“Correct.” My fangs pricked my lower lip. “There was a vampire who wanted my mate and wanted to kill me. I got to kill her instead.”
He chuckled softly. “Bloodthirsty. A great trait for an agent of the Supernatural Council.”
I flashed him a smile, letting my fangs show this time. “I thought so.”
His gaze softened a fraction. “Do you want to talk about the trauma of the humans taking you?”
“No.” The answer came fast and sharp. “I’m pissed they took my DNA, obviously. But I came out with something they didn’t intend, so…”
His brows lifted. “Which is?”
“I’m immune to tourmalyke now,” I replied. “I had some intense exposure while I was with them. They pumped me full of it. Didn’t work.”
Shock flickered openly across his face. “You are immune to tourmalyke?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“What about Tourmalyke Type II?” he asked.
“Also immune,” I said.
He leaned back, clearly impressed. “That is incredible. And dangerous, in the right hands.” A slow smile tugged at his lips. “Fortunately, you seem to be the right hands.”
“Somebody has to be.” I shrugged.
His gaze flicked back to his file on me. “What about the students you lost that youdidlike?”
I exhaled slowly. “They went out chasing something better. Trying to make a difference. The only ones thatreallyfuck with me are Jonas and Zara.”
“And why is that?”
“Zara, because she was taken by that vampire cult, and we couldn’t save her, even when we had her,” I admitted quietly. “Jonas because he clearly wasn’t cut out for this, and we watched him break his neck slamming into a steel door.”
Silence spread for a few seconds.
Atlas’s expression was openly sympathetic now. “That is understandable. I could advise you to talk more about those things, but I can tell you’re not the type to open up to advisors and strangers.”
“Correct.”
“So,” he continued, “my genuine advice is that you talk to your mates about all of it. Lean on them. You’re not meant to hold all of this alone, even if you can.”
I swallowed, nodding. “Noted.”
He shut the file with a flick of his fingers.
The holographic screen vanished.
“Rune,” he said, tone shifting back toward brisk professionalism, “you are on track for graduation. You are overqualified for most of the missions they’ll throw at you this year. I think you’re going to have a productive year four.”
“Thank you.” My lips curved into a smile as I stood, the chair scraping slightly.
He didn’t offer a handshake, but neither did I.
Atlas seemed okay enough, but what he did to my sisters-by-mating was unforgivable.
As I reached for the door, he called, “Send in Dimitri Nocturnus, please.”
My housemates waited in a loose cluster within the advising office.
