Bound by Magic (2 page)

I
hopped
on my steambike and rode down to the Port, the stretch of coastline a few miles east of Solantha Palace where seafaring merchants did business side by side with trendy boutiques and magical shops, the latter operated by foreign magic-users who’d obtained a special license to practice magic in the Northia Federation. Aside from rare cases like myself, they were the only people outside of the mage families allowed to practice magic in the Federation – everyone else born with magical powers either had to subject themselves to a magic wipe, or face execution.

I shook my head as I parked my bike outside Witches’ End, the pier where the aforementioned magic shops stood, marveling at how my life had changed so drastically in two short months. As a shifter-mage hybrid, I’d lived under the threat of execution daily, hiding my forbidden magic and pretending that I was half-human rather than half-mage to those who could tell I wasn’t a full-blooded shifter. But when my secret was outed, instead of executing me, the Chief Mage chose to take me on as his own apprentice so I could master my powers and prevent myself from accidentally hurting someone – which, according to the mages, was the whole reason why magic was forbidden to non-mages in the first place.

I’d always hated mages for their high-handed superiority and the status that had been afforded them through birth and circumstance, but the Chief Mage’s offer to train me had started to chip away at some of my anger, and the more time I spent working at the Mages Guild, the more I got used to the stuffy bastards. No, I might not ever master their icy composure, or don their flowing robes, but I was beginning to embrace my magical side, and that was something I never thought would happen.

Looping my thumbs into my jean pockets, I walked down the pier, a bounce in my step as I headed over to Comenius Genhard’s shop,
Over the Hedge
. Comenius was a hedge-witch from Pernia, a foreign country across the eastern sea. He specialized in nature magic, his shop part apothecary, part charm-shop. He was also one of my best friends, and between my apprenticeship and the few Enforcer gigs I managed to get, I hadn’t seen him in ages. I was looking forward to dragging him out of his shop for a stiff drink so we could catch up.

Unfortunately, Comenius was nowhere to be found, either in his shop or in the apartment above the building. Annoyed, I leaned against the glass storefront and stared out at Solantha Bay, my eye drawn to the Firegate Bridge, its glorious red towers glowing in the light of the dying sun. It was seven o’clock, and the shop should have still been open. Where the hell was Com? At the very least Noria, his assistant, should be here, but the CLOSED sign told me the shop was completely empty. The same thing had happened last time I’d dropped by two weeks ago, which was highly unusual.

Maybe he’s out with his new girlfriend.

I pouted at the thought – not because I didn’t want Com to have a love life, but because it reminded me that my own relationships were sorely lacking right now. Sure, I wasn’t the only one in the single department – my friend Annia, Noria’s sister, was still unattached as far as I knew – but Noria had Elnos, and with Com’s time being taken up by someone too, I was feeling decidedly left out.

Shaking my head, I turned around and walked back up the pier towards my bike. I was being ridiculous. I’d never had much time for a love life before, and with my schedule monopolized by the Palace I certainly didn’t have time now. There was no point in pining over something I couldn’t have.

I slung my leg over the seat of my bike, then just sat there for a moment as I considered my next move. Maybe I should go track down Annia and see if she needed help with any of her current jobs. She’d thrown me a few bones the last couple of weeks, giving me some small local jobs that I could fit in between the cracks of my busy schedule, and she might have something for me now.

But as I scanned the crowds of people walking up and down the neat sidewalks of the Port, tourists and locals alike, I realized that I didn’t want to work tonight. For once, I wanted to be one of those carefree people, talking and laughing and enjoying the beautiful summer night with someone else.

So instead of heading down to Annia’s apartment in Maintown, I took off for Rowanville, leaving a white-hot cloud of steam in my wake as my engine let out a shrill whistle. I was going to have to load up on some more coal soon – the charm that magically replenished the water in the bike did not, alas, extend to the coal itself. Just one more expense to burden my alarmingly empty money pouch with.

