Apex Elite Academy, Year 2

Chapter 1 Rune

rune

. . .

The human with the glittery pink mask plunged a needle in my neck, making time warp.

White-hot agony surged through my veins. The tourmalyke crystal cuffs dug into my wrists as my body arched. My ears rang with static as my vision blurred and doubled.

Everything was fuzzy, and my mouth felt like someone had stuffed it full of cotton.

I couldn’t comprehend anything that was happening.

A hiss of fury tore through my throat, just as the chamber exploded with a searing flash.

I bared my teeth as it blinded me.

The door burst open.

My vision swam before it finally came back into focus, and the human was gone. There was no trace of her, except for the raw burning in my veins from whatever she’d injected me with.

Weakness settled into my bones, and my nose ran like it never had before.

Was this what it was like to be sick?

The next moment, the scents of old tomes and magic filled my senses as Drecken’s arms closed around me and lifted me up.

I didn’t know when the tourmalyke wrist bands had been taken off.

“Fates, Rune. I’ve got you.” Drecken was cold against my feverish skin.

I couldn’t answer him.

When he walked out with me, I lifted my head toward the monitor to see that it flashed with one word:

PASSED.

Everything around me was jumbled as the puncture wound throbbed in my neck.

“Rune.” Koa’s sharp inhale cut through the crowd around me. His brown ember-flaked eyes locked on the puncture mark in my neck that still hadn’t healed.

I was too weak, lacking my magical essence from the tourmalyke gas and whatever she’d injected me with.

Rage blazed across his face as he moved beside me, fingers flaming blue as he brushed against it. Warmth poured through me as his fire sealed the needle wound and soothed the venom backlash I’d faced from being subjected to my own powers.

“What happened?” His voice cracked.

“I…” My throat was raw, so my words rasped. “It wasn’t a hallucination. She was real. A human. She did something to me. Injected me with something. Which means—” I gasped, dizziness blotting my vision. “There are humans on campus.”

“Humans?” Dad’s voice snapped somewhere near me, worry and anger tight in his tone. “How dare they attack us on campus? And my daughter. How’d they get through the wards?”

“That injection mark was from a human,” Koa spat.

I’d never seen him so angry.

He burst into a flare of golden light as he shifted into his phoenix form and flew up to the sky.

Aura rushed in from the side, her blue eyes wide with concern. Her hands hovered uselessly near my shoulder. “Rune,” she whispered, voice breaking. “Oh my gosh, are you okay? That was so scary.”

I couldn’t answer.

Slater pushed forward and kissed my head. “Fuck, venom baby. You scared me.”

“The feed went black,” Zuko said, jaw clenched. “We couldn’t get to you.”

“How do you feel?” Dimitri’s eyes blazed with anger. His fangs were out as he avoided eye contact.

“Like shit,” I answered humorlessly.

Jesper’s eyes were locked on mine. “Your venom was leaking before the feed cut.”

“Apparently tourmalyke makes me unable to control my venom and strips my immunity, so that wasn’t fun,” I told them, irritation seeping into my raspy voice.

Dad’s and Pops's gazes darkened significantly.

“Never expected that,” Tibby muttered.

“Jesper, get your squad and begin the investigation into what just happened,” Mom told him sharply.

He bowed his head in acknowledgment before sending me a longing look and walking into the simulator.

The noise around me tried to press in, but all I could hear was the blood roaring in my ears.

Zuko’s voice cut through it. “Give me my girlfriend.”

Drecken stilled as magic popped and sparked off him. “No!”

“She’s my girlfriend too,” Slater reminded Zuko, but his voice wobbled. “I want to hold her.”

Drecken blinked at them both, still holding me like he couldn’t bear to give me up.

My body buzzed where he touched me. I honestly didn’t want him to let go.

He’d taken me from a situation I’d felt helpless in.

“Drecken,” Tibby growled. “Give me my sister.”

“Very well.” Drecken relented, shifting me carefully into Tibby’s arms.

“How about everyone just give her space?” Pops suggested, his eyes checking me over for any injury Koa hadn’t already healed, not that there was one.

“I can stand.” I gently pushed back from Tibby and found my footing, gritting my teeth as a wave of nausea barreled through me. “Dad, announce the house placements. I’m okay, I promise.”

“We can delay it,” he offered, begging me to do so with his eyes. “There is an official Supernatural Council investigation happening.”

I shook my head. “I’m really anxious to know what house I got into. I passed, didn’t I?”

Pops let out an exasperated chuckle. “Yeah, Roo. You passed.”

“She’s unshakable,” Mom muttered with a soft smile. “Just like her mom.”

