Chapter 20 Rune #2
It was somehow smaller than I had expected, and it hummed with magic.
The Supernatural Council’s dark magic protocol had changed since Pandora took over the Soul Eater Representative position and joined the Demon Council with the Supernatural Council.
She could purge the relic after every use now, and thankfully, we only had a dark magic issue arise once every year or two since she’d taken down the dark magic cult.
“Dark magic residue is Veil-derived,” Katie said quietly, eyes half-focused as she reviewed her notes.
“It’s the most unstable magic we know of.
It will try to bind to anything living. Prolonged exposure corrupts the mind first, then the body follows until the dark magic is the only thing keeping the subject alive.
Once dark magic is purged at that point, the subject will die. ”
“Cool, cool, cool,” Slater muttered, opening and closing his fist at his side. “Love that for us.”
“I will approach,” Sylver said, voice edged with siren magic. “I’m going to use the relic to purge the circle, then the subject. Ivy and Solon, distract the witch if she lashes out. Everyone else, stay behind them. Do not let the dark magic touch you.”
I scoffed. “It’s not like we were planning to bathe in it, Sylver.”
She let out a snort of laughter. “Didn’t think my sister-by-mating would be that stupid anyway.”
Zuko’s fingers grazed my lower back as he stepped closer. “If anything moves toward you, I’ll handle it.”
“So romantic,” I swooned.
He smirked as pride thrummed through the bond.
Ivy stepped to the circle’s edge, flames flaring just enough to form a faint barrier radiating heat around us with her phoenix magic.
Solon positioned himself opposite of her, his eyes tracking every flicker of movement in the circle.
Sylver lifted the relic, and it responded instantly. Bright light flared along the grooves of the relic, and she winced as the relic thrummed, releasing a wave of power that exploded outward to the circle.
The dark magic sizzled before it roiled. Tendrils whipped up before dissolving under the relic’s power. It was sucked inside the relic in a little under a minute.
“Incredible,” Katie whispered, eyes shining with curiosity. “It devoured the dark magic.”
“I know, right?” Slater said, fascinated. “Can you believe my sister-by-mating can actually eat that stuff?”
“You’re related to Pandora Gravesend?” Katie gasped.
Slater nodded. “She’s my brother’s mate.”
The relic’s light narrowed, focusing like a beam straight at the witch.
Sylver’s stance shook as the black veins in the witch’s skin pulsed rapidly.
Her back arched, and her eyes flew open. Her pupils were blown wide, and the whites of her eyes were veined with dark magic.
She screamed, and the sound tore through the clearing. The pressure slammed into my skull.
Koa’s blue flames flickered over his shoulders as he moved closer to me.
The witch suddenly jerked upright with a raw shriek and flung a hand out toward me. A blast of power struck over toward us and hit a tree behind me.
The trunk shuddered, groaned, and snapped at the base.
“Rune!” Zuko roared, reaching for me.
The enormous tree lurched down, directly toward me, branches clawing at the air as it fell.
Dimitri’s arm slammed around my waist from behind as he yanked me back with vampire-enhanced speed, but my own reflexes kicked in too.
Basilisk magic strengthened my muscles. I planted my hands on his shoulders, twisted in his grip, and drove my heel up and into the falling trunk.
My foot connected with the bark. My magic surged with the impact in a concentrated burst of force from where I kicked it.
The trunk splintered, violently shattering into a rain of fractured chunks and branches. Wood exploded around us, shards embedding in the ground, and a few smaller branches scraping against my arms and shoulders, but the suit stopped me from taking damage.
The last piece thumped to the dirt at my feet.
I was half-wrapped in Dimitri’s arms, my leg tingling from the impact.
There was a second of stunned silence as Sylver kept the relic focused on the witch.
“Okay,” Solon said faintly. “That was hot.”
“Mine,” Dimitri, Slater, Zuko, and Koa growled in sync.
Solon held his hands up in surrender. “The action, not the basilisk.”
“I mean, she is hot,” Slater corrected. “But she is ours.”
“Never wanted to argue about that,” Solon assured him, eyes sliding to Ivy. “Besides, I’m more into Ivy.”
Ivy made a face at him. “Focus, Solon.”
Dimitri’s chest was pressed against my back, his breath hot against my ear. His fingers dug into my hips like he was still trying to pull me out of the way, even though the danger was long gone.
“Got you, lethal darling,” he murmured.
I tilted my head back against his shoulder, smirking, adrenaline and magic buzzing under my skin. “Please, overachiever. I had me.”
“You are both taking advantage of being close,” Slater whined, but there was an edge of shaken relief in his tone.
“I almost had her if it wasn’t for your vampire speed,” Zuko sulked.
I fought a laugh.
