by Jasmine Walt
“You think I don’t know that?” I scoffed, leaning back against the cushions and crossing my legs as if my pulse hadn’t suddenly kicked up a notch at Noria’s accusation. “No one knows better than me I’m like a mouse under his paw. He’s a cold, calculating bastard who doesn’t give a flying fuck about me, and I plan on putting as much distance between myself and this place as I can, as soon as possible. We are not friends.”
“Good.” Apparently satisfied with my declaration, Noria sat back. “Now we can get on with the rest of our visit.”
I arched a brow. “And that is?”
“The silver murders.” Comenius pulled a new issue of the Shifter Courier from the inside of his tunic.
I took it from his outstretched hand, my eyes narrowing as I read the front-page article, which was about another shifter death.
“Surely this should spark some kind of investigation, no?” I asked after I’d read the article. The victim was the daughter of a wealthy shifter merchant – surely that had to merit some attention.
Comenius pressed his lips together. “I’m not so sure. I disguised myself as a reporter and attempted to interview the family, but I was ambushed by several thugs not far from the house. I suspect they had been following me.”
“By Magorah.” I reached for Comenius’s hand, but stopped myself. “Are you alright, Com?”
“I have a few tricks up my sleeves.” A small smirk played across his lips, but his expression quickly grew serious again. “I managed to palm this from them.” He drew a tiny cloth pouch from the inside of his sleeve and handed it to me. “Strange, that human drug dealers would be hanging around Shiftertown.”
I opened up the pouch and took a sniff. “This is cerebust. It only works on humans.” Scowling, I sniffed again to see if it was cut with anything, and a few grains of the drug flew up my nostrils. A strange, giddy feeling flew through me, and I dropped the bag, stunned.
Thankfully Comenius snatched it out of the air before it spilled all over the carpet. “Naya? Are you alright?” He peered into my eyes. “Your pupils are dilating.”
“I… I think I’m a little high.” Panic overtook the strange euphoria, and sweat broke out across the line of my brow. “That’s not possible. Shifters don’t get high.” Cerebust was a recreational drug used by humans, but like most drugs it didn’t work on shifters. Our metabolisms run too high – we might get a slight buzz from an actual hit, but a few flecks of cerebust in my nostrils should not have had any effect on me.
“As I thought.” Comenius’s eyes blazed triumphantly as he returned the little pouch to its hiding place up his sleeve. “Someone has treated this drug with a chemical or process that makes shifters susceptible to it.” He folded his arms as he sat back.
My mind reeled at the implications. “But that doesn’t make any sense,” I protested. “Surely I would have heard if there were drug dealers running around Shiftertown? That kind of thing can’t be kept a secret for long.” But my heart sank as I realized that for the last couple of months I’d spent most of my time between tending bar in Rowanville and taking on what few Enforcer jobs I could. It had been many moons since I’d spent any length of time in Shiftertown.
Comenius shrugged. “It could be a relatively new thing,” he said. “Something that’s still being tested on the market. But it is interesting that this is being peddled by humans.”
“Sure,” I said, waving my hand impatiently. “But I don’t see what this has to do with the silver murders.”
“Think about it, Naya.” Noria leaned forward, excitement gleaming in her dark eyes. “You said that when you examined Roanas’s glass, you didn’t detect any silver in it. And yet he died of silver poisoning.”
My jaw dropped as the implications of that dawned on me. “Are… are you saying that you think the cerebust is being laced with silver?”
“That would certainly explain why you were affected by it,” Comenius pointed out. “If it was a small enough dose, the silver would weaken you just enough to allow the drug to affect your system. And since you’d be high, you wouldn’t even notice.”
“So whoever’s manufacturing the drug, could also be behind these poisonings.” My mind was racing now. “That rhino shifter –”
“Could have been overdosing on a silver-laced drug,” Noria finished for me. “Unfortunately we’ll never know since you incinerated him, but Comenius and I have been looking through the papers and have found evidence that Rhino-boy wasn’t the only shifter who’s had a psychotic break like that in the last few months.”
