Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

I didn't want to admit it but I still didn't feel up to my normal vigor. Tegan didn't say a word but wrapped his arm around my waist and helped me down the winding stairs. We reached the entrance hall and were met by our ‘kind' host.

Lusio had a scowl on his face as he looked us over. "Where are you going?"

"To find your would-be assassin among your disgruntled workers," Tegan told him.

A dark shadow settled on his brow. "Then you think it's one of them?"

"Don't you?" Tegan challenged him. "They have many reasons to attack you. More than anyone else."

Our host puffed out his chest a little and wrinkled his nose. "They shouldn't. I took them out of those holes and gave them wealth beyond what they could have earned doing anything else other than robbing their victims."

I glared at him. "They don't do that anymore."

He lifted his nose. "You think so? Who else could have created magic strong enough to keep Clara at bay?"

Tegan narrowed his eyes at him. "You sound like you have someone you suspect."

Lusio scoffed. "I suspect everyone but if your mission means I'm no longer troubled by these troubles then I wish you well." He inclined his head before he slipped away to the depths of his home.

I looked up at Tegan and found his expression was not happy. "Mind if we get this over with as quickly as possible?" I pleaded.

"It would be my pleasure," he agreed as he led me outside.

I was glad when we turned away from the road and walked over to the stables. Tegan left me in the open doorway on one of a half dozen simple chairs and walked over to the stablemaster. Though we'd only walked the short distance from the house, I was glad for the respite. My head pounded and I couldn't help but lean my forehead into my palm.

"Is something the matter, Miss Kate?"

I looked up and found myself staring into Beringer's kind but worried face. He had his usual cane with him and studied me with a curious look. I shook off my fatigue and sat up straight. "It's nothing."

"I missed your company during the last trial," he told me as he took a seat in the chair beside me. "Both Mr. Tegan and you were not present for the display. It was quite a show."

I managed a weak smile. "Was it?"

He smiled and nodded. "Oh yes. Miss Cordelia made a magnificent scented basket out of her field and Mr. Colombo's bird friends pricked the grasses to create a magnificent design of a flower."

His mention of the trial brought to mind a question. "You don't happen to know where the next trial is and what's going on, do you?"

He leaned back and shook his head. "I fear not, Miss Kate. Our kind host is being quite secretive and has not informed his servants except to say they must prepare to become wet."

"That's. . .vague," I commented.

He chuckled. "Quite."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Beringer," Tegan spoke up as he came up to us. "Trying to woo my wife?"

Beringer grinned and stood. "I would have trouble giving her the proper company with these old bones, sir, but I must congratulate you on such a catch. She is a rare sight."

"Yes, she is," Tegan agreed as he smiled down at me. "And is this rare sight ready for a carriage ride?"

Beringer lifted an eyebrow. "You are going out at this hour?"

"Just to meet some old acquaintances," Tegan told him as he helped me out of my chair. "We should be back in plenty of time to see the last trial."

Beringer bowed his head. "Then I shall take my leave and see you later." He slipped away back to the house.

The stablemaster hitched a fine steed to a small carriage and Tegan helped me climb inside before hopping in after me. The employee sidled up to Tegan's side with a grin on his face. "I would ask if you knew how to drive but I saw what you did this morning. I only ask that you bring the horse and carriage back in one piece."

Tegan chuckled. "I make no guarantees. Yah!"

The horse galloped forward sending the carriage careening after it. I grasped my side and pushed my feet up against the footboard to keep myself pinned in my seat.

"I'd like to keep in one piece, too!" I scolded him.

His eyes twinkled as we rolled onto the main road and turned right. "As you wish, my lady."

I was glad when he slowed the pace and so I settled better into my seat. Now that I wasn't fearing my imminent demise, a question that had nagged at my mind since we left the stable popped into the forefront of my thoughts. "Do you know any of the vampires in the catacombs?" I asked him.

He flashed me a grin. "No, but most of them probably are old and we're about to make their acquaintance, so it wasn't really a lie, was it?"

I snorted. "I guess not."

We drove down the winding road until the villa was far behind us and even the cliffs were at our backs. Well, sides, them being out at sea. By that time night had fallen and so had the quality of my vision.

I squinted at the darkness as the horse trotted down the dirt road. "Lusio's employees live really far out here, don't they?"

"Or rather, Lusio built his house far from their own dwellings," Tegan countered.

"How much farther?" I asked him.

"We're almost there," he assured me as he slowed our steed to a stop. He set the reins in his lap and turned to me with those glowing eyes. It was slightly unnerving. "We should walk the rest of the way or I won't be able to please the stablemaster."

I lifted an eyebrow as he hopped down. "What do you mean?"

"The road is rather rough," he explained as he moved around to my side of the carriage and helped me out. "The vampires don't use vehicles to travel so their thoroughfares are less of a road and more of a path."

Tegan took my hand and guided me off the road and onto the beaten path. The trail took us over the lumpy hillside and through a myriad of fields with tall grass that reminded me of the ones closer to the house.

"Do you think Lusio owns this stuff, too?" I wondered.

"Undoubtedly," Tegan confirmed as we climbed up a hump of grass and paused at the top.

The starlight allowed me to see a mess of more short hills that dotted the landscape. A few trees grew atop and around their grassy bases, and the blades bent under a gentle wind. Everything was as quiet as a church and the scene reminded me of a graveyard.

I looked up at Tegan. "This is it, isn't it?"

"It is, but what's that to you?"

The voice that replied wasn't Tegan's but someone to my left. I whipped my head around in that direction and pressed myself closer to Tegan. A pair of red eyes loomed out of the darkness and glared at me.

Tegan was a little stiff as he looped an arm around my waist. "We're friends of Conrad. Is he here?"

"How do I know you're not just selling something?" the man snapped.

Tegan grinned. "You could search me for wares but I'd object to the lady being searched."

Those red eyes fell on me again and I didn't like the menacing look in them. "I wouldn't mind doing that job."

I glared back at the stranger. "You'd be unemployed pretty fast."

"Is Conrad here or is there someone else we can speak to?" Tegan questioned the eyes.

The person stepped closer and the starlight allowed me to see the short form of a thin man. He wore a plain worn jacket and pants with patches over the knees. His hands were tucked into the pockets of his coat but his pale face stood out in the darkness.

"That would depend on who's come to see him," the vampire sneered.

"Tegan and Kate, of Lusio's house," Tegan announced.

The vampire's nasty look turned to outright hostility. "Lusio? You came from that nightmare?"

"If you could announce us-" Tegan began before the vampire cut him off.

"I won't do a damn thing for you!" he snapped as he stabbed his long, sharp fingernail in the direction of the road. "And nobody else around here will do anything, either, so get out of here! Now!"

"That's no way to treat guests, Rufo."