Burned by Magic (4 page)

T
he next time I woke up,
I found myself lying on a cot that must’ve been made of concrete, it was so damn uncomfortable. And that wasn’t even counting the aches and pains running through my face and body from being smashed into a wall by a four-ton rhinoceros.

Was I in the hospital? Where was my damned nurse?

Opening my eyes, I twisted my head around and catalogued the iron bars surrounding my little room on three sides and the concrete wall behind me. Fear sprang to life in my gut as I confirmed that I was, in fact, in a jail cell and not a super-shitty hospital room like I’d hoped. Fuck. How was I going to get out of this mess?

“Naya? Are you awake?”

Noria’s voice startled me from my state of semi-awareness, and I jolted upright and looked around for the source. My heart sank as I found it – she was sitting on the cot in the cell next to mine, her pale face pinched and her coffee-colored eyes round with concern.

“Shit,” I muttered. My friend’s little sister was in jail with me and a throbbing tattoo beat against the inside of my skull. “Noria, what are you doing in here?”

Noria smirked a little. “That asshole Brin threw me in here, to teach me a lesson after I punched him in the nose. But don’t worry; I’ll be out on bail in a little bit. I’m just glad you woke up before my family gets here.”

Yeah, well I’m not,
I thought grumpily, biting the words back as they would only hurt Noria’s feelings. But by Magorah, I was
so
not looking forward to having her mother shoot death glares at me through the bars of my cell when she came to pick up her daughter. The idea was almost scarier than the fact that I was in jail.

Almost. After all, there’s little else in this world more terrifying than an impending execution.

“So,” I sighed, slumping against the concrete wall and trying to ignore the panic skirting the edges of my mind. “What’d I miss?”

“Aside from me punching Brin in the face?” Noria said proudly. I sent her a death glare of my own, and she deflated a little. “Oh, alright, alright. Nothing much, really. Com and I tried to argue with those other Enforcers about letting you go on account of the fact that you were just doing your job and you didn’t hurt anyone aside from the rhino. The rabbit shifter lady defended you too. But unfortunately you Enforcers don’t seem to have any respect for each other within the ranks, so they tossed both of us in here.”

I winced at Noria’s cutting words. “Yeah, well unfortunately the Enforcer’s Guild is a highly competitive workplace. The less competition, the better your docket.”

Noria was silent for a long moment as she pondered this. She’d declared a long time ago that she wanted to follow in her sister’s footsteps and become an Enforcer, and I hoped my words would help dissuade her from that treacherous career path. Even though I loved what I did most days, I also didn’t have too many other career options given my skill set and secrets. Noria, with her smarts and techie skills, had the entire world as her oyster. I really,
really
didn’t want her to end up on the same path I was.

Especially since, at the moment, my path looked like it was coming to an end a lot sooner than I wanted it to.

“Would you do that?” Noria finally asked.

“Do what?” I blinked.

“Turn somebody else in who didn’t deserve it, just so you could eliminate the competition.” She bit her lip as she studied me.

“No. I wouldn’t,” I admitted with a sigh. For the most part I actually believed in justice,
true
justice. Not the half-assed, corrupted version practiced in society today.

As expected, Noria rewarded me with a huge grin. “That’s exactly what I thought,” she crowed. “You’re way too far above that crap.” The grin faded a little as a troubled look entered her eyes. “Naya?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you really think you’re about to be executed?”

I sat up straight at the sound of her voice, so small and scared and unlike the brash, confident girl I knew. She was clutching the bars, staring at me with wide eyes, and I reached out, wanting to touch her hands and reassure her. But before I could, the door at the end of the hall opened, and a guard marched down the hall with Noria’s mother in tow.

I sighed, slumping back against the mattress again. So much for companionship. I silently endured the expected death glare from Noria’s mother as she collected her daughter, then gingerly lay back on my rock-hard cot. It was wrong, but I missed having Noria in the cell next to me. It was comforting to have a comrade in here to distract me from my fear, especially since I knew that when I next emerged from this cell, I would be walking to my death.

Without Noria to distract me, my aches and pains made themselves known, increasing from a dull ache to sharp, throbbing pains in the bones of my face and my ribcage. Dread pooled in my stomach as I realized that my injuries were more severe than I’d thought. I was going to have to shift to heal them.

Normally, shifting was no problem for me. Because I was half-mage and had more natural magic at my disposal than a regular shifter, I could change forms faster and more frequently. But I’d just used a boatload of magic disintegrating that rhino shifter, and I’d already been short on sleep and food then. I was past the point of exhaustion now.

Is there even any point in healing myself?
I thought despondently, my eyes tracing the cracks in the concrete ceiling.
If I’m going to be executed tomorrow?

Of course there is,
a voice in my head argued fiercely.
You’re the only one who gives a fuck about solving the silver murders. You can’t just give up and die. Don’t allow your fear of what could be to put you into an early grave.

Tears sprang to my eyes at that last line – it was something Roanas told me often, especially when coaxing me into trying a new maneuver early on in my training. He’d taken me in when I was still a cub, after my mother died and my aunt had kicked me out of the clan, and of all the things he’d taught me that phrase stuck with me the most. It was his way of saying not to give in to my fear of the unknown – just because something could go wrong didn’t mean that it would, and if you didn’t try at all you’d never reap the rewards.

Magorah, what was I supposed to do now that he was gone?

