by Jasmine Walt
Gor, Faron: shifter, Chief Editor of the Shifter Courier, the Solantha newspaper for the shifter population. He provided important information to Sunaya during the investigation into the Shifter Royale.
Gorax: a family of builders in Solantha; Gorax Constructions, their company, has built a large number of edifices in Solantha’s Maintown.
Graning, Zavian: mage, currently Minister of the Northia Federation. Elected by the Convention for an indefinite term, he is charged with coordination of governmental business and particularly foreign affairs, between the biannual Convention sessions that he prepares and presides.
Great Accord: a treaty struck by the ruling mages centuries ago which brought an end to a devastating war known as the Conflict. It is still the basis upon which mages rule their countries and territories. All new laws passed must be in accordance with the provisions of the Great Accord.
Gulaya: a star-shaped charm, usually made of metal, that is anchored to a specific location and can take its wearer back there at need. They are rare, and difficult to recharge.
Halyma: shamaness of the hills Coazi and chief shamaness of the entire Coazi tribe, due to her outstanding magic talent.
Hedgewitch: a variety of mage specialized in earth-based magic.
Hennis: a jaguar shifter, butler in the home of Mafiela Baine, the Chieftain of the Jaguar Clan.
Herald, The: the main newspaper in Solantha City, used to belong to Mills Media and Entertainment; it is geared towards the human majority population.
Hiltraud: a Pernian hedgewitch, deceased. She was Comenius Genhard’s former lover and the mother of his daughter Rusalia.
Iannis ar’Sannin: Chief Mage of Canalo. He resides in the capital city of Solantha, from which he runs Canalo as well as the Mages Guild with the help of his deputy and Secretaries. Originally a native of Manuc, a country located across the Eastern Sea.
Inara: a state of the Northia Federation.
Janta, see Urama, Janta.
Jeremidah: one of the three founding mages of the Northia Federation (“The Founding Trio”) together with Faonus and Micara.
Kalois: a rare foreign plant which masks the smell of silver so well that shifters can be drugged or poisoned despite their sensitive noses.
Kan Zao: a mental and physical martial art tradition from Garai.
Kardanor: see under Makis, Kardanor.
Kazu: mage and general; eldest son and heir of the Garaian Mage-Emperor, later Mage-Emperor himself.
Lakin, Boon: a jaguar shifter from Parabas, appointed as Solantha’s new Shiftertown Inspector following Roanas’s death. Sunaya and he are friends and occasional allies. It was a case he investigated and discussed with Sunaya, that led to the eventual exposure of the Shifter Royale.
Lanyr Goldrin: supposedly a tiger shifter engaged as guard in Solantha Palace; pseudonym of Rylan Baine.
Leniang Port (also Leniang City): a lawless port city on the south coast of Garai.
Liu: a young Garaian girl of humble origins. She was bought by Iannis and Sunaya during their travels and now works as apprentice cook in the Palace under Mrs. Tandry’s supervision.
Lion Guards: a guard unit recruited for the special protection of the Garaian Mage-Emperor, composed of lion shifters.
Loranian: the difficult, secret language of magic that all mages are required to master.
Mages Guild: the governmental organization that rules the mages in Canalo, and supervises the other races. The headquarters are in Solantha Palace. They are subordinate to the Chief Mage.
Magi-tech: devices that are powered by both magic and technology.
Magorah: the god of the shifters, associated with the moon.
Main Crew: the largest group of Enforcers in the Guild. They are generally favored over the other crews and get the most lucrative dockets.
Makis, Kardanor: a human architect specialized in public buildings and safety.
Manuc: an island country off the west coast of the Central Continent.
Melcott, Annia: a human enforcer. She is a close friend of Sunaya’s, and Noria’s older sister. After Noria was sentenced to hard labor the Mines, she left Solantha to work for a time in Southia.
Melcott, Noria: Annia Melcott’s younger sister. A gifted inventor, who used to work part-time in the shop Over the Hedge, belonging to Comenius Genhard, and had a mage boyfriend, Elnos. She passionately believed in equality between all races, and supported the Resistance, which she eventually joined. After being arrested with other scientists working for the Resistance, she refused a deal and is currently serving a five-year sentence of hard labor in the mines.
