Chapter 31 Rune #2
“Another two students from House of Fortitude are immobilized!” Dad’s voice boomed.
I released April.
Her body slid down the pillar in slow motion, still frozen but unharmed, expression caught between fury and disbelief.
It was more than pleasing to me.
“She’ll be free in a few minutes,” I called out, since I knew we had an audience watching. “No lasting effects. Just a blow to her pride.”
Dimitri reappeared at my side in a blur. “One minute and twenty-three seconds.” He smirked, but his eyes flicked over me closely. “Are you okay?”
“I will be.” I glanced up at where Tibby had been, but he was gone.
“Two down,” I said. “Plenty more to go.”
“Let’s go find your brother,” he chuckled, grabbing me.
The Gauntlet blurred around us.
House of Unity fell first, but that was expected since they weren’t fond of violence. Intellect followed. Arcane fell after them.
There were flashes of my mates in combat scattered through the blur of Dimitri’s vampire speed.
Zuko and Raze teamed up to torture other students into forfeiting.
Slater used Snakey and chaos to cause more fighting.
Koa hauled an unconscious Unity student out of danger while blasting a fireball at someone trying to cheap-shot him from behind.
An hour and several other fights later, we skidded to a stop as Koa and a couple of other Vitality students stepped out from behind a crumbling statue.
Koa’s flames licked hesitantly over his knuckles, and his hair was coming loose from his bun. There was a smear of soot across his cheek that I wanted to wipe off.
“Want me to take him?” Dimitri offered.
I shook my head, staring at Koa. His mate mark on my throat warmed. “No. You handle the others. I’ve got him.”
Dimitri nodded, and he blurred into combat with the others.
“Hi,” Koa mumbled, giving me a cute wave.
“This feels rude,” I admitted. “You just had dinner with my family last night.”
He shrugged one shoulder, but his eyes were soft. “Rules are rules, and we are in different Houses.”
“Unfortunately so.” I flexed my fingers. “So, are we doing this or?”
He reached out and pulled me in, his lips crashing onto mine. His hand found my throat, and his fingers rubbed his mate mark gently.
It was a kiss of passion, blue flames flaring where his mouth met mine.
For a second, the House Gauntlet faded from my thoughts.
He broke our kiss and stepped back. “I forfeit.”
I stared at him, my swollen lips parting in shock. “Excuse me?”
He lifted both hands. “I surrender. I’m not fighting my mate.”
“You can’t just—” I gestured at him, outraged and weirdly flattered. “You’re a healer, not a delicate little flower. Fight me.”
His smile curved. “You want me to hit you?”
“Yes!” I stomped my foot on the rubble beneath me, not even caring how ridiculous I sounded.
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Little vixen, I’ve died more times than I can count. I’ve been shot, burned, stabbed, drowned, and broken my neck. I don’t need to add ‘got my ass handed to me by my mate on a live feed’ to that list.”
“You’re afraid of being embarrassed?” My mouth fell open.
“Absolutely,” he said cheerfully. “Besides, this way I get to be the loving, supportive mate who steps aside for you to shine. Play along with me, okay?”
Irritation battled my amusement.
The matebond hummed with his affection, his worry, his pride, and his love for me.
“Okay,” I muttered. “But I’m getting you back for this later.”
“I hope so,” he said, eyes darkening.
He raised his hand high. “I forfeit,” he called again, loud enough for Dad to hear this time.
House of Vitality’s crest faded from above him, signaling withdrawal.
He leaned in one last time. “Go win,” he whispered before jogging for the safe zone, giving me a wink over his shoulder.
I couldn’t tear my gaze from his ass, though.
“Coward!” I yelled after him.
He laughed.
I barely had time to grumble before I was tackled sideways, muscular arms wrapping around my waist.
Sparks flared along the matebond I had with Slater, so I knew it was him.
We hit the ground and rolled, rocks scraping my fingertips as my back slammed against cold stone.
By the time we stopped, I was pinned beneath Slater. His daisies and jasmine scent overtook me.
He grinned down at me, eyes bright, red hair all over the place. “Hey, venom baby,” he said cheerfully, bracing one hand beside my head while his other arm caged my shoulders. “Fancy meeting you here.”
His weight pressed me into the ground, thighs straddling mine.
All I could focus on was the way his breath hit my lips, the heat of his body on top of mine, and the very obvious erection pressing into me.
“You’re going to fight me,” I whispered.
“Am I?” he murmured, deliberately shifting his hips just enough to ensure I felt him. “Is this fighting?”
Heat shot through me at entirely the wrong time and in the wrong place.
“Slater,” I moaned.
“Mhm?” he asked innocently.
“You’re supposed to be neutralizing me.”
