Chapter 10
rune
. . .
The whispers of war had grown so loud between the human factions that the Supernatural Council could no longer ignore the escalating tension.
Which meant that Drecken somehow got stuck doing a press conference during the time we’d carved out to work on new potions, so I came with him.
“I loathe being the one assigned to this,” he muttered as we walked down the long corridor toward the press hall.
Magic flared off him in little static snaps of color.
“I should be brewing a new weapon to use against the humans, not explaining politics to the News Sector, who will no doubt twist whatever I say.”
“You’re the Council’s overpowered warlock,” Jesper pointed out, hands in his pockets. “You scare the public and are intelligent. You’re perfect for this.”
“And you,” Drecken shot back, “are the agent who knows how to speak to the public, so you’re doing this with me. Preferably, you’ll take over most of the speaking.”
“Very well.” Jesper’s mouth curved. “At least I’m included on time with Rune today.”
We’d been on back-to-back missions since the year started, so Mom gave us one day off. Unfortunately, my other mates had things to do for the academy…specifically House Head duties since they’d all been given the position. It took a lot more than I had realized.
I was glad Dimitri was nominated as House Head and not me, no offense to him.
They herded me into the press room first, but not through the front. They tucked me behind a privacy screen near the left wall, where I could see the stage but the cameras wouldn’t catch me.
I was grateful for that. The News Sector had several branches for each territory and also two others that covered everything that happened globally.
The press hall in the Supernatural Council’s headquarters was just as luxurious as the other rooms. High arched ceiling painted a brilliant white, marble floors, and tiered rows of seats for the reporters. There was a podium in the center of the stage in front of them.
Rows of journalists of all species filled the seats, their eyes sharp, pens already moving on their tablets. The air buzzed with whispers.
Crossing my legs, I leaned back and watched my mates stride onto the stage toward the podium.
Every camera in the room followed them.
It never surprised me that Jesper looked incredible in a suit. The tan suit he wore had been tailored to his broad shoulders. It was tapered to come in sharply at the waist and flared slightly at the bottom. The suit hugged all of his muscles in a way that made my venom pool in my mouth.
His shoulder-length white hair was pulled back in a loose tie that showed off the powerful line of his jaw. His brown eyes were calm and controlled, and his expression was neutral.
Drecken stood next to him, and while he was still just as attractive, he was the opposite of polished.
He wore his usual white lab coat over a dark shirt and jeans.
He hadn’t bothered with a tie, and his sleeves were rolled to his elbows, showing his inked script of ‘intuition’ and ‘protect your energy’ over both wrists.
His bright green hair fell in asymmetrical curls, longer on one side, messy in a way that looked accidental.
His blue eyes glowed faintly with power, and every few seconds, a pulse of magic rolled off him, making the cameras glitch.
I couldn’t take my eyes off them.
A council aide murmured something to the front row, then nodded toward the stage.
“We’ll begin,” Jesper said, voice carrying easily.
The room quieted.
“As some of you have heard,” he continued, “there is unrest in the Human Territory. A civil conflict.”
“Declared war,” someone stated from the seats.
Jesper didn’t flinch. “Yes, they declared war, but we are not involved.”
Immediately, hands shot up.
A vampire reporter in the front row stood, not waiting to be called on.
“What about the attack on the Apex Elite Academy student? The kidnapping and the deaths at the human facility—that’s what broke the peace treaty, isn’t it?
Humans claim the treaty was violated when one of our agents slaughtered her abductors. ”
Heat crawled up the back of my neck.
They deserved it.
Drecken leaned into the mic, eyes narrowing. “No. It isn’t.”
The words cracked across the room with magic.
“The peace treaty is not broken,” he went on, each syllable clipped with irritation. “Let’s get that out of the way first, shall we?”
The reporter opened her mouth.
He ignored her.
“The humans have conveniently skipped the part where they violated the peace treaty first. Repeatedly. Kidnapping an academy student from our grounds is a violation. Kidnapping multiple supernaturals from our territories in Kalista is a violation. Experimenting on them?” His fingers flexed on the podium. “Is a violation.”
Magic crackled off his shoulders, sending a faint blue streak through the air. The lights above them dimmed and then brightened again.
