Chapter 10 Koa
koa
. . .
“You’re on leave tonight,” Jesper told me, his brown eyes firm. “You won’t be going on the mission with us.”
“What?” I sputtered, brows furrowing. “Why not? Rune’s going to be meeting a fae for this mission. I’m one of your healers now. What if something goes wrong?”
“Your efforts weren’t in vain, Koa.” His lips curved into a calm smile. “Your father was released from the penitentiary.”
Shock and disbelief thrummed through me, and I splayed a hand against my chest. “He’s…he’s out?”
Jesper nodded. “He’s out and cleared of all wrongdoing.
The Supernatural Council has issued a statement about their neglect for not investigating the matter further, and they listed you as your father’s hero.
Sabine also wanted me to pass along that she understands you only joined the academy to become an agent to get justice for your father.
She is offering you a choice to become an agent or leave freely to pursue other paths. ”
“She’s offering me a chance to leave?” I repeated dumbly, shaking my head.
Panic and worry flooded the bond from Rune, but it didn’t show on her face. Since she’d bonded with me, though, I felt it.
“Hey, Rune.” I turned to her and held her hand tightly. “Little vixen, I’m not going anywhere.” I turned to Jesper. “I choose to stay. I quite enjoy being an agent.”
Relief poured through the bond, and I turned back to my mate. “I’d like for you to meet my family soon. Since you’re my mate and all.”
Rune reached out and brushed her fingertips against her mark on my throat. “I promise I will, but you need to go see your dad. You haven’t seen him in so long, Koa.”
I blinked hot tears from my eyes and nodded, leaning forward and kissing her lips softly. The matebond surged, and I knew we had to make time to talk about everything. “Thank you.” I stood up and scanned my eyes over my brother-mates. “Keep our mate safe.”
“Pssh.” Slater waved a hand at me, brushing me off. “As if I’d let my venom baby be in danger.”
“Under my watch, there is no way any harm will come to her,” Jesper promised.
“Ditto,” Zuko agreed with a wicked smile, flashing his fangs.
“I’d feel better if I was going with her,” Dimitri muttered. “But I’ll protect her with my life. You know we all will.”
I nodded. I did know that. “I’ll see you all tomorrow then.”
“Go see your dad, reboot.” Rune winked, but I felt her excitement for me through the bond.
I left the library and transformed as soon as I was off campus grounds. Fire exploded from my skin, feathers of flames unfurling from my back.
The sky split open with heat as my phoenix form burst free, and I soared across the sky. I hadn’t flown home since I’d come here. The flight from Apex Elite Academy to the Capital was a blur of burning wind.
Our Ashbourne estate lay on the edge of the Capital near the south side of the Blood Hollow Mountain Range. Even from above, I could see the old wards my father built glowing faintly across the rooftops.
I landed hard enough to make the ground ripple, flames curling around my feet as I shifted back. My suit-clad feet hit the cobblestone path, but before I could open the door, it burst open.
“Koa!” My mom’s voice cracked as she ran toward me. Her short brown hair gleamed like polished copper in the golden light, and her red eyes were wet and bright from happy tears, I was sure. She slammed into me with enough force to make me stumble back.
“Mom,” I choked, laughing and crying all at once as I hugged her back. She still smelled like smoke and sugar, like my childhood home.
“Let me look at you,” she demanded, pulling back to cup my face. “You’re thinner. Have you been eating?”
“I have,” I answered hoarsely. “I’m fine. Really.”
She smacked my arm. “Liar.”
“Solene,” my father’s voice rumbled from the doorway. “Give the boy some space.”
Theron Ashbourne, my dad, stepped out into the light, tall and broad-shouldered. His blond hair was longer than I remembered, but his eyes were still the same ember-flecked brown as mine.
For just a moment, I let myself remember how it was when I was a child, standing in front of the man who taught me how to channel my magic and learn code.
My throat tightened. “Dad.”
He crossed the distance in two strides and wrapped me in a crushing hug. “You cleared my name.”
The words broke me. It had been my sole purpose in life since he’d been taken, and I had done it.
“I had to,” I managed, gripping the back of his shirt like he might disappear. “You didn’t deserve what they did to you.”
When he finally stepped back, pride and sorrow flickered across his face. “You’ve done more than I ever could, son.”
A loud gasp interrupted us.
