by Jasmine Walt
Scorched by Magic
The Baine Chronicles, Book 7
Jasmine Walt
Dynamo Press
Contents
Author’s Note
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Glossary
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Jasmine Walt
Copyright © 2017, Jasmine Walt. All rights reserved. Published by Dynamo Press.
This novel is a work of fiction. All characters, places, and incidents described in this publication are used fictitiously, or are entirely fictional. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, except by an authorized retailer, or with written permission of the publisher. Inquiries may be addressed via email to [email protected]
Cover illustration by Judah Dobin
Cover typography by Rebecca Frank
Edited by Mary Burnett
Electronic edition, 2017. If you want to be notified when Jasmine’s next novel is released and get access to exclusive contests, giveaways, and freebies, sign up for her mailing list here. Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Author’s Note
Dear Reader,
If this is the first book you’ve picked up in the Baine Chronicles series, I’ve included a glossary in the back of the book to help illuminate the backstory. If you’ve already read the previous books, this glossary will help reacquaint you to the people, places, and things introduced to you in earlier volumes. You can either read the glossary first to familiarize or re-familiarize yourself with Sunaya’s world, or you can plunge into the story and refer to it as needed. The guide is in alphabetical order, and characters are listed last name first.
To the new reader, welcome to the Baine Chronicles! And to those of you who have read the previous books, welcome back and thank you! Your support allows me to continue doing what I love most—writing.
Best,
Jasmine
1
“You did a wonderful job organizing this party, Sunaya.”
“Thanks.” The approval in Iannis’s deep, slightly musical voice sent a little thrill of joy through me, and I smiled. Surveying the ballroom from our seats at the head table, I had to agree the praise was deserved, even if I hadn’t done it all on my own. The place looked resplendent in the state colors of blue and gold, which were featured in the Canalo emblem hanging from banners draped along the walls, echoed in the linens on the round dining tables, and even in the uniforms the servants wore as they went around serving food and refilling champagne glasses.
Chandeliers boasting hundreds of magic-fueled, dripless candles glittered above us, illuminating the ballroom, which was packed to capacity. Every seat at every table was filled with shifters and humans alike. Relatively few mages were present aside from the guards flanking the entrances. It was an unusual state of affairs for the Solantha Palace ballroom, which usually hosted mage-only events, and I took it as a good sign that neither the Mage Council nor the Secretaries seated at the high table with Iannis and me were being particularly snooty tonight.
Captain Galling should be up here with us, too, I mused, my eyes surveying the crowd. This was his farewell reception, and he was the guest of honor. But Galling had wanted to sit with his enforcers, and I couldn’t really blame him. He would be much more at ease celebrating amongst his own, rather than up here with a bunch of mages he barely knew. He was sitting at a table near the front with Deputy Captain Skonel, Foreman Vance, and a bunch of other Main Crew enforcers with their spouses. And at his elbow was Mrs. Galling, fully recovered from her liver disease, her cheeks glowing with health and her eyes sparkling.
The sight did my heart good, and I reached beneath the table to squeeze Iannis’s hand. He’d healed Captain Galling’s wife some months earlier in exchange for his cooperation during the Uprising, and after word had quickly spread of the miraculous recovery and its cause, many others had come to the Palace requesting a healing as well. Rather than rebuff them, Iannis had decided to devote every fourth day of the week to healing terminal cases. He would spend all day at the Maintown Hospital, then come back to the Palace and collapse into bed, exhausted. The healings took a toll both mentally and physically, but they had done wonders to help repair relations between the Mages Guild and Maintown.
As I reached for my glass, a tremor shook the walls and floor, causing water to slosh onto the tablecloth and over my half-eaten steak. Gasps of surprise and dismay echoed throughout the room, and servants rushed over to assist guests who had accidentally spilled food or drink on their clothing. My aunt Mafiela, holding court at a table toward the middle with the rest of the Shiftertown Council and Inspector Boon Lakin, looked particularly incensed at the large red wine stain on the bodice of her peach-colored gown. Inspired, I surreptitiously pointed a finger at her, and muttered the Words to a cleaning spell Iannis had taught me during our travels. The stain magically disappeared, and Mafiela’s head jerked up, shock in her beautiful face. Those yellow shifter eyes met mine, and I gave her a knowing grin. She inclined her head to me, a small smile playing on her lips, then turned back to her food.
From her, it was high praise indeed.
“I do hope that tremor isn’t a sign of worse things to come,” Cirin Garidano, the Finance Secretary, said from Iannis’s left. “The last major quake here was nearly two hundred and fifty years ago. Judging by the stories, I wouldn’t like to experience an event like that.”
“We get tremors like this on a regular basis, Cirin,” Iannis reminded him, clearly unwilling to discuss the subject during a celebration. “This is Canalo, where the earth is never entirely silent.”
