Chapter 15 Rune
rune
. . .
Date night left my heart filled with a completeness I’d never known before.
Jesper cooked noodles for everyone; Drecken put new poison in my food; Slater and Zuko made me a nightly tea; Koa brought a chocolate cake; and Dimitri told everyone what I’d done to Brynn, in detail.
The night was perfect, and it ended with me in the center of my mates in bed, fast asleep after eating way too many noodles.
I was beginning to envision my future more and more, and all six of them were part of it. The Fates knew what they were doing. The night off had been refreshing for all of us, but we had a mission to complete.
“The objective is simple,” Jesper stated, his voice a rumble through the comms. “Tonight, we infiltrate the underground trade operation in the fae market, secure evidence, and apprehend the firedrake leader. We cannot touch the fae, but I have already notified the Fire Kingdom about this. They will linger around, whether we see them or not.”
“Understood,” Cassie and Bradley stated.
“Noted,” Dimitri and I muttered.
Cassie, Bradley, Dimitri, and I were disguised as collectors, and our glamours were flawless.
Though, Jesper had mentioned that while they would hold under physical contact, they wouldn’t hold under fire.
So, we couldn’t catch fire, but that was simple enough.
The Supernatural Council’s magical analysts really knew how to create glamours that stuck.
We moved through the underground market, finding that it was more of an auction house rather than stalls with items above.
The air below the market was colder, heavier with magic.
The space was massive. It was a cathedral carved from the roots of the earth.
Velvet-draped balconies encircled the pit from the walls, where masked fae whispered over flutes of glowing fae wine.
There were masked and unmasked supernaturals all around us.
A chandelier made of ice, glowing with flames that weren’t melting it, hung above the stage at the front of the room. At its center was the auctioneer, a vampire draped in red and silver, his voice as smooth as silk.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he purred, “we begin tonight’s collection with an item of rare magical potency: an icedrake scale that was harvested under full realm alignment.”
Applause rippled through the chamber, but my stomach turned. A dragon or drake losing a scale was a very painful process that took weeks to recover from, even with full magical reserves. No drake would willingly lose a scale that way.
The icedrake scale shimmered on a velvet cushion as they brought it out.
It was pearlescent blue, with icy veins pulsing faintly with life through it.
I could feel the magical essence it carried.
If there were living magic in the scale, that meant the scale was not old.
It was still-active, which meant the icedrake it was taken from was alive and suffering through the healing process to regenerate the scale.
It would be most potent at this time.
I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth ached.
Cassie caught my expression and whispered, “Steady.”
I nodded. “The drake’s still alive. What if they have it captured somewhere?”
Dimitri’s voice was low as he leaned closer. “Then, we’ll make sure this is the last scale they take from the drake and free them.”
“Bids are about to start,” Bradley told us. “Dimitri, with me.”
Dimitri’s finger brushed mine as he followed his mentor.
Sure enough, the auctioneer started the auction, and bids came in for enchanted crystals, fae contracts, and literal hearts in jars.
Cassie and I played our parts, raising fake bids and pulling out before we had to purchase, and we managed to draw no attention.
I summoned my chaos manifestation, whom I’d lovingly dubbed Worthy, and had him slither through the area so Slater could keep tabs on where we were.
Bradley lingered near the edge of the stage, pretending to examine a crate of cursed relics. Dimitri schmoozed a vampire aristocrat for intel next to his mentor.
Slater’s voice broke through my comms. “Venom baby, your firedrake was just spotted near the eastern tunnel. There are two heavy signatures, and I think it’s the firedrake and her fire fae partner.”
“Got it,” Jesper’s voice cut in. “All enforcer teams are in position above. Once they surface, we close the underground market down for supernaturals that are not fae.”
Worthy slithered around my leg and up into Slater’s mark just as the couple stepped on stage to start the bid on the icedrake scale.
The firedrake woman lifted the icedrake scale, and light glinted across its surface. “First bid is for seven hundred—”
“Break cover, now!” Jesper ordered.
