Chapter 18
rune
. . .
After a couple of weeks of a lull, we had another mission, and for once, it didn’t involve humans. That was, however, the only positive thing about it.
We were in our briefing room at HQ, the obsidian table shining under the overhead fae light.
Jesper stood at the front, hands clasped behind his back as a holographic map of Briesia glowed above the console. His brows were knitted tight, tension rolling off him in faint draconic magic pulses.
Unease slithered down the matebond from him, and I frowned.
“We’ve been called to Briesia,” he said, voice clipped. “One of the wealthy shifter families has petitioned the Supernatural Council with urgency. The Montclairs.”
I frowned, not recognizing the name at all. Though, I didn’t know many shifters.
Morgan scoffed. “The Montclairs, seriously?”
I glanced over at her. She was a jaguar shifter, so it would make sense that she knew more about the society in Briesia.
“Who are they, exactly?” Koa asked.
“Sugar glider shifters. One of the few left. They’re considered an endangered species,” she muttered. “That alone got them known. They have generational wealth, and they own a lot of different businesses throughout the territory.”
“What kind of businesses?” Lysa asked, tilting her head.
Morgan shrugged. “Bigger enterprises like manufacturing tech, retail, and I think a couple of florist shops.”
“That’s correct.” Jesper flicked his fingers, and a family crest appeared in the air with silver sugar gliders circling an elaborate tree.
“They claim that their biological daughter, Octavia Montclair, has been poisoning and attempting to murder their adopted daughter, Delphine Montclair. They’re insisting we detain Octavia and bring charges. ”
“And the evidence?” Slater asked, crossing his arms.
“None.”
I frowned. That didn’t seem like something that supernatural agents needed to be investigating…
Jesper paced once, jaw tight. “They want their own daughter taken and locked up in Apex Penitentiary immediately with no proof or evidence. Just baseless accusations. Sabine already had agents do an initial pass, but they found no evidence that Octavia is attempting to hurt or murder Delphine. The Montclairs insisted that the other squad was ‘bought off’ by Octavia before they completed their full investigation.”
My jaw clenched.
As if any squad could be bought off.
“The Montclairs are powerful in Briesia,” Jesper sighed. “They have a long history of charity work for the shifters there, too. They’ve helped pull entire villages out of squalor. Politically, they are inconvenient.”
“So, we can’t just walk in and charge them with being shitty parents?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, no.” Jesper ran a hand through his hair.
“The council will not arrest anyone without proof, and we will not directly intervene in their domestic arrangements without cause. Our mission is strictly undercover verification and documentation. We need to get the full truth on record. Sabine assured me she would handle the politics after our mission was complete. The family can decide whether to pursue charges once we file our report, but the biological daughter does not have a positive reputation among the elite of Briesia.”
“So, we’re there to be witnesses,” Dimitri assumed, his arms folded as he stood beside me.
“Exactly that.” Jesper nodded. “We’re there to observe, record, and protect, if needed.
At least, until we know the full story. If Octavia is indeed trying to kill her adopted sister, we will of course intervene.
But she’s only sixteen, so she will probably be rehabilitated depending on the full situation. ”
He brought up a blueprint of the Montclair estate. It was a huge, sprawling mansion with multiple wings, gardens, and a central marble courtyard.
My eyebrows shot up. I thought our Bloodwyne Estate was big, but that was…intense.
“Here’s the plan. The spies will be the only agents to go in.
” His gaze moved to me, Dimitri, Cassie, and Bradley.
“You four will enter as new staff. No one usually suspects the help. Cassie and Rune will be maids. Bradley and Dimitri will take on the role of being butlers. You’ve already been added to their staff schedule. ”
Cassie snorted. “We love that.”
“Yep,” Bradley grunted.
“Everyone else stays off their radar,” Jesper continued.
“Slater and Corin will control the security feeds and ward scans from a mobile surveillance point outside the estate where I will be giving orders from. Lysa will run data and intel from there with Kane and Sylver. Morgan and Koa are on standby as wellness evaluators if we need to step in for anything dangerous.”
He nodded toward Tobias, Jesse, April, and Kyle. “The enforcer team will stay close to the property line, ready to breach if things go sideways. Arban and Eleanor will remain with the enforcers as proper diplomatic cover if we have issues with the family on a council-based scale.”
