“I know,” she sighed, leaning into my hand. “I just hate that every time we turn around lately, it’s humans. Humans doingthis. Humans doing that. ‘Not all humans,’ sure, but the ones we see? They’re all trying really hard to earn the monster label they gave us.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
“I hate them for using you.” I leaned in and kissed her lips softly. “We will get revenge for you.”
She kissed me back. “Promise?”
“Yes.” I dropped my hand from her face but continued to hold her other one. “We’ll handle whatever this mission throws at us. And soon, we will find the Human Resistance Network and take it apart piece by piece.”
“I love you,” she breathed softly.
“I love you, too,” I told her. “Ready?”
She nodded, and the teleporter flared as we cast our intent into it using our magical essence.
Magic poured over us, pressing into my bones. My stomach flipped, my fangs ached, and our matebond thrummed with distortion for a moment until the world slammed back into place.
Except we weren’t at the academy anymore; we were in the Demon Capital.
Heat bore down on me.
It was the first thing I noticed. Dry, merciless heat baking over us. The air tasted like hot sand, carried over dunes that stretched out in rolling waves of gold.
We stood on the wayfaer portal just out front of the Demon Capital’s HQ. Beyond it, the demons’ city rose out of the desert like a mirage of sandstone buildings and narrow alleys that cut between structures like veins.
Visible heat shimmered off everything I could see.
Rune squinted and pulled her hair up, redoing her bun that had fallen as we teleported. “Why do demons live in an oven?” she murmured.
“Because they’re built for it more than the rest of us,” I replied, already hating the feel of sweat beading down my spine.
Cursinia was hot in the summers but never like this.
Standing near the base of the headquarters was our squad.
Jesper stood at the center, arms folded, brown eyes scanning the horizon. His white hair was tied back. You could tell from his shoulders alone that something about this mission already had him tense.
Beside him stood the fear demon and dream demon representatives. Pandora, the soul eater representative on the Supernatural Council, was also there. Her long black hair spilled down her back like a dark waterfall. Red eyes glowed faintly as she turned toward us.
The moment Rune saw her, her mood brightened.
“Pandora!” she called, jogging the last few steps.
Pandora’s face lit up with a soft smile. “Hey, Rune.”
Rune threw her arms around her, and Pandora hugged her back gently.
“It’s good to see you,” Rune said, pulling back. “Despite, you know, the circumstances.”
“Likewise,” Pandora said. Her voice was raspy, and it differed from what I’d expected. Her reputation was deadly, but she seemed so kind. “I ate all the human intruders’ souls already.”
Rune blinked. “Allof them?”
“All,” Pandora confirmed. “They don’t exist anymore. Don’t worry about missing out on interrogation. I searched their memories, but nothing of note came about. No locations or anything of the sort. They killed two of our demons.”
Rune’s hands curled into fists. “They used my venom,” she said, pain and anger spiking in the bond again. “Here, too?”
Pandora nodded once. “Two demon guards were hit with a lethal dose of venom. It was too fast for anyone to intervene.”
