Chapter 29
rune
. . .
I crumpled the weird note about betrayal and revenge from Darian and tossed it in the bin, shutting my door behind me as I hurried out of House of Twilight.
I was late for my date with Jesper, and I didn’t have time to worry about Darian and his vendetta against me.
If he tried anything other than being a nuisance, I’d kill him in self-defense.
It was what I should’ve done when he first crossed me.
“Hey, mister agent.” I grinned up at Jesper as I left the house.
He’d been waiting for me, arms crossed. His lips tugged into a smile as he noticed me, and he wrapped his large hand in mine. “Hi, honey drop. Ready to meet the women who raised me?”
“Of course I am.” I squeezed his hand as we walked toward the wayfaer crystal. “I need to know who raised such a gentleman.”
His cheeks turned scarlet as we stepped on the wayfaer crystal and teleported to his house. It was a luxury he had because he was such a high-level agent. I had to admit I was impressed by that.
The magic from the wayfaer crystal flickered off my skin as I stepped into Jesper’s childhood home, standing in what looked to be the living room.
It was like we’d walked straight into a wall of warmth and cinnamon.
The house screamed comfort. The aroma of cinnamon tea tickled my nose, and I scented melted beeswax and old books.
It was a lived-in smell, but it was a nice one.
Handmade quilts draped the backs of the couches in mismatched earth tones.
A crooked series of framed photos climbed the wall of the staircase, and I noticed all the photos of Jesper as a kid, with Darian.
Jesper was much more adorable as a child than Darian had been, but Jesper was also a lot more attractive than Darian in general.
A soft amber glow lit the hall from crystal sconces shaped like pressed sunflowers, and a collection of enchanted globes lined a shelf, each one swirling with tiny floating snowflakes and constellations.
Copper pans hung over the stove in the kitchen that the living room was opened up to, and bundles of herbs dangled upside down from twine above the window.
There was a row of tea tins spelling out “W Y V E R N H E A R T” across a crooked spice shelf.
A farmhouse table that bore the scars of knife marks, ink stains, and a constellation of candle drips was the centerpiece of the kitchen.
Jesper’s mom was singing in the kitchen, and his aunt was sitting at the kitchen table.
I knew who was who only because Jesper looked like the spitting image of his mom.
His mom had the same white hair and brown eyes that he did, with similar facial structures. His aunt had blonde hair and blue eyes.
“Rune!” Jesper’s mom gasped the moment she noticed us step in. Her hair was piled into a messy knot, and her cheeks dimpled when she smiled at me like she’d been waiting years to meet me. “Welcome, sweetheart! Are you hungry? You look like you’re hungry.”
I didn’t even get a chance to answer before she wrapped me in a hug that smelled like vanilla and cinnamon.
“Mom,” Jesper groaned behind me. “Please don’t—”
“You hush,” she said, turning and messing in the kitchen before coming back and shoving a tea mug into my hands. “Let me love your mate. She’s my daughter-by-mating now. No need for formalities. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”
I blinked down at the steaming mug. The tea was a soft rose-gold color, flecked with petals. I sniffed it, feeling my mouth water. “Of course.” I took a long sip, feeling the poison enter my veins with a tickle. “This is poisoned.”
Jesper’s mom beamed. “Vampire’s bloodrose petals. Just a couple. Jesper said poison fills your reserves.”
I was in love with her instantly.
“It does, and this tastes delicious, Ms. Wyvernheart.” I smiled warmly and took another greedy gulp.
She gasped. “Oh, no, sweetheart. Please just call me Nymera.”
“Thank you, Nymera.”
She smiled and went back into the kitchen like a fluttering butterfly.
Across the table, Jesper’s aunt perched in a perfectly erect posture, and she was staring at me like she was figuring me out. “So,” she said, folding her hands and peering at me with cool curiosity. “You’re the basilisk that mated with my nephew.”
I lifted my mug. “Guilty.”
Her mouth thinned. “And this bond with Jesper. You understand what you are walking into. You know it’s for life?”
Jesper stiffened beside me, but I set my mug down gently, meeting her gaze head-on. “Of course. The Fates decided we were meant to be, and I agree. Jesper’s not getting rid of me now. Not when we bear each other’s marks.”
Her lips cracked into a wide smile. “Oh, good. I figured you were wise from what my dear nephew said, and I was right. Welcome to the family, dear. Take a seat. We’ve been cooking all afternoon for this. You can call me Maelis.”
