Chapter 6 #2
Pandora nodded once. “Two demon guards were hit with a lethal dose of venom. It was too fast for anyone to intervene.”
Rune swore under her breath. “I fucking hate them for using my power and killing our people.”
My chest ached with how much I wanted to fix it and how utterly impossible that was in this moment.
“Hey, sister-by-mating.” Slater slung an arm over Rune and grinned at Pandora.
“Hi, Slater,” Pandora rasped. “Bram’s busy today with a class issue.”
“I know, he told me,” Slater pouted, glancing at the fear demon and dream demon representatives. “Hey, Skel. Hey, Reed.”
“Hi, Slater,” they said in sync.
The space between us warped before Drecken appeared, warlock magic wrapped around him like a storm. “Sorry,” he said breathlessly. “Had to convince Rowan to let me come and dissect the human here.”
Jesper jerked his chin toward a fenced-off area beside the building we were in front of. “The human’s over there. Pandora kept a body for you.”
Drecken’s mouth curved. “You are so kind.”
“I was told you were interested in the body of the one who has venom,” Pandora said mildly.
“Yes,” he verified. “The last one ended up turning to mush before I could get to it, eaten by its own venom.”
“My venom,” Rune corrected in a huff.
“Yes, viperling,” he agreed, shooting her an apologetic smile. “You are absolutely right.”
We followed them to the side of the building.
On the ground lay what had clearly been a human, not long ago. Now, it was just slack meat in charred tactical gear.
Drecken stood above it, his hands hovering over the corpse. “Let’s see what we have here, shall we?”
Magic thrummed around him as threads of power sliced under the human’s skin and along tissue. With precise, almost absentminded motions, he opened the human up with his telekinesis. Flesh parted under invisible blades, ribs spreading with loud cracks.
Rune stayed beside me, jaw clenched, watching.
Drecken frowned as he examined the insides.
“Look at this,” he muttered, bending down and reaching in. “The veins and arteries are melted into the surrounding tissue, and the organ structure, it’s all basically liquefied.”
He prodded what was left of the liver, but it collapsed into sludge.
“Disgusting.” My stomach heaved from the scent of the human’s blood. It was disgusting and sour.
“This is all from the DNA grafting,” he muttered. “They spliced Rune’s magical essence into the human’s body, but their physiology can’t sustain it. I’m honestly impressed any of them stayed alive long enough for us to have to kill them.”
“Translation?” Slater asked, scratching his head.
“From the second her DNA is grafted to theirs, they’re given a death sentence,” Drecken explained. “There’s no stable limit. The venom chews through them. They’re walking corpses.”
Rune’s expression grew cold. “Good. If they insist on using my power, the least it can do is destroy them.”
I admired the strength of my mate more than anything.
Drecken gave her a sympathetic look. “Still doesn’t mean it’s fun watching them fling your venom at our people. I get it, viperling.”
She inhaled slowly, nodding.
“Um, excuse me,” a calm voice murmured. “I hate to interrupt the autopsy, but I believe you have another problem.”
A man with a dark brown afro stepped forward; he was the dream demon representative. His eyes were a striking violet, and they were trained on my mate.
“What now?” Rune asked with a groan.
“Hi,” he introduced himself. “I’m Reed, Pandora’s mate and the dream demon representative.
I apologize, it’s just…” Reed studied Rune, gaze lingering just above her head, then narrowing like he was trying to focus on something only he could see.
“You definitely have a drude’s magical residue on your aura. ”
Pandora’s head snapped toward him. “What? What does that mean?”
Rune stiffened. “Define residue.”
Reed lifted his hands in confusion. “I’m not entirely sure.
It’s very faint, but it’s probably from a nightmare you had recently.
Drudes are essentially nightmare demons, and they leave a kind of a psychic burn on the aura when they latch onto someone with malicious intent.
It’s invisible to almost everyone except other drudes or dream demons who can see the echo once they know what they’re looking for.
