Leoht (BloodRunes: Book 3) (24 page)

She was actually getting quite good at this
whole cleansing thing, and had been entertaining thoughts of coming
back out here once she had completed her commitment to Layna and
Gryffon. The solitude of the traveling had been calming. With
nothing but her own company, Katya had realized that she had a lot
of issues that she needed to work through that the collar had never
before allowed her to even think about.

Not least of which was the overwhelming guilt
that had begun to surface from all the people she had killed. Her
emotions were all over the place and she had never learned how to
deal with them. She had never been allowed to do so many things,
even in her own head, and she felt as though she needed to take the
time to get to know herself. To find out who she really was,
whether or not she ever really discovered the mystery of her past.
Was she really just a cold-hearted assassin? Or had that been the
collar repressing any emotions over her actions? Maybe she was
meant to be an selfless person; when she had first broken free of
the first confines of the collar hadn’t she spent her time helping
people after the earthquake? Before she could move on with her
life, she needed to find herself. And hopefully, assuming that
their crazy plan worked and they survived this battle, she would
have fulfilled her commitment to saving the world and her memories
might be revealed to her.

When she felt as though the extent to which
she could cleanse the area had been reached, she moved on to set
the spells to help anchor the jump site. Having both sides anchored
allowed one to transport with greater ease and less power. And
saving their power for the fight would be imperative.

Accomplishing as much as she was able, she
sat back to wait.

*

“We were invited to join the King’s advisor
for the evening,” Megan told one of the guards at the palace gate.
The man leered at her and openly stared down into the volumous
cavern of cleavage that the gown displayed.

“All three of you?” he asked, not bothering
to raise his eyes to hers to speak with her.

She shifted her weight so that her hip stuck
out suggestively, running her tongue over her lips before
answering. “It’s my first
dinner
with the man,” she said,
somehow making the mundane word sound naughty, “and I didn’t know
exactly what kind of entertainment he might want. I am only here
for the evening, but in case he has more of an appetite, these two
are prepared to stay to help satiate him.” She took a deep breath
and the man’s eyes seemed to bug out of their sockets. “He didn’t
want to pay to have me stay the extra time,” she put on a pretty
little pout, her heavily made-up eyes wide with feigned
disappointment, “perhaps you might be able to walk me home after?
The city’s not safe for a woman to travel alone. I might need a big
man like you,” she trailed her finger down his chest, “to protect
me.” She gave him a seductive smile. “Would you mind having your
men let us by? I don’t want to be late for our appointment.”

Layna was both appalled and a little bit
jealous of her effortless flirtation. Even Gryffon’s eyes lingered
on her impressive assets and Layna felt a familiar pain, even if
Megan’s own preferences did lean more towards Layna herself than
they did to Gryffon.

“Alright,” the man’s voice seemed to have
gotten huskier, “But make sure you remember Jackel let you in.”

“Jackel,” Megan purred the name sensuously,
“we’ll remember.” She gestured for Layna and Gryffon to go first,
before brushing up against the man in passing, looking up through
her eyelashes at him with a glance that seemed to promise something
more. His eyes were glued to her swaying hips as they walked into
the palace.

Layna and Gryffon, who was now dressed as a
young woman, complete with mountains of make-up to cover his manly
features and a dress much too modest for their supposed occupation,
hurried along in front of her. It was a good thing that Megan
demanded the guard’s attention as a close inspection of Gryffon
would have revealed him for what he was.

Megan moved through the palace like she
belonged there, having memorized the layout as Madame Blanchet had
taught her, and after enough twists and turns to have made Layna
lost, she whispered. “The King’s chamber is through those doors and
up the stairs. You’ll have to figure out how to get past his
personal guards.” She added as an afterthought, “If he hasn’t eaten
them yet.”

