Sabine groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Stop causing conflict between your dads.”
Before Rune could argue further, Sabine flicked her dull green eyes toward us, finally acknowledging our presence. “I’ll talk to him, but we have company right now. Drop it, okay?”
Rune turned—losing her footing and immediately stumbled straight into Jesper. “Oof!”
Jesper made an alarmed squeak, nearly toppling over from the unexpected impact. “I—I’m so sorry,” he stammered, his usual composed demeanor unraveling in an instant as he carefully reached out and helped her steady herself.
Rune blinked up at him like she was entirely unfazed. “Uh, it’s cool. I walked into you, you know.”
Jesper, however, looked ready to sink into the floor as he quickly moved his hands off her like she burned him. “Still, my apologies.” He bowed slightly, his movement stiff, but I caught the bead of sweat forming on his temple.
Rune tilted her head, her golden eyes scanning him, amused. “It’s fine. You’re Jesper, right?” Then she smiled—a casual, confident grin. “Mom’s told me all about you. Intelligent, competent, arealagent she can trust.”
Jesper’s heartbeat stuttered, and thanks to my demonic hearing, I could hear it. “I—um, thank you. It’s an honor for Coordinator Bloodwyne to think so highly of me.” He reached up, smoothing back his long white hair.
“Maybe you could teach me agent things.” Rune’s eyes lit up with excitement at her own idea.
“Rune,” Sabine groaned. “You cannot be trained by my agents, either.”
“Mom!” Rune pouted, but Jesper looked like he was about to pass out from even having her attention on him.
“We will discuss this later, Rune. Okay?” Sabine sighed.
“Sure.” Rune smirked and nodded before flicking her gaze at Jesper again. “I’ll see you around, agent.”
“You will?” Jesper’s eyes widened. “I—uh, yeah, sure. S-See you around, Rune.”
Though, a sharp glare came from his side and was directed at Rune.
April—the student who was shadowing him.
She stood near Jesper, eyes narrowing at Rune with an intensity that practically radiated daggers.
Rune wasn’t even bothered, though. She merely raised a brow at her. “Did I do something to piss you off?”
April’s lips parted in shock, but before she could rebuttal, Sabine cleared her throat. “April, I know you’re shadowing Jesper, but he can brief you on this meeting. You’ve been through a pretty tough mission. Why don’t you go get some rest?”
April visibly stiffened before gasping softly. “Of course, Coordinator Bloodwyne. Thank you.” She quickly ducked her head, then scurried out of the room, her exit careful, measured.
Rune rolled her eyes.
Sabine turned back to Jesper, bringing the conversation back on track. “Brief me, please.”
Jesper straightened, gathering himself from his interaction with Sabine’s daughter. “The ritual site was corrupted with dark magic but contained to the site itself. There were guards and one infected demon, but Gravesend neutralized it, and Grimshaw—” He hesitated briefly, his gaze flicking toward Skel. “—has some very…unique abilities. We didn’t have to do much except destroy the altar.”
Rune’s golden eyes flickered with interest as she snapped her attention to me and Skel. “So, you two completed the whole mission practically by yourselves? Fate's, that's so fucking cool!”
“Indeed.” Sabine’s lips twitched into a smile.
“We were happy to help,” I replied.
“It was good practice,” Skel admitted, scratching the back of his neck.
A beat of silence passed before Rune grinned wider, her eyes locking onto me with an intensity that sent a faint ripple through the air. “I can almost taste your power,” she blurted, her voice tinged with curiosity. “Your magical energy is intense. I like you.”
Heat bloomed across my cheeks at the sudden compliment. “Thank you.” I paused, studying her again before adding, “Your soul is probably one of the most unique I’ve ever sensed. I like you, too.”
Rune’s grin softened into something more genuine. “Aw, thank you!”
