Chapter 2 Rune #2
I blinked. He might’ve been crazy, but he was also super hot.
“You blinked.” His eyes sparkled. “That was totally a flirty blink! You’re into me, too, right?”
Bram’s elbow pierced Slater’s ribs, and Pandora burst into a fit of giggles.
“Uh…” I blinked again. Oh, no. “That wasn’t a flirty blink!”
“Are you positive?” His smile dropped, and I swore I felt a pang in my chest.
“I think so.” I wasn’t sure what a flirty blink even was.
“I’ll take it.” His smile was back.
Dad, Pops, and Tibby casually made their way between us.
“You know, there is a decline in on-sight matings. It started about twenty years ago. Even for dragons and drakes,” Mom explained, bringing it up with a smirk. “And those bonds used to be on sight every time.”
“Pandora and Bram’s matebond didn’t snap for, like, three whole months,” Slater agreed, peeking around my dads and brother to stare at me again. “I’d bet my left nipple that you’re my mate.”
“Why the left nipple?” Tibby whispered to Pops, who shrugged.
“Delusion?”
My heart skipped a beat, and I placed my hand over it. The Fates were the only ones who could declare a matebond.
I glared at him, planting my hands on my hips. “You’re hot but kind of dumb, huh? What a shame.”
“Your death glare is literal art. You think I’m hot?” he asked, smiling like I hadn’t just called him dumb. “Can we sit together for exams?”
“Be careful. You don’t want to get too close to me.” I flashed my fangs at him, letting my venom seep out so he could see what I was capable of.
He shot around my dads and brother in a flash before his daisies and jasmine scent filled my space. Leaning in, he grinned. “If you bite me, I’m legally yours, right? Do it, venom baby.”
I smirked and leaned in until my lips brushed his ear, whispering, “My venom’s deadly, Havoc baby.”
His body stiffened before he tilted his head back with a groan. “I don’t love you calling me by my last name. I’d rather you use my first, but if you say ‘baby’ after, you can call me whatever you want.”
Dad and Pops let out feral-sounding noises before Slater hopped back next to Bram and smiled at me.
Bram elbowed him. “Are you trying to get yourself killed before you can attend the academy?”
“She’s my mate,” he whispered to his brother. “I just know it.”
“Right, well, good luck, Roo.” Tibby pulled me into a hug. “I know I said make friends, but perhaps not the delusional chaos demon?”
I giggled. “We’ll see. He has no sense of self-preservation. That’s kind of fun, right?”
Tibby groaned and pulled back with a reluctant wave. “Can’t wait to see you after you pass exams. Be careful.”
“I will,” I promised as he turned toward the wayfaer teleporter.
Tibby wasn’t able to come in for the exams since he wasn’t staff, so he had to wait at home.
Mom was the agent coordinator of the Supernatural Council, Pops was the House of Fortitude’s professor, and Dad was the headmaster, so they had to attend.
Well, Mom didn’t have to, but she was permitted, obviously.
“Good luck, Slater,” Pandora murmured, tightening her grip on Bram’s hand.
“Good luck, brother,” Bram repeated with a smile, his dark red eyes glowing slightly. “You’ve got this.”
“Thanks for seeing me off,” he told them.
“You know Melinda would, but—” Bram started before Slater cut him off.
“Charles took her on a vacation to Gleaming Gulf,” Slater finished with a smirk. “Oh, I know. I planned it for them.”
“Of course you did.” Pandora’s red lips curved into a smile before her red eyes met mine. “Good luck to you, too, Rune. I’m sure you’ll have no problem with the exam.”
“Thanks for your encouragement, Pandora.” I grinned, leaving my fangs free of venom because what kind of basilisk would I be if I threatened my friend?
“Let’s go,” Dad ordered us before he started walking through the gate and over the thrumming bridge.
Slater and I waved at his family as Pandora’s shadow demon mate stepped out of the shadows behind them and wrapped his arms around Pandora’s waist, pressing a kiss to her head.
“Ready to go, trouble?” he purred.
“Yes.” She leaned into him.
I smiled, loving that Pandora had five devoted fated mates. She deserved it more than anyone I knew after what she’d been through.
Slater and I picked up our pace and followed behind my parents. He walked right beside me, shooting me longing looks that I’d never had directed at me before. At first, it was off-putting, but I had to admit, his attitude was already growing on me.
A black snake appeared, curling around his shoulders and reaching out his head to me. He had the same bright red eyes as his demon. His tongue came out a couple of times as he got closer.
Slater blushed, taking a quick breath, and the snake dissipated.