A kind of nostalgia washed over me as I walked into
The Twilight
, the interspecies nightclub that had kept me financially afloat back when Garius Talcon, the former Deputy Captain of the Enforcer’s Guild, was refusing to give me work. The colorful strobe lights reflecting off the black lacquered surfaces were as annoying as ever, but familiar, and I waved to Cray, the big black guy behind the counter that I used to tend bar with. He didn’t smile, but he gave me a friendly nod, and I relaxed a little, relieved that he wasn’t going to try and kick me out. My last day working in the bar, I’d left him in the lurch when Roanas had called me for help, and in fact I’d nearly ripped Cray’s face off when he tried to stop me.

A pang of sadness for my dead mentor hit me in the chest, but I shrugged it off, determined to keep my spirits up tonight. Claiming one of the barstools for myself, I leaned forward on the counter and waited until Cray finished with his customer.

“Hey Naya,” he said in his deep, slightly gravelly voice. “Been awhile since I’ve seen you. How are things?”

“Hectic,” I said with a sigh, swinging my feet back and forth beneath the counter a little. “The Chief Mage keeps me pretty busy up at the Palace.”

“I can imagine.” His dark eyes swept over me for a second, and I could tell he had questions, but he didn’t press. “You want your usual tonight?”

I hesitated, on the verge of ordering a shot of
teca
and amaretto on ice, but I decided against it.
Teca
was one of the few alcoholic beverages that could get shifters buzzed, but after being shot up with drugs two months ago and nearly killed, I wasn’t in any hurry to be intoxicated again.

“Nah, I think I’ll just take a virgin sex on the beach. And a bacon cheeseburger.” My magic lessons with the Chief Mage always left me hungry, as using magic drew on my energy stores.

“Coming right up.” Cray’s lips quirked at the girly drink, and possibly the irony as well. There
was
something silly about ordering a “virgin” sex on the beach, but since I couldn’t get drunk I didn’t see the point of paying extra for the alcohol.

He served my drink with a cute little tropical umbrella, and as I sipped at the sweet, fruity concoction, waiting for my burger, I scanned the crowd to see if there was anyone interesting to talk to. To my surprise, I picked out Inspector Boon Lakin, hunched over the table in one of the booths toward the back of the club and away from the strobe lights. A fedora was perched atop his blond head, partially concealing his face, but I recognized the brown leather coat he was wearing even if the table did conceal most of it – that was definitely him.

Curious as to what he was doing here, I grabbed my drink and burger, which Cray had just delivered, and crossed the room. As I drew closer, I saw that Lakin was engrossed in a case file, which must have been why he didn’t hear me approach. Even more interesting. Why would he bring his work to a place like this?

“Hey Lakin,” I greeted him, and his head shot up as I slid into the seat across from him. I grinned at the startled expression on his rawboned face. “Long time no see.”

“No kidding.” Lakin’s reddish-yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness as he regarded me, a small smile playing on his lips. “I think the last time I saw you, you were a few seconds away from punching Chieftain Baine in the face.”

I snorted. I’d met Lakin, the new Shiftertown Inspector and Roanas’s replacement, over a month ago, when I’d stopped by the Shiftertown Cemetery to say goodbye to Roanas and make my peace with his death. As it turned out, he’d received an emergency response call from my aunt Mafiela, the Chieftain of the Jaguar Clan, and I’d decided to tag along. My aunt and I had nearly come to blows during our impromptu family reunion, but I’d gained some valuable intel regarding the case I was working so I didn’t regret it.

“So, what brings you here to the Twilight, and with your work, no less?” I gestured at the file on the table in front of him, which he’d closed when I sat down. “Figured you’d prefer the quiet of your office.”

Lakin rolled his eyes. “I would, if it were actually quiet over there,” he said. “The residents of Shiftertown find excuses to knock on my door at any hour of the day. I figured Rowanville would be a good place to escape them.”

