Chapter 38 Slater
slater
. . .
I leaned down and plopped my chin on Rune’s shoulder from behind as we walked toward the year-one classroom. “Careful, venom baby. Finals are graded on a curve, and I’m already falling for you.”
“Uh, Slater,” Zuko stole my thunder as he interrupted, “not all finals are graded on a curve.”
“But this one is, isn’t it?” I frowned, straightening and falling into step with her.
“I think so,” Koa answered helpfully.
I stuck my tongue out at Zuko, and he rolled his eyes.
She giggled. “Don’t trip, Havoc baby.” She batted her lashes at me in a way she knew made me crazy. “I’d hate to leave you behind.”
“Impossible,” I scoffed. “I’m very aerodynamic.”
“I mean, he is mostly hot air,” Dimitri muttered from in front of us.
I sucked in a sharp gasp. “Dimitri! How could you?”
“Focus for once, Slater,” he hissed in his vampiric way.
“I am focused. On my fated mate.” I wiggled my eyebrows at Rune.
She rolled her eyes but smiled.
“You’re still not positive she is your mate,” Dimitri reminded me, very un-helpfully.
“I don’t need the matebond to know the Fates destined us together.” I rolled my eyes.
I knew it.
I felt it in my bones.
Within the chaos magic that burst into stars every time she was near.
I hadn’t missed the moment she’d shared with Jesper during yesterday’s final. I knew he’d be my other brother-mate in time…perhaps even before me with the way their magic reacted to one another’s.
Tragic.
We slid into our seats as Professor Hunting stood at the head of the classroom.
I crossed my arms behind my head with a grin as Snakey formed around my neck.
He hissed, tasting the air. I knew he was sniffing up Rune’s midnight orchid scent because who wouldn’t?
Professor Hunting snapped her fingers. The board behind her shimmered to say, History of Kalista: Final Assessment: Timeline Collapse Simulation.
I tipped my head back but held in my groan.
Another simulation?
She snapped her fingers again, and the board unfurled a map that wasn’t of our Kalista.
Kalista had been renamed Blezen. No fae portals were shown either.
“You will enter a simulation where key historical moments have unfolded incorrectly. The hierarchy was never abolished. The dragon cult succeeded. During a state ball, you must identify turning points, infiltrate the regime, and manipulate outcomes to restore the proper timeline.”
“So we’re taking down a fascist dragon regime?” Rune asked, her expression so fucking adorably focused.
“Yes,” Hunting said. “Repair the timeline.”
She snapped her fingers again, and my name and role popped up on the screen.
Slater Havoc: Sow chaos. Incite panic. Destabilize the draconic elite through targeted sabotage.
I shrugged. “Easy.”
Hunting’s gaze flicked to me with a small sigh. “It might be your strength, but do so in a way that benefits the mission.”
She snapped again, and Rune’s name appeared.
My heart dropped like a fucking rock in my gut.
Rune Bloodwyne: Targeted by the cult as an “ideal” breeder-class basilisk. The cult believes she can create venom drakes of some kind. No scientific proof, only theorized. Seduce Roak and then kill him when his guard is down.
I laughed on reflex. It was too loud, and my chaos magic blasted around me, making Snakey hiss. “You’re really going to make her seduce a historical monstrous rapist?”
“She’s been given a spy role, Slater,” Hunting said, unruffled. “Besides…it’s a year-one simulation. I assure you she’s in no danger. Roak is dead by Rune’s own mother, after all.”
“Uh...” Koa raised his hand, and I didn’t miss the tremors in his fingers. “Simulated fire still burns us, doesn’t it?”
“Koa, being an agent means putting yourself in situations you’d never want to be in.” Hunting winced. “This mission is dark, but the truth of the Dragon Cult is darker. Things you do as an agent will be dark.”
“She shouldn’t have to do that,” Zuko growled out, and I knew the thought of her role got under his skin the same way it got under mine.
“Why do I always get the seduction missions?” Rune grumbled.
“Your mother was more than gifted in that technique,” Hunting explained with a soft smile.
“You seem to have her skill, and yes, that’s a very high compliment coming from me.
However, all agents will be exposed to these roles.
You still have many other missions to complete that will not deal with seduction.
I’m sorry, but you can’t debate your assignment. Either take it or fail.”
“I accept my mission.” Rune nodded in understanding, but I wanted to argue more.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I pouted.
Hunting moved on. The board brought up the next one.
Zuko Vyre: Play the role of a willing dragon-loyalist to get close to the ruling elite. Pinpoint turning points.
“Got it,” Zuko grunted, a frown curving his features.
She snapped again.
