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Chapter Nineteen

RUNA

Pounding music thumped over the din of low, muttered voices.

Long tables loaded with food filled the space.

The scent of greasy meat and stale ale permeated the air.

My brothers and I had secured a place at a table in the back of the room.

Drazen sat beside me while Kronk sat across the table, shoveling food into his maw.

After a trip to the bathing pool, we’d been ordered to assemble for dinner. Tonight, all three of the prison cells dined together. Only half of the almost one hundred competitors had made it through the first set of trials. Tomorrow, that number would likely drop by half again.

I glanced to where Victor stood across the room. Arm braced on the wall, he peered down at a flushed female who simpered back at him. The expression on the vampire’s face was soft, half-lidded. Seductive. I should know. I’d seen that same look mere hours ago.

My blood heated at the memory. The way he watched my every move as I’d pleasured myself in front of him. How he pinned me against the wall, his body hard where mine was soft. The hungry spark in his glowing eyes when he demanded that I run. Funny, but I hadn’t minded the chase.

“What’s happening between you and the leech?” Drazen startled me from my thoughts.

I jerked my head around and met his dark scowl, my cheeks warming. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t you? You watch him,” he drawled. “He watches you…”

“You’re imagining things.” I stole another glance at Custodis, only to find his steely gaze locked on me.

For a second, it seemed his eyes flashed gold before turning gray again.

The same had happened in the caverns when he’d watched me.

There’d also been a surge of energy I couldn’t explain. Was it a side effect of the trials?

“I don’t like it.” Kronk pounded his beefy fist on the table, reclaiming my attention. “He’s grown possessive of you.”

At his statement, my insides quivered. I brushed the sensation aside. “Has not,” I scoffed. “If he watches me, it’s because he doesn’t want to lose his one shot at returning home. I’m nothing to him but a means to get what he truly wants.”

“And what is he to you?” Drazen asked, ever the one to ask the most unsettling questions.

I stared at my brother, my mouth opening and closing while I searched for an answer.

“Hello, beautiful,” a deep voice said from my right. “I must be in a museum because you truly are a work of art.”

My eyes rolled before I even turned to face the loser who’d dared to sit next to me.

I’d seen him before, during the performance demonstration.

He was the one who could belch fire. The guy was pretty, I’d give him that, but I knew his type.

Dark hair, sparkling blue eyes, chiseled body.

Overly confident that his good looks would be enough to make up for his shallow personality .

Drazen leaned around me, giving the male a pointed glare. “And you are?”

“Thorne Blackwing, at your service.”

I shifted back in my seat, gathering my legs beneath me. “Goodbye, Thorne Blackwing.

“No, wait.” The charmer’s smile fled.

I eyed the hand he’d dared to lay on my arm, and he winced, withdrawing.

“What do you want?” I asked.

He cast a glance around the room, an air of desperation in his mannerisms. “I want in.”

“In what?” Drazen said. “And if you say my sister, know they will be the last words to ever leave your lips.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Gross, Drazen.”

“I want into your alliance,” the attractive interloper answered. “I think we could work well together.”

There was no point denying the existence of our partnership. The entire kingdom had seen us competing as a team. Many of the other contestants had paired up as well.

This time, I managed to gain my feet, standing beside him. “Not a chance.”

“No, wait.” Once more, his desperate grip held me in place. “Please.”

Icy evergreen swept through my senses, the air stirring. “Touch her again, and you will lose a limb.” The vampire’s warning ended on a spine-shivering growl that did lovely things to my insides.

And now it was a party. Kill me now.

Clueless of the danger he was in, Thorne thrust his hand out to the vampire. “Victor Custodis, I’m—”

“Thorne Blackwing. Yes, I know.”

The blue-eyed charmer beamed. “You’ve heard of me.”

Custodis peered down his nose at the man. “I’ve made it my business to know everyone here. ”

Thorne’s sparkle returned. “Then you understand I can be an asset to your alliance.”

Kronk paused between mouthfuls, food slipping down his chin. “We do not need your flames, Thorne Blackwing. You are not an asset.”

Drazen snorted. “Kronk is right. We already have the fiery end of things covered.”

“Perhaps.” Thorne smirked. “But do you have this?”

He tugged on a leather cord he had around his neck, extracting a gleaming skeleton key. “This little baby will open any door in the place, even if it’s warded,” he whispered.