Iannis wasn’t nearly as blithe and dismissive as he sounded—I knew the subject had already cost him some sleepless hours. Upon our return to Solantha a few weeks ago, Fenris had presented us with a letter he’d received from Lord Faring, an ancient mage who’d lived in the area during Solantha’s last major earthquake. After narrowly escaping death, he’d made studying tectonic events his life’s work. He’d warned that another big quake was likely imminent, and that the city was not well prepared for it. Iannis had made an appointment to consult the old mage further—in fact, he’d gone to see him this morning. I was very interested in hearing what he’d learned, but there hadn’t been a chance to talk to him about it, what with the banquet preparations. Despite his calm, stately demeanor, I could sense that Iannis was worried about whatever he’d been told.
When the servants were about to serve the dessert course, Iannis stood. A hush instantly settled over the room, shifters and enforcers turning their attention toward their Chief Mage. As Iannis launched into his farewell speech for Captain Galling, giving a rundown of the captain’s career and accomplishments, I let my eyes drift over the crowd again. Most of the guests were relaxed and in a good mood, but there was still tension in many faces and shoulders. There might not have been very many mages in the room, but shifter and human relations were still strained since it had come out that the
Resistance had been planning to backstab its shifter members.
That news had poisoned race relations everywhere, including within the Enforcers Guild. During the three months Iannis and I had been gone, several crews had broken up and new ones had been formed. And all this time, Father Calmias’s fervent followers were still stirring racial tensions.
Not wanting to look like I was bored, I turned my attention back to Iannis just in time for him to bring Captain Galling up to the podium for the obligatory speech. The captain had been working for the Enforcers Guild for over thirty years, and while he had gone soft and sloppy toward the end of his career, he was still well respected. Many of the enforcers present seemed genuinely sad the captain was leaving. There was much stomping and cheering from them as he made a few enforcer in-jokes, the raucous behavior drawing appalled looks from the stuffy Mage Council members.
“I know that some of you are uncertain about the future of the Enforcers Guild,” Captain Galling was saying, a grave expression on his face now. “But my successor, Acting Captain Skonel, is more than man enough for the job.” He raised his glass to Skonel, who was still seated, and the crowd cheered again. Skonel had been Foreman to the second largest crew for a good ten years before he was promoted to deputy captain. Clean-cut, handsome, and with a fair but militant air about him, he was a far a cry from Garius Talcon, his sleazy predecessor who’d secretly been working with the Resistance and had tried to press me for sexual favors more times than I could count. I didn’t know Skonel very well, but I expected he would manage the Enforcers Guild with a firmer hand than Galling had-.
“I will never truly stop being an enforcer, and I will be here to assist with this transition as Captain Skonel settles into his new role. But I am getting to be an old man now, and I would like to spend what’s left of my time here on Recca with my lovely wife.” He raised his glass to Mrs. Galling, who beamed at him. “Her restored health is entirely due to Lord Iannis’s abilities, and I will always be grateful.” He turned toward Iannis, his steely eyes brimming with emotion, and bowed. “Thank you, sir, for all you have done for Solantha and Canalo. You are the finest Chief Mage this state has seen for some time.”
I could tell by Iannis’s slight hesitation that he had not been expecting the compliment, but he smiled and inclined his head graciously. There was a second or two of silence before the room erupted into thunderous applause. It took everything I had to dim down my grin into a more sedate smile. Iannis worked far harder with the shifter and human populations in Canalo than his predecessor had, and it was often a thankless job due to the animosity toward mages that had built up over centuries. I was thrilled to see he was finally getting some genuine recognition.
After the speeches were finished, the tables were cleared away to make room for dancing and general mingling. I took Iannis’s offered arm and we made our rounds throughout the room, taking the time to speak to Captain Galling and his family, the Shifter Council members, and various prominent figures from Maintown and Shiftertown.
“Sunaya,” a throaty, accented female voice called, and I turned to see Elania weaving through the crowd toward me. The talented witch looked sexy and elegant in a black sequined sheath dress, her thick dark hair piled up in one of her elaborate up-dos, and amber dangling from her ears and throat. “You look wonderful.”
“Thank you.” Smiling, I smoothed my hands over the silk skirt of my emerald-green dress. I would never look as graceful and mysterious as Elania, but I was getting more comfortable dressing in finery, even going so far as to request certain hairstyles and outfits rather than just letting my maid decide as I had in the beginning. My thick black curls had been braided and twisted into an up-do of their own, secured with tiny diamond pins that caught the light.
“Where is Comenius?” I asked. I had been too busy to notice his arrival. Even though Nelia, my secretary, had helped with the preparations, it had been my first time organizing an event on this scale and I’d been too stressed to keep track of all attendees.
Elania’s full mouth tightened almost imperceptibly. “He is at home with Rusalia. The babysitter we used last week refused to come back, and we have not been able to find another on such short notice.”
“Well, that sucks.” I pursed my lips at the thought of Rusalia, Comenius’s estranged daughter who had come to live with him after her mother’s unexpected death. I hadn’t met her yet since Iannis and I had only been back from our travels for a few weeks, and the one time I’d managed to stop by Com’s shop, Rusalia had been in school. “Is she having a rough time settling in?”
