Scorched by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #7)(55)

20





I wanted to tell Iannis about Garrett’s change of heart right away and make sure he’d back up my story, but my serapha charm told me he was still in meetings. So instead I called my social secretary, Nelia, to my quarters, and the two of us spent the rest of the evening rearranging my schedule for the next month. Nelia raised a brow when she noticed how much I was cutting down my magic lessons, but she accepted the current state of affairs as a necessary excuse. I was determined to spend more time volunteering, not just in Shiftertown, but in Maintown as well. The city would need all the help it could get to recover from this new catastrophe, and I wanted to be down in the trenches with the rest of the workers.

When we were finally done, I dismissed Nelia for the night, then crawled into Iannis’s bed to wait for him. He came in at around two in the morning, waking me from a sound slumber as he settled his weight onto the edge of the mattress.

“How’d it go?” I asked sleepily as he stroked my hair. I rolled over, and even in the dim light, I could see the exhaustion and stress etched into his handsome features. “That bad?”

He sighed. “We had to break it to the three local mages and Pillick that their magic was irretrievably gone. And that bear shifter as well. It was harrowing.”

I swallowed against a sudden lump in my throat at the thought of that poor shifter. I couldn’t imagine what he and his family were going through right now. I would have to visit him, to express my condolences and offer what assistance I could.

“The Council is very unhappy that we have not found a magical method of dealing with this Eraser,” Iannis went on. “The object is simply too dangerous for any mage to attempt approaching it or touching it with their magic. We have no idea what might happen.”

“So what did you decide?”

“We considered calling in the best human scientists in the country to come and study the Magic Eraser, so that they might come up with a better solution. But as you might expect, the Council is uneasy about having such a dangerous object in our midst, or letting human scientists handle such a weapon. If they managed to duplicate it, after all…”

“I can’t blame them. Better to destroy or get rid of it, if at all possible.” Gently, I grabbed Iannis’s forearm and pulled him down on the bed next to me. “Garrett came to see me, and he was devastated about what happened to his assistant. I was surprised he felt so strongly about the guy. But he gave me some good news, too.”

“Oh?” Iannis’s eyebrows rose. “Is that meddlesome bastard finally leaving?”

Grinning, I told him about the conversation I’d had with Garrett, and the elaborate story I’d spun about Fenris’s past. By the time I finished, Iannis was looking decidedly amused.

“That was some very quick thinking, a ghra,” he said, dropping a kiss onto my forehead. “And your suggestions about creating human and shifter task forces were also quite inspired. I will be surprised if the Minister allows it, but he may come around to the idea in time.”

“He’d better,” I growled. “We can’t afford any more of this class bullshit. It’s time for us all to start working together.”

“I agree.” Iannis wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. I snuggled against him, listening to his steady heartbeat. “I still can’t believe Fenris is gone,” he whispered. His salty tears scented the air, and my throat swelled with grief all over again. “He only lived here for three years—a blink of an eye in a life as long as mine. Yet, now that he is gone, it’s as if something vital has been torn from me.” He swallowed. “I’ll always miss his counsel, his steady presence, and his loyalty. I don’t think I told him enough how much I valued his friendship.”

“I know.” I wrapped my arms around Iannis, hugging him tight. The mental vault I’d stuffed all my Fenris-related memories and emotions into finally burst open, the tears coming fast and furious now. I started to tell Iannis to about Fenris’s gift to me, but my throat seized up in another swell of grief. That discussion could wait for another day.

When tomorrow came, we would have to put on brave faces and deal with the world again. But for now, we clung to each other all through the night, mourning the loss of our beloved friend.



The next morning, Iannis went to his office to deal with the Magic Eraser’s disposal, while Rylan and I had a quick breakfast before meeting Annia in the lobby. Dressed in her enforcer leathers, with her sword strapped to her belt and that mysterious, powerful aura around her, she looked ready to kick some serious ass.

“Wow,” Rylan said, looking her up and down with undisguised admiration. “You look…different.”

“It’s the tan,” Annia said with a wink, turning away. “A couple of months of sunshine can do wonders for a girl.”

Rylan smiled, but he didn’t look entirely convinced. We followed Annia down to the kitchens, where Mrs. Tandry was running an assembly line, wrapping and packing up boxes of meat, bread, and cheese to take to the survivor tents on the outskirts of town. We’d already agreed beforehand to come and help, so we pitched in, then got all the boxes out to the delivery area, where they were loaded onto a giant steamtruck.

“It’s definitely not just her tan,” Rylan said in mindspeak as we rode alongside the truck in a smaller vehicle. He was staring at Annia unabashedly as she looked out the window at our ruined city, lost in thought. “Something fundamental about Annia has changed. She seems older somehow…and sexier.”