I sat down, and Jesper took the seat beside me, his thigh brushing mine. Nymera fussed over food, and Maelis filled our plates. I had the most heart-warming feeling that I was being initiated into my dragon mate’s family, and it felt so right.
Maelis set plates in front of us filled with roasted venison, coated with garlic butter, wild rice, and a vegetable medley.
I lifted my fork before Jesper leaned close, brushing my shoulder. His winter woods scent filled my nose. “No poison in the food,” he murmured. “Sorry.”
Nymera overheard and giggled. “I didn’t want to accidentally cross-contaminate. Sorry, sweetheart.”
“It’s okay,” I assured her. “I don’t need poison in every meal. Besides, this smells so good as is.”
Before she could answer, the front door slammed open.
Darian’s glacial amber scent carried in, and he froze in the doorway as he stared at me. His face twisted with irritation. “What the fuck is she doing here?”
Nymera’s voice hardened. “Darian. She is our guest.”
“And your cousin’s fated.” Maelis stood slowly, spine straight as a blade. “Show some respect.”
He scoffed, eyes never leaving me. “Respect? For her?”
Jesper rose from his seat. “Watch your mouth around my mate, Darian.”
“Yeah, Darian. Watch your mouth,” I repeated my mate’s words with snark, unable to help myself.
Ice formed on Darian’s arms, but before he could retort, his mom interrupted.
“Darian, sit down and eat. We are family, and it’s time you started acting like it,” Maelis snapped at her son.
Darian shut his mouth and sat down across from me, and his mom set a plate in front of him.
We sat in tense silence until Jesper slipped a small vial out of his pocket beneath the table and drizzled it over my food. “Better, honey drop?”
I inhaled, recognizing that poison easily. It was a paralytic. I grinned before I took a bite and nodded. “It was delicious before, but yes, it is so good.”
Darian’s jaw cracked. “You…what the fuck? You can’t—” His face reddened fast. Veins bulged in his neck as ice crystals formed over his hands. “You poisoned her food?” he snarled. “That’s my thing! I used to do that for her!”
Everyone stopped eating.
Nymera froze, her worried gaze trained on Jesper.
Maelis didn’t blink as she stared at her own son.
I set my fork down. “Well, you did it without my knowledge. I only knew because I tasted it.”
“You weren’t supposed to know,” he muttered under his breath, gaze darting to his food.
Jesper looked at Darian as if he’d just confessed to murder. “Explain. Right now.”
Darian swallowed hard. “She only found out about it because I told her when she asked.”
“I found out because I can taste the poison,” I corrected, crossing my arms. “You are the one who told me you poisoned me without realizing that I would notice.”
Nymera’s voice sliced through the air. “Darian, what does that mean? Explain what she means.”
He clenched his jaw. “She—she fucking liked it. I gave her doses every time we—”
My face heated, and my heart dropped hard in my gut. “Stop.”
“Every time you what?” Jesper asked anyway, his voice so dark I barely recognized it.
Darian had the decency to blush, but that couldn’t hide the fact that his eyes were proud.
“Every time we fucked, Rune liked being dosed. I liked dosing her. Half the girls I’m with love it.
They beg for it. They don’t want control.
They want to stop thinking. I give them that.
I tried to do it to her, but she always knew. ”
My chest hollowed. “You mean…” I swallowed back the shakiness in my throat, but it wouldn’t go away. “That was why you drugged me? I genuinely thought you were being nice and gifting me the new human date-rape drugs, but you…you wanted me to be unable to consent?”
He scoffed. “Don’t act like you didn’t love it. You always fucking moved. No matter what I gave you. None of the others moved. I had to up the doses for you, but it wasn’t even fucking worth it. You ruined it every time by squirming.”
“Ruined what?” Jesper erupted, jolting up to his feet, scales scattering up and down his face as he fought his shift.
Maelis stood so fast her chair crashed behind her. “Darian. You tell me right now what you mean by ‘none of the others moved.’ Did you give women paralysis drugs?”
“They consented,” he spat. “They always look like they want to feel helpless. It was a fantasy—”
“That wasn’t fantasy unless you talked to them about it beforehand, Darian. That’s rape.” His mother’s face drained of blood as she realized in real time what a piece of shit her son was.
He slammed his fist on the table. “They fucking asked for it!”
Nymera’s hands shook. “They asked…to be drugged until they couldn’t move?”
Silence followed.
“Not…all of them,” he admitted. “But some did.”
I didn’t mind if he had the fantasy itself as long as he discussed it with a willing partner and gained consent, but he didn’t. He never asked to dose me. I had been so fucking na?ve to believe he just wanted to gift me a poison.