Mrs. Melcott: Annia and Noria Melcott’s widowed mother, a well-off socialite.
Mendle: family name of the owners of the largest construction company in Solantha, of which Mr. Mendle is also the CEO.
Messindor: pirate mage, almost certainly deceased. Sunaya discovered his diary and other possessions on a deserted island.
Mexia: one of the fifty states making up the Northia Federation.
Micara: one of the mages who made up the Founding Trio of the Federation, together with Faonus and Jeremidah
Captain Milios: commandant of a secret Resistance Camp at the base of the Sarania Mountain Range.
Mills, Thorgana: human socialite, married to Curian Vanderheim, and former owner of a news media conglomerate as well as numerous other companies. After being exposed as the Benefactor by Sunaya, she was imprisoned. Her companies were seized and auctioned off. She may be dead, however, her body was not positively identified after a fire in the Dara prison where she was being held.
Minister, the: the mage who presides the Convention of Chief Mages, and coordinates the affairs of the Northia Federation between sessions, particularly foreign relations. The office is currently held by Zavian Graning.
Mitas, Dr. Elan: a general practitioner of medicine in Dara, member of the Resistance.
Miyanta: daughter and disciple of the First Mage Resinah, from whom the ar’Rhea family traces its descent.
Mogg, Henning: mage, pilot and agent employed by the Federal Office for Security.
Naraka: a country off the Eastern Continent, consisting of several large islands.
Nebara: one of the fifty states making up the Northia Federation.
Noria: see under Melcott, Noria.
Northia Federation: a federation consisting of fifty states that cover the entire northern half and middle of the Western Continent. Canalo is part of this federation.
Osero: one of the fifty states of the Northia Federation, located north of Canalo on the continent’s west coast.
Over the Hedge: a shop at Witches’ End selling magical charms and herbal remedies, belonging to Comenius Genhard.
Pandanum: a base metal used, inter alia, for less valuable coins.
Parabas: a city north of Solantha, capital of the state of Osero.
Pernia: a country on the Central Continent, from which Sunaya’s friend Comenius Genhard hails.
Pillick, Harron: mage, assistant to the Federal Director of Security Garrett Toring.
Polar ar’Tollis: former Chief Mage of Nebara, who vanished after being condemned to death by the Convention.
Prickett: a fruit seller in the Rowanville Market.
Prison Isle: an island in the middle of Solantha Bay that serves as a prison for Canalo’s worst criminals.
Privacy Guard: a company that used to lease uniformed guards to governments and other institutions all over the Federation.
Ragga, Elnos: Noria Melcott’s former boyfriend, a graduate of Solantha academy and one of the few mages who believes in equality amongst the races. He and Noria worked together to develop new magi-tech devices.
Recca: the world of humans, mages and shifters.
Residah: the mages’ book of scripture that holds Resinah’s teachings.
Resinah: the first mage, whose teachings are of paramount spiritual importance for the mages. Her statue can be found in the mage temples, which are off-limit
s to non-mages and magically hidden from outsiders.
Resistance: a movement of revolutionaries planning to overthrow the mages and take control of the Northia Federation, financially backed by the Benefactor. Over time they became bolder and more aggressive, using terrorist attacks with civilian casualties, as well as assassination. They even tried to take over Solantha, when the government was in disarray after they had engineered the Chief Mage’s disappearance. Sunaya’s discovery that the Benefactor and the human leaders of the Resistance were planning to turn on the shifters once the mages were defeated dealt a blow to the unity of the movement, but its human component is far from completely defeated, and still working on “secret weapons.”
ar’Rhea: family name of a noble Castalian family of mages, who trace their descent to the first mage Resinah through her daughter Miyanta.
ar’Rhea, Haman: High Mage of Castalis, a country at the south-western edge of the Central Continent, and Sunaya’s long-lost father.
ar’Rhea, Isana: mage, resides in Castalis, Sunaya’s younger half-sister.
ar’Rhea, Malik: Sunaya’s half-brother, son of the High Mage of Castalis and expected to succeed him at some point.
