Chapter 40 Zuko
zuko
. . .
I was completely fucking obsessed with Rune. That was a given. I’d only known her for about three months, but I knew without a doubt that I loved her.
I’d never once just slept with someone like I had with her. We slept together the last few nights—slept, not fucked—my arm under her head, and Slater at her back. Nothing happened except dreams.
Slater and I both stared at her long after she’d fallen asleep on us.
Essence Craft was our first class, and Drecken Grimsworn was our professor.
I knew for a fact that he had a thing for Rune, and it made me wonder if he was her mate, too.
The Arcane House’s classroom had a stone floor etched with some kind of magic chalk and burn marks. Shelves brimmed with stoppered vials, bone boxes, coils of twine, and tomes. The whole place smelled like an old library mixed with a laboratory.
Drecken crossed the front of the room wearing an enchanted lab coat over the black academy-issued suit; his hair was a brighter green than Rune’s. His blue eyes scanned us before resting on Rune for a second too long.
She squirmed in her seat, and I couldn’t hide my smile.
The warlock made her nervous—interesting.
“Good morning,” he greeted us in a monotone voice that somehow contained amusement. “This is my class.”
Slater leaned toward me. “Is it? I hadn’t noticed.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I’ll be blunt. Teaching isn’t really my forte, but I know more than any other warlock out in Kalista, so I’ll just tell you what I know and make you do the same,” Drecken continued as if he didn’t care that Slater made fun of his little greeting.
He probably didn’t. “Essence Craft is the practice of making things reality with your magical essence. That means crafting your intent. All supernaturals have that power.”
Runes appeared beneath his feet as he walked.
“Today’s objective is to transform your intent into matter you can use. Bind will to material. Tools, charms, constructs, wards, whatever you wish. Control the emotion that fuels your essence and give it a structure that holds.”
He clicked his tongue, and words ribboned into thin air like magical banners:
Matter can easily be tied to intent.
Power without purpose creates a door for evil.
Purpose sharpens the most powerful wonders, barriers, or weapons.
He sliced his hand through the glittery words, and they faded. Then, he launched into a lecture about magical essence and intent and material binding with intent.
It was a lot, and it wasn’t very…captivating like the other classes had been. Rune, however, seemed to disagree because her eyes were trained on him as he spoke.
He glanced at her several times, maintaining eye contact as he lectured. That oddly didn’t make me jealous, and it confirmed to me he must’ve also been her mate.
Perhaps I was delusional, but I truly believed she was my mate.
Drecken clapped softly, and the runes on the floor reconfigured.
“Your assignment today is the living manifest, as the former arcane professor titled it. Basically, you’re using your essence to bind your intent to an item.
Yes, that means you are essentially enchanting the item.
I will come around and boost your intent to make it a lasting enchantment.
You may pick any item on the table to my left.
Create something that means something to you.
” Drecken plastered a fake grin that turned real as he looked at Rune.
“You’ll know if you fail because your magic will backfire.
If you need instructions, I’ll put them on the board.
” He snapped his fingers, and the instructions appeared on the board.
On the table to his left was a tray with a bunch of unique items: bones, crystals, metals, old teeth, glass, thorns, salt, threads, coins, and a mirror.
We each got to our feet and grabbed an item we liked. I grabbed a coin from the table and sat back down at my desk with it.
My magical essence sparked in my chest as I pushed my intent into it, staring at it with my special power.
I cut my finger on my fang and bled a little onto it to make channeling my magical essence into it easier—a little trick my mom taught me ages ago when I was first gathering my favorite torture items.
I bound the intent: burn when lied to; hum when told the truth.
The coin sizzled with my magic before the weight became heavier. An orange glow emanated from it before dulling.
“Pass,” Drecken told me, pointing at the coin.
His magic heated the metal, and I felt his magic seal my intent into the coin.
Easy.
I flipped the coin between my fingers and looked around at what the rest of the squad did.
Rune’s golden eyes were sharp with focus as she held a piece of glass and bone together.
Her green magical essence funneled into the bone and glass as she leaked venom all over it.
