Page 1 of Fatality on the Field

one

MORGANA

When I wake up, I note that there isn’t any light filtering in from the windows.

At home, we have curtains, but there’s always slivers that escape and denote the beginning of the day, even in the winter. We’re sleeping on a couch that folds in the middle of the room, so the windows are in the bedrooms. Stretching my limbs carefully, I frown when I realize Slade isn’t back, and it fades when I note that Lucas has sprawled in such a way that he’s touching Li and me both as much as he can.

He’s so damned cute when he emotes that I almost find myself being all girly about it.

“Enough of that,” I mutter to myself.

Liam shifts, murmuring sleepily, “Didn’t do anything. Sleeping.”

Sighing as I fight off more totally sappy feelings so my brain will cooperate, I ruffle his hair gently. “True, but it’s time to get up. The West Coast gang will emerge from their room soon enough, and we have to figure out where the hell Slade went before the demons invade to use their kitchen.”

He sits up, blinking as he looks around. “Slade’s missing? Why didn’t you wake me up sooner? We have to⁠—”

I place my finger against his lips with a soft chuckle. “I’m not worried. Wherever he’s been since we all snuck back here last night is probably not bad, or alarms would have gone up all over the floor. I just want to locate him, so we can have some time alone before the crowds invade.”

“Too late, woman. I’m totally awake or something.”

My eyes dart to the woman sporting pink and purple bedhead as she rubs her hands over her face. I wink at her before I shake Lucas’s shoulder, hoping to wake the snoozing bear so I can move. “Well, shit. As you heard, I’ve got a disappearing mate—though I’m sure it’s not something to rally troops over. How did you and yours do in the panda’s domain?”

Damon walks out, followed by his twin and the lion. They all look grumpy and rumpled, but remarkably well-rested for sharing a smaller space than I assume they are used to. The bird screams a ‘good morning’ and I wince, but it finally rouses Lucas enough for him to move. My bladder is immediately grateful, and I move to get up as I ask Rogue, “Bathroom time for the ladies?”

“Hell yes,” she replies. “Let’s go do our thing before the glut of men makes it uninhabitable for an hour.”

Snorting, I make sure I’m steady on my feet and then follow her toward the door to the dorm. Before we leave, I look over my shoulder. “Hey, put all the sleeping stuff away and make sure the rooms are back in order? Please? I don’t want to be rude guests.”

Lucas yawns, scratching his bare abs in an enticing display as he nods. “On it, Lady M. Off you go.”

Rogue whistles low. “Man, that boy is trainnnnnned. Take note, assholes. Lucas is winning best dude of the day, and he’s not even awake yet.”

A chorus of protests echoes as we exit the dorm and head down the hall to the bathroom. I bite my lip, hoping whatever magical mojo Liam did on the place covers our scents as well as he swore it would. I didn’t consider that in my pre-caffeine stupor when I agreed to join Rogue, and now I’m concerned everyone will know. I’m not shy about sex, obviously, and I can bang my mates in the bathroom if I want, but again…

My mother didn’t raise a shitty guest, and the whole patriarchal BS that women get drilled into them about public presentation is riding me hard this morning.

“You are thinking way too hard for this early,” Rogue says as we enter the communal bathroom. “What gives?”

“Uh, I don’t know. My brain’s sort of spinning on ‘how to be a good guest’ and then rebelling because my mom taught me that shit, despite it being really sort of… outdated nonsense in some ways? I mean, you don’t do some stuff when you’re a guest because you respect the people hosting, but other stuff in that mental toolkit is so… ‘women are expected to be’ kinds of shit. You know?”

The Fae snorts and shakes her head. “Not from experience, no. It’s really weird, but the Kellys just did not teach us a lot of ‘normal’ shit. As I got older and tried to reconcile them by selling off Reck, I realized that not all ‘lost one’ peeps are adopted out to Society-tied folk who are interested in having kids. It’s also like a status symbol? And when they don’t get what they’re ‘paying’ for via the cost of raising a kid, the ones who were doing it for the wrong reasons can just send people back.”

I blink. “Really? Like, more than just your folks have done that?”

“My folks definitely did not send Reck back through the normal channels. I scoured the Society archives, even ones I wasn’t supposed to see. Rebel got Damon to backdoor hack us into them to find him when we were in high school. Reck was literally sold, not returned, we believe.” Rogue sighs as she heads in to deal with her business, and I just gape for a moment.

Not the time to handle it now, but I’m definitely asking Jax and Eli for help and clarity on this ‘lost ones’ adopting bullshit.

When we’ve finished all our bathroom needs, Rogue and I exit to a still empty hallway. Twisting my lips as I think about it, I turn to her and finally say, “Let’s get the dragon and the professor. I’m hoping one of them is hosting my sweet siren on their floor or something.”

“This could be fun,” Rogue says with a mischievous grin. “I’ve never woken up a dragon before, and I hear they’re just total shitheads in the morning. Since yours is already in that vein, I expect it will be a memorable moment.”

I arch a brow. “You really enjoy danger, don’t you?”

“Adrenaline and I are older friends than caffeine or mind-altering substances, yes.” She chuckles as we approach the door Kaspar went through the previous night. “Are we bringing the house down or just whipping it open? Your mother would suggest a gentle knock, I bet.”

She’s got me there, and that was certainly a challenge to subvert my norms if I’ve ever heard one.