Antsy now, I jumped up and started pacing in front of the fireplace. “I have to get out of here,” I said, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to solve these murders if I’m stuck behind these walls.”
“Don’t be in such a rush, Naya,” Comenius said hastily. He rose to his feet as well, squaring his shoulders as if prepared to restrain me. “We haven’t conclusively determined whether or not there actually is silver in the cerebust. Noria has an alchemist friend who is going to run some tests –”
“He’s a chemistry student,” Noria corrected, shooting him a testy glare. “Alchemy is magic.”
Comenius snorted. “Well excuse me.”
I couldn’t help it – I laughed. “My incarceration seems to have had a positive influence on you,” I told him. “I’ve never seen you so sassy before.”
He sobered a little. “You haven’t been incarcerated yet, Naya. And if I have my way, you won’t be.”
Tears pricked at the corner of my eyes, and I swallowed against the lump in my throat. “Thanks,” I whispered. “You guys are the best friends I could have.” I threw my arms around Comenius, then reached out and snagged Noria as well for a group hug.
“We know,” Noria said, the grin clear in her voice. “And that’s why I sent a message to Rylan asking him to break you out.”
“Noria!” Scandalized, I broke free of the hug, my eyes darting around wildly. I expected the guards to come rushing in any minute, to cart her away so that she could be questioned about the Resistance’s whereabouts. “You can’t say that shit in here, not when we’re being monitored!”
“Don’t worry,” Noria said, pulling something from her pocket. “As far as they’re concerned, we haven’t been saying anything at all for the last ten minutes of our conversation.”
She tossed the object in her palm to me, and I caught it, then held it up to the light. It was a small, handheld electronic device with a glowing blue light, and it smelled of magic. “What the hell is this thing?”
“It’s a jammer,” Noria said proudly, folding her arms across her chest. “Interferes with magical wavelengths when it’s activated, which I did before we started talking about the murders. Anyone listening to us via a magical spell wouldn’t have been able to hear a damned thing. I’ve already tested it out a few times, so I know it works.”
I gaped at the tiny gadget, amazed. “How the hell did you manage to come up with something like this?”
Comenius scowled at Noria. “She’s been experimenting with combinations of magic and technology with a college friend of hers who happens to be a mage,” he said. But though the disapproval in his voice was clear, I detected a glimmer of admiration in his eyes. “It’s going to get her killed one day, if the Mage’s Guild finds out.”
I arched a brow, impressed. “You actually found a mage who was willing to collaborate with you?”
Noria shrugged. “He’s in my college, so he’s pretty progressive.”
“I’ll say.” Though the Academy was technically open to anyone, it was mostly a human-centric institution, with a few shifters attending as well. Mage students were practically unheard of, as most of them simply moved on from their apprenticeships to positions in the Guild, or as freelancers. Very few cared about taking courses or learning skills outside of magic. “What’s your mage friend taking?”
Noria’s expression turned guilty. “Chemistry.”
> “Noria!” Comenius’s head looked like it was going to explode. “You can’t be serious. You’re taking the cerebust to a mage?”
Noria glared at him defensively. “He’s not like the others,” she told him. “He actually believes in equality among the races, which is why he’s willing to work with me. He believes magic should be accessible to everyone.”
“You know that if it’s found out that he’s helping you he could be punished, right?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Noria, I can’t believe you would put someone in danger like that, just to experiment with a few gadgets!”
Noria’s face crumpled under the weight of my disapproval. “I thought you of all people would understand, Naya. We need change, and it’s never going to happen if we don’t pursue things like this. Isn’t that what we’re all after?”
Guilt clawed at me as I took her by the shoulders and looked her in the eye. I was being the biggest hypocrite in the world, and I knew it. “Of course it is, but I can’t stand the idea of you getting hurt. Your sister would murder me.”
