Chapter 33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

A splash of water caught my attention and I turned to see Clara shuffle toward us. She had her head bowed as she approached us and she stopped a few feet away. "I'm sorry. I truly am."

I grasped her shaking shoulders and smiled at her. "You did the right thing. That's not anything to apologize for. Besides, it's not like you had a choice in some of the things you did. Lusio was controlling you like Hugh controlled the other people."

A faint smile touched her lips. "Thank you."

I cleared my throat of what I could only describe as annoying emotion involving onions and nodded at the carnage atop Hugh's impaled body. "So what was the last trial supposed to be?"

Clara rolled her eyes. "That fool wanted to see who could bring out the most treasure from the ship. It was the first one he had salvaged and he would have had me raise it for the idiots in the crowd. The gold in the chests isn't even real." Fidel's face fell and he started emptying his pockets.

A wild, joyful cry interrupted us as Lusio threw himself at Tegan's feet.

"How can I ever repay you?" Lusio questioned us as he grasped the hems of Tegan's coat.

Tegan brushed the man's hands away with a look of barely concealed detest on his face. "You can start by repairing the damage you've done to the vampires."

Lusio bobbed his head. "Of course! Anything!"

"And you can give Clara her freedom from your blood contract," he insisted.

"Immediately!" He reached into his coat and drew out a soggy piece of paper which he tore up. I could see a great weight lift from Clara's face. "See? All done!"

"And you can give us your fastest horse and lightest carriage for two."

Lusio blinked his eyes. "I. . .pardon?"

Tegan nodded at Quinn who stood over the still-unconscious bodies of his Clasp and leader. They'd all taken a hell of a beating during their fight and weren't going to be quick to recover. "We have some friends we need to avoid."

"Y-yes! Of course! Right away!"

Cordelia crossed her arms over her chest and looked around us. "What about us? Are you going to tell us who won?"

"I'd say it was a tie," Fidel spoke up as he smiled at his fellow contestants. "Wouldn't you all agree?"

"I would argue that I came last." The voice came from down the beach where Beringer shuffled through the sand, a soaking mess with an apologetic smile on his face. "I attacked my fellow contestants merely on the whim of that vampire."

Cordelia and Fidel sidled up to their bedraggled comrade and each slung an arm over their shoulders. "Stop speaking nonsense," Cordelia scolded him as they helped him on the last leg of the journey back to us. She shot Lusio a pointed look. "I think we all deserve a reward, don't we?"

Lusio nodded. "Of course! You will all be handsomely rewarded for saving me!"

I leaned toward Tegan and lowered my voice to a whisper. "Do you really think he learned his lesson?"

Tegan shrugged. "Only time will tell."

An hour later found us flying down the road with a black steed in front of us and the world of Lusio behind us. I fell back against the plush seat and sighed. "I am so glad that's over."

Tegan held the reins in his hand as he smiled down at me. "So you don't regret leaving Lusio's employ?"

I snorted. "The only thing I regret leaving behind is some of that gold in the shipwrecks."

"I am wealthy," he reminded me.

"Yeah, but I wanted to rub it in Lusio's face just a little bit more," I told him.

He chuckled. "I'm sure Cordelia will guarantee the contestants a hearty chunk of his fortune and the guests will want some form of compensation for their ruined fun."

I tilted my head back and stared up at the twinkling stars. Dawn would come in a few hours and another day with it. I raised my hand and stretched my fingers out above me. "Do you. . .do you think we'll ever find out about the Twilight Witch and how we were able to become, well, what we are?"

"I think we will," he assured me as he looped an arm around my waist and drew me close against his side. "In the meantime, why don't we enjoy the quiet."

I snuggled up against his warm body and closed my eyes. "That's a really nice idea."

I did enjoy that moment of respite after so much danger, but it was to be brief as we would soon discover. That would be one of many discoveries on our next and final adventure.