Chapter 21
“Are you absolutely certain of this?” Iannis demanded, his fingers clutched around the note I’d scribbled almost three hours ago.
He and Fenris had returned from a skirmish to find me sleeping on the couch.
When Iannis had insisted on a report detailing my whereabouts and actions for the last fourteen hours, I’d simply lifted a finger and pointed to the envelope I’d left on his desk.
“Is there a reason I’d be lying about it?” I asked, leaning back in the visitor’s chair. He frowned as the two front legs came off the ground, clearly not happy with my abuse of his furniture, but loath to sidetrack the conversation.
“I’m not doubting the truthfulness of your words, Sunaya,” he said, using my name since only Fenris was around to witness it.
“But this…the very idea that the humans would even dare to think they could get away with such horrific treachery…” He seemed to be struggling to find words, a truly rare moment for him.
“Let us simply say that if anyone else had come to me with this information, I would have laughed them out the door. It’s utter insanity. ”
“And just what do you think the Resistance represents, if not just that?” I pointed out. “They’ve already gotten it into their inflated heads that they can overthrow the mage regime with nothing but guns and brawn. Why not get rid of shifters too?”
“Indeed,” Fenris remarked dryly. He stood over Iannis’s shoulder, scanning my note again with narrowed eyes.
“Grooming the human population to fall in line with their beliefs is a smart plan,” he conceded.
“This ensures the Resistance has a large support base to rely on. They can’t hope to succeed if the civilian population does not support their aims.”
“There’s more,” I said before Iannis could comment on Fenris’s observation.
Both men turned to me, eyebrows raised as though they couldn’t believe there could possibly be more to this outlandish picture I was painting.
“I found this out after I wrote the note, so I didn’t add it in there.
But I’m almost certain that Thorgana Mills’s husband, Curian Vanderheim, is the Benefactor. ”
“What?” Fenris stared at me. “That mindless fool? Why would you think so?”
“It sounds unlikely indeed,” Iannis agreed with him. He was frowning. “Why him, of all people?”
I took them through the line of investigation I’d pursued with the help of Janta in the library, starting with Supplysafe and ending with the discovery that the Bellington Trust was owned by Thorgana and her husband.
“Thorgana owns the largest media company in the Northia Federation,” I reminded them.
“It would have been easy for her husband to convince not just the Herald, but their other news outlets throughout the Federation, to spread Resistance propaganda. Remember that not too long ago, the Herald was printing stories specifically angled to pit humans and shifters against one another.”
“Well, we always knew the Benefactor had to be immensely rich,” Fenris said, considering. “Vanderheim certainly fits the bill in that respect.”
“He also supported the faction who wanted to get rid of the Minister at the Convention,” I reminded Iannis.
Iannis was silent for a minute, thinking it over.
Finally, he gave a decisive nod. “Yes, it does seem plausible – at the very least, he must be a trusted associate, if not the Benefactor himself. Well done, Sunaya. I’m impressed you’ve managed to uncover so much useful information in such a short amount of time.
” His eyes shone with appreciation as he studied me, and I felt a blush creep in my cheeks as my body reacted.
“We should certainly go to the Vanderheim mansion and search the property, as you suggest. I will send a scout ahead to see if anyone is home.”
It didn’t take much time to get an answer – half an hour later, a messenger rushed into the office to inform us that Thorgana Mills was in residence, along with a few staff members.
“Based on past experiences with Mrs. Mills, I doubt she will give us too much trouble,” Iannis said as we headed to the Mages Guild to mobilize a task force. “But we should bring reinforcements, even so.”
It didn’t take Iannis long to gather the people he needed – the Legal Secretary, to inform Thorgana of the raid and the purpose behind it, two apprentices to help us conduct the search of the house, and two large, mean-looking mages I recognized as former enforcers who had retreated to the Mages Guild after the insurrection had started.
The latter were equipped with manacles to arrest Thorgana or any of the staff as accessories, depending on what we found.
Excitement and nerves buzzed in my veins as we climbed into the steamcars waiting for us outside – Iannis and I sat in the back of one, while Fenris rode in front with the driver.
