Scorched by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #7)(38)

Garrett flinched at the accusation, giving me a fleeting moment of satisfaction. But he quickly rallied. “You misunderstand, Sunaya,” he began, but I rose from my chair, done with this conversation. “Don’t walk away from me,” he growled as I turned. “We aren’t finished here!”

“But we are,” I said coldly, spinning around to face him. There was an interesting mixture of guilt and determination coming off Garrett, but I refused to indulge him further. “I saved your life, buddy, and I’ve made every effort to assist you in your mission here. The fact that you would even try to make me turn against the man I love, a man who has selflessly risked himself for the sake of the Federation time and again, is unspeakably insulting.”

I stormed out of the room before Garrett could say anything else and headed back to my chambers. It wasn’t hard to look like I was angry—my inner beast was furious, itching to unsheathe her claws so we could shred that forked tongue of Garrett’s. I wanted to silence him for good, before he struck the deadly blow that would spell the end for Iannis and Fenris.

And myself, too, I reminded myself as I flung my door open. I wouldn’t let the two most important men in my life go down without a fight, and I didn’t see how that would end in anything but death for me. Besides, with the kind of Chief Mage the Minister would nominate in Iannis’s stead, Solantha would soon backslide into the same cesspit of hatred and division the Resistance had stirred up before. No, I couldn’t allow that to happen. We had to figure out what to do about Garrett.

My front door banged against the wall, and Rylan jumped up from the couch, alarmed. There were crumbs on his livery, no doubt from the half-eaten platter of meat and cheese beside him.

“I wondered what was keeping you,” he said as I stalked over to the sitting area. “What the hell happened?”

“Director Toring has happened,” I spat, snatching up a cracker. I slapped some cheese and salami onto it, then crammed it into my mouth. “The fucker is closing in on us,” I growled around a mouthful of food. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before Rylan found out anyway, I spilled the whole story to him while we finished off the platter together.

“By Magorah,” Rylan said, his face stark white. “Fenris told me a little bit about his past, but he left out the fact that he was a fucking Chief Mage, and number one on the Federal Government’s Wanted list. We can’t wait any longer. We need to get him out of here now.”

“Yes.” My stomach plummeted into my shoes at the thought, but I refused to cry or howl about it—I didn’t have the luxury of emotion. “Let’s go talk to Iannis,” I said, jumping out of my chair. “He’ll have a plan.”

We hurried down the hall, clutching firmly to the hope that Fenris had made sufficient preparations, and that Iannis’s brilliant mind had already conjured up a foolproof escape plan. Running away at this juncture might be as dangerous as staying, though. Could Garrett have told me what he suspected in hopes of catching Fenris as he sneaked off? He and his cursed assistant would be watching, waiting for the moment to pounce. Unless Iannis ensured they were sufficiently distracted, we were going to need a fucking miracle, and I wasn’t sure we had any more of those left.

“Dira,” I said, skidding to a halt in front of the Mages Guild reception desk. “I need to speak to Lord Iannis, urgently.”

She held up a finger, and I gnashed my teeth, noticing she was on the phone. It seemed like an eternity—though in reality, it was less than a minute—before she finally hung up. “I’m sorry, Miss Baine, but Lord Iannis was called away.”

“Called away?” I echoed, my voice sounding hollow to my ears. “To where? Did something happen?” And why the hell hadn’t he told me?

“A quake triggered a catastrophic landslide in Seros, and he left immediately to assist in the rescue. He asked me to relay the message to you, and to tell you he apologizes for not getting word to you himself.” Dira must have noticed the stricken look on my face, because her expression softened a little. “I’m sorry, Miss Baine. He won’t be back for at least two days.”

Two days. Rylan and I exchanged a look, and I knew he was thinking the exact same thing I was.

We were fucked.





15





I spent a sleepless night in my own bed, tossing and turning as my mind chewed on the various disasters that loomed every which way I turned. The earthquake preparations were moving along, but not as fast as I’d have liked, and Iannis’s sudden departure wasn’t helping matters. Thorgana was still nowhere to be found, very possibly in possession of a weapon that could destroy magic. And Garrett was sniffing at Fenris’s heels like a bloodthirsty hound.

As soon as we heard that Iannis had left town, Rylan and I had sought out Fenris. He’d been in his room, buried in spell books as he continued his search for spells that could help us with the earthquake prep. He’d found a few small ones, but nothing terribly helpful. And his mood had only grown darker when we told him what Garrett had discovered.

“I’m not leaving,” he said to us when we were finished. “Not yet,” he amended when I opened my mouth, flabbergasted, to protest. “Doing so right after Garrett warned you, Sunaya, would not only be an admission of guilt, but it would also implicate you. I would like to bid farewell to Iannis if at all possible, and I want to make a few more preparations.”