“How come you haven’t noticed this until now?” I asked, my previous suspicions about him wanting to resurface and yet failing.
“Because they technically are not runes used for evil. This type of magic is often used by young novices to accelerate their training and progress. We wouldn’t use wards against these things,” the Prefect explained, dejected.
A fair statement… During my own time training at the Vatican, I had heard and seen many people use similar methods. It was practical and ethical.
“So what triggered your wards then?” I asked.
“These are the new wards you asked us to implement,” he conceded with reluctance. “They detected Oni magic signature in the runes. That triggered the wards.”
I glared at him for a while in silence. So much pain could have been averted had he simply done a better job of securing his Sanctum. He lowered his gaze, bracing for me to tear him a new one. As much as I itched to give him a proper tongue lashing, it would both be pointless and counterproductive. He didn’t need me to rub it in any further.
“Fix it,” I said in a neutral tone.
“We are working on it. It shouldn’t take long. If you’ll excuse me.”
With those last words, Ewan hurried towards another of the rooms with glowing red runes.
Chapter 8
Eleni
As frustrated as I felt by this entire situation, Lyall appeared to grow even angrier as we assisted the members of the Sanctum in removing the mind control runes. Although he didn’t say a single word, his face made no mystery of his feelings. In that instant, I would have given anything to know what thoughts were prompting such a reaction.
We stepped back into the hallway and headed towards the last room still marked by the red runes. They faded just as we were entering it. Within, we found Ewan and another cleric I didn’t know. The bag sitting on top of the dresser in the right corner of the room made it clear this was where I would have slept last night had Lyall not insisted I stayed at his place. A cold shiver ran down my spine at the thought of what might have happened to me if not for him.
“There, it’s all done,” the Prefect said, looking a bit tired.
“Good. But it seems to me that you have a problem within your ranks,” I said pensively.
“That’s impossible!” Ewan argued, offended.
“It’s not just possible, it is obvious,” I replied firmly but calmly. “You were informed of my imminent arrival only twenty-four hours in advance. And yet, the Onis conveniently happened to add these runes in time and in the exact room you reserved for me with such short notice. How did they know unless someone informed them?”
“There… There has to be another explanation. Maybe it was Sienna or Vivian. Maybe…”
To our collective shock, Lyall emitted an aggravated growl before stomping towards the Prefect. Moving at lightning speed, he grabbed him by the hair—in a fashion similar to what he had done to me in the crematorium—then bit his neck. Ewan cried out in pain and tried to free himself before his body stiffened. His eyes remained wide open, filled with horror and outrage as Lyall plundered his memories.
I should have intervened, but I kept my peace. At this point—and although I didn’t actually believe the Prefect to be corrupt—we couldn’t exclude the possibility that he, too, had been compromised.
Moments later, Lyall released him with a disdainful gesture before coming back to stand by my side.
“How dare you?!” Ewan shouted while pressing his right hand to the puncture wound and holding on to the bedpost for support.
“Silence, you fool!” Lyall said in a menacing voice. “You’ve made such a mess of things that countless women under your care have been put in harm’s way. Thank your God that you are truly clueless about what has been happening, or you would have faced my wrath.”
I couldn’t deny an intense wave of relief to have my companion confirm that the Prefect had not turned on his own people.
“It was necessary to make certain you were not also compromised,” I said in an appeasing yet firm tone. “Your Sanctum was infiltrated right under your nose with disastrous consequences. It is imperative that you test absolutely everyone and give them the appropriate protection sigils.”
“We will,” Ewan ground through his teeth while looking balefully at Lyall.
“See that you do,” Lyall said. “Eleni, grab your things. You will not stay in this place.”
To my shock, I found myself complying without a word. Normally, I would chew up anyone who dared attempt to control me. In this instance, beyond the fact that I also didn’t want to spend the night here, I understood that his protective instincts were driving him. Stranger still, it actually gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling for him to act so possessive and protective towards me.
Ewan gasped, an air of panic settling on his face as he watched me walk towards my bag.
“You cannot leave! What of the mission and the missing women?!” he exclaimed.