“And the humans we are currently having issues with,” Jesper added, “are not the Human Council. They are not part of the treaty. They are a separate faction dubbed the Human Resistance Network. A terrorist network. This shouldn’t be new information for you.”
A murmur rippled through the room.
Another reporter, a witch with ink-black braids and a gold quill behind her ear, stood. “But the humans say the kidnapping and the lab massacre were acts of supernatural aggression and that we provoked their faction. That this is a supernatural war by proxy.”
Jesper’s jaw tightened. “Let me be very clear. The humans’ civil war is a human problem. The Supernatural Council is not engaged in it. We are not arming one side. We are not sending squads into their cities. We are, at this time, staying out of it.”
“So you’re telling our people not to worry?” someone else demanded. “That humans with stolen powers slaughtering villages in the Bizarre and attacking the demon capital isn’t our concern?”
“I did not say that,” Jesper said, taking a deep breath.
I could feel the frustration down the matebond.
“Humans are a threat to us currently, even with the treaty standing, because there is a faction that is targeting us. That faction is the Human Resistance Network. We respond where they cross into our jurisdiction. We protect our people. We do not start wars based on human propaganda.”
The first reporter raised her hand again, more cautiously this time.
“Speaking of stolen powers, the humans claim they took basilisk DNA. That an agent-in-training named Rune Bloodwyne is responsible for the venom being used on us. It was her venom used to wipe out an entire village in the Bizarre and multiple demons in the capital. Is that true? And if so, does that mean they still have access to her power?”
The reporters stared intently at the stage, at my mates. No one looked toward the shadows where I sat.
Drecken’s magic exploded in tiny fireworks around him.
He exhaled through his nose, blue eyes blazing, and leaned closer to the mic again.
“They took her DNA and grafted it into human bodies. Those humans slaughtered supernaturals in the Bizarre and struck the demon capital. That part is unfortunately true.”
My throat tightened.
“But,” Drecken continued, “what I said from the start stands. Human bodies cannot sustain that level of power. Not safely, and not for long.” He looked directly into one of the central cameras.
“All humans who were dosed with the stolen basilisk’s DNA are dead.
Not because we hunted all of them, though, we certainly would have, but because the power they stole is eating them from the inside out.
Their veins, their organs, their cells, all are being devoured by something they were never meant to carry. ”
The room fell still.
Jesper cleared his throat. “To answer the second half of your question, no. They do not have continued access to the DNA and can no longer use it as a weapon against us. They cannot replicate it. The samples they stole have burned out beyond use.”
“And the basilisk in question,” the witch reporter pressed, “Rune Bloodwyne. Is she safe? Are there further risks to the public of her being targeted by the humans?”
“She is under the direct protection of the Supernatural Council,” Jesper replied. “She is alive. She is not in human hands, and they will not be getting another sample.”
Some of the tension in my chest loosened hearing him say that.
An imp popped up in the second row. “Are you sure this doesn’t mean the peace treaty is broken? We’re hearing rumors.”
Drecken’s fingers tapped the podium, magic pulsing in rhythm with his heart. “The treaty,” he said through gritted teeth, “is not broken.”
Jesper slid in front of the mic. “The Human Council is still in power in their territory. Our treaty is with them. If the Human Resistance Network overthrows them, then the treaty will be dissolved. Until then, we will maintain it.”
“But—”
“That will be all for now,” Jesper finished.
The reporters erupted in shouted questions.
“What about the drowned banshees—”
“Is it true a kelpie—”
“What about the dragon scales—”
“Will the Supernatural Council—”
Jesper’s expression hardened.
Drecken’s magic spiked in erratic bursts, little arcs of blue fire crackling along his fingertips.
“The conference is over,” Jesper told them.
He and Drecken stepped back from the podium together before a flash of bright illusion magic exploded from Drecken. Before the reporters could figure out what was happening, Jesper and Drecken slipped off the side of the dais and down the narrow exit corridor toward my bench.
Jesper’s fingers brushed my wrist. “Come on.”
I stood up and followed, slipping through the door behind them as it hissed shut. The noise of the press room cut off from the soundproofing enchantments.
We walked down another quiet hallway, my flats echoing against the polished stone, and the faint crackle of residual magic fading off Drecken’s coat.