Noria frowned. “Why would she do that? This has nothing to do with you – I’m doing this of my own volition.” She shrugged my hands off her shoulders as anger sparked in her dark eyes. “What, you get to take credit for my rebellions now? I have my own thoughts and ideas, Naya, and no one else is responsible for them. You’re not the only one willing to fight, you know.”
“She doesn’t mean it that way, Noria.” Comenius gently placed his hands on the girl’s shoulders, trying to calm her. “She’s just worried about you.”
“Yeah, well she shouldn’t be.” Noria tossed her hair and gave me an imperious look. “I can take care of myself. And for once, I’m going to take care of you, too. It shouldn’t take Rylan long to get my message, and when he breaks you out of here, remember that I’m the one who saved the day.”
“Noria –” I reached for her as she turned away, but she was too quick, and she slipped out of the room in the blink of an eye. I sagged, the weight of guilt and defeat crushing my spine. “By Magorah, Com. What have I done?”
Comenius took me in his arms, and I rested my head on his shoulder, soaking up the comfort he offered. “She just wants to be like you and Annia,” he said softly.
“I know,” I said miserably. “But I want a better life for her than what we have, and instead she keeps pushing herself closer to the edge. And now because I keep trying to push her back, she hates me.”
“She doesn’t hate you.” Comenius pulled back, and reached down to grab something off the coffee table – the jammer. “If she did, she wouldn’t have left this for you.” Smiling, he placed it in my palm. A warm tingle spread through my body as he closed my fingers around it. “Keep it with you, for now. I don’t know how it works, but I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
“Don’t go,” I murmured as he stepped back.
His pale eyes shimmered with sadness. “You know I’m needed back at the shop,” he told me. “And besides, I’m reasonably sure the Chief Mage would not be pleased to find he has an additional houseguest.”
I scowled. “Fuck the Chief Mage.”
He arched a brow. “That would be an interesting way to escape your death sentence.”
I sputtered. “I’m not –”
“I know,” he said, squeezing my arm gently. “But I wouldn’t blame you if you took advantage of his interest in you. Think what you want, but there is a reason he hasn’t killed you yet.”
“Yeah, because I’m a puzzle he hasn’t had the chance to solve yet,” I muttered. “As soon as he cracks me, I’m gone.” But I couldn’t help but wonder whether or not there was any truth to Comenius’s words.
Comenius only smiled and shook his head. “Stay safe, Naya.” As he left me alone in the room, my head and my heart were swirling with so many thoughts and emotions I thought I would burst.
9
I spent the rest of the day caught up in a maelstrom of confusion, guilt, and anxiety that made me envy humans for their ability to drink their problems away. I was worried about Noria, worried about Rylan, worried about the shifter murders and my complete inability to do anything about them.
And on top of it all, I was also worried about the Chief Mage’s intentions toward me.
What if Comenius is right? I thought as I flopped down onto my bed, my belly full of beef stew and bread – yesterday’s leftovers by the smell of them, but at least I was getting fed. What if the Chief Mage’s interest is more than clinical? I thought about the fact that even though he was cold and dispassionate, he’d also shown me some kindnesses. I was out of those magic-suppressing shackles, he’d expended his own magical energy to heal me, and he was going out of his way to find my father.
Going out of his way? Are you kidding me? Finding your father is part of his investigation… he’s definitely not doing it for you.
A knock on my door derailed my train of thought, and I sat up as the scent of the visitor reached my nose – it was Elgarion. My heart rate sped as I crossed the room to answer the door – what did the Director’s apprentice want with me now?
I opened the door to see him standing in the hall with a candle in his hand. Ice filled my veins as I caught sight of the two guards standing behind him.
“What do you want?”
“The Chief Mage commands your presence,” Elgarion said stiffly. His dark eyes glittered in the candlelight, and I knew he was still thinking about the way I’d embarrassed him back in the storage chamber the other day. But I could hardly hold onto that thought – I was still stuck on the fact that the Chief Mage had sent for me in the evening, far earlier than I expected to see him again.
