“Zuko,” Jarvins called out. “Some missions do not call for torture, even if we wish that wasn’t the case. It was necessary to avoid violence in this mission, and you did well with helping extract supernaturals instead.”
Zuko nodded, but his jaw twitched.
“Dimitri,” Jarvins murmured. “Excellent use of compulsion to clear their data. You protected the captives from further exploitation.”
Dimitri gave a small nod, face controlled, but satisfaction flickering through our bond.
“Eleanor,” he called. “You played a dangerous game with the Human Council. You secured access without sparking an outright conflict. That’s the good kind of political manipulation.”
Eleanor smiled proudly.
“And Koa,” Jarvins continued, “your healing work on-scene ensured the captives could leave the facility on their own two legs. You did well.”
Koa ducked his head with a smile.
Jarvins bit down on his twig, eyes narrowing in satisfaction. “This is the reality you’ll be walking into after graduation, though, sometimes, you cannot locate the missing supernaturals. Humans are experimenting on us once again. Therewillbe off-the-record labs. Peace treaties will have loopholes. Missions where you cannot kill, even when you want to, and even when it’s the easiest option. You all handled this mission exactly how you are supposed to. You coordinated, adapted, avoided casualties, and brought your people home.”
Pride filled me, and my matebonds filled with it. I was sure the other squad members were feeling as proud as we were.
He snapped the twig clean in half, pocketing it. “Simulation complete. Dismissed.”
The others started filing out behind Jarvins, their voices rising in low, excited chatter about the mission and how we could’ve done it even better.
I stood there for a second longer, looking at where the lab walls had been, feeling the phantom weight of tourmalyke in my blood that had no effect on me anymore.
Dimitri came up beside me, shoulder bumping mine.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he murmured.
“Yeah,” I murmured. “It was just a simulation.”
Slater slid his hand into mine and squeezed. “You know damn well these simulations are as lifelike as it gets. That’s no way to make us feel better, venom baby.”
“I know,” I admitted. “I’m sorry. I’m okay, though. I’m just pissed the humans took me in the first place.”
“And that will never happen again,” Koa muttered, anger lacing his voice.
Zuko squeezed my other hand. “We’re going to be stupidly overqualified when we graduate.”
“Good.” I let them lead us out of the simulator and toward the houses. “The world’s a mess. Someone has to know how to make it better.”
jesper
. . .
Humans finally decidedto strike with Rune’s power.
The mission call came through my comms in the middle of a reconnaissance sweep in Fate Hollow, near the border. I barely listened to the full briefing before I was moving, muscles already shifting and my bones stretching.
I shifted into my dragon form, scales rippling over my skin, lungs expanding, and the world snapping into sharper focus. Wings tore free from my back with a familiar burn, catching the air in a single, powerful sweep as the ground fell away beneath me. I shot toward the Bizarre, where my squad had been dispatched.
Wind roared against my scales as I soared. Below me, the land blurred by in streaks of forest, stone, villages, and the distant shimmer of the fae portals. Smoke curled on the horizon ahead.
From what Sabine had said, an entire village at the edge of the Bizarre had been wiped out throughout the night. The village had been home to imps, trolls, and centaurs. All of them had been torn apart by a human strike team.
And the one who’d done most of the killing was a human with Rune’s stolen DNA pumping through his veins.
I bared my teeth into the wind, a low growl rumbling out of my chest. The humans’ threat hadn’t been empty. They were attempting to start a war, not just with their own council, but with us, too.
