Page 59 of Rune Assassin

“Of course,” Hugh confirmed.

“For the other vampires?” he guessed.

Hugh’s smile faltered and he grasped his folded arms together. “For them and to make amends.”

“Amends for what? Being an asshole?” I snapped.

He shook his head as a deadly seriousness settled on his face. “No, for being the cause of my people’s suffering. You see, I was the winner of the first trial. The one that gave so much attention to Lusio and allowed him to become as wealthy and powerful as he is now.”

I froze as I recalled the first carved door in Lusio’s mansion. It had shown a figure holding their hands up while others did the same in front of him. They had all been calling out the name Hugo. Hugh.

“It’s noble to make amends for mistakes but not to take a man’s life, even a man like Lusio,” Tegan countered.

Hugh scoffed. “Taking his life is the only way to make amends, and what better time to take it than during his precious trials?”

“Why don’t you control us now so we could kill him?” Tegan asked our captor.

Hugh’s smile faltered and his sharp eyes settled on me. “I’d rather not risk challenging light energy, though I do wonder how Miss Kate was able to conjure such magic when you are evidently a user of fire. Shouldn’t Keys and their Clasps have the same element?”

“Are we those?” Tegan countered.

The vampire closed his eyes and shook his head. “There’s no use denying it. Morrigan wouldn’t concern herself with you two unless you’d wronged the Senate somehow, and I can’t think of a better way than rejecting their offer to join the Keys.” He cocked his head to one side and a crooked smile slipped onto his lips. “Perhaps I’ll speak with them before I leave the area. They would be very interested to hear that you’re here. After all, with Lusio dead then no property belongs to him, only his estate.”

Hugh chuckled as he turned and strode down the passage. His voice echoed down the hall back at us.

“Enjoy your stay! You’ll be here quite a while!”

CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE

How true werehis final words.

“How long do you think we’ve been down here?” I asked Tegan.

Tegan and I were working our way along the walls in search of a weak spot in the barrier. My feet were sore from the hard ground and I had a few singes on the palms of my hands from getting too close to the red wall. I stopped and studied a distorted point in the barrier but my heart fell when I realized it had only formed to the grain of the rock.

He shook his head. “I don’t know but it must have been several hours already.”

I furrowed my brow. “It was almost eight when we went in, wasn’t it?”

“About that,” he agreed as he reached the tunnel where freedom was so close yet so far.

I dropped onto the stone bench that wound its way around the perimeter of the room and sighed. A faint shock from behind me warned me that I’d leaned back a little too far.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t try our magic? Or maybe you could transform into a dragon and break through the thing?”

Tegan plopped himself down beside me and sighed. “I might crush you before the barrier is broken, if it even is broken.”

My face drooped as I imagined that horrible end. “On second thought, let’s skip the dragon transformation.”

We sat in gloomy silence for a long while, each of us studying our prison. After a few minutes, I couldn’t take it anymore and threw up my arms. “Well, whatdowe do? Wait here and hope that Clara decides to fly to our rescue and let us out?”

Tegan’s eyes widened and he turned to me. “Have you figured out how to whistle?”

I snorted. “I haven’t even had time to practice.”

“Then now is a good time to practice,” he insisted.

I blinked at him. “What are you going on about?”

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