“Oh, I plan to,” he said, voice thick with desire.
Above us, Dad announced House of Vitality being wiped out.
“You are impossible,” I muttered.
He dipped his head as if to kiss me, then brushed his lips over my jaw instead. “I promise I’ll make it up to you after the Gauntlet. If I win, you have to—”
“I’m not bargaining with you while you grind on me in the middle of the Gauntlet,” I cut in, even as my fingers dug into his shoulders, half to push him away, half to hold him there so I could grind on him too.
His eyes gleamed. “You noticed?”
“Slater.”
“Okay, okay.” He leaned back a bit, still pinning my hips with his. “I guess I should pretend to fight you now, before your dad finds me and ends me.”
“Probably a good idea,” I mused.
He smiled, wicked and bright. “Then, I guess I’ll just take one kiss before the fight.”
His lips descended upon mine in hard, hungry, reckless motions. His mouth moved against mine, tongue twisting around mine.
My brain short-circuited for a second, my instincts warring between the fight and lust for my mate. I pulled him closer, and oh Fates, I loved him.
I kissed him back, fingers sliding into his hair, tugging just enough to make him groan. His chaos magic sparked against mine, wild and crackling like distant lightning. I let my venom slip into the kiss, excreting a small dose of a mild paralytic.
He froze mid-moan, eyes going wide, pupils blown.
“Cheater,” he managed, voice slurring.
“You were rubbing your dick on me in public,” I reminded him, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “You started it.”
His body went limp, still warm and very much conscious behind his eyes. Unlike with April, I let him keep his ability to talk.
I eased him carefully off me so he wouldn’t crack his head on the stone, propping him into a vaguely dignified reclining position against the archway.
“Try not to enjoy the paralysis too much,” I told him sweetly as his emblem faded, marking him as out. “The effect wears off in about three minutes. But since you’re my mate…”
His eyes sparkled with mischief as he shifted himself up, the venom already losing effect. “Watching you walk away might actually be the best torture you’ve ever given me.”
I stood, dusting off my knees. “I love you, Havoc baby.”
“I love you, venom baby!” he hollered as I bolted.
Where the Fates was Dimitri?
“House of Innovation is eliminated!” Dad updated us.
The smell of burnt sugar seeped into my senses as I sprinted through a shattered hallway between two collapsed towers.
An arm hooked around my waist and yanked me backward into an alcove. My back hit the wall, and a hand clamped over my mouth.
I went to swing a punch, but another hand caught my wrist and pinned it over my head.
“Hey, pretty little poison,” Zuko murmured against my ear, bandaged eyes close enough that the edge of the black cloth brushed my temple. The skeletal tattoos on his fingers flexed where they gripped me.
“Hi,” I said into his palm, the word muffled.
He chuckled, shifting his hand away from my mouth just enough that he could see my lips move, even if he technically couldn’t see much with that bandage on. “You’re making a habit of getting caught, aren’t you?”
“My mates are making a habit of manhandling me in public,” I replied.
His smile sharpened. “You like it.”
He wasn’t wrong.
He pressed his lower body into me, pinning my hips between his and the wall. His free hand slid along my side, tracing my ribs, sending sparks up my spine.
“Raze just got out, and I’m the last one left in House of Torment,” he said conversationally. “So many Houses are eliminated. It’s mostly Twilight and Fortitude now.”
“So that means you should focus,” I said, breathlessly.
“I am.” He dipped his head, nose brushing along my jaw, inhaling. “On my favorite enemy.”
A shiver ran through me. “I’m your enemy?”
“Not even a little,” he admitted.
I tilted my head, letting our noses brush. “What if I don’t want to lose to you?”
He tsked. “Then I guess we’re at an impasse.”
I let my eyes go heavy-lidded, voice dropping. “Zuko.”
“Hmm?” His grip tightened, breath catching.
“I have an idea.”
He drew back half an inch, suspicious. “Why do I feel like I’m about to walk happily into a trap you laid for me?”
“Because you are.” I shifted my pinned wrist just enough that my fingers could curl around his exposed fingers.
His skin was warm under the ink.
“Hey, Zuko?” I murmured.
“Yeah, pretty little poison?”
“Trust me.”
His throat bobbed. “Always.”
I surged up and kissed him.
He made a surprised noise that melted into a groan, his entire body leaning into it. His hand tightened in my hair, hips pressing me harder against the wall.
Raw desire overtook the bond.
I let him deepen our kiss, let him taste me, and I enjoyed the way our magic snapped together like magnets.
Then, I let my paralytic venom seep into him.
His muscles seized, and he broke the kiss, panting. “Oh, you—”
Paralysis swept over him.
I caught him as his knees buckled so he didn’t hurt himself, easing him down to sit against the wall.