Chapter 19 Rune
rune
. . .
Jarvins looked over at us, his eyes widening almost comically. “Ah,” he said, gaze pinging between me and Drecken. “That makes…a great deal of sense, actually.”
Drecken’s jaw tilted a fraction, and for a blink, the bond between us swelled warm with pride. He turned, his gaze narrowing at Dimitri at the back of the class. His magic sparked from his fingers as he moved them to the side.
Dimitri flinched almost like it was instinct, glancing down at his feet.
My chest ached.
He had a mate, and it wasn’t me.
Drecken’s smirk faded as he glanced at me.
Worry flitted through our bond. He turned to me, and his hand slid to the crown of my head. The kiss he pressed to my forehead was gentle, and heat flooded me as I remembered that we’d just sealed the bond.
“Good luck on your final.” He fell backward through his portal and was gone, leaving the faintest taste of our combined scents in the air.
Jarvins clapped once to get everyone’s attention again.
“Like I was explaining, you will take your final in the simulator and work as a team. Rune, did you have anything to note before the final? Before I forget, take this watch. It absorbs into your suit. It will keep tabs on your vitals and location. I’ve marked the relic’s location on your maps.
You missed that part when you were…with your mate. Actually utilize this, okay?”
“Okay. And actually yes,” I said, fastening the watch on my wrist. It sank into the suit, and a screen popped up on my wrist with how full my magical reserves were and vitals.
Interesting. “I need to note something that’s been on my mind.
Last time in the simulator, there was tourmalyke gas. Was that intentional?”
Jarvins's head snapped up. “Tourmalyke gas? No, that was not supposed to happen. How did I not notice that?” His stylus moved against the tablet screen. “Which means the simulator was tampered with.” His lips thinned. “We’ll pull the feed and look into it. I’m glad House of Innovation has come up with these watches.
It’ll alert when any oddities happen to you specifically… ”
I nodded as a sick feeling twisted in my gut.
Why had it only affected me?
“During your final, you’ll infiltrate a magically surveilled cove in Cursinia.
You’ll be in siren territory. Retrieve the relic unnoticed.
You have thirty minutes to find the cove, infiltrate the underwater cave, and obtain the relic.
This is a team operation,” he explained.
“Good luck, and remember, if you die in the simulation, you die in real life. So, don’t fuck up. ”
The floor thrummed, and magic folded.
The simulator and Jarvins fell away, and a seaside town rebuilt itself around us.
A warm sea-wind slapped my face, and I inhaled the briny scent. Our watches chimed in unison. I glanced down to see a translucent overlay flicker across my wrist.
OBJECTIVE: Locate and retrieve relic
MAP: Underwater cave underneath cove
TIMER: 30:00, 29:59, 29:58…
A bright red arrow marker pulsed on the map’s edge. North, just beyond the town, along a broken seawall, was the cove we were looking for.
“Okay, these watches are super fucking cool,” Ominous said as we each tucked into the shadow of a shop and took inventory.
“How do we stay unnoticed?” Mara asked, voice shaking.
“Stay in my shadows.” His shadows curled against all nine of us as he masked our silhouettes. “Cameras above shop doors, two on the market stalls, and alert wards everywhere.”
“I hate this. Being in Cursinia again…in siren territory.” Cora stared at the square as if she wanted to burn it.
“Aren’t you a siren?” Zara asked with a frown.
“Unfortunately,” she muttered. “All sirens are bloodthirsty, but they’re getting better at hiding it. Wealth makes them even worse.”
“How so?” I asked.
“My best friend’s from a prominent family.
She was forced into an arranged mating match a few years ago by her own father and sister.
The mating didn’t take the first couple of times, but they kept forcing her to be marked in front of all of their family.
You know how sirens mark their mates, right? ”
My heart dropped.
Sirens mated by sinking their sharp teeth into the throat of their partner while they fucked. If she were forced…
“That’s unheard of.” Ominous's mouth fell open in shock. “Is she okay?”
“She’s managing, last I heard. She’s younger than me by a few years, but she, my sisters, and I used to be inseparable.
The Fates intervened and formed a sealed matebond with the man who kept attempting the bond and failing to her sister, the one behind the whole thing.
” Cora’s eyes blazed with raw pain. “Her sister is horrible. My best friend only went along with it because she wanted the key to her mother’s cove.
She’s still trying to gain access, so she’s still living with them. ”
Ominous's shoulders went tight. “I hope she’s able to gain access and get the fuck away from her family.”
“Me too,” she murmured softly. “She doesn’t deserve the shit she puts up with daily, but her dad’s a monster. That’s only one story, though. Many sirens have it just as bad, some worse.”