“Well I don’t know if you’ll find peace and quiet, but I’m sure nobody from Shiftertown will think to look for you here.” Shiftertown was the section of Solantha where the different shifter clans resided, while most of the shifters that lived in this part of town were clanless. Rowanville was the melting pot of the city, the only place where shifters, humans and mages lived side-by-side, so a Shiftertown resident in need of an Inspector wouldn’t be coming here to find him.

“Are you going to tell me what this current case is about?” I asked before taking a big bite out of my burger. I’d been looking for company, and now that I’d found it I wasn’t planning on going anywhere.

Lakin eyed me for a moment, a debate going on behind his yellow-red shifter eyes. “I’ve actually been doing some more digging into the silver murders,” he said, tapping the file. “This is the file Roanas had started on the matter, the one you asked Mr. Genhard to hand over to me. I’ve added a bit to it since then.”

“No kidding.” My eyes widened as I glanced down at the file – it was a good deal thicker than it was when I’d sneaked it out of Roanas’ house and given it to Comenius to hold onto. Roanas had only just begun to dig into the silver murders before he was killed, so the details in the file had been pretty sparse when I’d recovered it. “What have you dug up so far?”

Lakin pressed his lips together, then opened the file and pulled out a photograph. “I found out that your Enforcer colleague, Sillara Tarenan, had a human live-in partner named Narina who lives in Rowanville,” he said, sliding the photograph across the table. “I went to speak to her earlier, to find out if she knew anything that would explain why Sillara was targeted.”

I picked up the photo of Sillara’s lover, my heart sinking a little as I studied the smiling, heart-shaped face of a young woman with flowing pale hair. I had a feeling she wasn’t smiling like that anymore.

Like me, Sillara had been an Enforcer, and she’d been one of the earliest silver poisoning victims. She and I hadn’t been close, but we’d been friendly and she was damn good at her job. Her murder stood out because she was the only shifter from Rowanville to be targeted, so it made sense for Lakin to be digging into her case. An old anger filled me at the senseless loss – if I ever got my hands on Petros Yantz, the bastard who’d organized the murders, I’d make sure he suffered for a long, long time.

“Did you learn anything?” I asked, handing the photo back to him.

“Nothing concrete,” Lakin admitted, nursing his drink – a cup of coffee, judging by the scent wafting from it. I winced as he brought the cup to his lips – the coffee here was terrible. “But she did tell me that Sillara was involved in an important investigation.”

I sat up straight. “What kind of investigation?”

“That’s the thing – her partner doesn’t know. She says Sillara didn’t talk much about her work at home. However, she also told me that Sillara had been incredibly stressed in the weeks before her death – she’d toss and turn in their bed at night and was always on edge.”

“Sounds like she was dealing with something big, then. Something that Yantz didn’t want her to uncover.” I forced down the anger that threatened to rise in my throat at the mention of Yantz’s name – stewing about it would do me no good right now.

“That’s what I’m thinking,” Lakin said darkly. “My next move is to try and figure out what she was working on… but I’m not sure how cooperative the Enforcer’s Guild will be about turning her files over to me.”

“How about we both head on over there tomorrow?” I offered, excited at the prospect of doing something useful on this case. “I can twist some arms for you and help get what you need.”

Lakin’s lips twitched. “I’m sure you could,” he agreed, then paused. “Is this going to interfere with your apprenticeship at all? I wouldn’t want to put you on the Chief Mage’s bad side.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m
always
on his bad side, so there’s nothing new there.” I was
not
going to let this stupid apprenticeship get in the way of my chance to participate in this investigation, the Mages Guild be damned. Surely they could find someone else to shuffle paperwork around tomorrow morning. This was far more important.

Lakin only shook his head. “Well you’re a grown woman, and I’m not going to pass up your assistance when I could really use it.” He smiled, and the expression softened his rawboned features. “I really appreciate your help with this, Sunaya.”

