Bound by Magic (20 page)

Mika let out an ear-splitting roar as she fell to the ground, and I winced sympathetically – I knew from experience how painful cuts from crescent knife blades could be. But I didn’t have time to stand around – I only had a few moments before Mika’s wound healed itself and she was back on her feet again. Whirling around, I snatched up the chakram pouch, then grabbed one and twirled it briefly around my index finger before flinging one toward the tops of the bars. It cut through the silver-coated bamboo with ease, and I tossed another one toward the bottom of the cage, slicing the bar off at both ends. It toppled outward, landing with a loud clatter on the concrete ground, and the crowd screamed as I jumped through the opening.

Several of the staff rushed toward me, but I used my chakrams to cut them off at the knees – literally. They screamed in pain as the circular blade bit into the flesh of their legs, severing clear through, but I didn’t even give them a second glance – I was already sprinting for Danrian, who was racing for the hidden doorway I knew was located in the wall behind the shifter cages.

“Stop!” I shouted, twirling another chakram around my index finger. “Stop, or I’ll cut your head off, I swear!”

Danrian froze, his eyes wide with fear and loathing as he eyed the spinning metal disk – I knew he had no doubt that I would follow through on my threat.

“How did you get those weapons in here!” he shouted as I advanced on him. “Those shackles are supposed to prevent you from using magic!” He pointed toward the restraints on my wrists, his finger trembling.

“Guess I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve,” I sneered, grabbing him. Cries and screams echoed off the walls along with the sounds of dozens of stampeding feet, and I knew the humans were all rushing for the exit behind us again. Regardless of what happened to Danrian tonight, the Shifter Royale was finished – nobody was coming back after two incidents like this.

I didn’t have any cuffs of my own on me, so I turned Danrian around and slammed him face first against the wall, twisting one arm behind his back and pushing upward so that he was forced onto his toes. He cried out in pain, but I only pushed harder, the battle fever still surging within me redirected to a new purpose.

“Tell me who the Benefactor is. Now!”

“I can’t do that!” He choked out. “The Benefactor will kill me for sure if I do!”

“If you don’t tell me right now,
I’m
going to kill you!”

A set of fangs sank into the back of my calf, and I cried out as burning pain ripped through the muscle. Shocked, I twisted away, letting go of Danrian so I could confront my attacker. My blood dripped from Mika’s fangs as she snarled and charged at me again, still crazed from the drugs. My leg was too weak for me to dodge, so I dropped to the ground and rolled to the side, then slashed at her again with my knives. I got her in the side again, and she roared as the wound from last time, which was not fully healed, split open again.

The battle fever pumping hard through my veins allowed me to spring to my feet, and I grabbed Danrian, who had been trying to sidle away, by the arm. “Come on. We’ve got to get out of here!” As much as I wanted to release the shifters from their cages now, I knew they would all just attack us – I needed to get us to safety and wait for the Enforcer’s Guild to show up. They had to be on their way by now. They just had to.

“I’m afraid I’m not going anywhere with you, Miss Baine,” Danrian said smugly as I spun him around. I caught the glint of three darts in his hand as he raised it in the air, and I tried to avoid them, but momentum was on his side. I cried out as the darts jabbed me in the side of the neck, then screamed in agony as the icy hot poison rushed through my veins, stronger and more painful than last time. Fear burst through me, followed by a healthy dose of disgust – I couldn’t believe that I was about to die at the hands of a filthy human like him.

“That dose will definitely kill you if Mika doesn’t.” Danrian’s voice sounded very far away as I sank to the ground. I looked up at him, and it was like I was staring at him from the bottom of a pool – his form wavered, too blurry for me to focus on properly. “You came close to winning, but not close enough. On behalf of the Benefactor, I give you my regards.”

He disappeared then, and the last thing I saw was Mika’s bloody fangs before everything went dark.

“
D
o
you think she’s ever going to wake up?”

My mind stirred at the familiar male voice, which sounded distant beyond the black, greasy fog that seemed to surround me. It took me a moment to put a name to the voice – Fenris.

Who was Fenris?

“Of course she’s going to wake up. Do you doubt my healing abilities?” another voice snapped – and this one I recognized instantly; Iannis. My heart warmed at the edge in his voice – he must be concerned for me.

Why was he concerned for me?