The crowd exploded in panic as the enforcers dropped from above. Spells and wards flared as fae guards poured from hidden doors.
Cassie and I were already moving.
My dagger flashed, and I licked the blade, coating it in venom potent enough to paralyze the firedrake. I vaulted the railing of the stage, landed in a crouch, and slashed across a guard’s leg before driving my boot into his chest.
Cassie covered me, hurling a few devices that detonated and caused explosive damage to a few other guards.
Our firedrake target roared, heat rippling off her in waves. “You dare interrupt my trade?”
“I’ve interrupted you profiting on illegal trade,” I said sweetly.
Her fire fae mate was busy fighting Dimitri.
The firedrake woman exhaled a stream of fire at me. My suit that I was wearing beneath the glamour thankfully deflected the blaze.
Smoke filled the room.
I lunged through it, driving my dagger into her chest, right through her glowing red scales as she was trying to shift.
She staggered, flame sputtering as my venom worked through her. “You…can’t kill me this way.”
“I know,” I said, twisting the blade, venom sizzling dangerously close to her heart. “That’s the fun part.”
She hit the ground, twitching but alive. I’d successfully paralyzed her.
I flipped over her and caught the edge of my blade on the fire fae’s shoulder as he was distracted with Dimitri.
He fell forward, paralyzed as well.
Tobias moved toward us, talking into his comms, “Target secured.”
Cassie exhaled, brushing soot off her sleeve. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”
“No promises,” I chuckled.
Dimitri rolled his eyes and stepped over the fire fae. “Thanks, lethal darling. He almost burned my hair.”
“Oh no,” I gasped, running my hands through it. “Thank goodness he didn’t. I love your hair.”
“You love mine more, right?” Slater asked through the earpiece.
I giggled. “I love all of your hair equally.”
Jesper’s voice cut through the static. “The Fire Kingdom’s forces are inbound. Do not engage. We’re extracting the firedrake but not her partner.”
As if on cue, a squad of flame-armored soldiers dropped through the breach, weapons blazing with molten glyphs.
The leader’s helm flared with the emblem of the Fire Kingdom.
Jesper stepped forward. “Our firedrake is in custody under Supernatural Council authority. She will be transferred back to Kalista.”
“You have no jurisdiction here,” the captain snapped. “The Fire Kingdom handles its own.”
“Then perhaps the Fire Kingdom should stop meddling in Kalista affairs,” Jesper snapped back.
The captain’s flames roared. “Without the fae, Kalista would be barren land. Careful who you piss off, agent.”
“We will not meddle in your fae issues. Her fire fae accomplice is—”
“Her fated mate,” he finished. “You have no business separating fated mates.”
“We do when they commit crimes of this degree. You can take it up with my supervisor, but we are taking our citizen.” Jesper stood toe-to-toe with the captain.
Dimitri’s hand circled my upper arm. “Let him handle it.”
I hadn’t even realized I’d moved forward to kill the fae captain.
Whoops.
For a tense heartbeat, no one breathed. Then, the captain turned sharply. “We’ll speak with your council.” He walked over to the paralyzed fae and ordered his soldiers to take him in. Then, the captain left his soldiers to clean up the underground market mess.
Jesper’s jaw tightened. “Report.”
Koa murmured into the comms, “HQ on standby.”
He nodded. “Call it in for me.”
“On it, boss,” Slater cheered before his mentor, Corin, took over.
Several minutes later, Corin came back. “Jesper, Sabine’s not picking up.”
“I’ll call Ignis Ashcrest.” Jesper sighed, pulling his phone out and calling another councilman who helped Mom with managing the agents at times. He was the phoenix representative and Mom’s second-in-command with the management of the agents.
When Ignis answered, he was annoyed. “Ignis Ashcrest. Acting on behalf of the agent coordinator today. Status?”
“We infiltrated the underground fae market and shut down the auction. We have a live drake scale in our possession and have captured one leader of the underground market,” Jesper briefed him. “However, the Fire Kingdom was touchy about it.”