Layna gulped as Megan moved off to the left,
headed to wherever the advisor’s rooms were and Layna and Gryffon
hastily moved out of the main walk, ducking into a storage closet.
Gryffon stepped out of the dress and scrubbed the make-up off his
face with it. He had insisted on wearing his regular clothes
underneath the gown, refusing to fight the King dressed as a girl.
Layna could hardly blame him.

She took the dress from him, “Here, let me.”
She gently wiped away the remains of the paint, her fingers lightly
touching the edge of his face to hold it steady. When she was
finished, she raised her eyes and found that he was watching her
intently. Their eyes locked, and Layna found herself lost in the
moment, until Gryffon cleared his throat and looked away.

“Thanks,” he said gruffly.

“My pleasure,” Layna said softly. “Are you
ready?”

“Let’s do it,” Gryffon nodded with a look of
fierce determination, bracing himself for the struggle ahead of
them. They both knew that the King wouldn’t go without a fight. And
they didn’t know what they were heading into. The information the
Golden Girls could give them about the King was spotty, he
apparently had never used their services, and no one had even seen
the inside of his chamber.

They peeked out of the storage room, peering
out from the thin slice of open door down the hallway. No one was
in sight and Gryffon slowly pushed the door farther open, ushering
her out. They hastily exited and clicked the door shut behind them
without a noise. Picking their way towards the arched doorway that
led to the spiral stairway up to their goal, they both froze as the
doorknob moved.

Layna was surprised as Gryffon suddenly
pushed her roughly against the wall and his lips found hers. His
body pressed close around hers and the warm feel of his mouth sent
tingles down to her toes. He ran his tongue across her bottom lip,
questing to delve into her depths. She opened her mouth to him,
welcoming his taste and she wrapped her arms around him.

And all too soon it was over. As soon as the
footsteps meandered off down the hallway, he broke off the kiss,
his glance immediately following the man who had just come from the
direction of the King’s chamber. It dawned on her that the kiss had
simply been to disguise the fact that they were out of place. It
hid their faces and made people pointedly look the other way.

It had certainly made her forget she was
there.

His eyes met hers once more and he licked his
lips, his gaze drawn downwards to rest on her mouth for a split
second, which was still partly open from their encounter. Then he
pulled away.

Layna deflated. If only she was as sensual as
Megan had showed herself to be capable of, maybe she would have
been able to draw him in with just that kiss. That could have been
her last opportunity to show him how much she loved him. After
tonight, one way or the other, this crazy quest that they had been
thrust into together would be over, and he would be free to pursue
his life with the Lady Aria.

She had to fight for him. The decision made,
she resolutely put up her hand to pull him toward her once more,
but he slipped through her grasp, the motion a moment too late. He
was across the hall and had his hand to the doorknob before she
knew it.

“Ready?” he asked her a bit hoarsely, and she
bit her lip. Their moment was over. And he hardly seemed affected
by it. She nodded. He turned the handle and swung the door open,
revealing a spiral staircase. They wound their way up and up,
closer and closer to the King.

At the top, a large wooden door with wrought
iron design work stood ominously unguarded. Was the King that
confident in his ability to protect himself? Layna retrieved the
collar from her bag and nodded to Gryffon that she was ready when
he was.

Gryffon flung the door open and they rushed
inside, immediately throwing up protection wards and scanning the
room.

The King sat behind a large desk at the left
side of the room and at their sudden entrance he burst to his feet,
the chair scraping loudly against the floor and exclaimed, “What is
the meaning of this?”

Neither bothered to explain, but Layna
sprinted to the man’s side while casting spell after spell upon him
to try and restrain him long enough to clasp the collar around his
neck. Gryffon flanked him on the other side and physically threw
himself against the man while also magically attacking.

The man looked surprised, but he didn’t move
other than flick his hand out towards them. Both of them went
flying backwards and Layna hit her head smartly on the wall. Stars
danced before her eyes and she blinked them hurriedly to clear
them. She was back on her feet in an instant, from her previous
battle with the King she knew she didn’t have time to waste. She
recouped and sent a new flurry of spells at him, trying a more
direct approach this time. If she could incapacitate him rather
than control him, it would work just as well.

