by Jasmine Walt
He frowned. “Why? Where are you planning on going?”
I told him about the tin company I’d run across in the grocery store, and its possible connection to the Resistance. “I’m tired of running around in circles on this,” I told him. “It’s about time we start pulling on threads, and this is the only real one I’ve got.”
“I’ll come with you,” Fenris decided. “We’ll return to the Palace for some food, since I know you’re starving, and I’ll arrange transportation.”
“Great,” I said, and that was when the windows exploded.
14
“Get down!” I screamed, grabbing Fenris by the collar. I threw us both to the ground, heedless of the glass sprayed all across the floor, and began crawling for the dubious safety of the reception desk. More windows exploded under the onslaught of gunfire, raining glass everywhere, and my ears rang from the deafening noise.
I heard the mages, who had ducked for cover as well, simultaneously speak a series of Words. The burnt-sugar scent of magic laced the air, and the hair along my arms stood as I felt energy ripple through the room. I peeked over the top of the desk just in time to see a blue force field ripple into existence, spreading across the front wall, and I sighed in relief as I watched a bullet ricochet off it.
“This won’t hold long,” the Legal Secretary warned as he got to his feet. “We need to neutralize the threat outdoors if we want to get back to the Palace safely.”
“Yeah, no shit.” I rose and peered through the blue shield so I could get a look at our attackers. The two deserters were standing outside, along with eight other men with the Resistance’s red bands around their arms. And all of them were carrying rifles. “Is there any way to disable their guns?” I asked as I watched several of our enemies split off from the group, running around to the back of the building. “They’re not that much of a threat without them.” Not against us, anyway, I thought as I eyed the Legal Secretary. “I’m hoping you can use your magic for more than defense?”
“All mages are trained in the basics of magical combat,” the Legal Secretary said stiffly. “I have not had much cause to use it up until very recently, but I daresay I won’t prove entirely useless.”
“Great.” I glanced at Fenris. “You should change,” I suggested. “You’ll be way more effective as a wolf if you have to fight.”
Fenris bared his teeth. “I don’t like the idea of having to sit back –” he began.
“You’re no good against a bunch of guys with guns,” I said sharply, switching to mindspeak. “I took a bullet yesterday, and it hurt like hell and took a long time to heal. I don’t think we can survive a whole lot of them, especially if we get shot in the heart or the head.”
“I’ll just use my magic in wolf-form, then,” Fenris snapped. “As long as I’m subtle about it, no one will notice.”
I sighed. “Fine. Just don’t die.”
Fenris crouched down behind the desk, and I turned away from the glow of bright, white light as he began to change. “Come on,” I told the Legal Secretary. “Let’s head them off from the back.”
We split up, as there were two corridors that wrapped around each end of the building, and left the other mages to hold the shield at the front. I sprinted for the rear exit, fairly certain they would come through there, then skidded to a halt as a door flew open, and two men charged in. Guess they’d broken in through whatever room lay beyond. They were big, and the corridor was narrow, so they fumbled to aim their guns. I took advantage of their slowness, blasting them both with balls of flame. The stench of burning human hair and flesh filled the air, along with their screams as the fire slammed into them, and I ducked as one of their guns went off, narrowly avoiding a bullet. They both dropped to the ground, trying to extinguish the blue flames by rolling around, and I blasted them again, then kicked them back through the door and shut it on them.
Footsteps sounded, hard and heavy against the tile. My nose told me the runner was human, so I whipped a chakram out and flung it. The large, metallic circle whizzed through the air as it spun around the curved hall, and I heard a loud gurgle as it struck flesh. My ears told me there was no one else around the corner, so I peeked around and watched as the blue-haired ex-enforcer dropped to his knees with my chakram sticking out of his throat, blood pouring from the wound and gushing all over his chest. He toppled sideways as his last breath left him, and I stepped forward and yanked the chakram from his throat.
“I see you’ve got things under control,” Fenris said dryly as he came around the corner, in his wolf form, as I had suggested. I was wiping my bloody chakram on the dead man’s clothing, and I straightened to look at Fenris, twirling the circular blade around my finger. “Good thing too, as the two men who’d stayed out front have shot holes into the engines of our steamcars.”
“Lovely,” I muttered. “Do the phones still work in this place? I think we’re going to need to call for transportation.”
“Indeed,” Fenris said. “It is neither expedient nor safe to try and return home on foot or by use of public conveyance.”
By unspoken agreement, we trotted to the rear of the building to make sure there was no one else lurking. The Legal Secretary was already waiting there, a dead mercenary at his feet, and my eyes widened as I noticed he was clutching a bloody shoulder.
“You got hit,” I exclaimed, closing the distance. “How bad is it?”
The Legal Secretary waved me off with his free hand, a gesture that caused him to wince. “The bullet only grazed me,” he said, briefly lifting his hand so I could see the wound. True to his word, it looked like the bullet had only ripped through cloth and a few layers of skin, rather than puncturing muscle. “Painful, but survivable. How many did you take out?”
“Three.”
“I’ve done the same,” he said, and I couldn’t help but be impressed. Guess the Mages Guild wasn’t just filled with useless bureaucrats after all. “Now there’s just the two in the front to deal with.”
