Runic Domination

Chapter 8 || The Villain and his Sidekick

The next three weeks were a blur. Tyler and I spent nearly all our time either running or hiding from the horde of bounty hunters Victor Cane had set on us.

By some miracle, we still made some progress in our investigation. Tyler had contacted the guild, and although they couldn't help us officially - since we were deemed fugitives - Paul had made full use of his spy network to see what he could find out on his side.

Surprisingly, Tyler actually got Paul to agree to step back and on top of that, to keep my brother out of the loop for the time being. Although he insisted on one condition. I had to stay with Tyler until the situation was resolved. So, in the end, Tyler's words turned out to be true. Apparently, Paul deemed my being in Tyler's presence safe enough for him not to get directly involved.

Surprisingly, spending being stuck with Tyler was less annoying than I'd anticipated.

Somehow from the beginning, he didn't feel like a stranger at all. Plus, he was a lot less reserved, and overall, very different from the way he'd acted at the guild's headquarters.

Right now, his tall frame was leaning on a railing eight stories above the ground, handsome face half-hidden under a big hood that was attached to a black cloak reaching down to his knees. The front was open, exposing the tight, dark shirt he wore underneath. Several black metal plates wrapped around his forearms.

The matt plates looked inconspicuous, blending in perfectly with the dark material underneath. That was until he made use of them. The plates would rotate around him, blocking or attacking purely by will. He was able to instantly reshape them into whatever form he needed, showing off the abnormal control he had over his element.

His gaze was focused on the building opposite ours. The central government emissary. Stretching my arms, I suppressed a yawn as I tried to distract myself from the tiredness that kept sticking to me.

"You know, I'm actually quite surprised. I expected you to be dark and broody, yet here you are. More like a con artist who smiles at you while robbing your whole house."

Tyler turned his head towards me and said, "I will take that as a compliment." He wiggled his brows, earning an eye roll from me.

"I like the melancholy grumpy type more, to be honest," I lied just to spite him.

He frowned at that. Then he lightly flicked my forehead. "You suck at lying. It was tough but I managed to suppress the heat rising to my face. Sometimes I wondered if he actually liked me, maybe even before we had been forced to work together. I shook my head, no.

Nonsense.

Finally, the door leading to one of the outer balconies opened. We both watched as two people stepped out onto the huge platform overlooking the central botanical garden. One of them was tall and fit, his red hair styled back to reveal a charming face. He had a presence that was hard to ignore. His whole demeanor simply demanded attention whenever he entered a room. Cold fury rose at the sight of him.

Victor Cane.

I didn't know the other one. While Cane had this mesmerizing air around him, the other guy was the opposite. Smaller in stature with mouse-brown hair and shoulders slightly slouched forward, he looked surprisingly ordinary. The kind of passerby you instantly forgot. The more I tried to focus on his appearance, the harder it was to make out any specific features. They looked slightly blurry, as if...

Illusion magic.

The realization dawned upon me at the same time as Tyler said, "I know this guy."

"You've seen him before?" I shot him a surprised look.

Even now, his image had already turned even more blurry in my head in the few seconds that I stopped looking at him.

"Not exactly. But his energy is very distinct." There was an odd look on his face.

"Where did you see him?"

He met my gaze before he hesitantly replied, "He was the one who was in charge of the torture back in the castle."

I was speechless.

Staring at the torturer, remembering the malnourished kid, I clenched my fists. I hadn't even realized that one of my feet was on the railing ready to... jump over there?

Tyler quickly grabbed my arm, effectively bringing me back to reality, however, the small smile on his lips threw me off.

He didn't think I'd reacted this way because of him now, did he?

"Focus. We have more important things to deal with right now."

I pulled my arm out of his grasp and pat the back of his hand comfortingly.

He frowned, but my attention was already drawn back to the balcony. There was no point in bursting his bubble now.

My gaze moved back to the man next to Cane. This time, I focused on my other senses instead of my eyesight, trying to get a read on his presence. Tyler was right. I couldn't put my finger on it, but his aura was off. As if the energy around him was distorted, flickering in and out. Still, my reach was limited. I could already feel a headache forming from the strain of overusing my magic too many times in the last few days. Annoyed, I rubbed my head trying to get rid of it.

The two men had apparently finished their business because Cane turned and strode back inside. The other man waited a few minutes before he followed behind. This was our cue.

A few minutes later, the strange man exited the building. Tyler led the way as we followed the torturer through the city. He didn't seem to notice our presence but we made sure to keep our distance anyway.

The building we ended up at made my insides churn in discomfort. Tyler and I had followed him into the slums, and now the walls of a big orphanage were rising high above us. We exchanged a quick, uneasy glance.

Tyler motioned for me to follow him, and we entered a ram-shackled house two buildings away on the opposite side of the street. Despite it being the middle of the day, there were barely any people around.

"I'm pretty sure this is the same orphanage that received a big donation from Cane." I frowned as I looked outside, trying to keep an eye on the entrance.

"You should wait here while I go check the orphanage," Tyler said quickly.

"What? No. I'm better at going about unnoticed. Besides, what if he leaves? How would I know? I cannot track him as easily as you can." I glanced at Tyler, who was busy avoiding my eyes.

He hesitated but then his next words made me furrow my brows even more. "Look, I promised Paul to keep you safe. It's better if you stay here while I go and check."

Without giving me a chance to reply, he jumped out the window and vanished into the side alley next to the orphanage.

The hell?

I stared after him dumbfounded, annoyed with myself. I had let my guard down over the last few days, thinking he might be different.

How stupid of me.

In the end, my opinion was easily dismissed. I absolutely hated this sort of treatment. I thought we were in this together, but he already started acting like my brother and Paul. This was the exact reason that I had left the guild.

Yet, here we are again.

I leaned against the wall, brooding quietly. Tyler was so going to regret this.