“No, it’s just that she was struck with
three
darts.” Fenris’s voice came again, and this time a picture of a wolf with coarse brown hair floated into my mind. Ah, yes. I remembered him now. “The amount of silver in them would have killed any full-blooded shifter.”

“Sunaya is forged from stronger stuff. She will pull through.”

Huh. He’d used my first name. I’d never heard him use my name before. I kind of liked the way it sounded when he said it – kind of exotic with his musical accent. I wanted him to say it again.

“Are her eyelids flickering?” Fenris’s voice turned urgent. “Iannis, I think she can hear us!”

Strong fingers wrapped around my hand, and their warmth drew my attention to how cold I was. I was half-frigid, half-numb, and I wondered whether my body was actually encased in a block of ice. But those warm fingers squeezed mine, and some of the ice retreated.

“Sunaya. Can you hear me?”

I cracked my eyelids open to see Iannis’s face hovering above mine. Anxiety shimmered in his gorgeous violet eyes, and I was so happy to see those eyes again that I could have kissed him.

“Are we on a first name basis now?” I croaked.

Fury eclipsed the anxiety in Iannis’s eyes, and his grip on my hand tightened painfully. “Certainly not. Being on a first-name basis would imply a level of trust we have clearly not achieved, or you would have clued me into the extreme danger of your investigation.”

Guilt settled onto my chest, a heavy weight that made it hard to breathe. “I’m sorry,” I muttered, lowering my eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the Shifter Royale, or about your plans to apprehend them? I could have provided assistance and possibly prevented this whole catastrophe.”

“Iannis.” Fenris’s voice was low, but firm, and he gently pulled Iannis back, allowing me to see that he was sitting in the chair next to the Chief Mage. He smiled at me. “I think now might not be the best time to berate her. She’s clearly very tired.”

I smiled back at Fenris, thankful for his intervention, but I held fast to Iannis’s hand, not wanting him to go before I explained myself. “I didn’t… keep it from you because I… distrust you.” Getting the words out was an effort, but I was determined. “I just knew you were so busy… and wanted to show you I could take care of this myself. I’m sorry.”

Iannis sighed, his eyes searching mine as he leaned forward. “There is no need for you to apologize. I can see that you were simply trying to ease my workload, as foolish as it was for you to leave me out of this. In the future, though, I expect you to fill me in on investigations that have far-reaching ramifications such as this one.”

“I guess I can do that.”

His lips twitched into a smile as he brushed a curl of hair back from my face. “When I return from my trip, I will make sure to devote more time to your training. In the meantime, you should sleep.” He passed a hand over my forehead, and the scent of magic stung my nose as he spoke a Word.

My eyes grew heavy instantly, but the word ‘trip’ sent off an alarm bell, and I grabbed at his hand as he tried to pull away. “Don’t go.” Rylan’s warning flashed in my head, and I realized that I’d never told Iannis about it.

“I have to go,” Iannis sounded regretful, but firm. “I’ve already postponed my departure to deal with this, and I cannot do so any longer. My dirigible is already waiting, as are the rest of my delegates.”

“You can’t… go…” I tried to tell him, struggling against the sleep spell he put on me, but my tongue was thick, and my eyelids felt like anvils had been hung from my eyelashes. “It’s… dangerous…”

“You’ll be fine.” I heard the smile in his voice. “So long as you stay here in the infirmary, in any case. The conference is only two weeks long, Sunaya. I’ll be back soon enough.”

His hand slipped from mine at the same time that the warning slipped from my mind, and I went under.

W
hen I next woke up
, it was to the sound of songbirds trilling outside my window. Opening my eyes, the first thing I saw was a table piled with an enormous amount of cards and flowers and candy. My stomach growled at the sight of a box of expensive hand-made chocolates, and it was then that I realized I felt well rested, much better than I had when I first woke.

But there was also a sense of unease in my gut, as though I’d left something unfinished, and I wasn’t sure what it was.

“Guys, guys!” Noria squealed. “I think she’s awake!”

I rolled over onto my back, and my eyes flew wide as I realized there were a whole bunch of people all seated around my bed. Noria, Comenius, Lakin, Elania, Annia, Elnos, Fenris – hell, even Director Chen was here, though she was standing by the foot of my bed rather than seated like the rest.

“By Magorah,” I groaned, pushing myself up into a sitting position. “What is this, a wake or something? Did anyone make sure to embalm me first?”