He looked back at the spies. “You are the eyes inside. Find the truth. Record it. No one in that house knows who you are.”
“Got it.” I said, with various murmurs of agreements from Dimitri, Cassie, and Bradley.
“And Rune?” Jesper added, meeting my gaze. “No matter how bad it gets, we are not authorized to remove anyone without consent. Clear?”
I nodded. “Clear.”
The mission upload flashed across my wristband.
An hour later, Dimitri, Bradley, Cassie, and I arrived at the mansion.
The Montclair estate was perched on a low, rolling hill, surrounded by lush gardens and tall hedges shaped into adorable sugar gliders.
The house itself looked more like a palace than a mansion, with four stories of pale marble and high arched windows, balconies dripping with ivy, and an enormous double-door entrance flanked by stone sugar gliders.
Black-and-white marble floors gleamed so brightly that I could see my glamoured reflection in them when we walked in.
Two grand staircases curved up and met at a wide landing, where a massive crystal chandelier dripped enchanted light.
Gold accents framed every doorway, and oil paintings of different Montclairs stared down at us from ornate frames.
I tugged at the maid dress they’d put me in.
It was black with a white apron, fitted neatly like a stereotypical maid outfit and completely not my style.
My glamour kept my facial structure, but I had brown hair and brown eyes instead of my golden eyes and green hair.
I stood next to Dimitri, who looked unbearably elegant in his butler suit, dark black coiled curls, missing my favorite white patch, and brown eyes.
Cassie and Bradley stood on the other side, both of them also in uniform with their glamours of brown hair and brown eyes as well.
The Montclairs entered as if they were royalty, and I recognized each family member from Lysa’s in-depth briefing of each one.
Antoinette Montclair wore a fitted cream dress with a diamond necklace. Streaks of caramel highlights threaded through her perfectly styled brown hair, and her brown eyes were sharp and appraising.
Humphrey Montclair wore a tailored suit that probably cost more than everything I owned combined, his darker brown hair slicked back with eyes just as cold.
My family had money.
We just didn’t see the need to flaunt it like this.
They stopped in front of us and looked us over with the kind of scrutiny even the academy never did.
“Absolutely no stealing,” Antoinette said crisply.
“Do be smart and learn from our existing staff. Our adopted daughter is more like a daughter to us than our own, and her name is Delphine. You will need to know that our unfortunate biological daughter, Octavia, has been targeting her. As staff, it is your duty to report anything you see.”
“If you witness Octavia harming Delphine,” Humphrey added, “you will inform us immediately and intervene. Do you understand?”
“Does she target her often?” Bradley asked, tone casual but curious.
Humphrey’s gaze sharpened into a withering look. “That is not for you to ask. You are to observe and report. Do you understand?”
Bradley gave a lazy shrug. “Understood. My bad…sir.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smirking at just how unconcerned he seemed to be.
A rustle of fabric on the marble drew my attention.
A girl entered the foyer from the left hallway with mousy brown hair that was glossy from a fresh blowout, styled to fall over one shoulder. Her bright blue eyes sparkled with what looked like happiness, and her dress was flowing and pastel.
“Hi, Mom, Dad,” she greeted her parents brightly, then stopped when she saw us. My instincts prickled at the distaste that flickered over her expression before she smoothed it away. “Are they our new staff?”
“Yes, Delphine,” Antoinette said, her gaze softening as she looked at her. “We were just explaining to them that your sister keeps harming you, so they know to watch out for you.”
Delphine clasped her hands together and gave us a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Thank you for watching out for me. I appreciate it.”
“They are staff,” Humphrey said with a scoff. “It’s what we pay them for.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
“What a fucking prick,” Slater grunted through the comms.
I agreed.
Another pair of footsteps echoed before a second girl hesitated at the edge of the foyer, as if unsure she was even allowed to step inside.
That was Octavia Montclair.
Her brown hair was the same shade as her mother’s, with the same caramel highlights, but it was scraped up into a messy bun that looked like it hadn’t been brushed properly in days. She wore an oversized T-shirt and sweatpants instead of designer clothes like the other Montclairs we had met.
Her shoulders were hunched, with her brown eyes fixed on the floor. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she murmured, starting to back away. “I didn’t realize people were in here.”
“Don’t be silly, Octavia,” Antoinette said, rolling her eyes. “Come meet the new staff.”