Chapter 20 Slater
slater
. . .
Rune’s skin was still flushed from Dimitri’s venom after I stripped us both and laid her on her bed, a bed much bigger than the one we shared in the first-year house.
Her body trembled against mine, sweat-damp green hair sticking to her temples, and I knew if I didn’t sink inside of her soon, we’d both lose our Fates-damn minds.
I kissed her like a starving man, hands roaming her hips, her waist, and over her breasts.
Jesper’s mate mark was gouged into her hip, and Drecken’s mark seared her shoulder. It was proof that she belonged to them too. Instead of jealousy, though, a rush of heat spread through my dick.
They were beautiful on her.
My girl, covered in matebonds and still needing me.
“You don’t know how hot you are with their marks,” I growled against her jaw, biting it gently before sliding my mouth down her neck. I let my hand trace her wrist before circling it and holding it up between us, feeling her pulse flutter. “I want mine here.”
Her breath hitched, but only desire pooled in her pretty golden eyes. “My wrist?”
“Where everyone can see,” I moaned at the thought of it. “I want the world and every supernatural you come across to know you’re mine too.”
She pulled me closer, wrapping her thighs around my waist. “I’m yours, Havoc baby.”
I pulled back, loving her little whimper of protest, and grabbed her ankles before placing her legs against my chest.
Her pussy was soaked, and I lined my cock up against her warm entrance before watching it sink all the way in.
“Slater!” she cried as I bottomed out, throwing her head back as she gripped the comforter.
I reached down and rubbed her clit as I moved in and out of her, feeling her pussy suck me back in with every thrust.
“Fuck, venom baby, you should see this.” I pulled out my glistening dick and sank back in slowly, watching her take all of me repeatedly.
My skin felt like it was on fire as I watched her glance down at us joined together and moan.
“That’s so hot,” she whimpered, writhing under me. “Feels so good. Deeper, Havoc baby.”
I gave her what she asked for, driving deeper, harder, until the only thing left in my head was her name.
“Rune, Fates, baby, I love you,” I confessed, fucking her even deeper.
She broke apart beneath me, her hands coming up and gripping my shoulders.
“Slater—” she moaned, her body gripping me so tight it pulled me over the edge with her.
We crashed together in a mess of shouts and ragged breathing.
“Again,” she whimpered.
I moved her legs around my waist, kissing her as I fucked her until she came again, thoroughly wrecked underneath me.
“Slater…”
Snakey manifested and slithered up, coiling gently around her arm like even he wanted to hold her.
I buried my face in her hair, still inside her because there was nowhere else I’d rather be.
“I miss you.” My voice cracked.
Her shoulders shook as her arms came around me again. “I miss you too.” And then she broke, tears sliding hot against my chest. “I love you too, Slater.”
My heart combusted, and I kissed her tears before pressing my lips against hers. “Fuck, I love you so much, venom baby.”
She pulled back with a smile, but then she started to sob.
I tilted her chin up. “What’s wrong? Did I do something?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what’s wrong.
You and I are great. Happily in love, but the bond still hasn’t snapped.
Neither has Zuko’s. Things are too complicated.
Drecken and Jesper are amazing. Koa, I haven’t even had a chance to talk to.
And Dimitri…I have to figure out what to do there.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Slater. I feel like I’m splitting apart.”
“Hey,” I whispered, brushing her tears away with my thumb. “Only I can make you split apart.”
I thrust deeper, and she moaned.
“Dimitri’s stuck in that arranged shit, and it was announced without his consent. He hasn’t had a chance to explain it to you yet, has he?” I asked her.
Her silence was answer enough.
“Give him a chance,” I murmured, still pissed at him but knowing he’d be a part of this soon enough. “You don’t have to forgive him right away. Just…let him talk, then decide.”
Her nod was tiny. “Okay.”
I kissed her forehead.
For a moment, I almost forgot the world outside her bed and her existed, but then I remembered what I’d been seeing.
“Rune…there’s something else I need to tell you.”
Her brows knitted. “What?”
I hesitated. I wasn’t sure of anything, but I couldn’t not tell her what I’d been noticing the past couple of months. “I’ve been watching the campus feeds.”
She frowned. “How often?”
I coughed, heat crawling up my neck. “Listen…I was watching your final. I was heading toward the simulator when Ominous dropped you off.”
“You what?”
“The siren attacking you glitched, and when I went to re-watch it, it looped, Rune. It’s like someone scrubbed the footage right before and when you got stabbed. That’s only one instance I’ve seen on the surveillance, but this time, you were hurt.”
Her whole body stilled. “I knew it. That’s why it didn’t add up. I was stabbed in a glitch.”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “And, not that it’s related, but I saw Aura talking to Darian the other night.”
Her head snapped up. “Aura? With Darian?”
“Yup.” I exhaled, hating the way my gut twisted. “Something’s off. I have a bad feeling.”
She bit her lip, looking both furious and anxious. “We’ll figure it out. Together.”
“Always together, venom baby.” I smirked, looking around her room. “And I’m visiting more often. I’m pretty damn sneaky when I need to be.”
The magic from the wayfaer teleporter felt like static under my skin.
The aftertaste stuck in my mouth as I landed in the Demon Capital at Bram’s house.
It wasn’t something I’d ever get used to, but I liked that I could visit my brother whenever the fuck I wanted.
I couldn’t necessarily go to my house, though, since Mom didn’t have one of these teleporters.
It smelled like caramel, copper, spicy bourbon, vanilla, smoke, a hint of cotton candy, and sweet chocolate in here. It was a perfect mix of Pandora and all of her mates. I couldn’t wait until Rune, myself, and the others had a place of our own.