“Not necessarily a good thing,” Pops and Tibby said in sync.

Dad’s throat cleared, the sound slicing through the buzz of chatter.

Silence fell.

“There will be a full investigation into why the simulator feed cut and what happened to my daughter. For now—” His gaze swept across those of us still standing. “We have the results of the House placements. Follow me to the auditorium, and I will announce them.”

The chatter started back up immediately.

Dad gave me one last look before leading the first-years back to the auditorium. Mom and Pops went with him.

Slater and Zuko held my hands, but I knew it was only because they thought I’d pass out. I did feel weak, but the nausea had finally passed.

Drecken walked directly behind me, earning a side-eye from Mom, Tibby, and Pops.

Jesper walked beside him, after he’d finished delegating tasks to his squad.

Koa had just come back half-way to the academy and walked behind Drecken next to Dimitri. I knew he had to cool off because of seeing the injection wound on my neck, but I was grateful he healed it so it wouldn’t scar.

My magical reserves were very low.

Tibby stayed behind Drecken, and it occurred to me that Tibby wasn’t supposed to be out of the auditorium.

How long had I been stuck in the simulator?

Once we were in the auditorium, the eight Houses we would now be a part of cheered.

“I’ll start off with our highest scorers,” Dad said as he got to the podium.

Mom and Pops flanked him. “Yes, it’s a tie for the first time in our history…

again. Just like on the entrance exams, Rune Bloodwyne and Dimitri Nocturnus have scored the highest marks on the placement test. Ironically, they’ve also been placed in the same house.

Rune and Dimitri are in House of Twilight. ”

House of Twilight cheered.

We walked up to the podium where Professor Jarvins, professor and head of the House of Twilight, waited with the ceremonial pins.

The crest of House of Twilight gleamed above the stage, silver catching on the fae orb light above us.

A crescent moon arched on top, glittering as if it were carved from starlight.

Below it rested a shield rimmed in pale gray.

The heart of the shield was the night sky, scattered with tiny stars that seemed to shift if you stared too long.

Across the dark sky, the name of the house shimmered faintly, almost as if it had been inked in silver dust.

It was a crest of mystery and power that lived in the spaces between light and shadow. It was probably the prettiest crest of all the houses, in my opinion. It marked us as official members of our new House.

Dimitri and I accepted ours, then stepped aside to start the group of House of Twilight initiates below the stage.

“Because of their high marks,” Jarvins announced, his voice carrying across the auditorium, “Dimitri and Rune have been granted a reward. They will shadow an active agent for one mission. The length and nature of the mission will depend on the assignment, but know this: shadowing is not given lightly. Most students do not receive this privilege until their third year.”

A low murmur rippled through the crowd.

My chest tightened as another quick wave of dizziness spread through me. I swayed, but Dimitri’s hand reached out to steady me.

Where he grabbed tingled.

“Thanks,” I murmured, straightening up.

He hesitated before moving his hand. “You’re welcome.”

Dad, Headmaster Bloodwyne in this instance, cleared his throat and unrolled a scroll in his hands. “We’ll begin with squad one. Dimitri and Rune have already been placed. Koa Ashbourne, House of Vitality.”

Koa strode onto the stage.

Professor Greenblood stepped forward and affixed the navy blue and gold-glittered crest for the House of Vitality to Koa’s uniform.

His brown eyes, glowing faintly with ember flecks, met mine. He smiled, but his jaw was tight as his gaze flicked briefly to my neck, where he’d just healed the injection wound. He hesitated before walking to where House of Vitality initiates would stand.

“Slater Havoc and Aura Whimzle, House of Innovation,” Dad continued.

Professor Duskwyn pinned their crests, dark purples to light purples that glowed.

Slater winked at me as he stepped off to the side, and Aura looked a little dazed but pleased. They went to stand with their House, the same way Dimitri and I had.

“Zuko Vyre and Raze Mournfall, House of Torment.”

That didn’t surprise me.

Both of them came up and were pinned by Professor Emberveil. House of Torment’s pins were black and red with a dagger dripping blood down onto the crest.

They walked over to their spot, but Zuko’s eyes met mine with worry.

“Eleanor Fawnmere and Lorian Stonepaw, House of Unity,” Dad announced.

Professor Galeclaw pinned them with a lighter blue crest, and they bowed their heads respectfully.

One by one, names were called.

Coralynn Seavyrn came to House of Twilight. Sylverlynn Seavyrn went to House of Arcane. Nymerlynn Seavyrn strode to House of Torment.

By the end of the ceremony, each House had ten new initiates. Eighty students in total.