His scream tore up through the glowing vortex as the color of the mist pulsed brighter. His form blurred inside the luminous haze, but his bones seemed to bend at the wrong angles as he dissolved and his scream cut off.
All that remained was swirling, glowing mist and a few flickers of light.
I turned back to the fight, breathing hard, but I was pleased to find very few humans left.
Koa stared at me, eyes wide, flames flickering faintly at his fingertips. “Wow,” he rasped, “that’s one death I really don’t want to experience.”
“Gotta be better than being eaten whole by a shark,” I teased weakly.
“Fuck,” Slater breathed, arousal leaking through the bond. “I know I did a great job on that dress, but you, covered in the blood of our enemies, throwing humans into the magical abyss? Somehow you make it so much sexier, venom baby.”
“That is so fucked up,” Zuko said, even as he nodded. “But he’s right. It really is.”
“That’s mysister!”Tibby cried from behind. “Focus!”
Jesper let out a breathless laugh. “You are terrifying, honey drop. Have I mentioned lately how much I adore that about you?”
“No, but I appreciate it.” I smiled at them.
“I’d also appreciate your help to take down the last of them,” Dimitri said between pants as his vampire speed worked then failed.
We finished the rest of the humans together, my mates running on fumes but still landing blows and guarding my back when they could. All of them placed their bodies between me and danger, even though I didn’t need them to. I did the same for them.
By the time the last human dropped, groaning his last breath as my venom killed him, my dress was a ruin of toxic glow and bloodstains. My hair had fallen out of its carefully arranged style, waves tumbling wild around my face and shoulders.
My heart hammered painfully in my rib cage.
The academy behind us was damaged but still standing. The bridge beneath our feet thrummed with blocked magic.
The abyss below churned lazily.
I turned slowly, scanning everyone. Some students still lay unconscious near the steps, but most of the ones we’d walked out with had made it to the bridge. Their faces were pale, eyes wide, some tear-streaked.
My mates moved toward me from all directions.
Slater reached me first, blood streaking his jaw, and his red hair a mess. He cupped my face with shaking hands. “You good, venom baby?”
I nodded once. “I’m good.”
“That’s my fucking girl,” he murmured, pressing a quick, fierce kiss to my lips.
Zuko came up next, fingers skimming over my arm where bullet grazes had healed but bruised because my magical energy was low. His orange eyes were sharp and molten, and I hadn’t realized he’d lost his bandage. “Pretty little poison, you are absolutely unhinged. I love you.”
“I love you all so much,” I murmured.
Koa slid in behind me, wrapping an arm gently, carefully around my waist, hand splaying over my stomach. His blue healing warmth seeped through me in spurts, healing the rest of what my body refused to without more magical energy. “You truly are a goddess, little vixen. In the most horrifying way.”
“High praise,” I giggled.
Dimitri tilted my chin up, red eyes scanning my features carefully. His thumb brushed a smear of blood from the corner of my mouth, then he gave me a crooked smile. “You just turned a formal into a massacre and still look so gorgeous, lethal darling.”
“That’s the weirdest compliment I’ve ever gotten.” The corner of my lips curved. “Thank you.”
“I’m sure Slater has said something weirder.” Jesper stepped in, his hand sliding over the back of my neck, thumb rubbing thetension at the base of my skull. He pulled me into a brief hug. “You did so good tonight.”
I leaned into him, letting his winter woods scent ground me.
“Without you, we would’ve died tonight. Even me.” Drecken appeared at my side, the faint glow of his magic still clinging to his fingers. His blue gaze swept over me, taking in every lingering bruise and streak of blood. “Viperling, you are, without exaggeration, the most breathtakingly destructive being I have ever seen.”
