“I dosed him with my venom when he did. I paralyzed him, and I fully believe it’s the only reason he stopped.” Her laugh was hollow. “I wouldn’t tell you this, but I do believe Darian’s dangerous. Tibby showed up just as I dosed him, but he’d seen everything. Burned half his face off with phoenix fire. We left him on the doorstep, and then he just vanished.”
Zuko’s fist smashed into the table. “He’s dead. Whether now or later, he’s dead.”
I growled, feeling my horns extend from my skull as my demon form took over. “He laid hands on you without consent, venom baby. That’s a death sentence.”
“I’ll turn him to ash,” Koa said, jaw locked.
“I’ll shatter every bone in his body,” Zuko added for good measure.
“Guys,” Rune said, lips trembling into a smirk, “you’re kind of adorable when you’re vowing murder for me.”
“Not murder,” I growled. “Justice.”
“I happen to agree that her shitty ex should be murdered,” Dimitri said, his usual calm threadbare. “But we need to think it through because if we get caught, we’re all expelled, and then no one gets to beat his ass.”
“I don’t need to be avenged,” Rune muttered, but there was a shimmer in her eyes that said otherwise.
“You shouldn’t have to fight alone,” I told her gently. “Not anymore.”
Lorian raised his hand like he was in class. “You retaliate and get caught? You’re expelled. No missions. No war. No vengeance. Is it worth it?”
Hawk sighed, visibly torn. “He’s not wrong. As much as I want to help you rip him apart…”
“I agree,” Rune said softly. “Please, don’t kill him. If it comes to it, I’ll kill him and take the punishment. I already talked to my parents. Without solid evidence of his character being shit, there’s not much we can do. He’s on the board’s radar and the supernaturals’ in Kalista. If we kill him, the public will find out, and we will be screwed.”
“Okay, easy.” Eleanor leaned closer. “Rune needs protection. Not escalation. We’re here to protect her.”
Koa reached across the coffee table and took her hand, eyes sincere. “I’ve got you. I won’t let him near you again. I swear it.”
“We all have your back,” Aura said, voice soft but unshakable.
“But if he shows his ass,” Zuko added, still vibrating with fury. “I will take pleasure in killing him.”
Raze nodded once. “I do enjoy a justified killing.”
“You can’t kill him. Maiming should be fine, though,” she whispered cutely.
“Done.” Zuko winked, but his fingers were clearly crossed behind his back.
I didn’t say anything else. I just went over and sat beside her, our shoulders touching. Snakey slithered into her lap.
Rune gave us all a watery smile and drained the rest of her poison tea with a sweet calmness.
Then, she promptly fell back off the velvet pillow.
“I’m okay,” came her voice from the floor as she waved her notebook in the air. “Study group time.”
“Uh, do poisons usually affect you like that?” Hawk asked her, shock on his face.
“Not really,” she slurred. “Most of the time, I have no side-effects, but when it’s my first time consuming one, I do get a slight effect of what it does. Never enough to do any real damage, though.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Aura asked, worry in her eyes. “Maybe I shouldn’t have given it to you.”
“You think?” Dimitri snapped.
She flinched.
Rune’s hand came up and waved in the air. “No, no. This is fine. I just feel a bit wobbly.”
