Chapter 18 #2
Octavia approached slowly, arms wrapping around herself. For a moment, her eyes flicked up and met mine.
There was a small, desperate spark of hope there that made my heart clench.
It was obvious from one look that she was mistreated.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said softly.
“They know to keep an eye on you in case you hurt your sister again,” Antoinette added, smiling sweetly at Delphine while dropping that accusation casually.
Octavia flinched as if she’d been struck. She ducked her head again, shoulders curling inward.
Behind them, an older teen walked in. I recognized him as Archibald Montclair, the eldest brother of the sisters. He had the same brown hair and bright brown eyes as his parents, wearing an expensive shirt and slacks, with the bored expression of someone who thought the world owed him everything.
Antoinette, Humphrey, Archibald, and Octavia were sugar glider shifters. Delphine, we’d been told, was a flying squirrel shifter.
In my ear, Jesper’s voice came through the comms. “Something is definitely off. Watch the adopted daughter. The biological one doesn’t seem like an aggressor, unless she’s a better actress than I can tell.”
“Understood,” Cassie murmured. She kept her eyes demurely lowered, but I saw the sharp calculation in them.
We were dismissed with a wave of Humphrey’s hand and instructed to “familiarize ourselves with our duties.” Though it really seemed that they just wanted us to blend into the background and shut up.
By the time dinner rolled around, I was seething.
During the afternoon, I’d watched Delphine glide through the house like the golden child. Staff even fawned over her, and her parents and brother cooed over every word that came out of her mouth. Octavia was ignored or corrected whenever she spoke.
Every time Antoinette raised her voice, Octavia flinched as if she’d been struck.
Delphine smirked every single time.
None of her family seemed to notice.
At dinner, we stood around the dining room in our stupid, demeaning uniforms, positioned along the walls, while the Montclairs dined at a long, polished table of dark wood. Crystal chandeliers glittered obnoxiously overhead. Gold-rimmed plates and cutlery gleamed as they ate.
The decor would’ve been stunning if not for the suffocating tension.
I watched Delphine carefully. She laughed at something Archibald said, then reached for the teapot. As she poured a cup, I caught her doing something I did every morning. A tiny pinch of powder slipped from her fingers into the steaming liquid, dissolving without a trace.
She lifted the cup, and our gazes met.
Her bright blue eyes curved, and the corners of her lips lifted into a sweet smile. “You there,” she said, her voice honeyed and innocent. “What’s your name?”
I stepped forward slightly and bowed my head in polite courtesy. “Ana, Miss Montclair.” The lie slid off my tongue easier when it was to someone I didn’t respect.
“Ana,” she repeated my name with a tilt of her head. “Well, you’ve done very well on your first day. Would you like some tea?”
I smiled, matching hers, and walked over to her, accepting the delicate cup from her. “I would love some, thank you.”
“She poisoned it,” Slater groaned in my ear.
“She knows,” Zuko chuckled.
I was curious what kind of poison she favored. I hoped it was at least a good one.
I took it, lifted it to my lips, and downed the entire thing in one go.
Ah.
Cyanide.
How quaint.
Several members of the family blinked.
Archibald’s brows shot up.
Antoinette actually paused mid-bite.
“Thank you,” I responded, passing the empty cup back to Delphine. I smiled at her, letting my eyes go soft and harmless.
“You’re welcome,” she replied with a smile. “I’m sure you’ve never tasted such exquisite tea before.”
Humphrey scoffed. “I don’t know why you’re allowing a servant to drink from our cups.”
“Oh, stop,” Antoinette said with a little laugh. “Delphine just has such a kind heart.”
Archibald snorted. “Yeah. It’s not like Octavia would ever do that.”
I pressed a hand to my stomach and let my face pinch. “Oh…I—I don’t feel so well…”
My knees buckled.
Dimitri blurred forward, catching me before I could hit the floor.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, leaning into him, inhaling his cinnamon and nutmeg scent. “I don’t know what’s wrong…”
Delphine gasped dramatically, hands flying to her mouth. “Oh my Fates! Octavia, why would you poison the tea again?”
Octavia’s head snapped up, her big brown eyes going wide. “What? I—I didn’t—I couldn’t—no, wouldn’t…”
Antoinette shot to her feet, heels clicking sharply across the marble as she walked straight up to Octavia.
Without hesitating, she slapped her across the face.
The crack echoed through the room.
Octavia’s head snapped to the side. She cupped her stinging cheek, her eyes filling with tears. “I didn’t do it. I swear, I didn’t—”
“Obviously, you did,” Antoinette snapped. “Who else would? You must have thought your sister would drink it. Thank Fates only a maid did!”
Cassie, Bradley, and Dimitri all looked at me with varying degrees of alarm.