Her offensive magic had more effect than the
manipulative spells had and Layna saw that Gryffon had also changed
tactics, only his involved animating the objects around the King to
try and restrain him. The man currently had the tassels from the
curtains attempting to coil themselves around him.

Gryffon had managed to get himself mere feet
from the King and Layna called to him, “Gryffon, take the collar!”
When he met her eyes, she tossed it towards him…and watched in
horror as its arc took it directly towards the waiting hands of the
King.

At the last second, Gryffon launched himself
forward, taking the King down in a full-on tackle and snatching the
collar out of the air at the same time. Layna sent a new barrage of
spells to render the King momentarily paralyzed to give Gryffon
time to put it on him. They wrestled behind the desk and for
several tense seconds Layna couldn’t tell what was going on.

She leapt over a chair that had been
overturned in the struggle and skidded to a halt around the side of
the desk. She let out a sigh of relief. Gryffon was sitting on the
King, who had the collar firmly fastened around his neck.

“Obey,” Gryffon told him, cementing the final
element of the collar’s magic. Without finishing the spell, it
would only block the use of magic, like Layna had found when the
assassin had used it on her, but the command made it impossible to
act against the caster’s wishes.

“That wasn’t so bad,” she commented to
Gryffon, adding in her head…
almost too easy
…

“Let’s get the rest of our stuff and get out
of here. The racket is sure to have drawn some attention.”

They bolted the door and dragged a few pieces
of furniture in front of it in case anyone tried barging in before
magically fetching the belongings they had left at Katrina’s, as
Layna now thought of the manor. This included Leoht which Layna
strapped on after changing into more practical clothes. The King’s
eyes seemed to linger on the sword and they seemed to have widened
a bit at its appearance. Did the Bloodstone recognize it? Or
perhaps he could feel the power of it and the effect that it had.
Or, he simply knew what they planned on doing with it.

Once they were ready, they prepared the
circle for transport and led the King inside. He came easily, but
Layna couldn’t help but feel paranoid that the magic of the collar
wouldn’t work on him. She watched him warily, and grew more and
more uneasy as he fixed her with an unwavering stare.

When they were all in the circle and ready,
she and Gryffon grasped hands. Though not completely necessary, it
would help them compliment each other’s magic, and Layna liked the
excuse to touch him.

All at once, Layna felt as though her insides
were being torn out and then stuffed back inside her, and the world
around them was suddenly extremely foreign. They appeared to be
within a tunnel of a cave, the only light coming from a magelight
in front of them.

Katya’s wearied face greeted them, and she
smiled. As Layna stepped forward, the girl’s eyes shifted to their
captive and something flashed in them. It was almost as if a spark
of energy had passed between the two and Layna looked back at the
King.

His eyes were locked with Katya’s and a
shiver went down Layna’s back; he was smiling.

CHAPTER 17

Nathair smirked as he saw Katya’s reaction to
him and the collar. Her eyes had lit up at the sight of him, and
darkened as they trailed down to his neck. He was happy to see her
as well. All these nights of visiting her in their dreams didn’t
compare to actually seeing her in the flesh. He couldn’t wait to
hold her in his arms.

“Where is it?” the man called Gryffon asked
her. She tore her eyes away from him and pointed down the passage.
Nathair glanced over at Layna and saw that she had a concerned look
on her face, as her eyes darted between Katya and himself. So, she
had noticed the connection. How astute of her. If only she had felt
that connection with him as well, the three of them could have
accomplished much. Perhaps when today was over and Katya was by his
side, he’d use the collar on Layna to make her his. That would be
satisfactory.

Gryffon looked at him and commanded, “Come
on,” and Nathair had no choice but to follow along behind him
obediently. Even knowing that the collar would soon be removed,
Nathair hated the feeling of having it on. The Order obviously had
made some improvements since the last time they used it on him.