It was silent for almost an entire minute before Ignis said, “Destroy the drake scale. Officially, no scale trafficking occurred. Release the firedrake, and get out of the fae realm.”
My brows raised in surprise. Mom was fully aware of this mission, and abandoning it wasn’t her style.
Jesper laughed, but it was sharp and humorless. “You think Sabine will buy that?”
I couldn’t resist piping up, next to Jesper. “Damn, Ignis. I’m not really surprised that you’re dirty, but I am disappointed.”
He paused. “Rune? As in…Rune Bloodwyne?” His tone cracked. “Sabine’s daughter?”
“The one and only,” Jesper answered for me. “Also, my mate.”
“I didn’t realize she was on this mission,” he stammered.
“Clearly. Because if you had, you’d have known better than to try to bury evidence in front of her.” Jesper muted his comms and looked at me. “You have an idea?”
“Oh, absolutely.” I dialed Mom, then Dad, and finally Pops.
He was the only one to pick up. “Hi, Roo. Need something?”
“Mom and Dad are busy, aren’t they?” I sighed.
“Yeah,” Pops chuckled. “Give them about an hour. They’ll be finished then. Probably.”
“Gross,” I said flatly. “Anyway, Ignis Ashcrest just tried to sweep an entire drake and dragon scale trafficking case under the rug. Can you interrupt their session to deal with this?”
“Consider it done,” he said, voice instantly sharp. “They’ll call Jesper in five.”
“Thanks, Pops.”
“Proud of you, kiddo. Keep that venom sharp.”
“Always.” I hung up and smirked at Jesper, who had already hung up with Ignis.
In less than five minutes, Mom’s voice came over the comms, crisp and furious. “Jesper, report.”
Jesper cut in calmly. “Evidence and one of the leaders of the operation in the fae market secured. Ignis ordered me to destroy the evidence and let the leader go.”
“Thank you, Agent Jesper,” she said smoothly. “I’ll handle this personally.”
I exhaled, adrenaline finally ebbing from the mission.
“Nice work,” Cassie whispered. “You’ve got guts to speak up against Ignis like that.”
“I am his boss’s daughter.” I shrugged, watching the chaos of the dismantled auction around us.
Fae soldiers took many fae prisoners, as they saw exactly what kind of things they were selling here.
“Valid point,” she acknowledged.
When we emerged into the night air of the fae market, it was a lot warmer than it had been below. Shoppers strolled past us as we made our way toward the fae portal to go home, oblivious to the smuggling den that had been dismantled beneath their feet.
Jesper signaled the all-clear. “Squad A, extraction complete.”
Slater’s voice hummed through the comms. “Venom baby, you were so hot when you worked the headpiece.”
“Focus,” Jesper muttered, though he was clearly amused.
“I was focusing on the moment,” he defended himself.
Zuko chimed in. “No, really. Did anyone get footage of that dagger spin Rune did? She looked like an avenging goddess when she stabbed the firedrake.”
“Don’t inflate her ego,” Dimitri warned.
“Too late,” I said, smirking. “My ego has been self-inflated for years.”
Koa’s bond surged with pride as they chuckled.
Back at HQ, the debrief took hours. Our mentors showed us how to log evidence, record statements, and sign paperwork. By the time Jesper dismissed us, dawn was bleeding over the horizon.
Slater nudged me as we walked toward the wayfaer teleporter. “So, poison or tea tonight?”
“You mean this morning?” Dimitri raised a brow at him.
“Before she gets some sleep,” Slater corrected himself.
“Both,” I said, grinning. “Make it a lethal blend.”
Dimitri chuckled, slipping an arm around my waist. “Your love for poison amuses me.”
“Poison keeps my magic reserves full.” I winked, but exhaustion filled me.
Each matebond pulsed faintly within my heart, and I wanted nothing more than to go to bed with them all around me. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be an attainable everyday goal for us. Not when we were all agents and Drecken was on the Supernatural Council.
Peace may not come easily for us, but I knew we wouldn’t stop fighting for it.