“You’re aliiiiive!” Noria squealed, throwing her arms around me. I grunted a little as she squeezed me tight.

“Yeah I’m alive, but not for long if you keep squeezing the air out of my lungs.” Despite my words, I couldn’t help the grin that spread over my face – her enthusiasm was infectious.

“We’re so glad you’re awake, Naya.” Comenius was beaming. “When they told us what had happened to you we thought you wouldn’t make it through the night.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think I was gonna make it either.” I frowned, trying to remember the events of the past twenty-four hours, but the last thing I recalled was being stabbed in the neck by Danrian. “Damn it. Danrian got away, didn’t he?”

“No, actually.” Director Chen’s cool voice drew my attention back to the foot of the bed. “Thanks to Enforcer Melcott and her task force, Warin Danrian was apprehended before he could get away.”

“Really?” My eyes flew to Annia.

“Really.” She grinned. “He’s in a holding cell right now, awaiting another round of interrogation. He’s resisting, but so far I’ve learned that the Shifter Royale was his own idea – there aren’t any other Royales being run outside of Canalo.”

“That’s great.” A weight I hadn’t realized was on my chest eased up at the knowledge that we weren’t going to have to shut down rings all across the Federation. Except… “Danrian told me that the Royale and the loans were all part of a bigger operation. Maybe he’s the only one who was doing the Royales, but there’s something else going on.”

“I know. I’m digging into his background to see if there’s anything I can use as leverage against him. Pretty sure I’ll be able to get him to crack.”

“Good.” But I couldn’t relax, not just yet. “What about Mika? And the other shifters? I’m guessing you guys must have gotten to me before Mika ripped my throat out, but were you able to save them all?”

“Yes,” Lakin confirmed. “I went there with Fenris and several members of the Mages Guild, and between all of us we were able to contain Mika and return her and the other shifters to their senses. We also got one of the human staff members to lead us to the warehouse where they were keeping the rest.”

“Which, by the way, included both Tylin and Nevin,” Annia said. “So both of them made it back along with most of the others. You can thank their families for the huge pile of gifts by your bedside – they’re all pretty grateful.”

“That’s great.” I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness though. “I wish we could have gotten to them sooner.”

Annia and I shared a look of understanding – we both knew that some of the families would never be getting their loved ones back.

“If it helps ease your mind, the Mages Guild has decided to declare all the debts owed by shifters to Sandin Federal Bank null and void,” Director Chen said gently. “Since the money was paid out with counterfeit gold it only seemed fair.”

“Thank you.” I smiled at Director Chen, feeling warmly toward her for the first time. “I’m sure the families will all be relieved.”

“Yes,” Director Chen said. “Congratulations on solving the case, Miss Baine. I’m sure your late mentor would be proud of you if he were here.”

“Thanks, but it was really this guy you should be thanking.” I turned toward Inspector Lakin. “If you hadn’t started digging into Sillara’s case, we never would have found out about any of this.”

Lakin shook his head. “Maybe, but you and Annia did a lot of the heavy lifting, especially at the end. All those shifters are free because of you.”

“I think we can all agree that Naya’s the hero,” Noria declared. “Hell, even your aunt is with me on this one. She sent you a thank you card for rescuing Mika.”

My eyebrows shot up. “You’re joking.”

“No, she really did.” Noria leaned back in her chair so she could grab one of the cards lying on my gift table. “Here, I’ll find it for you.”

“Director Chen! Director Chen!” Everyone turned toward the door as a grey-robed apprentice rushed into the infirmary. His cheeks were red from exertion, his long hair flying about, but it was the panic in his wide eyes that had me sitting up straight in alarm.

“What is it?” Director Chen asked, all business as she turned toward the apprentice. “It had better be very urgent for you to be barging in on us like this.”

“It’s about Lord Iannis!” the apprentice gasped. “The dirigible…!”

My veins turned to ice. “What?” I demanded, fisting my hands into the bedcovers. “What happened to the dirigible!”

The apprentice turned his wide-eyed gaze to me. “It never arrived at the capital. It’s disappeared, and the entire delegation with it.”

S
unaya Baine’s
adventures will continue in
Hunted by Magic
, Book 3 of the Baine Chronicles. Join the mailing list below so you can be notified of the release date, and to receive special updates, freebies and giveaways!

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