“Right.” That damned Convention again. “When exactly am I going to have time to do this? In case you haven’t realized this, banks are closed in the evenings.”
“I will allow you to take the next three mornings off to conduct the investigation,” he relented. “I realize you will need more time in your schedule, and this is more important than your routine duties at the Mages Guild. But make no mistake; if I don’t have any results from you by the end of the week, there will be consequences.”
“Oh believe me, I’ll have your results for you.” I grinned, and if Iannis hadn’t been standing in front of me I would have danced around the room, sacred temple be damned. Investigating the bank seemed simple enough, and three days was enough time for me to do it while also looking into Sillara’s murder with Inspector Lakin. After all, who said a girl couldn’t multitask?
7
By the time I got back to my apartment in Rowanville, it was late in the evening, and long shadows stretched across the room, silhouetted by the moonlight that streamed through my bay window. I flicked on the light, then hung up my leather jacket before heading toward my kitchen to scrounge up something to eat. I’d considered hounding Lakin, but the Residah called to me, inviting me to open its pages. I figured I might as well get started on it tonight to free up my morning for my investigation.
Settling down on the couch with my back against the armrest and my knees drawn up, I made quick work of a bowl of sausage and potatoes. With a full belly and a satisfied sigh, I propped the book up against my thighs and began to skim through the table of contents so I could see what was in this thing. A chapter called ‘The Mage’s Code of Honor’ jumped out at me, and I flipped to it, curious to see what sort of standard Resinah expected of mages back in her day.
* * *
Magic is an extension of oneself. Every charm made and spell cast is a reflection on one’s soul. Treat all requests to perform magic with this in mind.
Magic is a gift given to us by the Creator, and must be treated with proper reverence. The possessor of magic is not a god, but rather an extension of one. Use magic to protect the weak, rather than take advantage of them.
In order to properly use the gift of magic, one must agree not to commit any acts of magic that go against the Creator’s tenets, including, but not limited to:
The murder of another mage or human
The exploitation of humans and other lesser beings through magical means
The performance of a spell on another mage or human that affects their mind or body without their express permission, with self-defense as an exception
* * *
I stopped there, pursing my lips as indignation burned in my chest. The mages had blown the third tenet right out of the water when they’d created shifters. I wondered just how many of the original humans the mages used to create shifters had participated willingly. Had any? Just how sacred did the mages hold the Residah?
The telephone on the kitchen counter rang, interrupting my train of thought. Annoyed, I set the book on the coffee table, then got up to answer it. Much as I would have rather ignored it, I didn’t get phone calls very often, and I was curious as to who it was.
“Hello?”
“Sunaya Baine.” A deep, hoarse voice sounded from the other end. “You should stop sticking your whiskers into matters that don’t concern you.”
“What are you talking about?” My entire body stiffened at the veiled threat, and my ears strained, trying to identify the voice on the other line.
“I think you know what I’m talking about.” The voice turned slightly smug. “You wouldn’t want to end up like poor Sillara, would you?”
“I'm a lot tougher than Sillara was,” I growled, finally understanding. This asshole was trying to get me to stop helping Lakin with his investigation. “Who the fuck are you, anyway?” There was a barely audible strain in his speech that told me it wasn't the speaker’s natural voice.
“If you’re not concerned about your own safety, then be concerned for your family.” The voice turned darker. “Meddle in our affairs, and they will pay the price.”
I opened my mouth to tell him that my family and I didn’t give two shits about each other, but the line disconnected, leaving me with nothing to shout at but a dial tone. Frustrated, I slammed the receiver back down into the cradle. This wasn’t the first time I’d received a threatening phone call, but they usually involved my own hide, not someone else’s.
Sighing, I returned to my position on the couch, but I couldn’t bring myself to touch the book on the table. Instead, my mind wrestled with the phone call. Whoever the caller was, they must be involved in the kidnappings, but what had alerted them to my involvement? Was it because I’d visited the Enforcer’s Guild today and demanded Sillara’s files? Dammit, but I should have found a way to keep a lower profile during my visit.
I ground my teeth together at the idea of another traitor in the Enforcer’s Guild. The last time, it had been Deputy Talcon who’d been pulling strings from the inside – he’d been in league with Petros Yantz, and it was because of his interference that the silver poisonings weren’t properly investigated. I’d killed him in self-defense when he and Yantz had kidnapped me and taken me to Yantz’s mansion to find out what I knew about their operation, which to my frustration had been precious little. I’d already known that they were using kalois, a special herb from a foreign continent that kept shifters from detecting the deadly silver slipped into their food and drink, and into the drugs that were being distributed throughout Shiftertown. But we hadn’t yet figured out the endgame, or the identity of the mastermind behind it. Yantz and Talcon had only referred to him as ‘the Benefactor,’ and implied that their operation was merely the beginning of something much larger.