“No problem.” I smiled back as pleasure filled me. It had been a long time since I’d basked in the glow of appreciation, and I’d forgotten what it felt like. “I’ve been cooped up in the Palace for way too long. I’ll be glad to finally have some action again.”

Lakin glanced down at the file. “Somehow I get the feeling we’re going to experience more than our fair share of action before this case is over.”

He didn’t know how right he was.

T
he next morning
, I pulled into the small parking lot outside the Enforcer’s Guild building, the sun just cresting the rooftops of the buildings lining the street. I figured the earlier we got this done, the sooner I could get back to the Mages Guild. Sure, I was due for a scolding either way, but they’d be less pissed at me if I was simply late rather than absent the entire morning.

As I sat on my steambike waiting for Lakin to arrive, I allowed my gaze to roam over the tall, dingy grey building that represented Canalo’s law enforcement system. It was rectangular, four stories high, with cracked windows and stains sunk deep into the concrete walls. The state of the building was a perfect allegory of our current justice system – old, flawed and neglected. One of the reasons I’d become an Enforcer was to try and make a difference in the system, and uncovering Yantz’s role in the silver murders was the first time I’d made a dent in my goal. It felt good to finally be back in the trenches again, even if just for a short time.

A large shadow passed over my head, and I glanced up to see one of the new tourist dirigibles passing overhead, puffing out white steam that trailed across the morning sky. Half-open glass windows lined both sides of the small cabin fitted to the underside of the large, bright red transport, and I snorted at the sight of cheery humans leaning out and gleefully waving their hands. I was amazed the tour company allowed such a thing – if a tourist hadn’t tumbled out one of those windows yet, it was bound to happen eventually. But dirigibles were a relatively new addition to Solantha’s tourism industry, and I had to admit that enjoying the sunrise from up there sounded pretty fun. If I ever had some spare coin again, I’d have to get myself a ticket, even if they were pretty pricey.

The high-pitched whistle of Lakin’s steambike drew my attention away from the dirigible, and I turned my head to see him enter the parking lot. He wore a helmet with a visor that covered his face, and the wind blew his long leather coat out behind him, which I had to admit looked pretty badass. Maybe I should get myself one of those things.

With what money?

I sighed, shoving my hands into the achingly empty pockets of my own leather jacket. Right. I was really going to have to do something about my money situation soon. The reward I got for my part in uncovering the silver murder conspiracy was drying out in my bank account, and the small stipend I received from the Mages Guild as an apprentice wasn’t enough to cover my living expenses. If I didn’t convince the Chief Mage to let me take on work at the Guild soon, I really
was
going to have to move back into the Palace. Most people in my situation would have happily taken Iannis’s offer of free room and board without a second thought, but I knew the moment I did that I would lose my connection to the outside world. If I cloistered myself away in the Palace long enough, it would be all too easy to turn into one of these lofty, ice-hearted mages and lose touch with myself. And I’d be damned if that was going to happen.

“Morning,” Lakin said as he tugged off his helmet. His blond hair was slightly tousled, making him look positively boyish as he grinned at me, and I was surprised at the answering flutter in my stomach. “You ready to twist some arms?”

“You bet.” I grinned back as I hopped off my bike.

We drew curious looks from the Enforcer trainees manning the front desk as we walked in through the front door, which I guess was only to be expected – Lakin was new in town, and I was something of a conundrum. When I’d dragged the Chief Mage into the silver murders, I’d brought the scrutiny of his office down on the Enforcer’s Guild, and Captain Galling hadn’t forgiven me for making him look bad. But on the other hand, I had the Chief Mage on my side, so Captain Galling couldn’t do anything overt to make my life miserable. As a result, the other Enforcers weren’t sure how to react around me. Some were exceedingly polite, while others glared daggers at me and whispered nasty things about me when they thought I wasn’t within hearing distance. I didn’t know where the foreman of Sillara’s crew stood, or whether his attitude toward me would make this easier or harder.

