Chapter 5 Rune
rune
. . .
My heart hammered in my chest, drumming against my ribs and refusing to calm after the Arcane Exposure Trial with Drecken Grimsworn. The men I’d met today had a sudden, intense impact on me that I couldn’t explain. Even so, no man could make my heart beat the way a poison could.
“This is your final trial for the practical exam,” Dad said. “A four-hour, field simulation designed to push your instincts, adaptability, and judgment under pressure.”
All the applicants around me straightened at that.
He continued, “You will be assigned into squads of eight. Each group will enter the simulator and face a mission scenario with layered objectives, moral ambiguity, and hostile terrain. You’ll have no access to outside equipment.
You will only have your natural abilities, knowledge, and field notes at your disposal. ”
Anticipation spiked through me.
“These are your roles,” Dad said. “Drecken?”
Drecken lifted a hand. A flicker of an illusion shimmered across the air beside him, casting glowing titles:
Spy
Enforcer
Torture Expert
Arcane Specialist
Technological Specialist
Intelligence Analyst
Healer
Diplomatic Envoy
The words listed were significant. They were the different classifications of the Supernatural Council’s agents. Seeing the titles in the air sent a spark of adrenaline funneling through my veins.
What role would I be assigned?
Drecken let the words fade with a drop of his hand.
“Your mentor will choose who plays which role based on what they have seen here so far today. There’s no right answer in this trial, only execution.
Points will be awarded for creativity, teamwork, role effectiveness, and leadership,” Dad finished, stepping back as a large group of mentors walked out from the back of the simulator and stood with their hands behind their backs as if awaiting orders.
“You will be grouped by and graded by one of the agent mentors. Go to the mentor who calls your name.”
From left to right, Jesper was first in line, and his presence hit me immediately. Snow-dusted wood and clean ozone clung to his skin. He cleared his throat. “Rune Bloodwyne. Spy.”
I walked over to stand directly in front of Jesper. I’d never given much thought to what type of agent I’d be, but that was for a reason. The academy trained you in everything and placed you in what you were best at. Being a spy would be an interesting career.
His brown eyes felt as if they were scorching me as his lips curled into a slight smile. He dropped it quickly and focused back on the crowd. “Dimitri Nocturnus. Enforcer.”
Glancing back, I noticed the vampire I’d locked eyes with when I got to the academy walk forward until he stood right behind me.
Heat licked up my spine as I turned back to face Jesper. Something about turning my back on him had my face flushed, and I knew it was my instincts screaming at me because of how strong he was.
“Zuko Vyre. Torture Expert,” Jesper called.
“Aw, how’d you know?” Zuko cooed, and Jesper snorted.
“I know your father.”
I tilted my head. Who was Zuko’s dad? Vyre sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why right now.
“Slater Havoc. Arcane specialist,” Jesper continued.
“Yes! I’m on Rune’s squad,” Slater cheered. “You hear that, venom baby? The Fates intervened again!”
My face heated, but I kept my head forward in an attempt to look agent-like.
“Aura Whimzle. Tech specialist,” Jesper called out.
I couldn’t help peeking over my shoulder at the new face.
She was super short with blue eyes and a cute blonde pixie cut.
My gaze caught the injection marks over her arms and neck, and I frowned.
She had very little magical energy radiating from her, and I believed she was an imp, which surprised me.
She must’ve had a special power to be attending the academy entrance exam, though.
I was curious to see what she was capable of.
“Coralynn Seavryn. Intelligence analyst,” Jesper stated.
A siren with long blonde hair and blue eyes stepped forward with a shy smile on her face and stood behind Aura.
“Koa Ashbourne. Healer,” Jesper said next, and Koa came up to stand in line. “Eleanor Fawnmere. Diplomatic envoy.”
A tall but willowy shifter with brown doe eyes and thin, light brown hair that had white spots throughout it came over and stood behind Koa.
She had a sweet smile on her lips as she rubbed a heart tattoo that was over her wrist. She must’ve been a deer shifter from her grassy scent and the way her hair was.
“My squad goes first,” Jesper told us as he led us away from the group, where another mentor started calling off other applicant names. He walked to the entryway of the simulator. “Activate simulation field entrance exam. Squad one.”
The moment he spoke, a thin slit of blue light appeared over Jesper, scanning him before the doorway opened for us to enter.
He entered first, and we followed. It looked just as high-tech as it had when I had the Arcane Exposure Trial just an hour ago with obsidian mirrors and crystalline monitors covering the walls. A holographic control panel hovered in the middle.