Our watches pinged.
Five minutes had passed since we’d arrived.
“I’ll take us to the cove directly,” Ominous said, looking at the map and up toward where the cove should be. “Everyone put a hand on each other.”
I placed a hand on Cora, and Dimitri’s fingers brushed mine. It sent sparks up my hand.
Shadows consumed us, and we spilled out of the darkness into a limestone cavern. I glanced down at my watch.
LOCATION: Cove Ingress (Subsurface)
MAP: Underwater access tunnel → Relic Chamber
TIMER: 24:41, 24:40…
Ominous's shadows ebbed away. “Relic’s under there,” he said, nodding to a large pool of water in the center of the cove.
Cora’s mouth parted before she shut it. “Zara,” she said, walking toward the pool in the center of the cove. “With me.”
Zara slid into the water without a word, strokes clean and sure.
“We’re the best choice for going into the underwater cave. We can breathe underwater. The rest of you should stay here and make sure nobody follows us. There’s no way sirens aren’t around.” Cora inhaled a deep breath and dove.
Her tail splashed in the water, and neither she nor Zara resurfaced.
My matebond with Jesper and Drecken pulsed steadily in my chest, but the ache when Dimitri stood too far away was ever-present.
“How long do you think it’ll take them to get it?” Seth asked.
“Not long,” Mara answered. “Sirens are faster than kelpies, but they’re much faster than we would be.”
“Besides,” Ominous cut in, holding up his arm, pointing at the watch screen on his wrist. “You can check their locations on our map. They’re right up on the relic now.”
A loud screech echoed through the cove as wet footsteps padded toward us at a fast pace.
“I’d say they have it,” Ominous chuckled as he turned to show their two dots over the relic on the map.
“No shit,” Jonas squeaked, fear riddling his tone.
Runes I hadn’t noticed before along the walls ignited.
Ominous swore; shadows moved around us like armor. “Sirens are coming,” he hissed.
“We can hear that!” Mara screamed, losing her cool quickly.
“We have to fight. Get ready,” Dimitri barked at everyone.
Jonas shifted into his mouse form and scurried into a crack in the wall. I had to look at him in shock at how cowardly that was.
“They’re here,” Brynn cried out as at least a dozen sirens surrounded us.
I palmed my dagger, pulling it out of the strap on my thigh and readying myself for the fight as the others, other than Jonas, followed suit.
The first note of siren song slid into me like a blade wrapped in a pretty bow. Sweet, coaxing, but too predictable.
My bones hummed with the resonance, but I fought the desire to stop fighting.
Three of them surrounded me as the others fought their own opponents.
I bit my tongue, my fangs puncturing it and drawing blood. Pain was a known anchor, but my instincts screamed at me to cut off the singing at the source.
“Pretty basilisk,” one of them crooned, her mouth shaping around her melody. “Put the dagger down.”
My fingers flexed tighter on the hilt as the figures advanced, swaying. Their long hair was soaked, and their eyes caught the glow of the runes alight around us.
Their song swelled, weaving into my marrow.
It urged me to surrender.
I lunged, blade ready. I spun low, slicing the tendon of her ankle.
She fell forward, and I plunged the dagger into her back once as she went down.
The other two hissed, songs turning desperate as their magic trickled over me. I felt it spear my ribs, demanding me to stop fighting.
My knees trembled like my body wanted to kneel, but that would never happen.
I closed in on the second. She swept her sharp claw-like nails at me as I moved under her arm.
My dagger slid between her ribs, flat and fast, before I twisted.
She collapsed, gasping like a fish as I yanked my blade out.
“On your left, Rune!” Ominous shouted.
“I’ve got—” I turned toward the last siren, but she glitched. Her body flickered like a broken feed, slowly coming toward me before the simulation caught up.
A sword was suddenly in her hand, already buried in my throat.
White detonated behind my eyes.
My ears roared, but I heard my watch ping.
INJURY: Rune Bloodwyne—Puncture (Throat)
MAGIC RESERVES: 31%
I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t think.
But my training forced my brain to work.
The entry point was in the jugular range; the angle was upward, tearing cartilage, and the arteries were cut through.
My fingers clawed at the blade, but the siren twisted it.
Pain roared down my spine. Blood poured from my mouth, hot and metallic, spattering across her face as I coughed.
She smiled through it, flashing all her sharp teeth at me.
Healing magic trickled over my throat, trying to seal the opening.
The siren glitched, stuttering once again. Her arm blurred, and the sword ripped upward, tearing my throat open.