The door at the end of the hall opened and footsteps rang across the concrete. I sat up, swiping the tears from my face in case I had a visitor. Sure enough, a hulking thug of a human with a bulbous nose and a shock of red hair dressed in leathers stopped in front of my cell. His wide mouth stretched in a grin, displaying the gold tooth that winked where one of his canines should have been.

Oh lucky me. It’s my favorite person in the world.

“Deputy Talcon,” I said coolly, sitting up straight. The pain in my ribs flared, but I ignored it, unwilling to show him any sign of weakness.

“Sunaya.” He dragged the last syllable out, then made tsking sounds as he wagged a meaty finger at me. He was built like a troll, nearly as wide as he was tall, the bulging muscles of his arms displayed by the sleeveless black shirt he wore. “I heard you were cooped up down here, so I thought I’d come down and see how my favorite Enforcer was doing.” He raised a long, paper-wrapped package clutched in his fist. “Want a sandwich?”

I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but my stomach growled so loudly in response to the food that he laughed before chucking the sandwich through the iron bars of the cell. It landed in my lap, and I fell on it greedily, the shame in my gut unable to trump the gnawing hunger in there.

“Good little panther,” he cooed as I ripped open the wrapper and inhaled the sandwich. My nose told me it was safe, a simple if unimaginative combination of turkey and cheese, so I wasted no time in chowing it down. I had to swallow my pride if I wanted to have my strength for tomorrow.

“Got any water to go with that?” I asked nonchalantly, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

His eyes narrowed at my blasé response to his goading. “You always were an ungrateful little bitch,” he said darkly, his lower lip curling.

“Sure, and you always were a disgusting, fat fuck.”

His eyes bulged, and he lunged toward me before he remembered that there was a row of iron bars separating us. I watched with satisfaction as he stood there, taking in deep breaths through his flaring nostrils, a vein pulsing in his temple. Good. The bastard deserved to stew a little, especially after all he’d put me through.

“So,” I said, folding my arms across my aching ribs. “What brings you down from your cushy office upstairs? Got tired of jerking off to my ID photo?” I’d been down here enough times to know I was in the holding cells in the basement of the Enforcer’s Guild. Shame burned the lining of my stomach as it occurred to me that my peers had likely all watched Brin and Nila haul my unconscious ass down here, but I forced myself to push it aside. There were more important things to worry about than my bruised pride.

“As a matter of fact, I did.” His lips stretched into a cruel smirk as he regarded me with his beady eyes. “It’s been awhile since you last came in, so when I heard you were in the building I decided to come and see that pretty face of yours in person again.” His eyes gleamed with lust, and a small shiver crawled down my spine. “So much better than a picture.”

“You know,” I drawled, doing my best to cover up the disgust coating my throat, “if you pull out your dick here and try to shoot a load at me now, you might actually be able to hit me since I don’t have an amulet to incinerate you with anymore. Why don’t you try it and see what happens?” I bared my fangs, daring him – if he whipped out his dick now I had a real shot of reaching through the bars and ripping it to shreds with my claws before he could react. After all, it wasn’t like I had anything to lose now, and I partially blamed him for the situation I was in.

Talcon’s lips pressed into a thin line. “You’ve got a real smart mouth for someone who’s facing execution,
hybrid.
” I flinched as he spat the word, the contempt in his voice so much like my aunt Mafiela’s that my heart shriveled inside my chest. “Don’t pretend that little trinket is what saved your ass today. We both know what really happened, and you’re going down.”

I lifted my chin, refusing to let him see the fear churning inside my gut. “I look forward to seeing the look on your face when the mages test the amulet and are forced to vindicate me.” Not that that was going to happen, of course – in fact, I sincerely hoped the Mage’s Guild decided
not
to test the amulet when I spun my bogus story for them tomorrow, because if they did I was most definitely toast.

Uncertainty flickered across Talcon’s face for just a moment, and then he scoffed. “Yeah, right. You were always good at bluffing. But you know,” he said, a sly smile curving his lips. “I could help you escape in exchange for a little something-something.”

I arched an eyebrow. “What, you want your sandwich back? I don’t think it’s any good to you at this point, but I’m sure I can figure something out.” I stuck a finger in the back of my throat and pretended to gag.

“Oh, don’t bother with that.” Talcon’s sausage fingers reached for his fly. “I’ve got something much better for you to choke on.”

“Fuck you.” I instinctively reached for the chakram pouch strapped to my thigh, but there was nothing there but my leather-clad leg. Dammit. Was I ever going to get my weapons back?

“I’m not sucking you off for my freedom, Talcon. You probably couldn’t give it to me anyway.”

“You never know,” he purred, wiggling the zipper on his pants.

I rolled my eyes. “Please don’t make me bite that thing off.”

His expression turned downright ugly. “Fine,” he said, baring his teeth. “I was just giving you the opportunity to enjoy a last moment of pleasure before your death.”

“Couldn’t you drag your mind out of the garbage for once and do some actual work?” I threw up my hands, tired of this bullshit. Why the fuck did the Enforcer’s Guild give the deputy position to such a total ass? Just because he came from an old human family with money didn’t mean he deserved the job. “Instead of standing around here holding your dick, you could be out there solving those silver murders and getting some real recognition for a job well done.”

Something flickered in his eyes, and for a moment I thought I’d actually dented his pride. But the look disappeared as quickly as I’d seen it, and he shrugged, a patronizing smile on his thuggish face.