Chapter 31 Rune #2
“Aw, oh my Fates.” I grinned up at her, taking the bottle and noticing that my pendant glowed around my neck. It was a poison I hadn’t tried yet. “Thank you. This is perfect!”
“You’re perfect,” Slater whispered reverently as he stole the seat next to me.
I bit down on my lip as my chest bloomed with warmth.
A tall man with gray-flecked blond hair and brown eyes stepped out next. He had laugh lines and broad shoulders with a graceful smile that didn’t seem possible coming from a chaos demon.
“Charles!” Slater launched himself at him next.
“Hey, kid.” Charles hugged him back fiercely before turning to me. “Hello, Rune. I’m Charles Lock. I’m the butler for the Havoc family.”
I shook his hand as he offered it to me. “Nice to meet you, Charles.”
“Charles,” Melinda said sternly. “You are not only the butler. You are my chosen mate.”
Slater gasped. “Oh my Fates! I knew you were dating, but chosen mate? Charles, you chaotic demon!”
Charles turned red as he took a seat next to Melinda, opposite us. “Um, I’m sorry, Melinda. You are correct. Thank you. I cooked this meal for us today.”
Laid out on the table were spicy meatballs, salad, rice, and something sweet that smelled like strawberry fae wine in our glasses.
Fates, what I would give to get my hands on fae poisons…
Unfortunately, fae alcohol didn’t translate for my power, but it was the only thing that could affect me enough to get me tipsy.
Slater made both of our plates for us and placed a kiss on my cheek when he finished.
I grabbed the poison and drizzled it all over my plate before taking a bite. It tasted divine. The poison filled my veins and made my stomach flip as I swallowed.
“So,” Melinda said hesitantly. “You probably already know about Slater’s father.”
Slater stiffened next to me.
“Yes,” I said carefully. “He was not someone worth keeping in this world. I heard all about Bram killing him from my mom.”
Charles nodded grimly. “Serial killer isn’t a strong enough word for him. He was a piece of work.”
Melinda’s voice wavered. “We didn’t know what he was; otherwise, we never would’ve let Bram be left to fend for himself. I thought his mother would’ve protected him.”
Slater looked at his hands, a rare stillness in him. “Bram is with us now. He’s not a Hemlock. He’s a Havoc now,” he said bluntly.
“You’re right,” she whispered.
“Bram’s a great rep for the demons, just like Pandora and the rest of her mates.” I grabbed my wineglass and took a sip, feeling my blood hum. “You should be proud.”
“We are,” Slater murmured, smiling down at his plate. “Bram dealt with a lot. I’m so proud of him.”
Melinda cleared her throat and pointed to our plates. “Eat while it’s hot.”
Slater bumped my knee under the table. “You’re going to love the rice. Charles seasons it with an herb that is so spicy and only grows in the Demon Capital, and it crackles when you chew.”
I forked a bite of the rice. It crackled with little pops of heat, and then it melted into butter and smoke. “Oh, that’s good,” I moaned. “The poison makes the pop enhanced.”
“Compliment accepted,” Charles said, pleased.
“If it weren’t poison, I’d try it,” Slater whispered in my ear. “Maybe I’ll taste it from your lips later, though.”
I choked on the bite and took a sip of wine, shooting a look at Slater. “Perhaps.”
Slater leaned in further, chin on my shoulder. “So? On a scale of one to ten, how much do you love my mom?”
“Twenty,” I answered.
He did a tiny chair-wiggle that made the silverware clink. “Knew it.”
We went silent as we ate, but it wasn’t awkward. It felt normal. Warm. Safe in a way that almost made my chest ache. Just like sitting with Jesper and his mom and aunt, before Darian had ruined our moment together.
The front door suddenly banged open just as I finished my glass of fae wine and set it down.
Melinda jumped. “We aren’t expecting any…”
Charles half-rose from his chair, fork clattering to his plate. “Who are you to enter Havoc manor unannounced?”
A stranger stood in the entryway.
He had short hair, and he was maybe in his late twenties. He wore dark tactical gear and a breathing mask pulled loose around his neck.
I sniffed the air and caught the telltale synthetic scent of a human. “Aw, did the fucked-up little human faction send you?”
