Rune squealed in delight.“Good job, Cthulhu!”
A portal of green-tinged magic opened a few feet away, and Drecken stepped through with Jesper at his side.
“What happened?” Jesper demanded, just as Drecken pulled Rune into his arms, checking her over with quick, scanning eyes and magic bursts that seemed to check her for any injury.
“Attacked by humans,” I said, shifting back to my humanoid form without thinking about my current lack of clothing.
Jesper followed my gaze to the helicopter. He straightened. “I’ll file a report later. Drecken, deal with the cleanup. Rune, Zuko, get information from that one.” He jerked his chin toward a paralyzed human that Rune had apparently left alive.
Jesper shifted mid-stride, dragon scales rippling along his skin as his form expanded. A moment later, a massive green dragon launched itself into the air toward the helicopter.
I glanced down, realizing I was naked. “Shit.”
Rune rolled her eyes and tugged a pair of shorts from her bag, tossing them at my face. “I really don’t want people seeing your dick. It has my name on it. It’smine.”
I smirked but stepped into the shorts. “Possessive. I like it.”
I bent to retrieve Cthulhu’s carrier. He was still inside his new favorite corpse, so I tapped the human’s chest and tried coaxing him out.
He did not respond.
Rune reached out and lifted the rooted body’s chin. “Cthulhu, come here.”
The spider popped out of the wooden mouth, trotted delicately down the bark-like chest, and hopped into the habitat without fuss.
I rolled my eyes. “Great. I think you trained my spider.”
Her smile was smug. “His name is Cthulhu.”
I snorted, unable to help it. “Beautiful.”
Drecken let out a low chuckle. “I have to admit, I’m not surprised.” With a casual snap of his fingers, all the dead humans around us dissolved into nothing. Flesh and bark crumbled into fine ash that the wind whisked away.
Only the paralyzed one remained, still lying on the ground with wide, terrified eyes.
“The one that’s still alive,” Drecken said, nodding toward him. “I’ll take you to the Supernatural Council’s dungeons so you can interrogate him.”
“Aw, you’re the best,” Rune purred.
He winked, and his magic surged in a blinding flash before we dissipated into a portal that opened up under us, then we were deposited into the dungeons below HQ.
The human was already chained to a chair when the flash cleared, Drecken’s magical efficiency on full display.
“I’m going to dissect him next,” Drecken announced.
I rolled my eyes but nodded.
Rune frowned slightly. “I promised Cthulhu he could have his body. So, he needs to kill him while he’s alive.”
Drecken huffed but gave an indulgent nod. “Fine, viperling. I’ll go back to the human I was dissecting before.” He paused, then corrected himself. “No—mypotion. I was making a potion. Have fun, you two.” He bent, kissed Rune’s lips in a quick peck, then stepped backward into a portal that opened under his heels, dropping him out of the room.
The human stared at us, sweating, still mostly paralyzed, eyes wild with fear.
I adjusted the bandage over my eyes, hating the way it tugged against my skin and limited my vision. I could see, but it wasn’t perfect. I set Cthulhu’s enclosure carefully onto the stone table beside me and pulled my torture kit out.
I never went anywhere without it.
The leather case unrolled with a satisfying snap, neat rows of my tools gleaming in the fae light. I slid Cthulhu’s enchanted habitat into the empty spot that had once belonged to Victor’s case. The spider scuttled around inside once, then settled contentedly on the bone again.
