Page 47 of Rune Assassin

I patted him on the shoulder. “We have matching outfits now, but what about Clara?” I looked past him and at Clara. “Is she going to be alright?”

He nodded. “She’s just going to wake up with a headache and a new aroma.”

Tegan ensured I was steady on my feet before he moved over to the creature. I pressed my hand against his chest to stop him. “You sure that’s safe?”

He chuckled. “Only vampires come back from the dead. Besides, we need to see if we can find any clues to our foe who’s desperate enough to enlist the help of such a creature merely to keep us from attending the next trial.”

I reluctantly let him move over to the scilla and I followed on his heels. “Do you think they controlled the creature with magic or kibbles?” I wondered.

Tegan’s sharp eyes fell on something on the ground. He stooped and snatched it up before examining it in his palm. “With this.”

I stood on my tiptoes and frowned. “A rock?”

“Not quite.” He lowered his hand to my level and opened his palm to reveal a square stone. A few etchings showed through the gore. “A rune stone.”

“Those are starting to pop up a lot lately, aren’t they?” I mused.

Tegan tucked the stone into his pocket and stood. “Too much to be a coincidence.” He half-turned to our unconscious companion. “But we should get Clara to Lusio as promised.”

My heart skipped a beat as I recalled one other problem. “What about Miles?”

“He’ll wait until we get ourselves to the safety of the house,” Tegan suggested as he strode over to the witch and scooped her up in his arms. “Stay close and keep your eyes out for more trouble.”

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE

We venturedinto the dunes and kept both eyes out for trouble. The only problem that arose was from our own inner circle. Clara woke up and she was not happy.

The witch’s eyes fluttered open and she looked around in bewilderment. “What in all darkness is-” Her attention fell on Tegan and her eyes flashed with fury. “You!”

Clara slapped him across the cheek hard enough that Tegan stumbled back. He opened his arms and dropped her butt-first onto the soft sand.

“You’re welcome,” he mused as he rubbed his red cheek.

She glared at him from her sandy seat. “You monster! To hit a woman when she was saving your ungrateful hide!”

“You were thwarting our plan, and might I add that it worked,” he retorted.

“Then why are we out here?” she snapped.

“You’re a little late to your trial preparations so we were walking you to Lusio,” I reminded her.

Her whole body boiled with rage but she merely snapped her head to one side. “Damn those trials! Lusio can find himself another witch!”

Tegan cast a curious look at me which I perfectly understood. “Oh no,” I insisted as I held up my hands in front of myself. “I already have one job here. I’m not going to be taking on another low-paying job.”

“It’s just a thought,” he mused before he turned his attention back to Clara. He offered her his hand and a smile. “Let me help you up, at least.”

She wrinkled her nose but accepted his hand and allowed him to help her to her feet. “That’s certainly the least you can do for hitting me.”

“I’ll try to make further amends but after we’ve reached the house,” he promised.

We continued on our way and reached the house without further incident. The grounds themselves were still full of desperate servants. That is, until one of them caught sight of us. “Sir!” he shouted as he raced to the front of the house. “She’s here!”

Lusio popped his head around the corner and relief mixed with fury. He marched over to us with his hands balled into fists. “Where have you been?” he snapped as he wagged a finger at Clara. “You were supposed to be here nearly an hour ago for the final preparations.”

Clara shot him a look of death. “I was busy chewing through my gag.”

He stopped in front of us and blinked at her. “Is this some sort of poor joke?” he wondered as he looked at all of us. Lusio examined us with a mixture of horror and confusion. I looked down at myself and understood his expression. We were all covered with bits of God-knows-what from Clara’s jars and smattered with cobwebs and sand. “What in the world happened to you?”

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