“Cute,” I murmured.
“Yes, like you,” Slater flirted. “Sorry, I usually keep my chaos manifestation out, but since it’s the exam, I wanted him to stay unseen. He was curious about you, though.”
“No need for apologies. I love snakes.” The bridge’s white stone shimmered beneath my boots with magic.
Pale blue lines pulsed through the stone in veins, responding with a low hum that buzzed up my legs and into my chest. Every step across it felt like being judged and invited as it decided my intentions.
Thankfully, my intentions were honest. I’d wanted to become a supernatural agent for as long as I could remember.
That way, I could protect Kalista’s supernaturals in a more hands-on way than my parents did.
Not that what they did wasn’t worthy of immense respect.
I only wanted to do something different.
“What do you look like in basilisk form?” Slater asked, a little too eagerly.
“Anyone who isn’t family who has seen that form has been killed,” I giggled, reaching up and tucking a piece of my green hair behind my ear. I had done my hair up in space buns but left the front sides down. They kept poking my poor eyes, though, so I should’ve fixed that.
“Ah, so if you showed me, I’d be family.” He winked, biting down on his lip in a way that was way too attractive.
“If I showed you, I’d have to kill you.” I pouted my lips out. “That’d be a shame considering you have the potential to become an agent. Wouldn’t it?”
“You wouldn’t kill me,” he claimed cockily.
I pressed my lips together to hide my smile because he might’ve been right.
Beneath the bridge, there was no water, just light.
A glowing mist of magical energy churned lazily with fae orbs within it, dense enough to drown in, if magic worked that way.
Some fae magic did, but I didn’t think that was the case…
this time. Hopefully. Though, that would be an interesting death for a supernatural.
As we walked farther across, everything behind me fell quiet. The forest. The teleporter. Even the wind. It was probably my awe that quieted the world for me since my basilisk senses would easily be able to pick up on those things from this distance.
Apex Elite Academy was a fortress. The outer towers shimmered with protective runes etched into the sides, and the central spire of the academy, Apex Nexus, glowed in sync with a heartbeat. The air shifted as we neared the gates, heavier and charged.
Crossing the final threshold of the bridge, I stopped dead in my tracks as I caught sight of something my parents had only ever told me about.
Apex Penitentiary was beneath this academy, that much I knew, but what I didn’t know was that the entrance wasn’t within Apex Nexus at all.
I hadn’t even noticed it until now. To the left of the academy building was a jagged black pit filled with glassy, motionless water.
The surface shimmered like a mirror...until it breathed.
Just beneath the water, an open mouth waited.
I knew it wasn’t the mouth of some creature, but it was a trap.
It was a gaping, organic trap, ringed in rows of teeth, similar to what I’d imagine a worm left over from Kalista’s First War to be like.
I knew it was fae-built, hopefully fae-gifted.
Only the fae could create something so creepy.
“That’s scary.” Slater shivered, moving behind me as if I could shield him from it. “Venom baby, protect me.”
I cracked a smile as I realized that you couldn’t just walk into Apex Penitentiary. You had to dive and hope you weren’t chewed to death before reaching whatever was below. My magic prickled along my skin, recognizing the danger.
“Below that entrance, twisting through underground tunnels built like a death puzzle, leads to the penitentiary that houses only the worst of us,” Mom stated, her voice perfectly flat.
My heart pounded, raging through my ears.
“I want to go in,” I whispered, barely breathing.
“Does she need therapy?” Dad asked Pops, who chuckled.
“No. She’s just our daughter.”
“Even if she needs therapy, I’d follow her into the hole,” Slater muttered.
“He needs therapy,” Pops confirmed.
I didn’t care, though. The entrance loomed before me, a daunting challenge that I’d never encountered before, and a wave of anticipation came over me.
“Make it until year-four,” Pops whispered as the doors to Apex Nexus opened in front of us.
“Let’s go,” Dad ushered us in.
Tearing my gaze off the entrance to the penitentiary, I walked in beside Slater. Inside, polished white marble floors reflected the light from floating orbs that glowed above us. The scent of old paper, ancient magic, and polished stone clung to the air.
We followed the domed hallway deeper, past windows that looked out over the campus, until the corridor widened into the main atrium. It was a huge, circular space filled with whispers, footsteps, and magic.
And at the far end, looming behind a set of wide enchanted doors, was what had to be the auditorium. It was where we would take the exams.
“We need to go in first.” Mom placed a hand on my shoulder. “You’ll do great.”
“Of course she will.” Pops planted a kiss on the top of my head.