I reached over and squeezed her hand. “We’ll come home.Allof us.”
Rune leaned her head on my shoulder.
Mason babbled happily in Aunt Maelis’s lap as if agreeing.
Our home felt calm, safe, and peaceful, and soon, we would take vengeance.
rune
. . .
A victorious smirkcurved my lips as I leaned back against one of the polished support beams of the auditorium, watching the final illusions for the formal settle into place. The fourth years were still buzzing around the room, caught somewhere between pride, exhaustion, and mild panic since our final was in two days, but all I felt waspuresatisfaction.
All fourth-years had actually chosenmytheme. Dimitri, Koa, Slater, and Zuko had somehow convinced all the other year-four houses during the vote, which meant I had just lived out my childhood interior decorating fantasy.
The auditorium no longer looked like an auditorium; it looked like the lair of a beautifully deranged enchantress that specialized in poison.
Fae orb lights hovered overhead like floating fireflies, each one glowing in neon greens and poisonous yellows, casting the entire space in shimmering, dangerous light. Witches and warlocks from the House of Arcane crafted dripping streams of toxic ooze that fell from the rafters in slow hypnotic trickles, dissolving before they touched the floor or others.
The stage had been reshaped into a serpentine platform, with curling emerald mist drifting along its edge.
House of Arcane also created a punch fountain that glowed like radioactive water, but it was actually neon green fae alcohol laced with a safe-enough glamour, sparkling like phosphorescent venom.
It pulsed faintly as if it had a heartbeat.
And themusic…
A low, haunting melody threaded through the room like the whisper of a creature scraping beneath floorboards. It was beautiful, eerie, and wrong inallthe best ways.
Fates, I loved it.
Dimitri wrapped an arm around my waist from behind, his chin resting on my shoulder as he admired the eight houses’ collective handiwork—though, I had to admit that House of Arcane did most of the work.
Koa and Slater were arguing over whether the venom-drip illusions should fall faster, and Zuko was nodding stoically to himself like he’d expected nothing less than perfection since it was my idea.
“This is so fucking cool,” Slater boasted. “Venom baby, your mind is just as exquisite as the rest of you.”
Zuko nudged him with a chuckle. “Pretty little poison sets the bar too high. Next year they’ll have to do something stupid like rainbow butterflies or something.”
“That’s adorable, actually,” Koa said thoughtfully.
“No,” Zuko deadpanned.
“Actually, I think it’s cute,” I added with a wink. “But this is better.”
A soft ripple of magic cracked through the air as a glowing circle of sigils opened beneath our feet, widening until Jesper and Drecken came through.
Jesper lifted his brows at the décor. “Rune’s idea?”
“Duh,” Slater chuckled.
“Beautiful, viperling.” Drecken smiled. “Your mother’s done and ready for us. Time to go.”
I put my hands together and called across the room, “Thank you all! Seriously, this looks incredible. I appreciate you voting for my theme!”
I got a collection of whoops, bows, and mock salutes.
Eleanor rushed over to hug me tightly. “You’re going to crush the final, you know,” she whispered.
