Chapter 14 Drecken
drecken
. . .
“I need another sample,” I insisted, pacing back and forth in Lake Bloodwyne’s office.
The academy-issued suit was ridiculous. It was tight everywhere, and the feet felt like footie pajamas.
My padded soles barely made a sound on the polished obsidian tile, but red sparks hissed beneath each step, flaring with my growing impatience.
They’d bargained with me to take this teaching position, an insult to my genius in all honesty, in exchange for Sabine’s venom. And now, I was running out of it. I couldn’t finish my testing without more. The venom was volatile, unstable, and far beyond the complexity of any toxin I’d encountered.
Sabine, relaxed and unbothered, was curled on Lake’s lap like a well-fed lioness shifter. She didn’t look like her usual scary, untouchable basilisk self around her mates. It was rather sweet. It reminded me of how my parents were before they succumbed to old age.
“Drecken.” She extended her hand across the desk toward me, and her dull green eyes locked onto mine as venom began to seep from her fingertip in slow, thick beads.
“Fates!” I lurched the empty vial underneath her. “Careful.”
“Four dropsss,” she hissed, letting them fall into the glass vial one by one, the dark green liquid glowing faintly against the vial’s glass.
Lake chuckled under his breath. “Four drops for the four years of your work. Consider the first one you already had a bonus.”
“Fantastic,” I whispered, lips curling. My fingers twitched with anticipation as I sealed the vial, magic sparking along my free hand in barely contained bursts.
I already imagined the possibilities. If I could recreate this venom as a potion…then the agents would have an unstoppable advantage.
The door to the office slammed open.
My magic snapped violently, sparks flying around the room in chaotic arcs as I shoved the vial into my bag.
I turned just as their little viperling stormed in.
Rune’s golden eyes were ablaze, and her lips were twisted in a scowl. Her hair was pulled back into two buns again, though this time they weren’t as chaotic. They were deliberate. She was deliberate. She moved with the kind of energy that made my magic respond without permission.
Somehow, I didn’t remember my powers ever reacting to anyone in that way.
Odd.
“Why the fuck is Darian on campus?” Rune snapped, but there was a hint of fear in her tone.
Who was Darian?
Sabine immediately stiffened, her demeanor shifting from smug agent coordinator to protective mother. “Oh, honey,” she murmured, pushing off Lake’s lap. “I just found out today. I sent Tobias to tell you.”
Rune’s arms trembled. Golden scales flickered in and out across her forearms, vanishing again in a blink. “Why is he just now showing up?” she demanded, voice cutting through my heart like a blade. “We hunted for him.”
“I wish I knew.” Sabine crossed her arms.
Lake let out a long, low groan. “I can’t expel him. I’ve looked into it. Without solid proof that he has bad character, our hands are tied. And with the scar Tobias left, the board could use it against both of them. If they investigate, Tobias would be expelled, too.”
Rune’s scream of rage shook the air itself, rattling the metal shelves behind Lake’s desk and making the potion bottles lining the walls hum ominously. “He just grabbed me!” she spat, voice ragged with fury.
Lake’s and Sabine’s eyes snapped to her, but before they could respond, Rune took a breath and continued, “Don’t worry, I handled it,” she growled.
“I kissed him. Just a little one small peck on the cheek.” Her voice dipped into something wicked, her golden eyes alight.
“Let some of my venom leak into his skin. He started bleeding from every orifice. Zuko stepped in and bit him, too. So yeah, he’s in a lot of pain right now.
Slater punched him in the face. Pops is already handling the fallout. ”
A flicker of pride sparked in Sabine’s gaze. “Good.”
Lake ran both hands through his hair, groaning. “Fates above...Rune—”
“What?” she snapped. “I didn’t kill him. I could’ve. I didn’t.”
My hand twitched at my side, magic pulsing in a visible ripple beneath my skin. “Wait,” I interrupted. “You mixed your venom delivery with a kiss?”
Rune nodded.
Sabine swore under her breath.
I stepped forward, intense curiosity swimming in my veins. “And it worked instantly?”
“He bled in under five seconds,” she gloated.
Lake exhaled slowly, trying to summon restraint. “I’ll talk to Pops. But Rune, the public of Kalista is already aware of Darian after the first-year tournament. He can’t disappear from the academy without a reason. I don’t want the board involved.”
Rune shrugged. “He should’ve thought of that before grabbing me. Besides, he should’ve already passed out by now.”
“You’re right,” Lake groaned in agreement.
“I’m proud of you.” Sabine winked.
“Thanks, Mom.” Rune grinned, her anger vanishing.