I straightened in Dimitri’s arms, letting the fake weakness fall away. “No. I’m okay. It wasn’t the tea. I just felt lightheaded. I’m not used to so much labor, that’s all. I’m most definitely not poisoned.”
Delphine’s face dropped into a sudden, shocked expression.
Antoinette’s brows pulled together in confusion. “You mean you’re not poisoned?” She glanced between me and Octavia, shame staining her features.
“No, ma’am,” I repeated. “The tea was lovely. I am so sorry for my reaction.”
Octavia blinked in confusion.
Antoinette’s gaze flicked to her hand, then back to her daughter’s blotted red cheek.
“I…I’m sorry, Octavia,” she choked out.
“It’s fine,” Octavia whispered. “I’m used to it.”
The way she said it made something in my chest twist.
“Don’t be dramatic.” Humphrey rolled his eyes. “If you hadn’t been poisoning everyone constantly, your mother wouldn’t have assumed the worst.”
“I don’t poison anyone,” Octavia said, her voice barely audible.
“Yeah,” Archibald muttered. “So, Delphine’s just making it up? Your trips to the herbalist were all bullshit?”
Octavia’s lips pressed together so tightly they went white.
“I apologize for my part in the disruption of your supper,” I said, bowing my head. “I’m just not used to this level of work. Miss Delphine was very kind to offer me tea.”
I let a hint of my basilisk nature bleed through as I felt my fangs throb when I smiled at Delphine. Venom shimmered at the back of my tongue.
It would’ve been so easy to just dose her back…
Delphine flinched.
“I…I was not aware you were a basilisk,” she stuttered.
“I wasn’t hiding it,” I said innocently. “Is something wrong with my nature?”
“Of course not.” Her gaze dropped back to her plate.
Dinner continued with forced normalcy, but every time I caught Octavia’s profile, I burned the image of her into my memory.
She was so young, yet so mistreated.
Later, after the estate had quieted and the family retired to their rooms, we clustered in the upstairs corridor under the guise of “night staff.”
“I’ve uncovered a bunch of surveillance,” Slater said over the comms. “And it does not look good.”
“Care to elaborate?” Kane muttered.
“First passes show Octavia hurting Delphine,” Slater explained. “Lots of it. Slaps, shoves, pushing her down stairs, and toxic little moments. It’s so fucked up.”
“Octavia?” My stomach sank. “Seriously?”
“But,” he continued, “that’s the edited version.
The looped security. Snakey and I cracked the encrypted buffer.
Sloppy hacking, honestly. The raw feeds, though?
Delphine has been staging it all. She’s setting up the scenes and hurting herself.
Forcing things into Octavia’s hands and making sure the cameras only see one angle.
It’s honestly concerning. That shifter is psychotic and not in the cute way you can be. ”
I exhaled slowly. “Yeah. That lines up for me.”
Cassie nodded faintly beside me, dusting off her maid’s skirt. “Delphine’s scent goes sour every time someone mentions Octavia. Classic jealousy, but twisted dangerously.”
Bradley leaned back against the wall. “Whole family’s blind or willfully ignoring it.”
“During dinner,” I brought up, tucking a piece of glamoured brown hair behind my ear, “they praised Delphine for breathing and tore Octavia apart for existing. Every time Antoinette’s voice raised, Octavia flinched. Delphine smirked every time. She takes immense joy in harming Octavia.”
“Document everything,” Lysa said through comms. “Every interaction. Every bruise. Every word.”
Around the corner of the corridor, raised voices suddenly cut through the quiet.
“You should just leave,” Delphine sneered. “They’ll never believe you anyway. I am the Montclair heiress. I am everything. You’re nothing but a nuisance.”
We moved closer, keeping silent as we made our way toward the corner.
“If you hate me so much,” Octavia’s shaking voice replied, “why don’t you just tell them? Why frame me?”
“Because this is more fun,” Delphine giggled.
We peeked around and found Delphine standing in the dim light of a fae orb, eyes bright with cold fury and a small knife glinting in her hand.
Octavia was pale and tense as she stood opposite her, arms wrapped around herself.
In one quick motion, Delphine dragged the blade along her own forearm.
The skin split open as blood welled instantly.
Then, she grabbed Octavia’s hand and forced the handle of the blade into it, shoving her back.
Octavia stared at the knife in horror. “Delphine, no—”
Delphine shrieked, “Mom! Dad! Octavia attacked me again!”
Antoinette and Humphrey appeared at the far end of the hall, rushing toward them.
It was honestly shocking how quickly they came in such a big place.
Delphine ran straight into her mother’s arms, sobbing dramatically. “She came at me with a knife! I don’t know why she hates me so much. Check the security tapes if you don’t believe me. She’s insane!”