Page 1 of Rune Assassin

CHAPTERONE

An elegant carriage ride,a magical tournament, and an assassin.

It sounds like some bad bar joke with a punchline filled with puns, but that was my reality that one sunny day a few weeks after our last adventure. I drew back the heavy shade that covered my window and found myself staring out onto the vast ocean. Between the road and the great blue sea lay a colorful assortment of villas and open white sand beaches. Cliffs accented the scenery and crafted a wild coastline where lovers could hide their secret in the rocky outcroppings.

And speaking of those, I turned to my former lover and now husband. Tegan sat beside me with his hands clasped in his lap and his eyes closed. His chest moved up and down in an even rhythm. He looked too cute to disturb.

But I did it anyway.

I leapt onto him and wrapped my arms around his unsuspecting form. He jerked awake and whipped his head to and fro before he looked down at me. A crooked smile slipped onto his lips and he raised one eyebrow.

“Will this be the normal awakening routine from now on?” he wondered.

I grinned up at him. “Only when I can get away with it.”

“Then you made a dire miscalculation this time.”

I saw the wicked glint in his eyes and tried to scramble to the other side of the large carriage. He wrapped his arms around me and drew me against his chest. I squirmed and thrashed in his hold but he kept a tight grip.

“No fair!” I shouted as, between the laughter and the fighting, I had run out of breath. “You cheat!”

He cocked his head to one side. “How?”

“Because of your dragon strength,” I told him.

He chuckled. “Even if I wasn’t a dragon I’d be strong enough to hold you and more.”

I paused and furrowed my brow at him. “And more?’

“And this.” He leaned down and captured my lips in a passionate kiss.

It would have been long, too, if I still wasn’t out of breath. I pulled away and let out a gasp. “Uncle!”

Tegan blinked at me. “What about them?”

I laughed and used his distraction to roll myself onto the seat beside him. “It’s just a saying in my old world. It means I give up.”

He lifted his eyebrows. “Does it? I’ll have to remember that one. Does your world have any more interesting phrases taken out of context?”

I snorted. “Tons but I won’t remember them until they’re needed.”

Tegan chuckled. “Such is the way of idioms and other old wisdom. It’s never around when you want to talk about it and always there when it’s most apt to get you into trouble.”

I sat up and looked him over. “You’re in a contemplative mood, aren’t you?”

He smiled down at me. “Life-changing decisions can do that.”

I looped my arms around one of his and leaned my cheek against his arm. “Even the good ones?”

He stretched his arm around my back and drew me closer before he pressed a light kiss to my forehead. “Especially those ones.”

I could have sat there forever in complete bliss, but the carriage hit a bump. The hard knock made me leave my seat and land back down with all the grace of a lump of rocks. I sat up and glared in the direction of the box. “He could have at least gotten us a driver!”

Tegan grinned. “The horses do seem a little reckless.”

I leaned out my window and looked up at the driver’s box. Theemptydriver’s box. It was like a scene from a horror movie but the carriage had merrily gone on its way without a serious hitch. I looked over my shoulder at Tegan. “How does this work again? The horses know where they’re going?”

He nodded. “Apparently. They haven’t veered from a southward course these last nine days.”

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