Chapter 22
rune
. . .
I walked into the auditorium with all six of my mates flanking me. The entire place glowed with neon toxicity, dripping in the theme I’d dreamed up. The gown flowing around me caught every drop of that eerie light with glitter and glow.
Slater had chosen the dress, and he’d teamed up with Drecken on enchanting the fabric.
Shimmering neon green silk clung to me like moonlit venom, glowing.
The off-shoulder cross-halter wrapped under my collarbones and over my chest, sculpting and lifting the girls from below.
It had my mates practically feral before we had left, and Slater got the credit.
It crossed just above my sternum. Below that, the cutout widened across my stomach.
The skirt split high on my thigh, revealing the entirety of my leg up to a glimpse of Jesper’s talon mark on my hip.
Two glittering panels of sheer enchanted fabric cascaded from my hips and arms, swaying and shimmering brighter whenever I moved.
My hair was in two low space buns in the front, with the back of my hair down and long. I wore rose gold earrings that hung down with a crescent moon and a rose gold thigh chain. Every mate mark on my body was on display, and I felt like a goddess on Kalista all dressed up like this.
I couldn’t help but twirl around, letting the skirt flare and the trailing fabric sweep the stone floor. “I cannot tell you how much I love this theme,” I squealed.
Slater made a sound that was half-groan, half-purr as he slid his palms onto my hips. “Forget the theme. This dress on my venom baby? That’s the real masterpiece.”
I giggled. “Well, you picked the best dress again.”
“I can’t take all the credit,” Slater said regretfully, stepping back to gesture at Drecken. “He enchanted it. He changed the color, too. It was originally that soft sea glass teal.”
“True,” Drecken murmured, blue eyes glowing as they swept down every inch of me, “but this? This looks more like you, viperling.”
Desire pooled low in my stomach as I took a moment to appreciate them.
All of my mates wore the same black formal suit that was tailored perfectly to their forms, but somehow, each looked entirely different in it. Drecken had even enchanted their ties to match my gown. They were glowing, glittering strips of neon silk that pulsed faintly with my heartbeat.
“Shall we dance?” I giggled, unable to hold in the bubbling excitement inside me.
I tugged all six of them onto the glowing dance floor.
Fae orb lights floated around, glowing neon green and shimmering like toxic will-o’-the-wisps.
Venom illusions dripped from the ceiling in the streams we’d perfected yesterday, evaporating just before touching the ground.
Fae-spiked punch glowed on the refreshment tables along with little appetizers.
It was so pretty.
I caught Eleanor’s gaze and waved at her as she danced with Lorian beneath the floating orbs.
Ivy and Solon were wrapped up in their own sultry rhythm as they danced together. Sylver, Cora, and Nym drifted around Tibby, who had no reason to be at the academy formal but had taken a temporary watcher contract just to sneak in for his mates.
Katie spun around with a boy I didn’t recognize.
Raze stood off in the corner, nodding at me and Zuko, looking bored out of his mind.
Seth was around the punch bowl, talking with Ominous.
This was going to be a fun night.
My mates formed a circle around me, the music thrumming with low, haunting harmonics.
“Sensual music,” Slater mused, letting his fingertips brush his mark on my shoulder.
“Hypnotic,” Drecken corrected.
“I’d say haunting,” Dimitri cut in.
“But I would call it toxic.” Zuko grinned.
“Exactly how Rune wanted it,” Koa murmured.
“It is perfect.” I threw my hands up and swayed along to the melody.
“No, honey drop,” Jesper whispered. “You’re perfect.”
The seven of us moved together, bodies brushing, hands sliding, and heat rising in the air between us as our scents mixed beautifully.
Slater leaned, his breath brushing my ear as his fingers stroked my hip. “I cannot wait to get this dress off you later, venom baby. You have no idea what it’s doing to me.”
Zuko’s lips found the mate mark he’d left on my neck, kissing it slowly. “And I can’t wait to have my hands all over you again, pretty little poison.”
A shiver ran down my spine.
Dimitri ghosted behind me, his lips brushing the opposite side of my neck where his mark pulsed. “Slater outdid himself, but no dress will ever make you look as good as when you’re wearing nothing at all, lady lethal.”
I nearly melted into them.
Koa slid his warm hand across my bare stomach, fingers brushing over my ribs. “You truly are a goddess, little vixen.”
My breath hitched. “If you keep the compliments going, I’ll drag all of you into a storage closet.”
“That’s not the threat you seem to think it is,” Zuko purred.
Jesper’s arm swept around my waist, spinning me out and then back in with disarming grace. “The way you move is mesmerizing, honey drop.”