“How do you suggest we take them out?” I asked. “I guess we could sneak around from the back.”
To my surprise, the Legal Secretary gave me a small grin. “I think between the two of us, we can do better than that.”
In the end, the solution turned out to be surprisingly simple. We took the stairs up to the second floor, then opened magical fire on the two remaining men from above. It was quick and efficient, and anybody watching them get struck down by a combination of magical lightning and fire would be scared shitless.
Yeah, Elnos was right. Humans might be a bit scarier when they were toting guns, but they were still no match for magical warfare. The thought made me more certain than ever that the only way to get the mages to change their ways was through reason, not violence.
By Magorah, I thought, shaking my head a little. Who would have thought that Sunaya Baine would be advocating the use of words instead of fists? And they said people couldn’t change.
The phone lines were still working, so we were able to call and arrange transport back to the Palace, in the form of more black steamcars. An entire fleet of them, in fact, filled with more mages to act as a guard for us. Even so, the ride back was silent and tension filled, and I braced myself for another attack from the Resistance. I didn’t relax until we were safely behind the warded protection of the Mages Quarter.
I half-expected Iannis to be waiting for us – after all, his apprentice and his closest friend had nearly been killed – but he was tied up in yet another meeting. Trying not to look too disappointed, I headed down to the kitchens with Fenris, who had turned back to human as soon as we’d arrived, to grab some lunch. They had prepared some kind of creamy pasta with chicken, and I wolfed down a mountain of the dish, refueling and drowning my disappointment in food. Yes, it was childish, but I wanted to see Iannis again. He’d left me on Hawk Hill with the promise that we’d finish what we started, and here I was, having to deal with the heat all by myself. Besides, I wanted to talk to him about mobilizing the j
obless shifters and humans in order to keep them from defecting to the Resistance.
“Come to the side entrance,” Fenris called. He’d finished eating long before me and had gone to arrange transport. “We’re ready to go check on that factory.”
Fenris was waiting for me there, but he held up a hand as I made for the double doors. “Hang on,” he said. “We can’t go outdoors without a disguise. It’s entirely possible the Resistance has shifters watching us from the air.”
“All right.” I crossed my arms. “I was thinking we’d come as tax inspectors from the Finance Secretary’s office. Does that work for you?”
“Yes,” Fenris said, a slightly amused expression crossing his face. “Perhaps we should have brought the Finance Secretary himself along.”
“Yes, I’m sure he’d just love to stop what he’s doing to come on a field trip with us,” I said dryly, then placed my hands on his broad shoulders. In short order, I’d turned him into a reedy mage with dark hair and spectacles, dressed in dark blue robes, and myself into a severe-looking strawberry blonde in pale pink. Both of us had the Mages Guild emblem stitched onto our breasts, and we were sporting clipboards, so I was sure we’d appear to be very official.
“What are the chances we’re going to get attacked again?” I wondered as we descended the steps and headed for the steamcar awaiting us.
“We can’t rule out the possibility,” Fenris acknowledged. “To be on the safe side, I had the car warded against bombs and bullets. It’s not foolproof – there’s little we can do if they blow up the bridge while we’re on it, for example, but the car should be relatively safe to travel in. Besides, we won’t be going as Sunaya and Fenris. We are Zane and Tanita from the Mages Guild.”
I groaned at the name Fenris had chosen, but before I could complain, he went around to the driver’s side of the car.
I stared. “Wait a minute. You’re driving?”
“There is little point in endangering a driver,” he called as he shut the door, and I yanked mine open so I could hear what he said next. “And before you ask, no. You can’t drive on the way back.”
“How the hell do you get off on saying that?” I demanded. “I didn’t even know you could drive.”
“I’ve been practicing new skills,” Fenris said lightly as he put the vehicle into gear.
Half an hour later, my fingers were twitching with the need to grab Fenris by his collar and shake him. “Do you think you could go any slower?”
Fenris raised an eyebrow. “I’m going at the suggested speed limit for non-residential roads,” he said, pointing to the dashboard.
“There’s a reason it’s a suggestion,” I retorted with a growl. “At the rate you’re dawdling, the factory will be closed by the time we arrive. Get moving, or I’m tossing you into the backseat and taking over.”
Fenris scowled, but he increased the speed until we were going at a clip that would actually get us there at a decent time. Timbran’s Gourmet Foods was located about forty minutes north of Turain, according to the map I was looking at – still a good hour and a half from here – so I settled into the passenger’s seat for a nap. After all, the car was warded, and there was little I could do unless we were actually under attack.
Please, please, don’t let there be another attack. The last thing I needed was to be stranded on a road many miles away from Solantha and any sort of shelter.
“Sunaya.” Fenris’s voice woke me, and I sat up, startled. I felt like I’d barely fallen asleep, but as I looked around, I realized that Fenris was taking us down a winding dirt road that led to a factory building just a few hundred yards ahead. It was situated right at the water’s edge – which made sense, since many of their shipments and supplies probably came and went by boat. “We’re here.”
“Great.” I slapped my cheeks to force myself into alertness. “Don’t forget, I’m taking the lead on this one,” I warned. After all, this was all my idea.