Sora stood in the doorway, her long blonde hair braided down one side with her brown ember-flaked eyes wide. “Koa, oh my Fates, is that a matemark?”
I froze. “Uh—”
Mom shrieked, “What?”
Dad pulled back and blinked. “Hold on. You’re mated?”
“Yes, I was going to tell you, but it happened right after I cleared your name, and—”
“Oh my Fates is right, Sora!” Mom clapped her hands over her mouth.
“Your brother is mated! Tell me it’s Rune.
Please, tell me it’s Rune. I’ve been saying since you’ve met her she’s special.
You wouldn’t have been so embarrassed to choke on a grape and die in front of her if she hadn’t been special. ”
“Mom, he chokes on fruit often,” Sora reminded her gently. “And gets embarrassed often.”
I groaned, rubbing a hand over my face as my sister burst into delighted laughter. “Yes, it’s Rune.”
Sora squealed, flinging herself at me next. “You actually did it! You found your mate before me!”
“Hold on,” my father muttered, but his grin gave him away. “Who is Rune?”
“Rune Bloodwyne.” My cheeks heated as her bond thrummed in my chest.
“Bloodwyne?” Dad blanched. “As in Sabine Bloodwyne?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Rune is her daughter.”
“Fates,” he hissed. “Well, I guess she did give you the means to clear my name.”
“For what it’s worth, she feels terrible,” I told him.
“As she should,” Mom huffed, crossing her arms. “We thought of her and her mates as family, and she didn’t stop your dad from being put away.”
“It was out of their hands, Solene.” Dad closed his eyes with a soft sigh. “Besides, I’m home now. Let’s go inside.”
Once inside, we drifted toward the hearth, instinct more than habit since phoenixes always gathered where there would be fire.
My father crouched beside the pit, striking his palms together once. Sparks cascaded like tiny shooting stars before the fire caught with a deep, rolling whoosh. Heat wrapped the room in reds and golds.
Sora flopped down on the rug beside me, cross-legged. “Okay, start from the beginning,” she demanded. “How did the matebond even form? Mom said it feels like your entire soul is being rewired when that happens. Did you just look at her one day and bam?”
I laughed under my breath. “Not quite. Rune had been captured by the humans, and since I’d infiltrated the human base, I went in and tried to free her, but…
I blew my cover,” I murmured. “And then, I don’t know, something inside me just found her.
The bond snapped into place like a flame catching dry wood.
One second, everything was intense. The next, I could feel her heartbeat in mine. ”
Sora’s eyes went huge. “That’s so unfair. I’ve dated, like, eight phoenixes, and not one of them was my fated mate.”
“Maybe try a basilisk.” I winked.
Mom laughed, wiping at her eyes with the hem of her sleeve. “Maybe also try one who doesn’t set your apartment on fire, sweetheart.”
Sora huffed. “It was only the kitchen!”
Dad chuckled lowly, then turned back to me. “And Rune, Sabine’s daughter, what is she like?”
I couldn’t stop the smile. “Powerful. She can excrete venom of any toxin that she’s been exposed to. She faced down the entire human security team with only one other person, besides me, but I didn’t have a chance to do anything. She’s also immune to toxins.”
Mom pressed a hand over her heart. “Oh, I already adore her.”
“She sounds intense,” Sora mumbled.
The conversation drifted a few times that evening until only the crackle of the fire filled the room.
Dad moved toward me, his expression softening as he laid a firm hand on my shoulder. “You made the right call, Koa. You saved me.”
“I thought I’d lost you,” I whispered, my throat tight.
He squeezed once, steady. “And now you’ll never have to think that again.”
Mom’s voice wavered, but her eyes were bright. “Bring Rune home soon, Koa. I want to meet the girl who has my son’s heart and soul.”
Sora grinned. “I just want to meet my new sister. I’ve always wanted a sister, you know.”
I rolled my eyes, warmth pooling in my chest. “You’ll love her.”
“Good,” my mother said. “That means she’ll fit right in.”
“She’s Koa’s mate,” Dad said. “Of course she will.”
The hearth flared as if in agreement, flames leaping higher and throwing sparks across the ceiling.
For the first time since Dad was taken, my family was whole again. It was a strange kind of peace, knowing I finally had everything I’d fought for.
The only thing missing tonight was Rune.