His eyes darted from Slater to me, then to Melinda and Charles before his pupils blew wide in terror. “Shit,” he cursed, staggering a step backward. “Intel said one target. This was supposed to be a clean extraction.”
His hand flew into his pocket fast, drawing out a syringe of thick amber liquid capped in black metal. It was the human-made poison making supernaturals sick. In his other hand was some kind of tech. It was a palm-sized disc with faintly pulsing circuitry.
Slater lunged forward, Snakey manifesting, but I was already vaulting over the table.
The man scrambled, trying to jam the syringe into me, but I kicked his arm, making him drop the syringe.
My fingers jabbed straight into his eyeball, excreting paralytic venom.
He wasn’t able to scream before my venom hit his optic nerve. Paralysis spread down his body instantly.
I dropped to my feet, wiping my fingers on a napkin from the table as he dropped to the ground.
The tech disk rolled across the wooden floor as a faint crackle of static rose, and I stomped my foot over it.
It crunched under my foot.
The human man twitched on the floor, breath hissing uselessly through his clenched teeth.
“Oh my Fates,” Slater gasped, eyes glittering as I turned toward him. “That was the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Slater!” Melinda screamed. She pointed at the paralyzed man. “Call Bram!”
“Right. Totally.” Slater fumbled his phone out like she’d yelled fire. “On it!”
I crouched over the human, brushing my thumb over his cheek as if I were being gentle—then pressed two fingers beneath his ear and injected a slow dose of truth venom into his bloodstream. His pupils blew.
He’d talk the second someone asked a question after the paralysis wore off.
The shadows in the kitchen doorway stretched, and a couple of shapes stepped out of it.
Dexter and Bram, Pandora’s mates.
Bram’s gaze flicked over the scene, then to me. “What did you do to the human?”
I smiled and grabbed the human by the collar, dragging him across the floor, letting his head bump twice for emphasis before shoving him toward Bram.
“He was trying to poison your family. He’s fully paralyzed and dosed with truth venom.
I destroyed whatever device he had, and the poison is… ” I glanced to Slater.
He handed it to his brother. “Sorry, venom baby, but I think they need this.”
I huffed, crossing my arms. “Figures.”
Bram looked at me with a flicker of approval. “Good work.”
Dexter crouched next to the human and tilted his head. “Your mate’s smart,” he told Slater.
Slater puffed up instantly, grinning like the smuggest chaos demon alive. “I know, right?”
I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t help smiling. “Thanks for your pride, Havoc baby.”
“Ooh, last name, huh?” Dexter hissed. “Sorry, dude.”
“Did you hear the baby after?” Slater pouted.
Bram dragged the human upright by the chin. “C’mon. Pandora is going to rip into his soul and watch his memories, and she’s so beautiful when she does that.”
“She’s awesome,” I said with a sigh. “Tell her I said hi.”
“She is. Will do.” Dexter grinned, grabbing the man’s arm, and the three of them melted back into the shadows.
Slater let out a long sigh. “That wasn’t even in the top ten worst family dinners we’ve had!”
“Oh, Fates,” Melinda groaned, pressing her hand to her heart. “Slater. You need to bring her here more often. She just saved our asses.”
I snorted. “I have no doubt you could handle one measly human.”
“She’s so right, Mom.” Slater threw an arm over my shoulders, tugging me close. His daisies and jasmine scent embedded into me. “We’ve gotta get back to the academy before curfew hits. I already texted Ominous to pick us up.”
A few moments later, the shadows moved again, and Ominous stepped out of the corner of the house, hands in his pockets like he had been there forever.
“Slater, Rune.” Ominous nodded at us.
“Ominous?” Melinda shrieked.
He grinned. “Hello again, Melinda.”
She rushed him and grabbed his face in her hands. “Aw, my Fates, you’ve grown so tall!”
Slater dragged a hand over his face. “Mom.”
“I remember when you used to come over and play spy games in our basement with Slater!” she cried. “And you always brought your own snacks because your mother said we fed you too much sugar!”
Ominous turned slightly pink. “She still says that about anything I eat.”
“How is Gloria?” Melinda demanded.
“She’s good.”
She squished his cheeks affectionately. “Tell her she still owes me a brunch.”
He smiled. “I will.” Then, he turned to us. “Ready?”
Slater tugged me closer. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
The shadows wrapped around us, and the Havoc manor vanished.