“Off we go,” Cassius says.
As we slip into the void again, I send my intentions to Mac.
I’m coming, mate.
MAC
After breakfast and a lukewarm shower with the worst water pressure ever, I’m feeling hopeful again. Drax is coming to get me. I’ll find out later what took so long, but I have an idea it’s because of Rune’s abilities.
I glance over at him as he sits nonchalantly on a stool by his workstation, swinging one leg and waiting. I’m also aware of the invisible tether between us—the leash, as he calls it—preventing my escape. I’m annoyed as fuck, but I gotta admit, this guy has mad skills. I bet Auri would love to get his hands on a mage like this.
While we wait, I scan the room, looking for anything that could be the amulet, but it’s just dusty old shelves with books and uninteresting objects, nothing that calls to me or looks valuable.
“Is this your house?”
Rune scoffs. “It’s my workshop. One of many, but I prefer it here. The locals ignore me, and the air is nice.”
“Where are you from originally?”
“New Orleans.” I pick up on the hint of sadness in his voice when he answers. “But that was a long time ago.”
“Are you immortal? Way older than you look?”
He chuckles softly. “No. I’m mortal.”
I’m a little surprised he’s answering my questions, so I push for a little more. “What’s your big plan? To rule the world?”
He shakes his head, rolling his eyes. “Why would I want to rule the world? That sounds like a lot of work. No, dragon. My goals are simple. All I want is balance. With that, everything else works itself out.”
“But what do you gain?”
“Not everything is about gain. The pursuit of power is what causes imbalances in the first place. I was gifted with abilities beyond most, and instead of using them for harm, I plan to do good.”
“By keeping me prisoner?”
He narrows his eyes. “You’re the one who chased after me. I’ll remind you that you’re also the one pursuing an item filled with untold evil. Why should I allow you to do fate knows what and not intervene?”
His answer stirs my curiosity again. What does Auri want with the amulet?
“Why is it evil? Can you tell me about it?”
Rune tilts his head. “You really don’t know, do you?”
“No. I just wanted it because it’s beautiful.”
He shrugs. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose.”
He slides off the stool and snaps his fingers, producing a portrait of a beautiful young woman with jet black hair and piercing eyes. Her smile is soft, but there’s something off-putting about her expression that I can’t quite put my finger on.
“This is Belinda Legarr in her youth,” Rune says. “She was a simple peasant girl in sixteenth century France, but she longedto join the aristocracy. She never could have done so through society, so she resorted to the dark arts, tapping into her legacy as part of a powerful family of witches.”
“That’s not what she looked like when I saw her.”
“No. Her plan backfired, of course, turning her into the village pariah, and for the most part people avoided her, until a fiery new clergyman moved into town and wanted to make a name for himself. He decided that Belinda had to die to prove he had the power to save the village from any evil.”
“Shit.”
“Belinda had no intention of dying, so she summoned a spell that would protect her, unknowingly calling forth a dark power that would ultimately lead to her ruin.”