Pandora was on the couch with two of her mates. Skel, the fear demon, was curled around her. Dex, her shadow demon mate, leaned on the other side, his shadows curling lazily around them both.
My brother, Bram, stood by the teleporter like he’d been waiting for me, jaw locked tight.
Two of her other mates weren’t home, but Nebula—Pandora’s grumpy little familiar kitten—was perched on her shoulder.
“Hey, Nebula,” I greeted first. “Looking good, all cat-like and not skull-like.”
Nebula hissed, his tail lashing behind him.
Bram translated flatly. “He says you look even dumber than usual. And to stop bringing up the skull thing. He’s got his body back, and you know it.”
“Awesome.” I muttered, but it stung a little. “I’m just happy he’s all fur.”
Pandora’s smile softened. “It’s good to see you, Slater.”
“You too.” I looked at her instead of Bram. She was always more honest. “How’s my little brother?”
“Stressed,” she said, her voice dropping.
Skel pressed a kiss to her temple. “Demons are still vanishing. My best friend’s mom disappeared for a day before we found her, sick.
She was apparently poisoned. Sabine identified it as a human-made toxin.
She’ll recover, but everyone’s on high alert because she hasn’t been the only victim. ”
Dex’s grin went sharper. “Don’t forget the lurking human we caught. We took care of him, though.”
“Sure did,” Bram added, but his voice was grim. “Made an example of him in the Market. Didn’t stop the vanishings. We’re still missing one in four demons taken.”
I swore under my breath. “That’s bad.”
Skel snorted. “Bad was three months ago. This is bullshit.”
Pandora’s eyes flicked to me. “We were hoping you could find something.”
Bram pointed to the laptop on the coffee table. “That’s connected to the Demon Capital’s surveillance. It shows nothing.”
I cracked my knuckles and dropped into a crouch next to it. “There’s always something.”
As soon as my fingers brushed the keys, Snakey uncoiled from my neck and slid into the machine. Chaos magic rose up my spine. My vision doubled, the laptop screen and my mind syncing, and I was no longer seeing in Bram’s living room; I was seeing through the eyes of Snakey, in the feeds.
Hours of footage spilled past me in minutes. Streets, alleys, markets, and rooftops. Demons going about their lives. Others slipped where they shouldn’t be, but under it all, something was eerily wrong.
Snakey hissed in my skull.
A flicker of static in one loop.
Then another.
I blinked back into the room, chest tight at what I noticed.
“Your feeds are looped,” I explained.
Skel’s green eyes narrowed, the scar over his eye shining. “How?”
“Somebody’s erasing the actual footage and splicing in loops. I can probably dig out the originals.” My voice went low. “Snakey?”
Chaos magic poured through me like ice as I saw through Snakey again. We pushed and prattled through the feed until the loops came apart under our magic.
The real footage played.
I went cold. “Oh, Fates.”
On-screen, a phoenix swooped down over a demon street. No warning, no trying to hide. Just bright wings and a grab. One second, an incubus was walking; the next, they were gone, swallowed by the sky. Only one camera had caught it before the loop overwrote everything.
Snakey slithered out, coils tight against my arm as if even he was unsettled.
“A phoenix snatched an incubus in broad daylight. No witnesses around, and only one camera caught it. They looped the feed so no one would notice,” I told my brother.
He swore viciously. “Fates. I was hoping that wasn’t the case.” His red eyes met mine, bleak and furious. “Supernaturals are working for humans.”
“Quaint, huh?” I leaned back, running a hand over my face. “I’m not surprised. But yeah—there’s your proof. Loop’s gone.”
Bram’s hand clapped my shoulder. “This helps. A lot. We were only looking for humans.”
Chaos, his ghostly-wolf manifestation, shimmered into the room and pawed at Snakey. Snakey hissed back before Demo—Pandora’s chaos manifestation from bonding with Bram—bounded out to join them.
The three of them began playing.
Pandora tilted her head at me. “Thanks for figuring this out for us, Slater.” Her lips curved into a faint smile. “How’s Rune?”
My chest tightened.
Without shame, I flicked my tablet on and hacked into one of my favorite surveillance feeds to watch: House of Twilight.
Rune appeared, sitting cross-legged in the common area, green hair falling over her face as she scribbled notes. A bottle of poison sat beside her, like she’d ditched the tea completely.
Dimitri hovered nearby, ever the stickler about study sessions.
“She’s cute, right?” I sighed dreamily.
Skel let out a low whistle. “She’s terrifying from what I’ve heard. Not as terrifying as you, though, princess,” he added, kissing Pandora’s hair.
“Is she drinking poison?” Dex asked, fascinated.
“That’s how I met her,” Pandora reminded him sweetly. “Remember?”
Dex whispered something to her, and a ripple of shadow swallowed both him and Skel until they were gone.
Bram groaned. “They’re starting without me. Reed and Hunter are out, too.”
My phone buzzed.
Rune’s name lit up the screen.
Rune Bloodwyne
Come over? I’ll sneak you in. Jesper and Drecken are busy, and I need a sleep buddy. Besides, after earlier, I need some aftercare.
Bram saw my face and chuckled. “Go on. Be with your future mate. I’ll head upstairs to mine.”
Nebula growled low, saying something I couldn’t hear.
Bram rolled his eyes. “You’ve got legs now, Nebula. You don’t have to witness any of it.”
I slapped Bram’s back. “Enjoy your mate. I’ll enjoy mine. Grandfather was right, though. We’ve been blessed.”
His eyes went soft with emotion. “You’re right, Slater. We are blessed.”
Snakey slithered up me and tightened around my arm like he already knew where we were going, and I sprinted to the teleporter.