Rhodea: smallest of the fifty states that make up the Northia Federation, on the east coast of the continent.
Rowanville: the only neighborhood of Solantha where all three races mix.
Rusalia, see under Genhard, Rusalia.
Rylan: see under Baine, Rylan.
Sandia: a large country (and subcontinent) of the Central Continent, populated by many different peoples.
Sandin Federal Bank: a bank with branches in all fifty states of the Federation; its Canalo manager was Danrian Warin. It was shut down after Sunaya brought a scheme of “interest-free loans,” financed with illegally mined gold, to the Chief Mage’s notice.
ar’Sannin, Iannis: see under Iannis ar’Sannin.
Schaun, Tinari: a young schoolgirl in Solantha, rejected by her human family after she proved to have magic. Subsequently, she was informally adopted by Head Librarian Janta Urama.
Serapha charms: paired amulets that allow two people, usually a couple, to find each other via twinned stones imbued with a small part of their essence. Normally, only the wearer can take a serapha charm off.
Seros: a city located in Southern Canalo.
Shaman/Shamaness: a spiritual leader of the native tribes, highly adept at nature magic, healing, divination and mind magic.
Shifter: a human who can change into animal form and back by magic; they originally resulted from illegal experiments by mages on ordinary humans.
Shifter Courier: Solantha newspaper specifically geared towards the shifter population.
Shifter Royale: an illegal underground betting concourse where kidnapped and drugged shifters were forced to fight against each other, sometimes to the death. Discovered and exposed by Sunaya, with help from Boon Lakin and Annia Melcott, after her cousin Mika had been kidnapped by the organizers.
Shiftertown: the part of Solantha where the official shifter clans live.
Shiftertown Inspector: a shifter chosen by the Shiftertown Council to police shifter-related crime. The position is currently held by Boon Lakin, a jaguar shifter, appointed after the murder of his predecessor Roanas Tillmore.
Solantha: the capital of Canalo State, a port city on the west coast of the Northia continent, home of Sunaya Baine.
Solantha Bay: spanned by the Firegate Bridge, the bay gave its name to the city and port that became the capital of Canalo.
Solantha Palace: the seat of power in Canalo, where both the Chief Mage and the Mages Guild reside. It is located near the coast of Solantha Bay.
South Garaian Sea: local name for the part of the Major Ocean located south of Garai (Note: the Major Ocean is called Western Sea in the Northia Federation, while the Minor Ocean is called the Eastern Sea.)
Southia: forms the Western Continent together with Northia, and is composed of various nations.
Skonel, Wellmore: human enforcer; formerly deputy to Captain Galling, Acting Captain (pending confirmation) after the latter’s retirement.
Taili the Wolf: in shifter legend, the very first shifter (a female).
Mrs. Tandry: human, head chef in the kitchens of Solantha Palace.
Tarrignal, Elania: girlfriend and later fiancée of Comenius Genhard; a witch specializing in potions, with a shop in Witches’ End, called The Black Curtain.
Talcon, Garius: the former Deputy Captain of the Enforcer’s Guild, who pestered Sunaya for sexual favors that she indignantly refused. Sunaya discovered he was in league with Petros Yantz, the man behind the silver murders, and killed him in self-defense.
Teca: the only alcoholic drink strong enough to get shifters drunk, fatal to humans.
Testing: schoolchildren in Canalo used to be tested for magic at least twice during their schoolyears, and a positive result would lead to the magic wipe (often with permanent mental damage.) The testing is now Sunaya’s responsibility, and she tries to find better solutions for talented children on a case-to-case basis.
The Twilight: a bar in Rowanville where Sunaya used to bartend.
Thotting, Cerlina: a ten-year-old schoolgirl, who was missing from her home in Solantha. Finding her was Sunaya’s very first case as an enforcer.
Thrase, Nelia: a young human, formerly a journalist, Sunaya’s social secretary.
