Slater slipped between us and wrapped an arm around my waist. “I told you guys she’d be my mate.”
“And you were right,” Pandora murmured. “Your souls are tightly bound together.”
“As tightly as ours.” Bram kissed her forehead as they went to find their seats, and Slater guided his mom and Charles with them.
Zelle wrapped her arms around me with enough basilisk strength to break ribs. “You must come over for dinner soon at our home again.”
“I will,” I promised, taking in a greedy gulp of air when she pulled back.
“We will, of course, have someone to torture for you again,” Skarnax bribed me.
“Dad,” Zuko muttered.
“We’ll plan on it,” I told him with a laugh.
Drecken and Dimitri sat on either side of me while the rest of my mates sat with their families.
We had finally all sat around the enormous table that my fathers had bought that was enchanted to grow five extra feet to accommodate everyone.
Tobias and his mates arrived late and sat at the end next to my parents.
Dishes filled the table with spiced rice, mushrooms, roasted vegetable spreads, seared meats, and enchanted wines that shimmered different colors based on emotions from whoever was closest.
Mom lifted her glass and cleared her throat.“To family.”
Glasses clinked around the table like tiny crystalline bells.
Conversation circled around the formal event and the final until the topic shifted toward the humans.
Zuko’s orange eyes met mine over the table, flaring with possessiveness and the desire to be next to me. “At least my pretty little poison and I found the human facility.”
Heads snapped up as everyone went tense.
Mom nodded. “The Human Council confirmed that it isn’t one of theirs. Jesper will lead eight squads to extract the supernaturals they have and destroy the facility and the leaders of the entire Human Resistance Network. The Whettlocks’ operation will end.”
The conversation shifted after that, moving toward more positive topics as we ate our fill of the feast my dads had cooked.
After eating far too much, I drifted toward Tobias, who leaned against the archway with a glass of fae wine.
“Good luck on your final, Roo,” he told me. “Apex Penitentiary’s drop from dry land into water alone is brutal. We lost five fourth-year students from just that last year.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Your pep talks are terrible, Tibby.”
He snorted. “Just be smart and stealthy.”
“You know I will.” I grinned, leaning next to my brother against the wall.
All six matebonds thrummed with warm happiness. Everything felt warm, safe, and perfect.
The humans had no idea what was coming, and I planned on making Allison suffer myself.
rune
. . .
I walkedinto 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 caughteverydrop 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.
