Page 16 of Fatality on the Field

Kat stands and wrinkles her nose. “She’s right. Humans do this, too, and um… well, it’s not working out well for them right now. So we can be smarter, right? I don’t think everyone is ready to share their entire being with everyone else, including me. Let’s act in accordance with the enormous amount of experience this group brings to the table, so I can not have a goddamn panic attack because of all the strife, okay?”

That stops the caliphate demons in their tracks—even the prince, though he tries not to show it. The panda stands and wraps an arm around her waist, steadying her without making a big deal about it. I like him; he’s got enough calm to help my friend find her center.

“KK and Rogue have it nailed.” He turns to look at my professor with a congenial grin. “And thanks to the prof for making my life a lot easier after cooking. Seriously, man, that was fucking brilliant. Now can we please divvy up the shit we need to do before I get snoozy?”

Li frowns. “Snoozy? We just got up and ate, man.”

“He’s a panda demon,” Kat says to my prince. “He gets sleepy a lot, especially ‘cause of the sleep demon thing. I keep him awake in late day classes, and we have energy potions he uses for nighttime stuff. It’s like… natural?”

My Fae gives her a gentle nod of understanding. “I see. That’s helpful to know when we’re all planning. None of our family have species-related issues that need consideration. Right, Morgana?”

“Correct,” I say as I look at Rogue. “Any of yours?”

“Nope. Other than twin bickering, we should be okay. Well… I can’t fly anywhere. Not without putting you all at serious risk. My dust is highly lethal to non-mates, so I don’t use it unless I’m trapped. I will fly if everyone is very, very far away and I’m fairly certain I won’t accidentally kill someone because it will dissipate before it hits ground-level.”

Damon frowns at her, grumbling, “Pretty risky at the damn rave, Sparkles.”

She winks at him, shrugging a bit. “I’m occasionally less conscientious than I should be when I'm pissed off. That’s probably also a good thing to note for everyone.”

Her bird screeches from the nest where it’s been eating with Kat’s little rodent, and Lucas laughs. “I guess your birdman agrees.”

“He would,” the pink-haired woman snorts. “Javi definitely knows I get reckless with my temper.”

“Okay, well…” I sigh and look down at the demon boys pointedly. “…that makes it your turn. Anything besides the bear falling asleep we need to watch for?”

“Jasper’s temper,” Kat mutters and the two demons on either side of her snigger. She elbows the panda and the cobra, but neither of them look remotely sorry. “Zav hides in his tails when he’s worried or upset, but I don’t think that matters. Oriel steals shit, so watch your pockets.”

“Hey!” The emo-looking demon looks down at her with a pout. “I’m not stealing from your friends, little shadow. But if I wanted to, they’d all be missing everything but their clothes by now.”

Somehow, I believe the arrogant shit, and that makes me wonder if he could get into the one thing of Magnus’ that I haven’t mentioned to anyone—not even at the trial.

“Again, we are off topic,” Slash says as he looks at everyone with a stern expression. “Anton, based on this information and yesterday’s, how should we proceed?”

Jasper gives his second a dark look, but he doesn’t interrupt. He’s likely used to giving the strategist the floor, but I doubt he ever likes it. By the way KK looks at the huge finned guy, I’d bet some of that is exacerbated by unadmitted jealousy, too.

“I believe that the professor, Xerxes, Slade, Rogue, Zavida, Slash, and the Gemini should work with Oriel to deal with the book.” The fussy peacock tilts his head, looking pensive for a moment before he continues. “I would like to go to see the Keeper with KK, Jasper, Kaspar, Archie, Prince Liam, Lucas, Salem, and Morgana. That will give each group enough magic and brawn to be safe, but also enough shifters going to the compound to notice scents more accurately.”

Thinking about that configuration, I realize that he’s optimized the groups even better tonight now that it’s narrowed to two. “You believe visiting that one place is more important than any of the others?”

Anton grimaces, shaking his head. “No, but I believe we found the most important puzzle the knowledge enclave held. Solving its riddle is necessary, and if I were to calculate the two other places, I’d hide outsider items on campus, it would be near the Wastes and in the restricted section of the library. We cannot do the latter until we are all together again. The twins made that clear when we found them.”

“He’s spot-on with that, Morgana. We felt multiple magics on the locks and I wouldn’t want anyone to risk doing it without proper support after the rooms yesterday,” Damon says softly. “It took a lot of us and a lot of energy to crack that fucking maze of spells. The library is probably worse, but we didn’t know about it then.”

I nod, rising to my feet and looking at the dragon prince. “Alright then. Let’s take the damn animals with us and go visit this Keeper. If Kat likes him, I look forward to meeting him.”

The look on the demon’s faces is priceless and I don’t know if I should be terrified or excited.

* The space beneath is empty space The stuff above does not belong I bid it to its rightful place To clear the air and right this wrong

ten

LIAM

I’m quite interested in this Keeper demon. The Discordia people speak of him with both reverence and fear—except for the small female they’re flocking around. Morgana seems eager to meet Arces as well, but I believe that’s because Kat is chuffed to be joining the group headed out of the dorm. My guess is that she was worried they’d make her stay to ensure her safety, but that didn’t happen and she’s brimming with happiness over it.

The power I sense in her is impressive, but it’s a hard read because she has not yet entirely emerged.

“Prince Liam?”