Delphine’s eyes went wide with panic. “She’s just more staff you paid off,” she accused Octavia, clutching her wounded arm tighter against her chest. I’d forgotten how weak shifter healing was. Her blood continued to drip onto the marble. “You’re all in on it! You just want to protect Octavia!”
Antoinette gasped.
Humphrey’s face flushed with anger. “Get out! You’re fired. All of you. We will not be manipulated in our own home!”
“You can’t fire us,” I said with a humorless laugh. “We don’tactuallywork for you.”
Slater’s voice crackled through the comms. “Actual footage is on its way to your devices. Enjoy.”
Bradley pulled out his own badge and phone, shedding his glamour as he tapped the screen.
He turned it toward them, showing the raw camera feed from the corridor of Delphine cutting herself and forcing the knife on Octavia.
“This is the real footage,” Bradley said. “We’re Council agents. We have no reason to falsify evidence for your daughter. You asked for an investigation. We gave you one.”
Archibald shook his head, his eyes fixed on Octavia. “I can’t believe you, Octavia. You’ve sunk this low.”
“Were you even watching?” Cassie asked flatly.
“And by the way,” I added, “therewaspoison in the tea at dinner. Cyanide, actually. Not enough to kill, but enough to really fuck someone up. I watched your ‘sweet’ little daughter put it in the cup. Not Octavia.”
“Get out,” Humphrey spat. “Clearly the Supernatural Council is not to be trusted. We withdraw our request. We drop all charges against Octavia.”
Octavia flinched again, shaking. “You brought ch-charges against me?”
I gently turned her away from her parents, my hand around her wrist. “Hey…you don’t have to stay here. We can relocate you. Put you in protective custody. In a different territory. New start.”
“Usually, you aren’t supposed to offer that,” Jesper said. “But I’ll allow it this time. This situation will only escalate.”
She shook her head quickly. “No, thank you. It doesn’t matter. They’ll never believe anyone over her, but they’re still my family. My grandfather made me promise to watch out for them…I made a blood pact with him. Ican’tleave.”
Behind us, Bradley and Cassie kept trying to explain the footage, the falsified accusations, the pattern, but Antoinette and Humphrey were already closing their ears.
Willful ignorance was loud.
“You’re sixteen,” I said to Octavia. “You don’t have to martyr yourself for them. I have a warlock mate that could easily break a blood pact.”
“If I leave,” she said, voice steadying, “they’ll only cling harder to Delphine, and she’ll hurt them next. She’ll take everything my grandfather worked so hard for. At least if I’m here, I can try. I have to at least try to honor my grandfather’s last wish.”
My heart twisted painfully, but I squeezed her hand. “If it gets worse, you contact the Supernatural Council. Give them your full name and tell them you want Rune Bloodwyne. I will come for you, Octavia.”
Her brown eyes met mine, filled with confusion and hesitation. “Thank you so much for believing me.”
“You deserve to be believed. I don’t think your grandfather would’ve wanted you to suffer like this,” I whispered to her.
Before she could answer, the front doors opened with a rush of cool night air, and Jesper walked in with Tobias and Arban flanking him. His draconic power rolling off him made everyone unconsciously step back.
“If your daughter is harmed again,” Jesper said, voice like steel, “we will not ignore it, and we are not talking about Delphine. We are talking about Octavia. You willnotlay a hand on her again. Do you understand me?”
“She is our daughter,” Humphrey argued. “She is harming our other one. We are disciplining her.”
“We have shown you proof that this is not the case. You refuse to accept it. That is your problem, not ours. Our work hereis done.” Jesper looked at Octavia. “Are you sure you don’t want protective relocation?”
“I can’t leave yet,” she said. “I have to protect my family.”
Jesper exhaled, his frustration the same as mine down the bond. “We respect your decision, but the door is open.”
“Get out,” Humphrey ordered, shaking with anger.