Tinari, see Schaun, Tinari.
Tillmore, Roanas: lion shifter, the former Shiftertown Inspector and father figure/mentor to Sunaya. He was poisoned while digging into the silver murders, prompting Sunaya to take over the investigation.
ar’Tollis, Mendir: mage, deceased, an eccentric elderly cousin of Chief Mage Polar ar’Tollis.
ar’Tollis, Polar: a former Chief Mage of Nebara, who disappeared after being charged with a crime against the Great Accord. Subsequently, he was condemned to death in absentia by the Convention.
Toring, Garrett: mage, Federal Director of Security, former Federal Secretary of Justice; an ambitious high official in the Federal government in Dara.
Trouble: a pesky, non-corporeal ether parrot that resulted when Sunaya tried the ether pigeon spell on her own. Appears whenever Sunaya pronounces his name in any context.
Tua: a legendary and highly dangerous race of very long-lived beings with powerful magic, who sometimes cross from their own world into Recca, most frequently in Manuc.
Turain: a small town north of Solantha, where the Shifter Royale took place.
Urama, Janta: mage and scholar, head librarian in the Solantha Mages Guild, foster mother of Tinari Schaun.
Ur-God: the name the humans call the Creator by.
Ursini, Wex: a bear shifter and enforcer.
Vanderheim, Curian: human millionaire and businessman, husband to Thorgana Mills.
Lord Vengar: former Chief Mage of Canalo, immediate predecessor of current Chief Mage Iannis ar’Sannin.
Vance, Eltis: Foreman of the Main Crew, not a fan of Sunaya.
Vestes, Lamar: a ham and sausage vendor in Rowanville Market Street.
Witches’ End: a pier in Solantha City, part of the Port, where immigrant magic users sell their wares and services.
Yantz, Petros: the former Chief Editor of the Herald, implicated in the silver murders. A close collaborator of the Benefactor, he found refuge in her Solantha mansion as a fugitive.
Zavian Graning: see under Graning, Zavian.
Acknowledgments
What to say, what to say? I can’t believe we’re at the end of Book 7! As usual, writing this book has been an amazing experience, and I couldn’t have done it without a number of people who’ve had my back.
Thank you to Victoria, Lenka, Kaitlyn, and all the other beta readers who took the time to give me valuable feedback. As usual, you’ve caught plot holes and inconsistencies, and helped take this book from good to awesome.
Thanks again to Mary Burnett, my writing partner. Your fine-toothed comb has made this book shine, and I
think we can both be very proud of the seven books we’ve done together.
Thank you to Judah Dobin, my cover artist and other half, for the amazing cover. As usual, you’ve outdone yourself!
And thank you to all my readers who’ve supported me on this incredible journey, and who continue to read and love my books. I really, truly couldn’t do this without you, and I’m grateful for each and every one of you.
About the Author
Jasmine Walt is obsessed with books, chocolate, and sharp objects. Somehow, those three things melded together in her head and transformed into a desire to write, usually fantastical stuff with a healthy dose of action and romance. Her characters are a little (okay, a lot) on the snarky side, and they swear, but they mean well. Even the villains sometimes.
When Jasmine isn’t chained to her keyboard, you can find her practicing her triangle choke on the jujitsu mat, spending time with her family, or binge-watching superhero shows on Netflix.
Want to connect with Jasmine? You can find her on Twitter at @jasmine_writes, on Facebook, on Instagram at @jasmine.walt, or at www.jasminewalt.com.
Also by Jasmine Walt
The Baine Chronicles Series:
Tested by Magic (Novella)
Burned by Magic
Bound by Magic
Hunted by Magic
Marked by Magic
Betrayed by Magic
Deceived by Magic
Scorched by Magic
Forsaken By Magic (Novella—Coming Soon!)
The Shadows of Salem Series
Shadow Born
Shadow Marked
Shadow Hunted
Shadow Cursed—Coming Soon!
The Watchtower Sentinels Series
Angel Kissed
Angel Cursed—Coming Soon!
Collections and Anthologies:
Not Just Vodoo