He twirled me straight into Drecken’s arms, who caught me effortlessly and dipped me low. “Fates, you are breathtaking,” he whispered. “My lovely viperling.”
I exhaled shakily.
How did the Fates decide to give me six incredible men? All of them were perfect for me. Their emotions hummed through our bonds: love, hunger, devotion, and awe. I felt almost dizzy with the weight of it all.
“I am so blessed by the Fates,” I murmured. “Because you are all mine.”
Drecken brought me back up as the rest of my mates came closer. The music swirled around us like enchanted smoke.
My dress flowed around as Slater spun me, but then a new scent filled my nostrils.
I blinked hard, and the edges of my vision shimmered like heat waves before dissipating.
“Tourmalyke!” The word tangled on my tongue as I forced it out.
Jesper stiffened instantly, his expression sharpening. “Are you sure?”
My heartbeat thundered in my ears, but I nodded. “Yes.”
Across the auditorium, Tobias jerked upright, green eyes cutting toward us.
Students swayed, not dancing, stumbling.
Eleanor dropped her punch glass.
Sylver gasped and clutched her chest.
Supernatural bodies, dozens of them, collapsed to the ground unconscious.
My mates froze around me, wobbling on their feet.
“Fuck,” Slater cursed, sliding down to one knee. “This can’t…”
Dimitri gritted his teeth, fangs slipping uncontrollably as he stumbled. “I—”
“It’s in gas form…” Koa swayed, phoenix flames flickering out in a reflexive burst before vanishing again.
“I’m going to…” Zuko staggered.
Drecken braced against a pillar, breath ragged as he looked around. “Air vent?”
“No. It’s…a device.” Jesper clung to consciousness by sheer will, but our matebond was so muddled. “Must’ve thrown it.”
Humans burst through the upper windows, shattered glass flying inward.
There had to be at least fifty of them.
Jesper snarled hoarsely. “How the fuck didn’t we see them?”
“How did they get in?” Drecken’s magic had stopped popping around him. “I can’t teleport us.”
The bonds flickered weakly, but I knew my mates were struggling to hold on to consciousness.
I was the only one immune.
“We need to get to the wayfaer crystal,” I said, pivoting.
Jesper grabbed my wrist, nearly collapsing as he did. “It won’t work…it’s a new moon—”
“Fuck!” I hissed as my mates fought against unconsciousness.
Slater slumped forward, unable to stay awake. His cheek smooshed against the floor.
Dimitri clawed at the floor, fangs bared but too dizzy to stand before he fell under the effects.
Humans charged at us, seeking me out specifically.
They were armed with batons, blades, tasers, and tranquilizers, but I didn’t bother shifting. My basilisk form was powerful, but I didn’t need overwhelming force; I needed lethal precision.
I was wearing almost no fabric, which was perfect for skin contact to deposit my venom.
Koa swayed before dropping, and Zuko tried to stay on his feet but ultimately fell unconscious.
A man lunged, grabbing my arm, but he instantly convulsed as venom seeped into his skin. He collapsed, screaming as he turned into a wooden husk.
Cthulhu’s venom was fun.
All the humans hesitated.
Jesper and Drecken tried to stay conscious but finally got overwhelmed by the tourmalyke.
“She’s the only one standing! She can’t take us all on!” one human screamed as he swung a baton.
“You’d be surprised by what I can do.” I ducked low, my gown flowing as I jabbed two fingers directly into his exposed eye.
He dropped instantly, dissipating into ash.
“Who’s next?” I kicked my heels off, venom dripping over my skin.
Over half hesitated. The others rushed at me.
I spun, kicked, slid beneath another’s arm, brushing my hand across the back of his glove where a seam exposed his skin.
Their veins blackened as they crumbled before they could scream.
I moved through them like a toxin weaving through blood.
A presence came from behind me just as I killed three humans wielding batons.
“Rune!” Seth flickered into existence between us just as I turned, his phantom form glitching, unstable, uncontrolled from the gas, but he shielded me anyway.
The strike meant to hit me from behind went through him instead. A blade embedded into his corporeal chest, and his body spasmed.
“Seth!” I gasped, not even realizing that he was conscious until now.
“Save them,” he choked out his last words.
Cold horror stabbed through me as Seth’s body crumpled, solidifying only after death.
His gray eyes stared lifelessly at the ceiling.
“No,” I breathed. “No, Seth—”
Rage poured through me as hot tears slipped down my cheeks.
Seth had given his life for mine.
I grabbed the human who had killed him, my hand crushing his jaw, and my venom surged so fast, his throat caved in before he even realized he’d been touched.
I didn’t stop. I slammed my knee into his ribs.
He dropped into a fetal position, gurgling, and I kicked his face again and again until he stopped moving entirely.