Page 7 of Rune Assassin

I looked inward toward the many grass-covered dunes that acted as a transition between the sea and land. A well-trampled path between two dunes caught my attention. “Where do you think that leads?”

“No idea, but we should find out,” Tegan suggested as he turned us toward the trail.

We had only gone a few feet when he suddenly stiffened. I looked questioningly up at him and found his face was tense. “What’s the-”

He tackled me to the ground and a gust of wind blasted over us. I ate a mouthful of sand as Tegan jerked his head up. He scowled in the direction further down the beach. I sputtered out the sand and looked at what had caught his attention.

My heart stopped when I saw Quinn and Conor, the wind Key and Clasp, standing at the edge of one of the dunes about a hundred feet from us. They both held up their hands with the palms facing our direction. Balls of wind magic swirled in front of their hands pointing straight at us.

Things got worse when a short figure stepped out from behind them. It was Morrigan, the old senator of the Key Council. She was clad in her customary purple robes and had a smile on her face.

“What a pleasant surprise,” she mused as she clasped her hands together in front of us. “I did not expect to meet you two here. It must be fate.”

“It’s something,” Tegan quipped as he helped me to my feet. Bits of sand fell off us as his eyes darted over the area.

Morrigan chuckled. “There’s no use trying to escape, not in an area ruled by the winds. At best, you would drop out of the sky, and at worst you would find yourself swimming against the tidal pull.”

Tegan drew me behind him as the situation looked tense. I could feel his muscles ripple as indecision between revealing his wings weighed against Morrigan’s words. He decided on the risk and his wings burst out of his back. The wind users blasted their magic at us and Tegan threw his arms up to block the dual blows.

A thin bolt of some electrical force shot out from the direction of the dunes and crashed into the winds, fizzling them to nothing. It was the turn of our foes to stiffen and Morrigan whipped her head to the dunes. Another arc of yellowish electricity shot out of the grassy mounds, but this time the bolt traveled upward before it burst into a million sparkling bits.

Morrigan narrowed her eyes at the beautiful brilliance. She caught the attention of Conor the Clasp and pointed her finger at the dunes. “See who is in there!”

Conor nodded and hurried across the sand. He had barely reached the edge of the grass and the trampled path I’d noticed earlier when a bolt of lightning shot out from the dunes and struck him in the torso. He was thrown back several yards and landed with a soft thump on the sand. I could hear the air knocked from his lungs and he let out a strangled wheeze.

Quinn was at his side in a moment and he helped his Clasp sit up. Morrigan stalked over to the pair, keeping one sharp eye on the dunes, and set a hand on Quinn’s shoulder. “Focus, Key. There is something evil here that must be dealt with.”

He lifted an eyebrow at her. “You recognize this magic, ma’am?”

“Never you mind,” she snapped more harshly than I’d ever heard her, even when we were littering her office with shattered glass. “Just get up and-”

Whatever her instructions were to be, they were interrupted by the sound of a horse whinnying. Tegan and I half-turned and found Lusio riding bare-backed toward us on an elegant white steed.

And he was not pleased.

CHAPTERFIVE

“What is the meaning of this?”he snapped as he stopped just shy of where Tegan and I stood. “Why is magic occurring before the tournament?”

Morrigan put on her best sweet smile as she stepped in front of the Key and Clasp. “My sincerest apologies, Mr. Lusio, but it was our duty to capture these two renegades-” She used a hand to gesture to Tegan and me, “-and to bring them to the nearest office. You must excuse our backing out of the tournament, but-”

“I will not excuse any such thing!” Lusio snapped as he glared down at her. “You signed a contract to participate, and participate you will!”

Morrigan shook her head. “I’m afraid other matters preclude our participation and we will gladly pay the fine. These two must be brought to the nearest office to stand trial for their misdeeds.”

“Whatever their misdeeds, they are under the protection of my roof,” Lusio informed her.

Morrigan’s good humor cratered and she had a tough time not frowning. “You didn’t tell us you had guests other than the participants, Mr. Lusio.”

“Whether I have a hundred guests other than the participants is none of your concern, Miss Shea,” Lusio snapped in such a harsh tone that the horse whinnied and turned in a tight circle before he regained control. “You will abide by the rules of the tournament and set aside your previous squabbles until the last trial is over or I will use the harshest punishment on the contract.”

Morrigan narrowed her eyes at him but bowed her head. “Very well, Mr. Lusio. We will abide by your rules for these four days.”

Lusio turned his attention to us and he didn’t look any more pleased to confront us. He paused long enough to stare at Tegan’s wings even as my dragon husband drew them back into his body before he cleared his throat. “I would have you remain at the house until my other guests have arrived. At least then I will be able to see how many enemies you have made.”

Tegan bowed his head. “As you wish.”

Lusio turned his horse in the direction of the house and gave a sharp look at Morrigan. “I expect to seeallof you at the house shortly.” He spurred the horse forward and soon the two disappeared around the dunes.

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