“If you insist,” Fenris said mildly.
As he parked the steamcar, it occurred to me how anomalous it was for Fenris to be as easygoing as he was. After all, just a few years ago, he’d been Polar ar’Tollis, Chief Mage of Nebara – a mage who had defied the Federation by helping a group of humans escape a death sentence. Clearly, he’d not only been a leader, but he’d also been willing to completely disregard the Federation’s authority in favor of his own.
And paid the price for it, I reminded myself as I looked at him. The one photograph I’d seen of Polar ar’Tollis had depicted a tall, fair-headed mage not unlike the Legal Secretary. Fenris had not only had to change his identity on every level, but his appearance as well. Perhaps the knowledge that his actions had cost him life as he’d known it had taken him down a few notches.
“Is there a particular reason you’re staring at me?” Fenris asked as he killed the engine.
I thought about brushing off the question, but we had a minute, so I answered it instead. “I just wonder if you regret your actions,” I said. “The actions that forced you to go into hiding and transform yourself into a shifter,” I clarified when Fenris arched a brow.
Fenris sighed, leaning back in his seat and staring out the windshield. “There are times when I wonder whether it was truly the right decision.” A faraway look entered his currently dark brown eyes. “I do wonder if it might have been better to let that family die, and use my position to lobby for changes to some of the outdated laws that continue to make lives difficult for Northia’s non-mage citizens.” He shook his head, laughing softly. “But then I remember that if the case had not come to my attention, if the injustice of their situation had not caused me to take action, I may very well have gone on governing as I was, indifferent to the plight of my subjects.”
His expression grew serious as he turned to face me again. “No, I may have paid a steep price for my actions, but on the whole, I prefer Fenris, the man I’ve become, to the late Polar ar’Tollis. And besides, I am needed here at Iannis’s side, at your side too, and right now, I can’t think of a better place to be.”
I smiled, tears stinging the corners of my eyes, and threw my arms around Fenris to hide them. “You’re such a sap,” I told him.
Fenris laughed, returning the embrace. “I’m not the only one,” he said, seeing through me.
“Seriously though, I’m glad you’re here. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there when I first came to the Palace.” Fenris’s calming nature and willingness to act as a go-between for Iannis and me had been crucial to bringing us together as master and apprentice… and maybe something more. “I might even be dead,” I added softly.
“Don’t be silly,” Fenris chided. “You’re far too resourceful to die. I’ve watched you escape death too many times to count in the short time we’ve known each other. I don’t know if it’s luck or intelligence that keeps you alive, but you defy death on a regular basis.”
“Maybe someone’s watching out for me,” I said with a grin, pulling back. I took a moment to compose myself, settling my face into stern lines again, then reached for the door. “Now let’s get inside and scare these poor people into telling us what they know.”
15
“Right this way,” the manager babbled as he led us down a dimly lit concrete hall in the factory. It had been pleasantly easy to intimidate the security guard into calling his boss, who came down and immediately began blustering and threatening us for trespassing. But once Fenris had produced a document that demanded access to Timbran’s tax records – an illusion, of course, but a human couldn’t tell that – the manager had crumbled, fear entering his grey-green eyes at the thought of being dragged back to Solantha and tossed onto Prison Isle for failing to cooperate.
“I assure you, we keep meticulous accounting records,” the manager continued, shouting over the noise of the factory machines. I forced myself to stop breathing through my nose – the stench of old food and meat that I sincerely hoped was not making it into tin cans, was turning
my stomach. “And, of course, the head of our finance department is up to snuff on tax codes. She would never make a mistake.”
“Of course not,” I said smoothly, injecting a slightly patronizing undertone into my voice. “But we have to make these surprise visits every once in a while, or else businesses would become complacent and try to work around the codes.”
“Yes, yes, I understand.” The manager led us into a large, utilitarian office space. Vertical filing cabinets and stacks of bankers boxes lined the walls. The two desks in the room, while neatly organized, had large stacks of paper on them, and boxes were stacked on the floor next to them.
“If you had come a few hours earlier, I could have had Verna show you the records.” The manager’s eyes darted around the room worriedly. “But, unfortunately, she’s gone for the day, as she gets in very early. I’ll do my best to find what you’re looking for.” He scooped a hand through his thinning hair, then turned to look at us again. “What did you say you were looking for again?”
“Let’s start with shipping records, from the past six months,” I supplied helpfully.
The man’s high forehead crinkled. “What exactly do you need the shipping records for?” he asked.
“You’re not interested in our reasons for looking at the shipment records,” Fenris said, magic resonating in his voice. I’d witnessed him use this talent only once before, to make a pair of Coazi forget they’d seen us, and I held my breath, hoping it would work. Fenris had said it was less effective on the strong-willed. “You want to show us what we need to know quickly, so you can get back to work.”
“Right!” the manager’s face cleared, and he turned on his heel. “I know exactly where the shipping records are. Come this way.”
I gave Fenris an arch look as we followed the manager over to the opposite corner, where he immediately started opening cabinet drawers. “I’d hate to think what would have happened if that didn’t work. Our cover would have been blown for sure.”