“If you hadn’t attacked him back, we could’ve used him harassing you from the surveillance, but now it incriminates you, too,” Lake explained, a pained expression plastered on his face.
“But did you want me to just let him hurt me?” Rune shot back at her dad.
His face paled. “Absolutely not. You did the right thing.”
She nodded in victory.
My gaze flicked from her to the faint, glowing threads of wild magic now webbing across my knuckles. My brows furrowed, and I stepped back to avoid accidentally blowing a hole through the floor.
The magic in me wouldn’t sit still. I glanced at my hand. It was lit with streaks of crimson and gold. I quickly tucked it behind my back.
“He touched you?” I asked, too quietly. My powers built behind my ribs like pressure in a sealed chamber.
It was the oddest feeling.
Sabine turned toward me, her eyes narrowing. “Don’t abuse your power, Drecken. Rune can handle herself.”
“Clearly.” I tilted my head, calculating. “I wasn’t going to kill him. Just…erase him. There’s a difference.”
Lake’s jaw ticked. “As much as I’d love to see Darian’s head mounted on a spike, we can’t afford that kind of backlash. Even being erased wouldn’t bode well. After last year’s tournament, he’s too well known.”
“Next time, I’ll just make him paralyzed again.” Rune pouted. “Or maybe I’ll just make him shit himself.”
I hummed, tapping my finger against my chin as I mulled over what Rune meant.
“Sabine, your lineage must be carrying exceptional toxic properties. Your venom is complex, far more complex than any other ones I’ve worked around.
But Rune’s can change at will? Special power or not, that surely makes the makeup of each venom type exceptional. ”
Rune’s expression brightened. “Are you studying venom?”
I nodded rapidly. “Yes. I’m developing potions whose effects are designed to be even stronger than those of highly complex venoms. Mutations that can be very deadly. It’s still theoretical but promising. I’m working on learning your mom’s venom so I can recreate it but as a potion.”
Rune gasped. “Can I help?”
“Do you know much about potions?” I questioned.
“Are they anything like poisons?”
I grinned. “They are much stronger than a simple poison or venom.”
Rune’s lips curved into a breathtaking smile. “I would love to try some potions, Professor Grimsworn.”
I waved her off. “Call me Drecken. I am curious if you could use potions the same way you do your venoms and poisons.”
“We can find out,” she gushed, her eyes widening in pure excitement.
Sabine gagged. “Absolutely not. Drecken, do remember she is my daughter.”
Lake grimaced. “Drecken, she’s in her first year of this academy. And you’re…ancient.”
I frowned. “So? Her knowledge is extensive. Her venom is unparalleled. That’s all that matters.”
Rune nodded eagerly. “Exactly, and I’m twenty-two. What’s that have to do with anything?”
Sabine facepalmed.
“Could I donate some of my venom to you?” Rune asked, eyes wide with excitement. “Maybe you can tell me some things about it.”
I inhaled sharply. “Only if I can observe the process. I’ve never seen lip-based secretion in a basilisk.”
“I can actually excrete venom from anywhere,” she told me.
My lips parted in surprise.
Sabine groaned. “No. Fates. No.”
Lake cleared his throat. “I’ll keep an eye on Darian. Sabine will have her agents track him. If anything happens again, let us know immediately.”
“I promise,” Rune said.
Energy buzzed in the space between us. I realized too late that my magic was pulsing wildly again, streaks of light flickering around my fingertips.
She stared at them, fascinated in the same way I found myself with her.
Lake caught her gaze. “First years are house-bound unless in class. Rune, go study.”
She pouted. “But I want to help Drecken.”
“Drecken,” Sabine said dryly, “go experiment.”
I smiled. “Gladly.”
I met Rune’s gaze. She looked so…excited. Curious and magnetic, too. “I’ll see you soon, viperling,” I murmured, letting the nickname roll off my tongue like silk.
I’d never given anyone a nickname before.
With a flick of my fingers, I opened a portal beneath my feet and vanished into my lab beneath my home in Cursinia.
The moment I landed, the air in the room bent with my magic. I pulled the vial out of my bag with Sabine’s venom. It was once the pinnacle of my ambitions.
After learning of Rune’s venom capabilities, this one felt...insufficient.
I placed it on the desk next to a faded photo of me and my parents. My magic flared again. I rubbed the back of my neck.
Why couldn’t I stop thinking about Rune Bloodwyne?
Her voice. Her smile.
Why did I want to bottle the way she made me feel so bad?
I sat down and opened a new notebook.
It was time to start a new research project.