Jesper strode over toward the control panel, and my eyes were glued to the way his muscles bulged through the tight black suit.
“You can look at me like that whenever you want,” Slater whispered in my ear. “Imagine me in that suit.”
“Better yet,” Zuko interrupted, smirking over at me. “Imagine her in that suit.”
Slater’s mouth dropped as his red gaze raked over me. “Fates, Zuko, you’re totally going to be my brother-mate.”
I rolled my eyes. “If you both pass, maybe we can see what we’ll all look like in the suits then.”
Jesper’s fingers flicked across the panel woven into the air before pausing and turning toward our squad.
“Mission brief.” Jesper ran a quick hand through his white hair.
“A magical disturbance has been located in the Bizarre, where a quarantined phantom-populated village was sealed off two decades ago after a failed dark ritual by a warlock. Reports indicate erratic magical signatures, missing wildlife, and reserve interference affecting locals in the neighboring village. Your team must locate, contain, or banish the threat and prevent exposure to the Bizarre’s population. ”
He turned to the panel and swiped. An illusion formed around us of warped buildings half-swallowed by overgrowth, glowing runes, and a war monument of the firedrake representative cracked in half.
“Damn,” Slater whispered. “It’s abandoned.”
“It is,” Jesper agreed.
“Spooky.” Slater shivered.
“Yeah, no good vibes there,” Koa muttered.
“I actually think it’s kind of romantic,” Zuko murmured from behind me, his voice sliding over my skin like honey.
He stood a little too close. Close enough that I felt the heat of his chest at my back and a light brush against the swell of my ass.
“Don’t you think, pretty little poison? Freaky magic.
Cursed village. Perfect place for a first kiss. ”
I turned around slowly, our noses brushing since he was so close. “Do you flirt like this with every woman you’re into?”
“Who said I was flirting?” Zuko grinned, flashing his fangs.
“Then stop breathing down my neck like you’re about to bite it,” I said, though my voice betrayed me, shaking slightly. Heat pooled in my lower abdomen as his burnt sugar scent overwhelmed me.
He tilted his head, his pretty sunset-colored hair shifting. “What if I asked you real nice? Would you let me bite you then?”
I let out a soft giggle and bent to retrieve the dagger from the sheath strapped around my ankle. I pointed it at him. “What do you think?”
Zuko leaned in again, his cheek barely touching the blade. “Are you always this pretty when you’re threatening someone?”
My magic surged beneath my skin, building in my veins as I excreted a venom meant to hurt. It wasn’t enough to kill. It would only hurt enough to make him remember not to fuck with me.
“I am always this pretty.” I looked up through my lashes and licked the blade slowly and deliberately, letting my venom coat the steel.
His pupils dilated. “Oh, fuck,” he whispered.
I reared my arm back and drove the dagger into his thigh. The sickening thud on impact echoed through the chamber.
He sucked in a breath through his teeth. It wasn’t pain-filled. It was pleasure-filled.
Zuko barely even flinched. Instead, he shot me a feral grin. With infuriating ease, he wrapped his fingers around the hilt and pulled the dagger out. Blood rushed out in hot pulses, splashing on the polished simulator floor in three perfect crimson arcs before healing.
He brought the dagger up and held it to his nose, inhaling deeply. “Fates,” he breathed in. “Midnight orchid.” His sparkling orange eyes met mine. “Your venom smells like you.”
Slater let out a bark of laughter and draped an arm around Zuko’s shoulders. “She smells delightful, doesn’t she? Though, I’ve yet to be stabbed. I’m starting to feel left out.”
I stared, stunned. Zuko wasn’t writhing. The basilisk wasn’t even twitching. The pain venom I’d honed since I was seven wasn’t doing anything to him.
“You should be screaming,” I snapped, more to myself than anyone. “That dose should’ve set your nerve endings on fire.”
Zuko hummed. “Maybe I’m into it.”
“Or maybe you’re broken,” I suggested sweetly.
“Or maybe,” he said, slipping my dagger into his belt with a possessive smirk. “Slater was right. You could be my mate.”
“She is our mate,” Slater added smoothly. “And I’ve always been right.”
Before I could argue or stab him again, Jesper’s voice cracked through the room.
“No weapons,” he said, eyes landing on me in a soft way that didn’t match the tone of his voice. “Especially not venom-coated boot knives.”
I exhaled through my nose. “It was just an ankle dagger.”
Jesper held out his hand.
With a low growl from the depths of my throat, I reached over, yanked it from Zuko’s belt, and slapped it into Jesper’s waiting palm.