Koa Ashbourne: Healing slave of the elite. Learn everything you can and take down the slavers at the ball.
“Oh, come on,” Koa grumbled.
Snap.
Dimitri Nocturnus: Serve as an information strategist for the Dragon Regime. Keep an eye out for an opportunity to revolt.
He nodded jerkily, his fists tight on his desk.
Snap.
Eleanor Fawnmere: Shifters are considered useless to this regime. Infiltrate the elite’s circle to gain intel for the revolution.
She winced but nodded. Her hands gripped the sides of the desk so hard her knuckles turned white.
Eleanor was still sick, but nowhere near as bad as yesterday. Whatever Rune had given her really helped. So much so that she had excreted her purgegut venom to give to the infirmary so they could give the other poisoned students the same thing.
My venom baby was so helpful.
Hunting snapped again.
Aura Whimzle: Anti-Dragon regime member undercover. Report everything you know or find out to Lorian.
“Understood,” she said.
Snap.
Raze Mournfall: Play the role of an undercover elite enforcer. Eliminate higher-value dragons and drakes only when opportunities arise.
Snap.
Hawk Moonfang: Assigned to protect key routes for the anti-dragon revolution and neutralize any threats.
He nodded, and she snapped again.
Lorian Stonepaw: Anti-Dragon regime leader.
“Got it,” Lorian nodded.
“Fantastic,” she replied easily, gesturing for us to follow her. “We’ll be in Apex Simulator 1.6 today. Follow me and listen.”
We scrambled to our feet and had to jog to keep up with our professor. Her heels set a clipped tempo down the corridor and clacked until we reached the grass outside.
“There are three turning points some of you must identify. Roles differ by student, as you’ve seen,” she called over her shoulder. “My final relies on individual scoring. Your ability to recognize historical events and misinformation under pressure is crucial. This is not a squad grade.”
Koa almost tripped on a rock.
I caught his elbow.
“Thanks,” he told me.
“Any time, brother-mate.” I grinned.
He blushed and looked at Rune.
He knew what I was talking about.
“Something you should know is the burning of the Resistance Treaty between all supernaturals aside from dragons and drakes,” Professor Hunting went on, weaving us toward the smaller simulator on the right of the academy.
“Any of you may be required to recover it or re-sign it in secret. That means archives infiltration or reuniting the surviving factions without alerting the regime during the ball. I will not be assigning this to your missions. This is something that one of you may or may not do.”
We made it to the simulator.
“World parameters,” she continued, opening the door to the simulator.
“Male-dominated drake elite. Male basilisks are almost always forced to become royal enforcers, and phoenixes have mostly been hunted to extinction, aside from a few that had become slaves of the regime. Shifters have been forced into service as war-beasts. Vampires are…” She led us into the simulator and made her way to the control panel. “Useful until disobedient.”
Dimitri’s jaw flexed.
“Rubric is simple,” she told us. “Don’t get executed for treason. Do get history on the right track. Complete your missions.” A beat of silence slipped in as she sighed. “You cannot fix the timeline completely. You are to put the timeline back on the right track again. For peace and equality.”
The control panel glowed brightly.
“Good luck,” she told us.
The simulation cracked open.
A cathedral-ballroom hybrid building surrounded us. There were marble columns veined with gold, chandeliers hung with dragon-teeth and basilisk fangs, floors polished to a mirror that reflected my face as I looked down.
There was so much gold that my eyes hurt.
The air was heavy with bile, blood, and an overwhelming amount of incense. Above the dais sat a throne shaped like a dragon’s jaw. The Dragon God’s seal had been burned into it; claws interlaced around a sun.
We didn’t spawn in as a group this time. Dimitri, Koa, and I seemed to be together, but Rune and the rest of the squad weren’t in my line of sight.
I rolled my shoulders, letting my chaos magic lick my knuckles in silent sparks, and dropped a fake smile into place.
Dimitri walked closer to me and muttered into my ear. “Do not escalate until you see the right time to do so.”
“Define escalate,” I teased, already drifting toward the roped-off section where the dragon regime was.
“Arson,” Koa offered helpfully.
“Good thing that’s your specialty.” I winked.
I adjusted my ripped cream tunic, which probably had been white at some point. I wore boots scuffed to the Veil, a Dragon God pin, and a tailored jacket one size too tight.
I hated it.
An enforcer stepped in front of me. “Clearance?”
“Here’s your clearance.” I dropped a chaos-manifested coin into his palm that turned into Snakey, who bit him before fading back to me.
He yelped before fainting from the pain. He was probably the weakest dragon I’d ever seen.
I swiped his tooth-built lanyard. I didn’t even want to think of what teeth that came from as I pocketed it.