Page 75 of Fatality on the Field

Slade straightens, his face earnest. “I’m at the Beanery until two, then I have lessons and I’ll check in with Channing. If you want, I can also drop in on the students at the hospital before my shift.”

Morgana nods. “Excellent. I’m in the office all day, but for any emergencies, as I deal with all the Bowl prep and Council shit.” She looks at Liam, who’s already made a new note in his margin. “Your Highness, what’s the Court’s play today?”

“Two morning classes and then I’m free—sort of,” he says with a grimace. “I have lunch with an envoy from Reaping now that they’ve invested in the Bowl. It is doubtful I won’t get visits from the other three envoys as well, so I’m keeping my schedule open. Kaspar will stay with me during those court things and snoop while I’m in class.”

“Lucas?” she says after a sip. ‘What about you?”

“Practice. Library to do a paper. Two classes. Library again. I’d like to go to the hospital with Slade, though, so I might cut practice. Coach can bitch at me if he wants.” The bear grins and shrugs. “He doesn’t have anyone good enough to replace me.”

Before she can ask, I sigh heavily. “I’m going to meet my father for lunch after my morning class. Perhaps I can glean information or get the magical families to bid on outstanding things to ease your burden, Morgana. However, it will cost me, which means I can only check in before I go and after I head for campus. You can’t track me nor can your friend Eli, just keep that in mind.”

For a moment, there’s no sound but the simmer of the coffee maker and the distant, ticking clock. Then, as if on cue, everyone starts moving at once. Lucas stands to clear the table, Kaspar finishes his food, and Slade starts gathering mugs as Liam loads the dishwasher.

Morgana hangs back for a moment, watching the group disperse before she stares at me. “I don’t like it, Iggy. None of the others want to discuss that, even Slade, and by the way they all ran off to clean, I know that means you’re not safe in this plan.”

“Are we safe anywhere but here lately?” I ask, pretending to be playful. Her pointed look makes me sigh and I shrug. “Look, it’s never predictable, probably not safe, but also necessary occasionally. I will do my best not to fucking piss him off and that might make it less dangerous. Happy?”

She considers for a long moment. “I don’t know if it’s good, but we have to do risky shit right now. The only thing scarier than chaos at this event is the idea that someone out there is manufacturing it without conscience. They do not care who lives and dies—the poisoned boxes showed us that.”

“Then I will go and see what I can get my drunken father to say when I visit.” I give her a smirk as I rise to my feet. “He’s the most crooked and knowledgeable source in this realm’s magical world in this area. We need to know what mages may be doing to help the baddies we’re trying to track. I can help with that.”

“You know you’re part of this family even if you don’t risk your neck, right, Iggy?” Morgana murmurs as she looks at me. “No one needs you to prove that.”

I blink, caught off-guard by the bluntness, then laugh. “Yeah, I know. It’s nice to hear it, though.”

However, I’m still going to do this and one day, I’m even going to impress her—that you can bet the house on.

forty-six

MORGANA

My mouth is full of warm muffin, steam, and just enough dopamine to temporarily stop me from beheading the next person who interrupts my morning snack. So, of course, Channing storms into my office like a startup CEO arriving late to her own TED Talk. My lips curve up as I note that her hair is a bit messy in the up-do, one hand is still bandaged from her post-triage adventures, and the other is gripping two nuclear-grade coffees and an iPad.

Channing is definitely the only person at work who could do this and keep her noggin this week.

I watch as she collapses into the armchair across from my desk, juggling her whole mess so that the tablet drops to the ground and she growls softly. The movement makes both coffees slosh—mine is labeled Boss Bitch in block-lettered Sharpie, which is hysterical. The sticker says hers is a triple-shot horror-show of oat milk, cinnamon, and what might be a magical ingredient I don’t recognize. I didn’t ask her to damn near speed race to the Beanery to get good coffee when she microwaved my muffin, but that’s how good this woman is at her job.

Des, my emotional support snake and pending HR violation, is so relaxed she’s half-melting around my left ear, her tongue poking out in slow, measured intervals like she’s basking in the post-muffin calm. I brush a crumb off my collarbone, then arch a brow at my friend’s injured hand. “How’s that doing? It’s healing, right?”

She cocks her head and examines the wrap before she shrugs. “I’ll live, according to Kendie. Typing is a bitch after a longer stint, but I can swipe with my thumb easily.” To demonstrate, she leans over to pick up her iPad, unlocks it, stabs at a notifications cluster, and flicks the screen in my direction. “By the way, I’ve been wondering about this. You have mail from someone named Kat, and I haven’t been able to figure out where to triage it.”

I reach for the tablet to peer at it, but Channing is already scrolling and summarizing as she goes. “It’s mostly encrypted, but the gist is that she and her… I want to say boyfriends, but the email makes it sound more like brothers-in-arms?” She looks up. “Whichever it is, they’re busy fixing something. She also says that she misses you, and someone named Rogue, but she was glad you came. Also, she has not heard from Rogue since she left with her… family? She wonders if you have, and says that she had a talk with someone named Jasper.”

I snort, which sends a little shockwave of crumb and sugar dust through the air. “That must have been a hoot. His ego makes Iggy’s look inadequate. I mean, just because he’s the prince of Hell…”

Channing blinks at me as her mouth hangs open for a second and then she says, “Damn, M. You don’t travel light when it comes to friends, do you? How did you guys rub elbows with Hell’s royalty again?”

“We met them at that blasted meeting, as you know, and we disappeared this month because we were invited to their school,” I reply as I sigh. “Kat is a new friend, via the worst possible reality algorithms. You’ll enjoy this; she’s attending an all-boys demon university down there, passing herself off as a guy, while juggling seven royal demons chasing her tail. It’s pretty amusing to watch, but also she’s just young enough to be kicking their ancient asses without worrying about the kind of retribution an older woman would.”

“So she’s… human? That can’t be, not if a Hell-based college took her in. Right?”

I shake my head and then take another bite of my muffin. “Well, I heard about several shifts while I was there and I’m not sure that’s all, which makes her a magnet for trouble. However, I think the girl and her doting demons are good allies, as are Rogue and her band of dudes. I refuse to turn away help when it comes, due to all the nonsense going on at present.”

A beat of quiet falls, broken only by our breath and Des’s occasional hissing. Finally, I smile at my friend as she types on the tablet. “What should I reply about the books she mentioned? Did you handle that?”

I groan. “No, but Li told me he ran by the bookstore to speak with Phaedra since I’d forgotten. Right now, my men are actually behaving, unlike Kat’s, and they’re helping me pick up the pieces when I drop shit this week. Honestly, I’m kind of impressed, but don’t tell them, or their comparably monumentous egos will swell so big they’ll have to sleep in the yard.”

Channing almost spits out her coffee as she snorts and then says, “Got it. I don’t see a response from the Rogue person yet, so I’ll tell her so. Anything else I should say? I’m not being nosy, mind, I just want to make certain you get through all this stuff without losing your mind.”