Her venom hissed as the bone and glass melted together, and she used her strength to merge them, shaping it into a legitimate fucking dagger.
She grinned as she flipped the dagger in the air and caught it. Her gaze snagged on Drecken’s as he stood in front of her, and she winked.
“Beautiful dagger.” His face flushed, and he looked away for a moment before bringing his blue eyes back to hers. “What intent did you push into it?”
“It hums when it senses I’m in danger, and it doesn’t hurt anyone I love,” she told him.
He used his finger and ran it down the sharp end of the blade, pushing green arrays of magic into it. “Pass.”
The dagger didn’t cut him.
I blinked a few times, wondering if it was because of her intent or if it was because Drecken was basically indestructible.
She leaned down and pressed her lips to the blade in a kiss. “Your name’s going to be Venom.”
I chuckled at how adorable my girl was.
“What the fuck!” Slater exclaimed as Snakey looked into the mirror that had been on the table. From Snakey’s reflection, a tiny-winged snake combusted—and it could fucking talk.
“Father,” it hissed at Slater, appalled.
Slater’s brows furrowed. “Snakey, did you just give birth?”
Snakey hissed, offended.
Drecken walked over to him. “Accidental summon?”
“Uh, no, I totally meant to do that.” Slater tilted his head. “I think?”
“Unworthy,” the small snake let out a screech before vanishing back into the mirror, cackling.
Drecken lifted a single brow. “Fail.”
Slater crossed his arms and huffed. “Arcane intelligence isn’t really my thing.”
“Clearly,” Drecken replied dryly, walking toward Dimitri’s desk.
Dimitri had grabbed the other mirror on the table. “It refuses reflections,” he told Drecken. “Instead, it shows regret. Figured it could be a useful distraction on missions.”
“Pass.” Drecken’s magic popped off him and landed into the mirror as he moved to Koa.
Koa had crafted a phoenix-shaped ward that exploded into flames every hour and burst back. “It’s a protection ward, with a special show.”
“Pass,” Drecken said, pushing his magic into enchanting the thread-formed ward.
Eleanor held up a thread wrapped around a small bone. “It’s, um, a bone with a thread you can hang up. It makes a sound, like a chime, when someone enters through wherever it’s hung that wants to sow discord.”
Drecken nodded, pushing his magic into it with a point. “Pass.”
Aura held up a ring. “It’s a tracker for when allies are near. It vibrates when you’re with like-minded people.”
Drecken tilted his head as another magic burst fell from his chest and into the ring. “Odd, but okay. Pass.”
Raze, unsurprisingly, chose a tooth. “It’s like a keepsake. It gets heavier every time I want to murder someone.”
“Useless.” Drecken sighed, snapping his fingers. “Pass.”
Hawk had created a collar that looked weird and kept breaking apart as he tried pushing his intent into it. Each time, it cut his hands.
“Fail.” Drecken walked past his desk.
Hawk let out a disappointed sigh.
Lorian had a journal. “The pages fill when anyone speaks near it. True feelings of their hearts will be written into it.”
“That’s really cool!” Eleanor gasped.
The journal flipped open, and words appeared. Lorian’s eyes widened before he closed them with reverent hands.
Drecken chuckled, pushing his magic into it. “Pass.”
“Systems Breach is in twenty,” Drecken announced. “Go do something elsewhere until then.”
“Hacking class!” Slater exclaimed, clearly thrilled. “Finally, something more my cup of tea.”
“I want tea,” Rune whined.
I slung an arm over her shoulder. “I’ll make you tea when we get back to the house.”
“I don’t even know how a demon managed to summon a weird snake from a mirror of his chaos manifestation,” Dimitri muttered.
“Dude, fuck if I know,” Slater sighed.
“It was an enchanted mirror, Slater.” Rune fell into step between Slater and me, dagger hidden somewhere on her. “Couldn’t you sense it?”
“Wasn’t paying attention, venom baby.” He pouted. “A kiss would make me feel better.”
She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Better?”
“A thousand times better.” He grinned.