Lakin and I crossed the lobby, our boots clopping against the scuffed tile, and headed toward the elevator on the other side. The rickety box spit us out on the fourth floor, where the smaller crews’ desks were located – while there were a few Enforcers like me who worked solo, the majority of us worked as crews, each headed up by a foreman who answered to the Guild Captain. I sent a silent prayer up to Magorah, the shifter god, that Sillara’s crew would still be here.

It wasn’t too hard to find them – they were a group of five shifters, clustered toward the far left end of the room as their foreman, Laro Vanit, read off the names on their docket for today. I pursed my lips as I caught sight of the long list – there were at least twenty names on there, more than enough for their crew, and I wished I could snag one of their bounties for myself.

But that wasn’t what I was here for.

“Excuse me, Foreman Vanit,” I said after he was done. “Can I talk to you and your crew for a moment?”

Vanit turned slowly to face me, and if I were a lesser woman I would have been intimidated by the glare he shot my way. A brawny black male with tawny lion shifter eyes, a shaved head and blocky features, he stood a head and a half taller than me, and was looking at me as though I was vermin spawn.

Guess he was a member of the “I Hate Sunaya” camp. Tension curled its stiff fingers around my shoulders, and I stood up straighter, meeting his fiery gaze with my own.

“What do you want, Baine?” he snapped, folding his arms over his chest. He wore standard black mercenary leathers that were only a few shades darker than his skin, making him look like a creature of the night. “As you can see, we’re a little busy around here. Unlike you, some of us have to work for a living.”

The other shifters in his crew snickered, and I clenched my teeth at the insult. But if I rose to the bait, this would degenerate very quickly into a fight, and I needed to stay focused on getting those files.

“This is Inspector Lakin from Shiftertown,” I said, gesturing to Lakin, who was quietly assessing the group from my left. “He’s investigating Sillara’s death, and needs to study the cases she was working on before she died. We were hoping you guys would point us to her files.”

One or two of the crew members shifted uncomfortably at the mention of Lakin’s name, but the rest looked bored or hostile. Like me, these shifters were all clanless, and wouldn’t consider Lakin an authority figure.

“Hmph. I don’t know about that,” Vanit said, turning his tawny glare onto Lakin. “Last I checked, Sillara’s death wasn’t a homicide. Why would you need to dig into it more?”

“It turns out the coroner was mistaken,” Lakin said evenly, his eyes gleaming with impatience. “Sillara died of silver poisoning, just like Petros Yantz’s other victims. Since she was a member of Shiftertown’s tiger clan, her murder falls under my jurisdiction.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Vanit admitted, his scowl lessening slightly. But it returned with a vengeance as his gaze switched back to me. “I’d like to help you, Inspector Lakin, but since you’re attached to this sell-out over here I’m afraid you’ll have to appeal to Captain Galling directly. And as I recall, he’s out of town.” He gave me a vicious grin, baring his fangs.

“You asshole.” I took a step forward, my lip curling back into a snarl of my own. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Sillara was your crew mate. I’d think you’d want her murder solved just as much as we do.”

“Yeah, well she’s been dead for over three months,” Vanit spat. “I think the mystery can wait a few more days if it means I don’t have to lower myself to help a whore like you.”

“Excuse
me?”

“Give me a break,” Vanit sneered. “We all know that you’re responsible for the shitty management changes that have been going on down here. Not only did you defect over to the mages’ camp, but you’re sucking mage cock so you can get what you want. So excuse me if I don’t help you.”

“I don’t know where you heard that from, but I’m not sleeping with the Chief Mage.” A hot flush spilled across my cheeks at the accusation, and my thighs quivered with the effort of holding myself back from attacking Vanit. “In case you didn’t know, master and apprentice relationships are supposed to be platonic.”

“Oh yeah? Well you coulda fooled me.
Whore
.”