“I’m afraid so.” Elania sighed heavily, and my heart sank at the wave of despair coming off her. It unsettled me to see Elania looking anything but self-assured and wise—her confident and mysterious aura always made her seem as though she had the secrets of the universe locked behind those dark beguiling eyes. But apparently, those secrets did not include how to tame an unruly child. “I cannot blame the girl for being out of sorts,” Elania said, trying hard to be fair, though it was clear to me that she was not so altruistic in her own thoughts. “Her mother did die very suddenly, and she is living in a foreign country with a father she can barely remember. We’re trying to be understanding of her situation, but Comenius is taking it very hard. He has always wanted to be there for his daughter, and now that he finally has the chance, she is pushing him away as hard as she can.”
“I’m sorry.” I couldn’t imagine what Com was going through right now, and I was damn sure I’d be handling it with a hell of a lot less grace than he probably was. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Elania shrugged one shoulder. “No, but I’m certain Comenius would appreciate another visit. We have been looking forward to hearing more about your travels.” She smiled, banishing the shadows lurking in her gaze. “We have missed you.”
“I promise I will visit soon.” I hugged Elania, my insides squirming with guilt. One hurried visit in three weeks was not nearly enough, but there had been so much to do after being gone for several months that I hadn’t made the time. I’d take Rylan with me tomorrow to see Com, I vowed, no matter what else I had on my plate.
Speaking of Rylan, it was a shame he couldn’t be here with his mother tonight. Like the other Shiftertown Council members, Mafiela had brought her children, and Rylan should have been amongst that number. But he’d been stationed outside the ballroom in his guard uniform, since he was still officially serving as Lanyr, my tiger-shifter bodyguard, as punishment for fighting for the Resistance. As long as he wore that disguise, he couldn’t be with the Baine Clan even if he wanted to.
Glancing to my left, I noticed Iannis had moved off to talk to some other official. Rather than join him, I drifted through the crowd on my own. Maybe I’d go find Inspector Lakin—we were still friends, after all, and I wanted to catch up with him.
Most of the enforcers gave me polite smiles and nods as I passed, but a few outright ignored me. None of them seemed to know how to approach me, and it struck me that I wasn’t really sure how to approach them either. I’d always considered myself an enforcer first and a mage second, but after everything I’d been through, was that still the case? As the Chief Mage’s fiancée and apprentice, I no longer answered to Captain Galling—or rather, Acting Captain Skonel. Socially, I outranked them all, even though within the Guild, I was still just a lowly “lone-wolf” enforcer.
By Magorah, when was the last time I’d taken a bounty? Could I even call myself an enforcer anymore? I still wore my enforcer bracelet, but as I glanced down at my wrist, I was struck by how much it clashed with my finery. Sadness filled me as I realized I was slowly, inexorably, drifting away from my roots.
“Enforcer Baine,” a male voice on my left said, and I blinked, startled from my thoughts. I turned to see Wex Ursini, a bear-shifter enforcer from one of the smaller crews. He was nearly seven feet tall, his massive form crammed into a brown and gold tunic and pants. His normally shaggy brown hair had been slicked back from his ha
ndsome face, leaving his dark amber eyes unframed. “Or is it Miss Baine, or Lady Baine? I’m not really sure how to address you,” he admitted with a sheepish smile.
“Sunaya is fine,” I said, partly because I wanted to try to establish friendly relationships with the enforcers again, and partly because I didn’t really know how I should be addressed either. Did I have a title? I’d ask Iannis later. “How are you enjoying the party?”
“Very much,” he said, raising his glass. “I’m guessing I have you to thank for making sure we have teca here tonight?”
“Hell yeah.” I grinned. Teca was a spicy-sweet alcoholic beverage made by fermenting the fruit of a plant by the same name, and it was pretty much the only thing strong enough to get shifters drunk. It was being served by request only, because a single drink could kill a human. “I don’t see why the mages and humans should be the only ones to have a good time tonight.”
Wex grinned back. “I appreciate it,” he said, then took another drink. His amber eyes found Iannis in the crowd across the room, and he nodded. “I know that some of the enforcers still aren’t sure how they feel about you, but don’t think a bunch of us haven’t noticed the Chief Mage has been more involved in the community since you’ve shacked up with him. My father has high hopes that things will continue to improve for us.”
“They will. I’m happy that the Shifter Council has become more open to working with the Mages Guild.” Wex’s father was the Chieftain of the Bear Clan—Wex was the youngest of five sons, which was why he could get away with working as an enforcer instead of joining the family’s successful welding business.
“You know,” Wex said, his easygoing expression growing pensive as he looked toward Iannis again, “I do wonder if Lord Iannis will ever truly be able to deal with the corruption in Solantha, and all the favoritism that’s still occurring. He’s a busy man, and unless he finds someone suitable to delegate these issues to, he may not ever have time to address them.”