Leoht (BloodRunes: Book 3) by Laura R Cole

of
spells forming on his lips to come at her. Her pace did not slow,
however, the determined walk took her directly in front of the man
who stood and looked around himself in alarm.
    Layna drew Leoht from the sheath at her side
and Gryffon couldn’t help but admire how good she made it look. She
said something to the man that Gryffon couldn’t hear and he shook
his head negatively. Then he sprang off the ground into the tree
and vaulted over the wall. Layna didn’t move to follow.
    She turned back towards them and Gryffon was
about to call out to her when something attached itself to him. He
looked down and saw Aria clinging to him in panic. “Is it all
over?” she asked through a deluge of tears. He glanced up at Layna
and saw her face harden, her eyes returning to their natural shade.
He shook off the feeling of guilt. Wasn’t it her that kept telling
Aria that they were only friends?
    He put his arm around the sobbing woman and
talked soothingly to try and calm her. She buried her head in his
shoulder, soaking his tunic while Layna looked on. After a moment
she cleared her throat jutting out her chin in the direction behind
Gryffon and saying, “Sorry to interrupt, but if we want to get out
of here today, we might want to do so while we still have the
chance.”
    Gryffon looked behind him where Layna had
indicated and saw that a crowd of people was forming, and lots of
them were pointing towards the three of them. He eased Aria away
from his chest and looked down at her puffy red eyes. “Are you
alight? Think you can handle the questions for us?” She looked
pitifully up at him but she nodded, releasing her death grip on his
tunic.
    “Let’s go,” he said to Layna.
     
    *
    Layna watched as Aria clung to Gryffon like
some kind of pathetic sad sop and she couldn’t stop her eyes from
narrowing the tiniest bit at the tenderness in his grip while
Gryffon peeled her off him.
    She turned on her heel and stalked off
towards the stables, still on a bit of a power-high. Whenever she
touched the power if gave her a boost of confidence and today it
was making her think bad thoughts about the Lady Aria. She mentally
scolded herself; she had been nothing but nice to her. Except
when she almost ‘accidentally’ killed you . The little voice in
the back of her head was not helping matters. Why was everyone out
to kill her?
    She took a deep breath and paused, looking
back to see if Gryffon was following yet. He came up behind her and
asked, “What was that all about?”
    Layna froze, had he somehow heard the mental
tirade she’d just had in her head about the Lady Aria, who, now
that she was thinking more rationally really didn’t deserve the
inner bashing?
    Cliodhna interjected a thought. - Relax. He means the assassination attempt. And anyone can see
that it’s you he cares about, silly girl. Stop your fussing .-
She could almost feel the thoughts of the other two shushing her
with disapproval of Cliodhna’s interference in the matter.
    - I don’t think so ,- she thought back
bitterly, - it was Aria he jumped to save .-
    Cliodhna chuckled. - Well, you
didn’t need much saving did you? He’s waiting . - She fell
silent and felt all three of them lapse into the tiny corner in the
back of her head.
    Layna pondered that a split second, perhaps
she had a point…but when she turned gaze to Gryffon, the look on
his face sent her thoughts spiraling right back down their previous
path. She’d been told her eyes turned completely white while
communing with the Three which granted must look rather creepy, but
Gryffon looked more like he was being forced to interact with a
leper.
    “I don’t know,” she said, her tone rather
more snippy than she had meant for it to come out, “But the man
claimed not to have been sent by Jezebel. So assuming he was
telling the truth, we can add another mysterious person to the list
of people trying to kill me,” she paused, considering, “Or us.”
    She glanced back over her shoulder