Lakin made a grab for my arm as I launched myself forward, but he was too late – I’d already closed the distance between myself and Vanit, my fist hurtling through the air towards him. Vanit side-stepped the blow, a smug grin on his dark face, but I wasn’t going to let him get away that easily – I pivoted on my left foot, then side-kicked him in the midsection with my right. Grunting from the force of the blow, he doubled over slightly but recovered quickly, drawing the sword at his side as he straightened. I jumped backwards to avoid the slash of the steel blade, which gleamed in the light filtering in through the dingy, cracked windows.

Gasps and murmurs broke out all across the room, reminding me that there were several different crews here, and I stiffened. Vanit’s crew was closing in on me with murderous stares, and though Lakin and I could probably take them all on with the help of my magic, I wasn’t going to be able to fight off an entire room of Enforcers if they decided to take Vanit’s side.

“Hang on,” Vanit said, his thick lips curling into a grin as he held up his hand in the direction of his crew mates. “Let’s play this out. I think Little Miss Sunaya here’s let her new position as the Chief Mage’s pet go to her head, and I for one would like to remind her where she stands. What say you and I have a little match, huh?”

My eyebrows shot up. “You want to what, have a duel or something?”

“No, I want to kick your entitled little ass.” He bared his teeth at me, fangs sliding out from beneath his gum line. “If, for some reason, you should happen to win, my crew will more than happily get Sillara’s files for you.”

“Sunaya,” Lakin said, his voice low and urgent. “You don’t have to do this. We can come back when the Captain is here.”

“No.” I glared at Vanit, unstrapping my crescent knives from my right thigh. “If Vanit wants a fight, he’s getting one. Just because he’s got his panties in a twist over me doesn’t mean he’s getting away with this. We’re
getting
those files.”

Vanit’s expression turned downright ugly, and he shifted into a fighting stance, holding his sword aloft. I curled my fingers around the handles of my knives and took up a stance of my own, holding one knife out towards him and the other close to my midsection so I could block any blow that got past my initial guard, much like a traditional empty-handed stance. The other Enforcers gathered around us in a circle to watch, their eyes gleaming with the thrill of an impending fight, and I saw quite a few of them exchange coins out of the corner of my eye.

If most of them were betting on Vanit, that didn’t bother me. It just meant they were going to lose their money.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” I demanded. “Weren’t you going to teach me a lesson?”

Vanit let out a snarl of rage, then rushed forward, jabbing straight for my mid-section with his sword. Magic crackled at my fingertips, and I itched to simply blast him with a fireball, but I knew the Chief Mage would be pissed at me if I ended up killing Vanit, so instead I simply caught the blade using one of my knives, then side-stepped him. Off balance, he had no time to move out of the way as I slashed down the length of his forearm with the knife in my right hand. Blood gushed from the wound, splattering across the front of my leather jacket, and Vanit howled in agony. His fingers went limp, the sword clattering to the ground, and I wasted no time, swinging my fist back around to my ear and then smashing it into the side of his jaw, a vulnerable spot regardless of the size and strength of an opponent.

Vanit dropped like a stone.

The resulting silence in the room was deafening. All eyes were on me, and my skin prickled under the weight of the crowd’s attention. Ignoring them all, I nudged Vanit in the side with the toe of my boot just to make sure he was down. He groaned slightly, but didn’t budge otherwise.

“Anyone else feel like challenging me?” I lifted my head to meet the eyes of the rest of Vanit’s crew.

One by one, the rest of the shifters lowered their eyes submissively, accepting their defeat. No, they didn’t hate me any less, but damn if they weren’t going to respect me, and that was all I really cared about at this point. Now that I was finally out from Garius Talcon’s thumb,
nobody
at the Enforcer’s Guild was going to push me around anymore, no matter who they were.

“Very well,” a dark blonde woman stepped forward from the rest of the crew, her gaze hot but steady on mine. “Come this way. I’ll take you to the files.”