I knew I was right, that Thorgana’s husband had to be the one behind all this, but as we headed toward the coastal section of Maintown, where the wealthiest humans resided, a sliver of doubt crept in.
What if Janta’s contact in Dara had been wrong, or worse, had deliberately misled us?
It would be completely humiliating for us to show up and conduct a raid, only to find out that Thorgana and her husband had nothing to do with the Resistance.
Worse, since Thorgana owned Mills Media and Entertainment, news of such a mistake would be plastered all over the country.
The papers and radio would run with two stories – one, that the Mages Guild was losing its touch, going after harmless socialites, and two, that the Chief Mage of Canalo’s judgment was being severely impaired by his hybrid apprentice.
“Relax,” Iannis murmured, quietly enough so that only I, and perhaps Fenris, could hear. His hand found its way across the backseat and squeezed mine gently. “I trust you.”
A rush of warmth made my fingers tingle and my cheeks glow, and I squeezed his hand in return. It meant so much to me, those three simple words. Trust was rare and precious, and if Iannis was willing to put his reputation on the line on my say-so, perhaps we did have a future together.
Hell yes, my body seemed to say in response to that, and the heat spread through me like wildfire.
My breath quickened as tingles and aches made themselves known again, and my skin suddenly felt too tight against my flesh.
Iannis’s eyes darkened as he looked me up and down, his grip on my hand tightening, and I knew his body was unconsciously reacting to mine.
Fenris cleared his throat loudly then, obviously scenting my arousal. More heat flushed my cheeks, this time with embarrassment, and I quickly let go of Iannis’s hand and scooted closer to the door.
Distance, I thought, leaning my cheek against the cool glass window and taking deep, calming breaths. I desperately needed distance.
I could sense Iannis’s disappointment, but he said nothing more, allowing me my space as I wrestled my unruly body back under control.
By the time my heart rate had steadied, we were turning into a long gravel drive that wound its way up a steep, grassy hill.
A large limestone mansion sat on top, overlooking the city from the front and the coastline from the back.
An iron fence, taller than even Iannis, surrounded the grounds.
We rolled to a stop outside the gates. A guard was sitting in the small booth, and he spoke to the driver of the steamcar in front of us.
I watched as the back window of the car rolled down, revealing the Legal Secretary’s face, and whatever he said to the guard made the man’s face go white.
Nodding hurriedly, he rushed back into the booth and pulled a lever.
There was a loud buzz as the gate swung open.
As we drove inside, I saw the guard had picked up the phone and was hurriedly speaking into it.
“She’ll be expecting us,” Iannis murmured as we approached the house.
We descended from the vehicles on the broad front drive, the Legal Secretary taking the lead with the two enforcer mages.
I watched curiously to see if they would try to handle this mission tactfully, or with force.
I had my answer when the Legal Secretary gestured to the two enforcer mages to step forward.
The one on the left blasted the huge, arched wooden door with what looked like a concentrated ball of air.
The door splintered as it fell backward, landing in the hallway with a loud crash, and the enforcers walked over it as they led the way into the house.
Talk about making an entrance, I thought as we followed them inside, the apprentices bringing up the rear.
The foyer was as huge as I remembered it from Thorgana’s receptions, with orange-veined marble floors and a long, arched ceiling.
The tall arrangement of lilies and gladiolus that presumably belonged atop the large mahogany table in the center of the room had toppled over, scattering the floor with shards of expensive pottery and white blossoms that were fast growing limp in the spreading puddle of water.
A shriek of fury echoed through the mansion, and Thorgana Mills herself rushed down the carpeted staircase at the end of the hall.
She was dressed in a white velvet robe, her pale blonde hair in curlers, and judging by the state of her face, had been halfway done with her evening makeup.
Even so, she looked younger than the forty-eight years she admitted to.
“What is the meaning of this?” Thorgana demanded imperiously, her normally pale, perfect skin blotchy with outrage.
She skidded to a stop behind the table, mindful of the broken pottery with her thin silk slippers, and crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at the Legal Secretary.
“Who has given you the right to come into my home and damage my property?”