Chapter 29 Rune #3
“That’s very encouraging.” She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath.
There, at the base of the middle statue, was a glowing ice-blue rune, pulsing with power.
“That rune at the base,” Sylver directed him.
Koa held his hand out, palm up, and he sent a tunneled blast of phoenix fire hurling toward the rune. It hit perfectly, sinking into the fae trap’s structure.
It was silent until every ice fae statue in the hall sighed.
The pressure in the air eased, and the cracks under Eleanor’s feet stopped spreading and slowly sealed.
She let out a shaky breath as she peeked her eyes open again. “Fates, thank you.”
“Yep,” Koa answered, a little breathless.
They hustled the rest of the way off the ice, and we left that hall as fast as we could.
The mansion’s halls pressed in, with the ceiling lowering. The wallpaper crawled, shifting from the flowers to spiders that moved along the walls with us.
We followed Katie’s guidance through a maze of side passages and staircases that kept rearranging. Twice, doors we were about to open faded away, leaving bare stone.
We finally made it to the fourth floor.
Her map kept changing, but even Slater couldn’t hack it into behaving. Snakey tried three times. We were at the whims of the mansion.
At one junction, the floor tiles rearranged into sand.
“Don’t step on that,” Sylver snapped at us. “It’s another earth fae trap. Quicksand. You’ll sink and suffocate.”
“That’s good to know,” Solon muttered, stepping over it.
We did the same.
The temperature shifted again as the faint scent of magic and burnt herbs pricked my nose.
“Magic is rising in the air,” Katie said, frowning. “We’re getting close to the relic according to the map. The relic hasn’t moved for at least an hour.”
We turned a final corner, and the corridor opened up into a wide, circular chamber that had to be the heart of the mansion.
“The relic,” Katie gasped, her tablet hanging down by her side.
The room was beautiful in a messed up kind of way.
A domed ceiling arched overhead, painted with clouds that subtly moved.
The walls were made of some dark stone veined with another type of crystal I didn’t know, carved with shifting fae enchantments.
In the center of the floor was an intricate spell circle, inlaid with herbs, glowing a faint gold.
Above the circle hovered a teal crystal object the size of a medium-sized ball. It rotated, emitting waves of magic that tingled over my skin.
It was the enhancing relic. It pulsed with its own life. My magic responded to it, straining toward it in a similar manner that my soul did with my mates.
“Oh,” Sylver breathed. “I want it.”
“You cannot keep it,” Katie reminded her.
“I know,” she sulked. “Even if this is all simulated, it’s beautiful.”
We stepped through the door, but the air thickened.
The clouds on the ceiling ceased movement. The veins in the walls flushed a deep, throbbing black as the spell circle brightened.
A figure emerged from the far side of the room, stepping through a stone archway that hadn’t been there when we first walked in.
Tall and cloaked in a dark robe that was etched with fae sigils, the man had long black hair and violet eyes. Magic shimmered around him like a heat mirage, and I knew immediately that he was the warlock warden.
His magical power reminded me of Drecken’s in how imposing it was, but it was nothing compared to the power level my warlock had. This warlock pushed his magic out as a threat; Drecken had to let loose magic so he didn’t combust.
He smiled without warmth. “You are far from invited. You are thieves.”
Eleanor straightened beside me, going into full diplomat mode. “We didn’t take anything.” she said evenly. “We’re just here to inspect the relic for potential legal acquisition.”
He laughed, low and amused. “Lies. You intend to take it.” He flicked his fingers, and the door behind us slammed shut, disappearing into blank stone.
“Remember,” Solon murmured. “Jarvins said we should avoid triggering a meeting with him.”
“It’s not like we sought him out,” Slater hissed.
“He also said Eleanor was our way out,” Ivy reminded him.
Eleanor took two steps forward, hands loose at her sides. “Can we convince you to allow us to have the relic?”
He chuckled. “No.”
“You’re bound to the house,” I blurted, and his eyes snapped to me. “You’re a warden meant to maintain this relic, right?”
He nodded, magic flaring out from his eyes. “And?”
“We represent the Supernatural Council. We can improve the protection on the relic.”
He cocked his head, eyes narrowing. “You believe your council can protect the artifact?”
“The council protects many artifacts from getting into the wrong hands,” I explained.
Eleanor nodded. “She’s absolutely correct. We just want to take the relic so that we can better protect it. That way, it won’t fall into the wrong hands.”
He smiled, but there was no hint of happiness in it. “Show me you’re worthy of taking it, then.”
My shoulder burned before my chaos manifestation formed in front of me, beating his wings to stay up.
