The other mages were quick to chime in, shouting at Director Chen, ordering her to remove me. I saw a hint of regret in her dark eyes as she moved toward me, but her ivory face was stern, and I knew she wouldn’t hesitate to kick me out.
“Wait.” Fenris stepped in front of me, in human form, and I blinked – I’d been so focused on Omonas and his cronies that I hadn’t noticed he’d changed. “Sunaya may not be a member of the Council, but she’s a trained Enforcer and has experience tracking down missing persons. She could be an asset in this emergency.”
“What she is is a liability,” Omonas snapped. “And might I remind you, Fenris, that you are not a member of this Council either? Frankly, I don’t know what you’re doing here. Shifters have no place in the Mages Guild.”
Fenris stiffened. “I have always attended such meetings.”
“Only because Lord Iannis permitted it,” another mage sneered, turning in his chair to face Fenris. “But he is not here right now, so I don’t see why you should be here either. There is nothing that the two of you can do that we are not capable of.”
“Actually,” I argued, remembering the charm I wore around my neck, “I do have a way to –”
“Stop.” Fenris’s voice echoed sharply in my head, and my vocal chords froze. I tried to speak, and panic shot through me as nothing came out but air.
“What’s wrong, Miss Baine?” Omonas taunted. “Cat got your tongue?”
I gritted my teeth, unconsciously taking a step forward – I hated that expression.
“We’re just about to leave,” Fenris said, clamping his hand around my arm in a vice-like grip. I shot a glare at him, but since I couldn’t speak I had no choice but to go along. “Good day, Councilor.”
“I’m sorry,” Fenris said as he dragged me into one of the guest rooms in the east wing and shut the door behind us. “I couldn’t let you tell them about the serapha charm. If they find out that Iannis gave you such an intimate gift, they would see you as an even bigger threat than they already do.”
The tightness on my vocal chords eased, and I rounded on Fenris, fury crackling through my nerves. “Just what the hell was that?” I demanded. “How did you manage to stop me from speaking? Is it some kind of charm you’re using?” I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Fenris was a wolf shifter – he shouldn’t have been able to freeze my vocal chords, not without some kind of magical device, but I hadn’t seen him use anything.
“I’ve picked up a thing or two from Iannis, but that’s not important just now,” Fenris said coolly. He sat down in an ornately carved rose-colored chair in front of a vanity. “We must use the charm to see if Iannis is still alive.” He remained calm outwardly, but I could tell that fear for Iannis bubbled beneath the surface of his cool exterior.
“Right.” I pulled out the charm, a white tanzarite jewel with iridescent flecks hanging from a silver chain, from beneath the neckline of my shirt. As I focused on the pale stone, it began to glow blue. I let out a huge breath of relief.
“He’s alive,” Fenris said, his yellow eyes narrowed in concern as he stared at the charm, “but judging by the lackluster glow, he is not well.”
My heart sank as I glanced down at the stone again. Fenris was right – when I’d first tested the charm the glow had been bright, nearly dazzling, but it was faint now, barely enough to draw attention.
“I guess that means we have to find him fast,” I said, stuffing the charm back beneath my shirt. If Fenris was right, I shouldn’t be advertising the damn thing. “Did you learn anything useful from the Council meeting, before they threw us out?”
“Nothing good.” Fenris’s expression shifted to worry. “They were mostly just shouting at each other, especially at Director Chen. Because she’s so new, they don’t respect her authority. Showing you any overt support would endanger what leverage she has.”
“Fine.” I pressed my lips together for a moment, but decided to let it go. Director Chen’s position had a lot to do with politics, something I didn’t envy her at all. I couldn’t really blame her for trying to keep her position secure when Iannis wasn’t there to back her up. “Anything else?”
“They did agree to offer a reward of five hundred gold pieces for anyone who brings Iannis back alive.”
“Five hundred?” My eyes nearly popped out of my skull. “With that amount, I’m surprised the entire Enforcers Guild isn’t on the job.”
“I’m sure they will be soon enough,” Fenris said dryly. “And as you’ve proven more than once, not all of them can be trusted.”
“All the more reason to find him first.” I stood up. “Regardless of Chen’s reasons for publicly tossing me to the dogs, I’m not letting her off the hook so easily. She’s going to include me in this rescue mission, one way or another.”
“Naya,” Fenris protested as I turned for the door. “You really should keep a low profile right now. With Iannis gone, the other mages are looking for any reason to turn on you. For now, at least until we figure out a plan, you should keep your head down.”
“You know I’m no good at keeping my head down,” I told him as I opened the door. “But at least I’m good at keeping it on my shoulders.”
I slipped into Director Chen’s office, plopping down into one of her visitors’ chairs to wait for her return from the Council meeting. The hard wooden seat was decidedly uncomfortable; the cushion was barely there, and the relief of dragons carved into the back of the chair dug unpleasantly into my spine. I wondered if Director Chen had ordered these chairs because, like her, they were Garaian, or because she wanted to discourage visitors. They definitely went with the Garaian motif in the room, from the stylized porcelain vases decorating her shelves and sitting on her desk to the silk, dragon-printed curtains hanging from either side of the window behind her desk.