Page 40 of Fatality on the Field

“I can try,” the professor says, and I give him an encouraging smile. “I don’t know if my… er, specific magic… will blend as well with your life magic, but I’m willing to try if it will help keep everyone safe.”

I slap my hands on my legs, looking at the men in the room with a determined set to my shoulders. “Now that we've settled that and everyone’s here, I’m going to let the snakes out if you people don’t feed me.”

I don’t know if I’ve seen five men move so fast in my life, but it makes both of the sides in my head preen with satisfaction.

twenty-four

LIAM

Despite my father’s bullshit, I am glad to be back in this realm. I believe our new allies will be extremely helpful in more ways than we’ve discovered, and I’m also thrilled to see my mate make another friend. Channing is lovely, and her support helps Morgana at this ridiculous school, but having someone who isn’t also an employee is good for her. Kat needs my mate as much as my macushla needs more people that don’t give a fuck about Magnus or the trial surrounding her. It’s the albatross around her neck and will be until the infamy dies down.

I hate it for her.

This morning, we ordered breakfast in and had a quiet, peaceful time for what I’m sure will be the last time for a while. Morgana got dressed in office wear afterward, kissing Lucas, Slade and me goodbye when her faithful assistant arrived at eight on the nose to take her to the office. Channing looked relieved to see her, chattering about letting Jackson and his team know that we’d re-emerged safely last night. Apparently, they were all snooping about the entire country looking for us, hoping Morgana’s disappearance from the State U area wouldn’t be noticed by the Council before we returned.

At her admission, Morgana turned bright red, and I knew she’d forgotten about the stupid tracker entirely when we were asked to travel to Hell to meet. Lucas, Iggy, and I exchanged a look at that, and I’m fairly certain we all acknowledged that we must get that removed in order to continue fighting off the bigger threat we’ve discovered. Having Morgana hauled to jail for accidentally violating the terms of her release won’t help any of us, and the damn thing is ridiculous anyway. I’m not sure how we’ll do it, but I know Lucas’ Nana is connected enough to help. The professor and I have ways to work on it as well, but ours aren’t friendly and will definitely require some sort of shitty bargain worse than dealing with demons.

And I’ve had enough of that shit for a good long while.

“Li, where are we going today?”

Shaking myself out of my musings, I look at Kaspar. “Morgana will be gone digging herself out of the mess in her office with Channing. Lucas is on the ice making up with his coach. I’m sure the professor has a similar build-up in his office, and Slade is working on packing up their place. I find myself unencumbered since we finished the semester before we left and we’ve dealt with my father. What would you suggest?”

The dragon runs a hand through his hair as he sips his coffee. “Well, there are several things that need attention we haven’t addressed. It’s nothing urgent, so I believe it’s escaped the lists.”

“Like what?” I ask curiously. “More skulking?”

His frown makes me laugh, and he sets his mug down. “Such as getting this fucking cursed crap out of this house. I know what we found in the one room we cleaned, and it has to go. Not just because this fucking place is likely filled to the joists with illegal and dangerous magic, but also it bothers Morgana, but not enough to do anything about it herself.”

I blink. That’s very intuitive for my old friend. Maybe he is actually trying now. “Okay, that’s true. We need to empty this garbage and antiquity museum, plus search every nook and cranny for hidden things that could cause trouble later. What else is bothering you?”

“The house itself, Liam. It is not small, but if everyone is to ‘move in’, it is not big enough. Obviously, that wouldn’t occur to Morgana because she’s so easily satisfied. But you and I know that in families that are polyamorous, the success rate is higher when there are places for everyone, including ones where they can be alone. That’s true for every species, even humans, and I do not think she grasps that. Her parents were monogamous, and while she may have had multiple partner relationships, they didn’t last.”

Damn. He’s on fire today.

“Yes, I believe you may be right. But this house belongs to the university, and it’s not like we can do shit to it, Kas.”

“For fuck’s sake, Li, sometimes you’re so dense.” My friend shakes his head and takes another drink of the coffee before he says, “You are a prince, dummy. Call the Board of Regents, offer to purchase and revamp the damn house onto the adjacent land after you tear down one of the next door houses, and tell them when you are no longer in residence, you will generously loan it out to future Fae staff to do residencies or whatever. You don’t have to mean it; you’re good enough at crafting documents and bargains to make it work for you, not them.”

“Hot damn, Kas, you’re a genius. I like it so much better when we’re working together instead of against one another. It’s like a symphony instead of a jingle.” I grin as I tap my fingers on the table, my mind racing with possibilities.

He rolls his eyes and sighs. “First, we have to get this damn place cleaned, saged out, and excavated completely from whatever the fuck Magnus Corona squirreled away. Focus on that for now. Who can we contact to help us ditch the shit?”

Putting my chin on my fist, I think about his question. “Honestly? I’m not sure around here. We haven’t needed any archivists or historians or even cleaners like that. We did the house we’re in ourselves, and nothing in it was strong enough to thwart me. But I don’t know what bad juju that dragon was picking up all over the globe and keeping for later. We need a scourge purifier, an archaeologist, a historian, a strong mage, and maybe even a fucking priest, for all I know.”

“I don’t think we’re going to run into a spider-walking chick who needs to be exorcised, Li.” Kaspar rises to his feet, taking his mug to the sink as I snicker. “Perhaps we should go to the prof’s office and ask for his help? He is the head of the damn magic department and someone who is going to live here quite soon.”

Nodding, I get up as well, taking my dishes over as well. “You’re probably right. Iggy will have information on how many of those people can be found on campus and were not embroiled in the dragon’s web of debauchery. He also will know where we can go besides Howl to find the rest of what we need. I’d prefer to avoid that place until our first bargain has been completed.”

I’ve had enough of the bad side of the demon race to last me for months.

After we get dressed, Kas and I head out of the house. We make sure all the security systems are engaged since we’re the last to leave and then stroll down Alumni Row slowly. I want to get this done so I can work on the second part of his plan, but we don’t want anyone to question why a prince is rushing around during break. There’s not much of that left, so there are more people meandering around than there were when we left. It’s a mix of students and staff, but the amount of stragglers milling about makes it obvious that the holiday is almost over.

“You can’t get too far ahead of this,” Kaspar says as we exit the staff housing street via the small forested area on the edge. “I feel you practically vibrating with excitement over there. While I know that creating a sidh for your mates—or what passes for it here—has you filled with energy, you have to be chill about this. The others don’t know about that drive, nor do they understand what it means to you.”

Sucking in an annoyed breath, I have to admit that he’s right. I haven’t given Morgana or Lucas much in the way of information on Fae and their mates. They’re not from Faerie, and supes here know jack and fuck all about the beings that not only descend from other realms but have lived much of their lives in them. Customs and behavior in Faerie aren’t always observed here, even by the full or half-blooded of my kind. They certainly don’t practice any of the secretive royal shit, either, and I have to prepare for that conversation.

It’s necessary, even if the family unit is not yet complete.