He hissed at the warlock, “Unworthy!”
“Perhaps,” the warlock mused before he slammed his palm into the spell circle.
The floor rippled in response, sections rising and falling like ocean waves. Three pillars burst from the stone floor. One of fire, one of ice, and one of spinning wind-blades. Thorned vines erupted from cracks in the floor and lashed at our group.
“Dodge!” Dimitri shouted.
I dove left as a vine cracked down where I’d been standing.
Ivy’s arms flared with phoenix fire as she incinerated a tangle threatening Katie.
Solon growled as he ran over and used his werewolf strength to rip a vine away from Eleanor.
Zuko laughed, weaving through debris as if he were dancing.
I hesitated for a moment, slightly entranced by how carefree my basilisk mate looked in the chaos. Even Slater was moving elegantly through the debris, and his magical reserves were filling from the chaos around us.
The warlock raised his other hand, shooting a bolt of raw magic toward Sylver.
Her back was turned as she was trying to free Eleanor from a vine that was wrapped around her calf.
I moved without thinking, blocking her and Eleanor from the blast. It crystallized into a jagged ice spike, striking me in the chest. Blood spewed from my mouth as I took the hit with an audible crack as my ribs broke.
“Thanks,” Sylver gasped.
“Anytime.”
“Koa!” Eleanor shouted. “Rune’s hurt!”
“Shit, I feel that!” Slater’s chaos magic exploded.
“Rune!” Koa screamed, running toward me. “From your side!”
I spun just as Sylver got Eleanor untangled and moved her out of the way.
A cluster of earth-spikes tore through the floor, angling straight toward me. Before I could pivot, Zuko grabbed my waist and yanked me clear, rolling us across the shifting stone.
We landed in a heap, his breath hot at my ear. “Don’t fucking scare me like that, pretty little poison.”
“I’m fine,” I hissed as he helped me sit up. My ribs were healing, but they fucking hurt.
Koa reached us, and he put his large hand over my ribs before his blue flames licked over them. The warmth spread over my chest, seeping into my bones and heart and pushing my healing faster.
I inhaled a rattled breath that sounded better each passing second, then the pleasure stoked my body from my mate’s magic. I barely stifled my moan.
Zuko inhaled deeply. “I smell how much you like his magic.”
“She likes your venom just as much.” Koa rolled his eyes and pulled his hand back. “Are you feeling better?”
“Good as new, reboot.” I leaned in to kiss his lips softly.
Zuko gasped. “What about—”
Eleanor’s scream cut him off as another vine lashed at her. It wrapped around her ankle and yanked, dragging her toward the spinning wind pillar.
“Eleanor!” I bolted after her, feet slipping on the unsettled floor.
The wind pillar was a vertical cyclone of wind-made blades, shrieking as they tore through the still air. If she hit it at the speed she was being dragged, she’d be shredded, and she would die.
Eleanor was my friend, and I would not let her die like that.
“Rune, no!” Dimitri screamed, battling his own vine.
I sprinted, my basilisk magic surging through my muscles, and I dove.
Eleanor’s hair had come undone from the bun and flew around as she struggled with the vine, screaming in fear.
My fingers closed around Eleanor’s wrists just as she was a few feet from the screaming cyclone. Our momentum hadn’t let up, though, dragging us across the stone. I kicked off the floor with everything I had, twisting our bodies mid-slide as I turned her away from the air trap.
“Rune, you’re a fucking spy! Not an enforcer!” Dimitri’s growl reverberated across the chamber. “Rune!”
The vine snapped taut as it tugged us backward.
“Rune, no!” Slater’s voice was demonic as he screamed.
Agony tore across the back of my head as a stray wind-blade grazed me. The academy-issued suit saved my body, but my head had been uncovered. The blade cut open the back of my head, cracking my skull.
Fire-hot, ice-cold pain hit me all at once.
The vine was burned and sliced in half as phoenix fire reached us, breaking us loose.
We spun sideways, skidding to a stop just shy of the back wall.
Eleanor was panting, eyes wild. “I hate this final,” she rasped.
“Same,” I gritted out.
“Are you okay?” She scrambled to help me sit up before a horrified gasp pierced the air. “Fates, Rune, your skull is cracked, and your scalp is hanging off.”
“Well, shit,” I hissed through the throbbing pain.
My vision tunneled.
Another vine wrapped around her ankle again.
My hand shot down, fingers curling over the vine as I pushed decaying venom into it. The vine convulsed, magic shuddering along its length before it withered, turning black and brittle before crumbling to ash around her foot.