Page 19 of Rune Assassin

My face fell. “What do you mean?”

He flashed me a toothy smile that showed off one particularly large canine. “Exactly what I say, miss.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and managed to squeak out a few words. “Short on donors?”

He closed his lips and nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. There are more vampires than mortals in this area and the supply does run rather low, leading to some returns to our old ways.”

Tegan clapped a hand on my shoulder and made me jump. “We’ll be sure to watch our step during the evening hours. Good day.”

Conrad inclined his head to us. “Good day.”

I was pretty glad to get away from the very blunt vampire leader and back on the bright sunny road. “Please tell me he was teasing me and I wasn’t getting the joke,” I spoke up to my companion.

Tegan shook his head. “I doubt it. Vampires take their sustenance very seriously and rarely joke about their supply for fear of offending them.”

I cocked my head to one side and lifted an eyebrow. “Wheredomost vampires get their supply?”

“Families with whom they’ve made long-term contracts,” Tegan explained as we sauntered down the packed track. “The family is given money in exchange for their blood which in turn allows them to have children and carry on the contract.”

“And the vampires get a steady supply of the red juice,” I finished as I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t think I’d like to live like that.”

“Nor would I, but the contracts do spread their wealth and keep them from growing too powerful,” Tegan pointed out.

“Unlike the guy under our protection?” I mused.

He nodded. “Unlike him who has no heir and amuses himself with a bizarre set of games.”

“Have you been to any of these trials before?” I asked him.

He grinned. “That’s something else I don’t know about. I’ve never seen any of them nor heard the particulars.”

“You couldn’t afford to get in?” I guessed.

He shrugged. “The temptation to see it was never great enough to go out of my way to this lonely place.”

I swept my eyes over the area. Nary a bird could be heard nor was there any other wild animal in sight. A gentle but chilly breeze blew in from the ocean and raced across the fields. The wind swept over us, causing me to shiver. “I see what you mean. How far is it back to the house?”

“Not far.”

“Good. Let’s walk faster.”

CHAPTERELEVEN

Our hurried stepssoon returned us to the villa but much had changed. A whole army of carriages were now parked on the driveway and stretched down the road. There were big and little, square and squat, and many of them featured crests and fine pairs of horses. The drivers congregated around a beer keg provided for the occasion and drank to the cheer of their employers.

We slipped past them and into the house where maids and men scurried between the kitchen and the open doors of the terrace. The stone platform was now thick with people drinking champagne and showing off their wealth. The crowd spilled out onto the sandy beach but stopped a few yards shy of the trial area which was cordoned off with thick ropes. A booth with a roof had been set up at the edge of the terrace overlooking the sand and I glimpsed about a half dozen comfortable seats under its awning.

The wood bleachers now sported thickly stuffed velvet cushions for the delicate derrières of the spectators. Half the seats were filled already and a steady flow of people moved in to capture the most plush of cushions.

The man of the hour Mr. Lusio himself stood in the center of the controlled chaos with a big smile on his face and his chest puffed out. People flocked about him inflating his ego and stroking his pride. They laughed at his lame jokes and complimented his overpriced attire.

I leaned toward Tegan and lowered my voice to a loud whisper so he could hear me over the chatter. “How are we supposed to protect him from this many people?”

He shook his head. “I have no idea. Just keep your eyes open for anything suspicious.”

A woman walked by with a huge hat that reminded me of a train wreck. “Should I make the list in alphabetical or chronological order?”

“Spreading apart might help,” he suggested as he caught my eye with a look of warning. “Just don’t do anything without me.”

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