Chapter 13
“Sunaya!” Fenris’s voice shook me awake as he knocked on my door. “Sunaya, are you awake yet?”
Groaning, I sat up and glanced at the clock on my bedside. Eleven in the morning. Damn. I’d slept longer than I’d intended. I’d gone to bed around midnight last night, and because I’d been so exhausted, my sleep had been dreamless, the heat kept at bay by my body’s need to recover.
But now that I was awake, I was hyper-aware of the fact that I was sitting up naked in bed and that only a single wooden door stood between a virile male and me. Warmth rushed through my body, and I threw off the sheets, my skin too hot and sensitive to bear them.
“Just a second,” I called. “I’m not decent.”
Instead of hurrying across the room to grab some clothing, I stood in the center of the room, away from the windows, and took deep, calming breaths. Instinctively, I fell back into a breathing pattern my mentor Roanas had taught me, the one he used to clear his mind and focus.
You’re a mage, I told myself firmly, willing the thought to stick in my brain.
I turned my focus inward, toward the pulsing ball of magic that always stood at my center.
Warmth spread through me as I touched it, but not the aching, uncomfortable warmth of the heat – this sensation was soothing and energizing at the same time.
As it filled me, my surging hormones receded.
Opening my eyes, I let out a relieved breath.
No, I’d never forget that I was a shifter, but Resinah had been right.
I needed to constantly reaffirm my identity as a mage if I wanted to stay in control.
That was why my teenage-boy illusion had been so helpful – I’d been using my magic.
Overall, the heat hadn’t been nearly as bad as it normally was – when a shifter female went into heat, she was usually reduced to little more than a wild animal, consumed by the need to mate, and couldn’t function without a steady supply of sex for the entire week.
Yet, somehow, even when I wasn’t using illusion magic, I’d managed to keep my head.
It had to have something to do with the fact that Iannis had unlocked most of my magic.
Feeling more grounded, I went into the closet, then paused in surprise at the sight of several pairs of pants and shirts hanging inside, as well as a bathrobe. They only filled up a fraction of the large space, but I was damn sure they hadn’t been there yesterday.
Moving in closer, I recognized the tops and pants as the same ones the Palace had provided for me the first time I’d come here, as a prisoner.
As far as clothing went, it was pretty generic – a few pairs of jeans and some monochromatic shirts – but it would do until I had the time and resources to buy a wardrobe.
Obviously, Iannis had thought to have someone put clothing in here for me. The idea that he’d remembered my needs despite his insane schedule made me smile, and I reached for a green top, wondering if it would bring out the color in my eyes.
“Are you going to leave me standing out here all day?” Fenris demanded, and I jumped at the sound of his muffled voice coming through the doorway.
“Sorry!” I called, snagging the fluffy robe off its hanger. I shrugged it on, then made sure it was tightly belted and covering up as much as possible before I opened the door to admit Fenris.
“About time.” He brushed past me, looking unusually agitated, and shut the door behind him. “What took you so long?”
“I’m not a morning person.” I tried not to snap the words – clearly, something was troubling him. “What’s this all about?” I glanced down toward the paper tucked beneath his arm.
“Our old friend, the Herald, is at it again,” Fenris growled, pulling the paper from beneath his arm and handing it to me.
I unfolded it, then bared my teeth at the headline stamped across the front page.
THE RESISTANCE PREVAILS! MAGES GUILD TAKES HUGE BLOW AT LOSS OF SOLANTHA AIRSHIP YARD, it read, and beneath was a photograph of the flaming airship yard, obviously taken last night, as it was hard to see much more than shadows and fire. Full story on page 13.
“Don’t bother,” Fenris snarled as I flipped open to page thirteen. “It’s all bullshit propaganda, slanted to make it look like the Mages Guild is a bunch of bumbling idiots and that the Resistance’s well-executed, organized attacks are turning the tide.”
“Yeah, but I need to see it for myself.” I read the article anyway – it wasn’t that long, no more than two pages – and by the time I was done, I was shredding the edges of the paper with my claws.
“They don’t even mention the civilian casualties,” I growled, crumpling up the paper and tossing it in the trash like the piece of garbage it was.