Ivy kept her position between us and the magic circle. “Witch attacked,” she reported tersely into comms. “No casualties. Nice kick, Rune.”
Jarvins's voice crackled through, exasperated. “I saw. Good work calling it out.”
The dark magic inside the witch fought, but it didn’t stand a chance against the relic. A shudder worked through the witch’s body as the darkness pulled out of her, drawn in ragged strands toward the relic.
Sylver grunted with the force of it, but she held steady, jaw clenched, eyes shimmering with power.
The tar gathered in a horrible swirl above the witch before the relic sucked it all in.
The witch collapsed fully, limp, veins fading from black to blue.
“Circle purged,” Sylver said, breathing hard. “Subject decontaminated. Relic stable. All clear for the healer.”
Koa moved into the circle and placed a hand at her temple, blue flames conjuring and healing her from the backlash.
Sylver pressed her lips together. “We need to stabilize her and then move her. Dark rituals are illegal.”
Koa moved his hand and stood. “She’s stable.”
“Illegal or not, she had to be backed into a corner to perform it. The Supernatural Council will decide if a punishment is warranted,” Eleanor stated, stepping forward.
“Keep focus,” Jarvins reminded us. “This scenario’s about aftermath management. No discussion on what-ifs. Do your job.”
The witch groaned, her fingers twitching in the soil.
Ivy lowered her flames and eased into the circle.
Solon walked with her, ready to handle the witch if she became violent.
“Eleanor,” Jarvins snapped. “Your move.”
“Hey,” Eleanor said gently, moving past Ivy and Solon and kneeling beside the witch. “You’re okay. You’re safe. Can you tell me your name?”
The witch blinked up at her, dazed. Her eyes were a normal hazel now, confused and wet with tears. “I…I—where…am I?”
“In a simulation,” Zuko muttered under his breath. “But also in a forest after your dark magic ritual backfired.”
Dimitri shot him a look. “Not helpful.”
“We’re here to help,” Eleanor said to the witch. “But we need to understand what happened.”
Her gaze snagged on Eleanor. “I can’t think straight.”
“May I compel you for clarity?” Dimitri asked softly, stepping into the circle. “It won’t hurt, but you will be able to tell us what happened easily.”
Zuko snorted. “Cheater. I could do that too.”
“Actually, your house won’t allow special powers to be used on missions in the academy,” Jarvins reminded him helpfully.
Zuko pouted.
The witch swallowed thickly but nodded. “Okay.”
Dimitri’s irises glowed brighter red as he kneeled next to her. He leaned in just enough, voice dropping into velvet. “Good. Look at me, please.”
Her eyes widened, pupils dilating as she made eye contact with him. Her breathing steadied as his power latched on.
“Tell me your name,” he said.
“Christina,” she whispered.
“Tell me what you were trying to do, Christina.”
Her face crumpled, but the words spilled out easily with Dimitri’s compulsion smoothing the way. “He doesn’t see me. He never sees me. Carson is a warlock, and he’s strong. He’s…he’s everything. And he looks at me like I’m just…background noise.”
Eleanor’s expression softened, sadness flickering in her eyes.
“So you decided to perform a dark ritual,” Katie said.
“It was supposed to forge a bond,” Christina choked out. “If I could tie my life to his, if his magic thought we were mates, maybe he would…feel what I do. Maybe he would notice me. Want me.”
Eleanor pinched the bridge of her nose. “Oh, sweetheart.”
“No man is worth that,” I said, the words ripping out before I could temper them.
Dimitri’s gaze flicked to me for the briefest second, a complicated emotion flashing behind his eyes.
Zuko, Slater, and Koa pouted, too.
Christina’s lip trembled. “But all of my friends have arranged mates. Decided upon bonds. What if I wasn’t meant to have a fated mate, but I made my own? Isn’t that…isn’t that fair?”
Sylver moved closer, the relic cradled in both palms now, no longer active but still humming.
Her siren magic wrapped around her voice as she spoke.
“Dark magic from the Veil doesn’t give. It takes.
It doesn’t care about fairness or love. It would have hollowed you out and worn your skin, and he still wouldn’t have loved you. Do you understand?”
Tears spilled from Christina’s eyes. “I just wanted to be chosen.”
My chest tightened at the desperation in her tone.
Dimitri’s hand curled subtly on his knee. “We’ll make sure you receive help.”
She nodded weakly.
I stepped forward, scanning the edges of the circle.
The ground still felt off.
My instincts whispered that something was wrong. “What if,” I said slowly, “dark magic is just another kind of poison? It wants to bind to something. What if I could convert it? Like I do with other toxins. Use it instead of letting it rot?”
“Nope.” Katie’s answer was immediate and firm. “Absolutely not.”