Scorched by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #7)(50)

Alarm bells went off in my head. “How many cases do you have?”

“Three. Why?”

“Take me to them.” I threw off the bedsheets and swung my legs over the side. The room spun a little, and I gripped the headboard—I might have gotten my magic back, but I was still physically weakened. “Annia, help me up.”

“What do you want to see them for?” the doctor demanded as Annia slung my arm over her shoulder and gently helped me stand.

“Stop arguing and just show me.” I gave him my best death glare. The doctor complied, though not without a scowl of his own, leading me to three beds on the far side of the room. Two men and one woman lay prone in their beds. Their faces were nearly as white as their bedsheets, their breathing so slow I could barely detect their heartbeats even with my sensitive ears.

“By the Ur-God,” Annia said, pity in her voice. “They look like they’re ready to be embalmed.”

“No kidding.” If not for my keen nose, I would have thought they were dead, too. “Where were these mages found when they collapsed?” I asked the doctor.

“They were excavating a building in Maintown somewhere.” He picked up the clipboard sitting on the side table next to one of the pages, scanned the sheet there.

“The Mendle mansion, actually.” His lips twisted in a mockery of a smile. “That is some cruel irony—you would think the Mendles would have quake-proofed their own mansion, at least.”

“By Magorah.” Icy horror filled my veins, sending a burst of adrenaline through me, and I whirled toward the doctor. “We need to send a message down there right now. No other mages should go near that mansion, or shifters, for that matter!”

“Naya, what’s going on?” Annia asked urgently. “What have you discovered?”

“Hang on,” I snapped. “Iannis!” I called, using my magic to boost my mindspeak signal. “Iannis, I know where Thorgana and the Magic Eraser are!” There was no answer, and I gnashed my teeth. He was too far away. Drawing on Fenris’s knowledge, I conjured three ether pigeons, then sent them off to Iannis, Chen, and Garrett—with the message I knew where Thorgana was, that I needed to see them immediately, and that they needed to keep mages and shifters away from the Mendle Mansion at all costs, because I strongly suspected the Magic Eraser was in there.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Annia demanded when I’d sent the pigeons off.

“Yes,” I said tiredly. “But let’s head back to my room. I’d rather not have an audience.”

Over the protestations of the doctor, Annia led me back to my quarters, flagging down a servant to bring me food along the way. Stretched out on the couch, I devoured a huge platter of chicken wings, followed by a small mountain of pork ribs, and filled Annia in on Director Toring and his mission to find Thorgana. I also told her about his history with Fenris, and that he’d been a hand’s breath away from making an arrest before the accident today at the school. My entire body seemed to ache with grief as I retold the circumstances of Fenris’s death, and how I’d passed out while trying to unearth his body, but I didn’t cry this time. My eyes burned, but my tear ducts had nothing left to give.

“I’m so sorry, Naya,” Annia said, tears in her own eyes. She scooted closer to me on the couch, then put my head in her lap so she could stroke my hair. “I can’t believe he’s gone. I wish I’d gotten here sooner, so I could have seen him one more time. I wasn’t close with him like you were, but we did go through our own adventures together while rescuing Iannis, and in Osero.”

We sat in silence for a long moment, simply relishing each other’s company. Despite the restlessness I could sense in Annia, and the shadows in her eyes, I could tell she was happy to be back home again. Even if home had somehow turned into hell.

The door banged open, and Iannis rushed in, still soot-stained and disheveled. From the way his hair was flying about him, and the flush in his cheeks, I could tell he’d used his super speed to get here.

“What happened?” he demanded, kneeling by my side. His worried gaze searched my face as he felt my forehead. “Are you all right? Why aren’t you in the infirmary?”

“I’m a lot better,” I said, taking his face into my hands to get his attention. “My magic is back.”

Iannis went completely still, and I could feel his magic probe me, much more gently than that damned doctor. “How is that possible?” he asked, wonder in his voice. “You should have been out for days.”

“I’ll explain later,” I said, pushing myself upright. “We have more important things to worry about.”

“Indeed,” Iannis agreed. He sat down on the couch next to me. “I gave orders to cordon off the ruins of the Mendle Mansion, and to set up wards so that no mages or shifters can come near it. Why do you suspect the Magic Eraser is in there?”

The door flew open again, and Director Chen and Garrett hurried in. “Where is Thorgana?” Garrett demanded, his eyes bright and hard. He looked around the room, as if expecting her to materialize in my suite.

“I don’t know,” I said. “She could be dead, or she might have escaped when the mansion collapsed. But I’m pretty sure she’s been staying with the Mendles. Don’t you remember how sick the butler was when we came to visit, and how the wife was sick, too?”