Page 60 of Rune Assassin

“Your broom,” he reminded me as he nodded at the exit and the red mist that covered it. “If you summon it, it may be able to weaken the barrier enough to allow us through.”

“Won’t the broom just explode from the pressure?” I pointed out.

“Matty gave you that broom, didn’t she?” he asked me.

I nodded. “Yeah, but what does that matter?”

“She was a witch expert in barriers, that much was obvious from how she trapped those souls in the Gallery,” he mused as he nodded at the red mist that surrounded us. “Perhaps the broom picked up on some of her magic while in her care and canundobarriers.”

I tilted my head askance and frowned. “That’s a bit of a stretch.”

He grinned. “Do you have a better idea?”

My shoulders slumped and I hung my head. “No. . .”

Tegan clapped a hand on my shoulder and his eyes twinkled. “Then I look forward to hearing your first good whistle.”

I sighed before I straightened and took a deep breath. I puckered my lips, set my tongue in roughly the spot for the appropriate noise, and blew. A huff of air escaped my creased chops but that was about it.

Tegan’s laughter filled the room. I scowled at him. “At least you’re enjoying yourself.”

He gathered himself and cleared his throat. “I am. Now try again.”

I cleared my throat and tried again. And again. And again. By the time I was done trying my lips were chapped and the hour had grown later.

I blew my last attempted whistle and slumped off the front of the bench and onto the floor. A heavy sigh escaped my sore lips as I shook my head. “This isn’t working. I just can’t get it to blow.”

“You do have a knack for not being able to whistle,” Tegan teased.

I cocked my head to one side and glared at him. “How can you joke when there’s not much time before the last trial. What’s going to happen to us if we fail on our blood contract?”

He stood and shook his head. “I don’t know, but I don’t intend for us to find out.” He strolled to the center of the room and spun on his heels. He stopped facing me and began to undress.

My jaw hit the floor as his coat hit the bench beside me. “What are you doing?”

“Giving you more incentive,” he teased as he unbuttoned his shirt.

He revealed his muscled chest and smooth skin. I instinctively let out an appreciative whistle. It wasn’t a good whistle, but it definitely had more sharpness than I’d done during the last hour of effort.

Tegan grinned. “It looks like you’re losing streak is over.”

I scrambled to my feet. “How can you tell?”

“Can’t you?” he wondered.

I stared hard at the floor and furrowed my brow. “I. . .I think I feelsomething. Kind of like wind.”

“That’s your broom coming to fetch you,” he told me as he dressed himself. “We should be hearing something just about-”

He didn’t get a chance to make the announcement as the broom did it for him. My sweeper special swept down the dusty stairs, stirring the cobwebs and dirt into a duststorm in its wake. The tip of the broom handle slammed into the misty barrier and red sparks flew up at the point of contact. Tegan jumped over to me and wrapped his arms around me, covering my body with his against the worst of the hot sparks.

The broom and barrier both quivered, each vying to break the other. My heart jumped when the broom shuddered, but that was only because it was wiggling its straw butt for another slam. The second, closer impact did the trick as the barrier shattered into a thousand pieces. I broke from Tegan’s embrace and leapt at the broom. It flew into my arms and I hugged it against my chest.

“Good job!” I shouted as I squeezed it tight. The thing seemed to squirm like a happy puppy.

Tegan clapped a hand on my shoulder and I looked up to find his expression dire. “This night isn’t over yet. We need to get to the house.”

I nodded and tucked the broom between my legs. Tegan hopped on and one silent thought from me was enough for the broom. We zipped around our former prison and down the tunnel to the fresh air. I took a deep breath of freedom as we sailed over the fields and toward the twinkling lights that were the house.

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