Chapter 26 Jesper
jesper
. . .
I grew up with Darian.
We were in our moms’ wombs when they escaped from Blezen. I learned to fly by racing him over the ravine behind our old house in Fate Hollow. We shared toys. We shared pain. We shared a bloodline.
We were family.
But somehow, we did not share the same morals.
I naively thought that he was like me, that he would do anything to protect his mom. That illusion shattered the moment I heard his last words to Aunt Maelis. The way he looked his own mother in the eye, unrepentant, and spat those words at her.
It broke her.
It broke my mother.
It cracked something in me I didn’t know was there.
I wasn’t surprised Drecken was the first to take action. If anyone was going to see to it that he would suffer before his death, it was the ancient warlock who loved my mate with the same devotion I had for her.
As much as I’d wanted to kill him for what he'd done to Rune, that was her justice to take. And Drecken gave it to her.
I’d stayed with Mom and Aunt Maelis all night after his execution, listening to the quiet sounds of grief in a house that had already survived too much.
I left at dawn only because Sabine called me in for a press conference, but my mind and heart still ached.
I couldn’t get the memory out of my head of Aunt Maelis clutching Darian’s urn to her chest.
He had let us all down, and he had paid for it with his life.
The constant light of snapping cameras in the Supernatural Council’s Headquarters made my magic crawl over my scales.
Reporters for the News Sector were packed shoulder-to-shoulder, murmurs rolling through the room as Sabine stepped up to the podium.
I flanked her right side, jaw set, hands behind my back in the at-ease posture that felt more like a cage today than it ever had before.
“What about your daughter’s involvement with the humans?” a reporter snapped before Sabine had a chance to speak. “The public has—”
My vision burned red.
Sabine’s anger flared, a sharp magical snap that made the nearest microphones pop. “Rune was not involved with the humansss,” she hissed, each word precise. “She was taken.” She turned her head just enough to catch my eye. “Jesper. Explain.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose, breathed out through her teeth, then stepped back from the podium so I could take it.
I stepped forward, and the murmurs grew. “Rune Bloodwyne was framed,” I said, voice amplified in the hall. “By a human posing as an imp.”
“How could a human pose as a supernatural?” another reporter demanded, disbelief clear in his voice.
“If you were paying attention to the Supernatural Council’s last statement,” I answered evenly, “you’d know humans have been using internal devices to pump supernatural DNA and magical essence into their own systems. Enough to mimic a small amount of magical essence.
Enough to pose as what they will never be. ”
A hush rippled through the room.
Cameras were trained on me, catching every word that came out of my mouth.
“This particular human had a magical essence inside her that made her able to use imp powers,” I continued.
“Not well, but enough to pass as a lower-tier supernatural in the entrance exams. Imps can be incredibly powerful,” I added, because I wasn’t about to insult an entire species, “but they’re also one of the easiest for a human to fake without drawing attention.
She passed our entrance exams for our agent training academy. That’s the problem.”
“That's impossible!” another reporter screamed out. “How can a human posing as an imp even get through that? Most supernaturals can't pass the entrance exams.”
I nodded. “Valid point, but she did, and that's what's most concerning.”
“And this imposter,” someone near the front asked, “is the same young woman who came to us with the story about Rune Bloodwyne staging her own kidnapping?”
“Yes,” I said. “You put her on your broadcasts. You believed her. You passed her lie to the entirety of Kalista. You thought she was an imp, too.”
Silence answered me.
“Her persona was Aura Whimzle, the imp,” I went on.
“Her real name is Allison Whettlock. Her father is the leader of the Human Resistance Network. It’s a group directly opposing both the Human Council and the Supernatural Council.
They’re the ones kidnapping our people. Taking supernaturals from their homes, our streets, and even our academies.
They are dragging the supernaturals back to hidden human facilities and experimenting on them.
They are bleeding our people dry and stealing magical essence for their own advancement. ”
“How could this happen without your knowledge?” a reporter asked, voice only a little less accusatory this time.
Sabine stepped up beside me, hand resting lightly on the podium. “We knew something was wrong,” she said. “That’s why I sent an agent undercover with the humans.”
Gasps rang out.
