Chapter 25 Rune
rune
. . .
Jesper’s home always felt welcoming.
Drecken and I stepped inside to the smell of cinnamon, roasted herbs, and something that smelled like poison simmering in a pot.
Jesper’s mom and aunt had started hosting a Wednesday night dinner weekly, and since Drecken had a rare free evening, he insisted on joining.
Nymera noticed us first.
“Oh! Rune, sweetheart!” She rushed over, hugging me with her usual cheery aura. “And you must be Drecken! Jesper told me you were coming. You’re my son-by-mating!”
Drecken blinked, stiffening. “I am older than you.”
“Oh, hush,” she giggled, squeezing his upper arm before stepping back. “You are such a sweet talker.”
“I’m over a century old.” Drecken tilted his head in confusion.
“Yes, yes. Your reputation precedes you.” She waved him off. “Regardless, you are my daughter-by-mating’s mate. It’s an honor to have the great Drecken Grimsworn in my home.”
“Most people don’t call him great,” Jesper muttered, turning the stove off. “They call him terrifying.”
Drecken gave a thoughtful nod. “Both are accurate.”
“True.” I kissed his cheek with a chuckle.
Maelis was already at the table, setting out the silverware. She looked up sharply when she noticed Drecken. “Ah. The warlock representative.” Her tone was respectful rather than warm, but she offered him a nod. “I studied your research on draconic magic being mimicked by dark magic.”
Drecken brightened. “You did? Did you find that dark magic’s manipulations are lacking as well? Most do not.”
She nodded. “Actually, yes.”
Jesper watched their exchange with an amused expression as he walked over and kissed my forehead. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“I’ve missed you.” I pressed up on my toes and kissed his lips.
Dinner was surprisingly peaceful with Maelis asking Drecken magic-related questions, Nymera buzzing around us with refills of juice, and Jesper squeezing my thigh under the table whenever I glanced at him.
It was an evening filled with everything we had needed…until the front door slammed open.
A frantic voice echoed through the house. “Mom, you have to hide me! The agents were chasing me just a second—”
Darian stumbled into the kitchen, hair wild, eyes sunken, and breath ragged. He froze when he saw the table full of us.
All the color drained from his face as his gaze landed on me.
Drecken rose from his seat before anyone else could speak, snapping his fingers. His magic struck outward like a mini explosion. It was glittering, violent, and absolute.
Darian was caged in a ring of three glowing magic circles before he could blink.
Jesper shot to his feet next. “Why would you come here?”
Darian’s breathing hitched. “You—you can’t turn me in. You can’t! They’ll kill me. You’re my cousin!”
“You are already sentenced to death,” Drecken said calmly, stepping forward. Fierce protectiveness stole my breath as it shot down the bond. “For drugging women. For violating them. For attempting to violate my mate.”
Darian flinched. “She wanted it—”
“No!” Maelis’s voice cracked like a whip. “You do not get to say that.”
He sneered at her. “Just because you didn’t like the things your lover did to you doesn’t mean other women don’t!”
Maelis staggered as though he’d hit her.
Nymera caught her shoulders with a horrified gasp.
“Jesper…you have my permission to put him down,” Maelis choked out.
Rage detonated inside me and ran down both Jesper’s and Drecken’s bonds.
“Fantastic, but that was happening regardless.” Drecken’s blue eyes glowed so bright they lit up the room. “Speaking to the woman who birthed you like that was your final mistake.”
He snapped his fingers.
Darian screamed as his flesh folded inside-out. Bones twisted at horrible angles. Organs rearranged and blood plastered the barrier of the magic circle.
He snapped again.
His body forced back to a normal state as if he hadn’t been turned inside out.
Then Drecken snapped again.
And again.
Each reconstruction came out more wrong, more agonizing.
Jesper led his mother and aunt into another room down the hall, closing the door behind them before coming back.
“You are dead regardless, but your genitals,” Drecken said conversationally, “should be destroyed first.”
Darian wailed. “Stop!” he sobbed. “Please, stop—”
“Did you stop?” Drecken flicked his wrist.
Darian’s dick exploded in his pants. Blood poured out from the bottom of each pant leg.
His eyes rolled back as he passed out.
Drecken let the magic circles drop, leaving Darian crumpled like a broken puppet on the floor. “He is unconscious. Rune?” He turned to me, and retribution flooded me. “He is yours.”
My gaze found Jesper’s.
He nodded. “You deserve to be the one to do it.”
I swallowed hard and walked toward Darian, the room silent except for the wet sound of his labored breaths and blood dripping from his pants.