Victor canted his head. “Now, where did you get that?”

Thorne leaned closer, winking. “I have an in with the queen’s handmaiden. She gave me a token of her affection so I could attend to her needs with none the wiser. Mind you, the key is spelled to only function for me, so no funny business.”

Victor’s expression turned calculating.

I cut the attractive interloper a hard glare. “Only funny business going on is yours.” I’d never met a male with so much sex appeal who could be trusted. It was bad enough I was forced to work with the vampire. No way did I want to add the flirt with fire breath to the mix.

While Thorne stowed his key down the front of his tunic again, Drazen scanned him with a speculative eye. “If you have a magical key, then why are you still here? Unless you’re lying, and it’s nothing more than the key to the nearest latrine.”

Thorne firmed his jaw. “Maybe I want to be here.”

“What a liar,” I scoffed. “Nobody in their right mind would place themselves in the trials deliberately.”

Perhaps realizing this required some honesty, he admitted, “The king has something that belongs to me. I entered the trials to get it back.”

While I sensed no deception, his hidden agenda could interfere with our own instead of aiding our escape. “And what do you get out of this deal?”

“Word is your vampire is peddling venom in exchange for intel. I’ve got a key but no way out.

All known exits are heavily guarded. What I need is the location of a hidden door that is rumored to exist. This door is said to lead to an underground passage that will lead us under the wall.

Find that door, and I’ll provide the key, along with transportation out of here. ”

I planted my hands on my hips. “Sounds to me like you snuck into the trials to recover some stolen trinket with no way out. Talk about poor planning.”

“One”—he held up his index finger—“I came here with at least half of a solid escape plan, minus a few details. Two, did I mention my stolen item was incredibly valuable?”

Kronk stopped eating, leaning closer. “How valuable?”

Something in the guy’s manner didn’t sit right with me. While his words sounded truthful, there was an odd tension in his shoulders that said he wasn’t giving us the whole story. No way I was trusting some random treasure hunter when my brother’s lives were on the line.

I shook my head, preparing to shut him down. “Listen, I—”

“Deal,” Victor stated.

My teeth snapped together. “Deal?”

“Yes. Deal.”

No. Hell no. The fallen vampire leader was not in charge. I slapped my palms down on the table. “And since when did you become king?”

At my question, gold sparks glimmered in his eyes, and the low rumblings of some sort of strange energy hummed over my skin.

Before I could comment on the odd sensation, a servant ambled behind us with a sweets-loaded tray in his hand.

Unlike most of the brownies who served Idris, this one was male and quite a bit larger than the others .

I eyed his offering. “What is this for?” The rest of the food was served on large platters and placed on the tables.

“A special treat. Compliments of Queen Raelynn.”

“Yeah, no thanks.” I recoiled as though he’d handed me sea slugs.

“Pass that over here,” Drazen said, and the servant extended the tray.

“Drazen, are you cra—”

Pastries, along with the platter, exploded against Drazen’s chest.

My brother belted out a roar, teetering on his chair legs, coated in creamy confections.

Chunks of cake and icing splattered the floor, and I slipped on a sugary glob. “What the hell?” This was no accident but an attack.

The servant whipped around, daring to give the raging infernus his back. In the man’s hand was a dagger. My heart pitched. In a flash, the blade descended. His target—Custodis.

Faster than my eyes could track, Thorne sprang to his feet and captured the assassin’s arm.

At the same time, the vampire grabbed the servant’s hand and twisted.

Bones snapped and popped, the attacker screaming his rage.

Next thing I knew, the male staggered backward and collapsed.

The bloody dagger protruded from his chest.

It all happened so fast. I could do little but splutter.

With the threat contained, Custodis took a knee at the male’s side. “Tell me who sent you.”

The guy stared at the ceiling, unseeing. Blood gurgled from his lips.

“The Chosen One must not ascend,” he coughed, and the light faded from his eyes.

“What was that all about?” Drazen snarled, flicking cream from his ruined clothing.

The vampire plucked the dagger from the man’s sternum. Squelching sounds had my dinner rising, eager to escape my stomach.

Carved into the hilt were strange runes.

“Anyone know what the markings mean?” He glanced around our group.

Thorne dragged his gaze from the dagger, his expression hardening. “Never seen them before.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You sure about that?” He was far from convincing. If the new guy wanted “in,” hiding secrets wouldn’t put him in my good graces.