share power with Chartis. She probably already had a plan in place for how to get rid of him once she didn’t need him anymore.

“There was one strange phenomenon recently,” Skonel said thoughtfully, drawing our attention back to him. “There have been several reports of fires started here and there, mostly in the Rowanville and Port areas. Nothing serious, and all small, isolated incidents.”

“Interesting. A street vendor came up to me the other day and told me someone had set his cart on fire.” I briefly recounted the story to them. “Could there be an arsonist on the loose?”

“If there is,” Garrett said, “that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re using magic. And I doubt Thorgana would bother herself with such petty mischief. Setting small fires is too low key for her.”

“That doesn’t sound like Thorgana,” I agreed, “but if someone is going around setting fires, it should be looked into immediately. The last thing we need is an arsonist wreaking havoc while we’re preparing for an earthquake.”

“Of course. I already have a crew on it,” Skonel said tersely, and it occurred to me that he probably thought I was stepping on his toes. Who was I, a low-ranking enforcer, to give him orders? “You should pass the details from the market vendor to them, so they can investigate it with all the rest.”

“Yes, Captain,” I said, and he looked slightly mollified by my response. “By the way, I heard an interesting rumor at Captain Galling’s farewell reception that I’ve been meaning to take up with you.”

“I don’t have time to discuss rumors, Enforcer Baine,” Skonel said irritably, his back up once more.