Chapter 5 Slater
slater
. . .
My eyes were glued to the tablet screen as Rune moved around the kitchen in House of Twilight, the same way she always did in the mornings when she woke up first.
Hacking House of Twilight’s feeds wasn’t my first choice. I’d much rather be in the kitchen with her to watch as she made her tea, but since I was placed in House of Innovation, I had to do what I could to watch her without being next to her.
Her green hair was tossed up in a messy bun, but the toxic glowing neon ends stuck up cutely.
She reached for the kettle and filled it before placing it on the stove.
Personally, I missed the heating rune that the year-one class had.
I could tell from the scrunch of her nose that she preferred it as well.
“I’m just surprised it took them so long,” I muttered to Bram on the phone pressed to my ear. “I mean, Charles has had it bad for Mom for years.”
“It’s sweet,” Bram replied. “He had me help him with the poem he gave her.”
“Aw, you helped with that?” I watched Rune as she arranged her things as if she were prepping for a ritual. Her favorite enchanted green mug, the kettle on the burner, the tea sachet, and the bottle of poison.
“I did,” he admitted.
“Charles is a good demon. Nothing like our sperm donor,” I said bitterly.
“No kidding,” Bram growled. “Listen, there’s been some talk of a human spy being on campus at your academy.”
“Really?” I raised a brow as Rune poured the steaming water into the mug and steeped the tea. “I kind of knew that already after what happened to my Rune.”
“How is that going with Rune?”
“She’s my mate,” I said immediately. “She’s even on board now. I already told you we’ve made love, right? She’s fucking perfect, but I don’t know why the damned matebond won’t snap into place.”
Bram let out a loud sigh. “I wish I had known Pandora was my mate from the start. If I had, perhaps I wouldn’t have hurt her so badly. My soul was calling out to her, but I hated myself.”
“You’ve made up for being an alcoholic piece of shit to her, brother,” I assured him sweetly, eyes glued to Rune.
“Thanks…” Bram trailed off dryly.
“I hate not being in the same house as Rune anymore. We have different classes, too,” I whined. “I even miss Zuko and Koa, too. Fates, even Dimitri, that fucking indecisive vampire.”
“But how are the classes you’re taking?” Bram asked. “Are you enjoying them?”
I hesitated, petting Snakey, who manifested and licked the screen I was watching Rune on. She used a dropper and put poison into her mug before stirring it in. “I am. It’s really fun, honestly. Nobody’s been able to beat my scores so far.”
“That’s great, Slater.”
“I told you to be careful,” a woman’s feline hiss hit my ears.
I looked up to see that I hadn’t shut my door.
“One second,” I told him, walking over to it and noticing that Vel was talking to Aura in the common area.
“Stop,” Aura told her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her into her room, shutting the door behind her.
I furrowed my brows and shut the door, locking it behind me. “That was weird.”
“What was?” Bram asked.
“Nothing.” I grabbed my tablet to see Rune lifting her mug to her lips and letting out a pleasant noise.
“Are you stalking Rune again?” Bram asked.
“Yes,” I admitted. Why hide it?
“Just don’t get caught.” I knew Bram must’ve rolled his eyes at me. “Anyway, did I tell you how much Nebula and Gumdrop hate the new stray Skel brought home?”
I grinned, thinking of the axolotl and black cat familiar. “Nah, you haven’t. Why does Skel keep bringing cats home if you all made that Cat-tuary on Demon Reform Academy’s campus?”
“I think he’s going and stealing cats from it,” Bram whispered.
“I am not!” Skel protested in the background. “And Marshmallow is perfect!”
“She has tried to eat Gumdrop,” Reed mumbled bitterly.
“Gumdrop almost drowned her!” Skel defended the cat.
“Skel, I think we need to take Marshmallow to the Cat-tuary,” Pandora’s soft voice came in.
“Okay, princess,” he huffed.
As cute as my brother and his mate and brother-mates were, I couldn’t take my eyes off my future mate drinking her poison tea as everyone else got up around her.
I noticed that the vampire with pink eyes had taken a liking to Dimitri, but Dimitri didn’t seem to care. Good for him, because I’d gut him if he hurt Rune over another’s attention. Cora and Ominous seemed to be getting closer to Rune, and I didn’t mind that.
Still though, I missed her with every fiber of my being.