“I thought this sort of thing would have ended once Yantz was removed as chief editor, but whoever replaced him must also be working for the Resistance,” Fenris said, his yellow eyes burning with frustration.
“Considering how much influence this paper has over the humans in Solantha, we cannot allow them to continue to spew such hostile propaganda.”
I arched a brow. “Are you saying you want to take a field trip to the Herald?”
“I am.” He looked me up and down, no doubt taking in my lack of clothing and the rat’s nest on top of my head. “When will you be ready to leave?”
Much as I wanted to rush out the door and chase down this new lead, I was way overdue for a shower, and I didn’t want to show up at the Herald looking like a crazy homeless person.
So I grabbed a quick bath, got my hands on a hairbrush, and shimmied myself into a pair of jeans and a top that fit a little too loosely.
The strenuous trek through Coazi territory had caused me to lose a few inches, not to mention all the recent healing I’d undergone.
I was definitely going to need to find the time to eat more.
Just as I was about to leave, I remembered the gulaya I’d borrowed from the library, which was still in the pocket of the pants I’d worn yesterday.
I quickly retrieved it, then strung it on my necklace so that it rested next to the serapha charm.
Since the serapha couldn’t be removed by force, this would ensure that the gulaya would remain safe as well.
My stomach grumbled as I headed out with Fenris, and I wished I’d thought to stock up on snacks from the kitchens.
Unfortunately, Fenris would likely have a fit if I suggested running by the kitchen for some food now, so I swallowed my tongue and followed him out to the side entrance instead.
I blinked in surprise at the sight of two sleek, black steamcars with the Canalo Mages Guild emblem painted in gold on their side, puffing out clouds of smoke as they waited for us.
“Seriously,” I complained under my breath as Fenris and I approached the second car.
“How is it that you rate multiple steamcars, but I can’t even get one?
” I might have been a mere apprentice, but as far as the rest of the world knew, Fenris was only a shifter.
Yes, he was a close friend of Iannis, and sometimes even acted as a direct messenger for him.
But I still didn’t understand why Cirin had gotten him a steamcar instead of me.
“I cleared it with Iannis this morning,” Fenris said dryly.
“After going over the morning paper over breakfast, he decreed that the Herald needs to be shut down, and told me to take you, the Legal Secretary –” he pointed to the car behind ours – “and a few other mages from his department as backup. And before you ask,” he added as the driver came around to open the front door, “no, you can’t sit up front.
You need to stay in the back, out of sight, where it’s safe. ”
“Tyrant,” I grumbled as Fenris got into the front seat, but I acquiesced, climbing into the backseat when the driver opened the door for me.
As I settled in, strapping the seatbelt on, I noticed the windows had some kind of coating that darkened them.
I was grateful because it meant I couldn’t be easily spotted from the street.
Fenris was right – I did need to stay out of sight as much as possible, and this would give me a chance to travel through the city as myself while remaining relatively safe.
That was a damn good thing, because I couldn’t very well show up at the Herald looking like a pimply teenage boy.
I was acting as Sunaya Baine, enforcer extraordinaire.
Besides, my teenage-boy cover was blown after last night.
I made a mental note to pick a different disguise the next time I went out, because I was certain the Resistance would have spread the word to keep a look out for that persona by now.
Hopefully, they didn’t kill any innocent teenage boys by mistake.
I winced a little at that thought. Maybe I should have picked something a little less vulnerable for my disguise.
You can’t second-guess every damn decision you make, I told myself. The Resistance is going to kill people no matter what you do, until you bring them down.
Despite the fact that it was lunch hour, traffic was almost non-existent, especially once we crossed into Maintown.
That wasn’t surprising – with most of the restaurants closed down, there was nowhere to go for lunch even if people did want to brave the dangerous streets.
One would have thought that Maintown would be one of the safer parts of the city – after all, the Resistance was supposedly fighting for human and shifter rights.
But aside from the more affluent section on the coast, which I noticed was mostly intact and heavily guarded by private mercenaries, the bulk of Maintown had been hit just as hard as the rest of the city.