I learned this a couple of years ago, so I can pinpoint the residue now. ”
Drecken swore. “I knew it. I knew something was up with her nightmares. I just couldn’t sense it enough to be sure.”
“I did have a nightmare,” Rune admitted. “About my ex. Painful memories. And there was something in the corner of the room that didn’t belong. I thought it might be a drude, but I couldn’t be sure.”
Skel, the fear demon representative, stuffed his hands in his pockets as he shifted on his feet next to Reed. “Fae magic wards off drudes, for the record.”
Rune’s brows raised. “I have heard that, but I’ve never had to deal with a drude before.”
“And you won’t be now that we know what is happening.
Thank you, Reed.” Drecken flicked his fingers.
The human body and all its opened parts crumbled into black ash and then dissolved, leaving only a scorched mark on the ground.
“Their stolen power is already killing them. Don’t worry, viperling.
Your power will not be in the hands of humans forever. The clock’s ticking on all of them.”
Rune’s posture eased, and relief swept through the matebond. “I still hope they didn’t keep copies of my DNA.”
“If they did, I’ll find it,” Slater called from a few meters away, where he’d been busy looking over a destroyed drone. He didn’t look up, red eyes glowing slightly as Snakey sifted through the footage. “As soon as we locate their main servers, I’ll hack in and delete every file with your name.”
Rune’s mouth quirked upward. “Thanks, Havoc baby.”
“Anything for you, venom baby,” he said, throwing her a crooked grin.
Humans stealing her power and killing our people with it was bad enough, but the thought of a drude visiting her nightmares was just icing on the cake.
“Humans are getting bold,” Pandora said softly. “They’re acting desperate. That is when they are most dangerous.”
“Desperate creatures do stupid things,” Skel agreed, jaw tensing. “They break treaties and expect forgiveness.”
“The Supernatural Council is trying to stay out of their civil war,” Reed said. “For good reasons. The moment dragons, demons, basilisks, and vampires pick sides in a human conflict, it’s not a human conflict anymore.”
Drecken tilted his head. “You sound like Rowan.”
“He is wise,” he murmured.
“Perhaps, but the humans are harming supernaturals,” Drecken added.
“No kidding.” Rune leaned into my side, shoulder pressing against my arm. “Every time they grab another supernatural, and every time they pump my DNA into some human body and send it at us, it gets harder not to want to kill them all.”
I curled my arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. “I know, but genocide is never the answer, lethal darling.”
“It’s not all of them,” she said, almost as if she were reminding herself. “Just like it’s not all vampires who are crazed with bloodlust or all demons who are sadistic. But the ones we keep dealing with? They make it really hard to remember that.”
“I can destroy them all for you, viperling,” Drecken offered, and the expression he wore told me he wasn’t joking.
She huffed out a breath that was definitely a laugh. “We’ll deal with it as it comes.”
“That’s a good stance,” I told her. “My stance as an agent is that we wait, gather intel, and hit the Resistance where it hurts when the time is right. My stance as a mate is more immediate, though.”
She tipped her head back to look at me. “Immediate how?”
I let my fangs show, smiling at her. “Rip their network apart vein-by-vein for touching what’s mine.”
Skel sighed. “Vampires. Always so subtle.”
“Hey,” Slater cut in with a whine. “Pickup lines are my thing.”
I chuckled.
“I love your pickup lines,” Rune assured him.
The desert wind carried the scent of hot sand and blood. The Demon Capital simmered around us.
Humans were getting bolder. Their civil war was spilling into our territories, into our citizens, and affecting my mate.
I knew not all of them were like the ones we fought. I knew there were humans on the other side, standing in rooms like ours, trying to stop the same monsters attacking us. But ever since starting at the academy, all I ever saw was the worst of them.
And if they kept killing and taking our people, one day, the Human Council’s careful neutrality wouldn’t be enough to hold back what was coming.