“As you already know,” Sabine continued, “Theron Ashbourne has been cleared of all wrongdoing. The humans framed him with forged documents that were very similar to what was planted on my daughter’s tablet.
His son, Koa, volunteered to go undercover as a double agent.
He infiltrated the human faction harming supernaturals and confirmed what we feared.
” Her jaw tightened. “There is more that he discovered that will not be released to the public yet.”
“Yet?” someone echoed.
“Yet,” Sabine repeated. “What I will tell you is this: the Human and Supernatural Peace Treaty is on very thin ice. If you see humans on supernatural territory, you report it immediately. We are not taking this lightly. Just weeks ago, humans attempted to abduct a troll child in Fate Hollow. Her father and brother barely stopped it in time.”
“This is outrageous!” a reporter shouted.
Others exploded in overlapping questions.
Sabine raised her hand. “The Human Council isss doing its best to work with usss,” she explained.
“But the humans’ problemsss are bleeding into our territory.
Just because the Human Council denounces the faction does not mean the treaty will survive.
It also does not mean that it will dissolve.
Be vigilant, especially near the human border.
We have had peace with the humans for five decades since the war, but what we have now is not peace. ”
“Do you think there will be war?” another reporter asked.
“The Supernatural Council isss not ruling it out,” Sabine said. “That dependsss on whether the Human Council can control their own.” She drew a breath. “The point of this conference was to answer questions about humans. We have. Now, we will take a few unrelated to the humansss.”
A hand went up. “What happened to the icedrake who competed for House of Fortitude in the House Gauntlet two years ago? He was projected to be a top agent, but then he vanished.”
My muscles locked. I knew this one was coming. Darian had been a public favorite after the House Gauntlet aired.
“Darian Wyvernheart was my cousin,” I answered, stepping forward again.
“He was convicted after multiple victims came forward with evidence of sexual assault, rape, and incapacitating his victims with drugs. The council sentenced him to death.” I paused and took a breath.
“Last night, that sentence was carried out.”
Voices rose with dozens of questions at once, but the sounds tunneled in my ears.
Sabine cleared her throat, cutting through the noise.
“We have answered enough today,” she said.
“We expect your cooperation in remaining vigilant. We will do our part to ensure no human infiltrates the agent training academy again and that our agents are held to the highest ethical standards. This year’s House Gauntlet will make up for the lack thereof last year.
Conference isss over. Aurelia will be back for the press conferences per usual next week.
” She stepped down from the stage without waiting for a response.
I followed, hating the way anger spurred in my gut even thinking about what all Darian had done.
We made it out of the main hall and into one of the side corridors before Sabine turned to me. “Thank you, Jesper.”
I inclined my head. “Happy to help. Though, I was surprised they sent you for the conference.”
She let out an annoyed huff. “You and I both.”
“Jesper!”
Rune’s voice hit me an instant before her arms did, wrapping tight around my waist. I instinctively turned and caught her.
Her golden eyes shone up at me, pride shimmering in the bond. “You are literally so attractive. You looked so professional up there, mister agent. I’m sorry you had to answer about Darian, though.”
The anger in my chest unclenched as her midnight orchid scent seeped into me.
I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “It’s okay. It was going to have to be announced eventually.”
Sabine smiled faintly. “Why don’t you two go take some time,” she suggested. “After last night, you need it.”
“Thank you,” I said. “We’ll check back in later.”
“See you, Mom,” Rune said, waving.
Sabine’s mouth twitched upward, and she nodded once before heading off toward another corridor.
I laced my fingers through Rune’s and led her out of Headquarters, toward the edge of the capital where the ground fell away into open sky and distant mountains.
“How do you feel about flying?” I asked.
She squinted at me. “I’m a basilisk, so I usually stick to the ground. Why?”
“I was thinking that we could visit the abandoned mines,” I said, nodding toward the white-tipped peaks of the Blood Hollow range. “It’s faster if I take you in dragon form. Unless…” I arched a brow. “You’re afraid of heights.”
She winced. “Not afraid. I used to want to be able to fly, but honestly, I’m just more of a land snake.”
A flutter of motion shimmered at her shoulder as her chaos manifestation, Worthy, the winged serpent bound into Slater’s mate mark on her, peeled out of her skin.