My venom dripped over my fangs as I crouched beside him. “It didn’t have to be like this,” I whispered.
His eyes fluttered open just in time for me to grip his chin and flood his system with a venom I only used when it was personal. This venom tightened every muscle, organ, and vein until they shredded from their own force.
He convulsed, bones cracking like brittle twigs as they caved in. His organs tore, and blood spurted as his muscles peeled from his bones.
It wasn’t quick or clean, but it was therapeutic.
When his heart finally ruptured, his labored breathing and whimpers of pain thrust the room into silence.
Darian was dead by my hand.
Drecken reached out, and Darian’s remains collapsed into ash, swirling neatly into an obsidian urn that materialized beside him.
He floated the urn into his hand and carried it to the next room, knocking on the door.
Jesper and I followed.
Nymera held Maelis as she sobbed. They looked up with pained expressions.
“Is he…” Nymera asked.
“Here.” Drecken held the urn out for her.
Maelis sobbed harder, but she took it. “Thank you.”
“It’s more than he deserves,” Drecken stated. “But you never deserved what happened.”
Maelis cried harder.
“I should stay here tonight.” Jesper wrapped me into his arms and held me tightly. “Will you be alright?”
“I will be,” I answered softly. “They clearly need you here.”
Maelis shook her head as Nymera wiped her tears. “Rune…thank you. I loved my son. But what he became—what he did—” Her voice broke. “I would like a moment alone.”
“Maelis, you don’t have to be alone,” Nymera told her.
Maelis held the urn tightly and gave her sister a watery smile before she got up and disappeared into another room, locking the door behind her.
Jesper rubbed his forehead. “I’m staying with Mom tonight.”
“Jesper, you don’t have—” Nymera started.
“Mom, I’m staying,” Jesper said firmly.
“But Rune—” she protested.
I pulled her into a comforting hug, cutting her off. “I will be with Drecken tonight. I will be okay. Please, take the night to grieve who Darian used to be.”
She hugged me back before pulling away. “Very well. Thank you, sweetheart.”
Jesper pulled me against him in a long embrace before kissing my lips. “If you need me, call me.”
“I will,” I promised, kissing him again before Drecken’s arms wrapped around me and pulled me against him.
“I’ll protect our mate.” He teleported us to his estate in a shimmer of light the next moment.
He had brought me into his bedroom, where there was only an unmade bed. He didn’t pull away, his breath fanning over my neck. “What can I do?”
“Hold me.” My voice broke as I turned in his hold and wrapped my arms around his waist.
“Oh, viperling.” His arms came around me, and he teleported us directly onto his bed, under the covers, naked. “Sleep.”
“What about the others?” I asked. “They must’ve felt everything through our bond.”
“I’ve already talked to them via text,” he assured me. “They know you’re with me tonight. They know you weren’t hurt. Sleep, Rune. I’m not going anywhere.”
It only took a few beats of his heart against my ear before I drifted into sleep, crashing headfirst into a nightmare so vivid I swore I could feel Darian’s hands around my neck, just like in the past.
His voice echoed through the darkness, fingers clawing around my throat. “Why don’t you ever tell me exactly where you’re going?”
It was a memory from the second time Darian had lost his temper with me. It was after finding me at a restaurant that was a couple of shops past where I told him I would be. I never thought he wanted a play-by-play of my day, but apparently he expected it.
But I’d lived through Darian’s abuse once.
I didn’t want to relive it in a nightmare after I’d just killed him.
I choked before jerking upright with a gasp.
Drecken was on his knees beside me instantly, his magic sparking around us as a shield.
“What happened? Rune, are you harmed? Tell me.” His blue eyes scanned the room for threats.
I trembled, unsure of how long I had slept before the dream. “Nightmare. Just a nightmare.”
“A nightmare does not wake you like that,” he argued.
“It was just a memory. That’s all.” I forced a breath. “I’m fine.”
Disbelief threaded through the bond. “Do we lie to each other?”
“What? No, why?” I panted heavily, my fingers brushing my neck where his hands had been. It felt sore.
Drecken pulled me against his chest, holding me tightly and laying us back down under the covers. “I will protect your mind tonight,” he murmured. His fingertips brushed my temple, weaving a protective spell. “No nightmares will touch you for the rest of the night.”
I melted into his arms, comforted by his scent and the steadiness of his heartbeat against my cheek. “Thank you, Drecken.”
“You never have to thank me, Rune.” He kissed my head. “Sleep.”
My eyelids fluttered shut, and sleep came.
True to his word, I had no more nightmares or vivid memories of the ex that I had killed.