“Where?” I demanded as I reached for my jacket. My makeshift crescent knives and stakes were still in the pockets, and I was not going anywhere near those guards without them. “And why?”
“To his quarters,” Elgarion told me. “As for why, I cannot say. But he does not like to be kept waiting.”
As if I give a fuck about that, I wanted to snap, but I kept my mouth shut and followed Elgarion. He led me past the Chief Mage’s study and further back through a maze of corridors until we reached a door near the end of the West Wing.
“The Chief Mage will join you shortly,” Elgarion said, opening the door to reveal a large sitting room.
“Wait.” I hesitated, my foot on the threshold. “There’s no one here?”
“The Chief Mage insisted that this be a private meeting.” Disapproval was stamped all over Elgarion’s stony face.
“Then why did you bring these guards along?” I asked, incredulous.
Elgarion stiffened, then drew his robes around him. “Good night, Miss Baine.”
I gaped as he swept back down the corridor with the guards in tow, as the truth suddenly dawned on me. Elgarion, the apprentice to the Director of the Mage’s Guild, was afraid of me. Feeling smug, I grinned after Elgarion’s retreating shadow before I sauntered into the room.
The smugness faded as I looked around the large, empty chamber, which, while decorated in the Chief Mage’s colors, was cozier than I expected. The wall to my left was lined with bookshelves, and the one on my right was dominated by a large bay window that offered a beautiful view of the Firegate Bridge stretching across Solantha Bay. Couches made of dark, heavy wood and upholstered in blue and gold were grouped around a marble hearth where a roaring fire crackled. The flames illuminated the gold threading woven through the plush blue carpeting covering the floor, which sank under each step I took.
As I wandered over to the window to look out at the view, I realized that there were very few smells beyond the Chief Mage’s own scent and Fenris’s. He probably didn’t invite visitors here often. The realization only made me even more uncomfortable. What was so urgent that he had to call me in the middle of the night to his private chambers, that couldn’t be said in front of the guards?
The thoughts that question sparked caused my cheeks to flush and my palms to grow uncomfortably warm
. Which was great timing, because the door to my left, at the far end of the room, opened, and Iannis stepped through.
“Sir.” I turned on my heel to face him, feeling incredibly off-balance. He was still dressed in the same robes from this morning, but his cherry wood hair had been freed from the confines of its queue, flowing freely around his oblong face, the ends flowing over his broad shoulders. The loose waves gleamed in the firelight, and I fought down a sudden urge to reach out and touch them. Was his hair as soft as it looked?
If that’s not the fastest way to get yourself incinerated, I don’t know what is.
“Sir?” He arched a brow as he came to stand next to me. The firelight behind him cast his features into shadow, making him look even more enigmatic and mysterious than usual. “Could it be that your time in the palace is actually teaching you some manners?”
I flushed. “My apologies,” I quipped. “I should have addressed you as Almighty Dictator.”
He frowned, not at all amused by my sarcasm. “I don’t understand why you aren’t fearful of me.”
I scowled, crossing my arms over my chest. “Do you want me to be afraid of you?”
For the first time, hesitation flickered over his features. “I demand respect,” he said firmly. “Respect and order are the only means to ensure a functioning society.”
“Maybe,” I snapped. “But respect still has to be earned, and force alone isn’t enough for you to get it. Perhaps you should try actually empathizing with your people.”
The Chief Mage was silent for so long that my skin started prickling beneath the weight of his stare. What the hell was I doing, telling the Chief Mage how to run his city? Was I trying to get my head chopped off? A bead of sweat rolled down my spine.
“I’m leaving tonight,” he finally said, “which is why I summoned you. I won’t be able to meet with you tomorrow as I originally anticipated.”
“Leaving?” Dread pooled in my stomach at the thought of being cooped up in this palace for who knew how long. I knew I should probably be excited – my chances of escaping increased tenfold with the Chief Mage gone – but the truth was I wanted him to wrap up his ‘investigation’ of me, and if he left that would only drag things out. “Leaving where?”