Page 13 of Fatality on the Field

Bingo! A shiny gold star for the giant shark man.

“Wh-what?!”

The Kitsuné gets very interested in my phone again, keeping his back to the royal, while the two-toned chef does the opposite. Salem crosses his arms over his chest and gives their leader a look so withering I’d be surprised if it didn’t make his balls shrink into his body.

“Don’t ask ‘what’, you cockwomble. You tried to whisper dumb shit and got caught. There is no ‘normal’ for women, and acting as if their struggles aren’t infuriating because they seem silly to you is dickish. Our family fights with all the fuckers here are just as ridiculous, and we solve them through having big ass fights in the middle of the common room. Rogue and Morgana are dealing with people using less physical methods for their abuse, but that doesn’t make it less abusive.”

I tilt my head, giving the panda a warm smile. “Exactly. It’s hard to focus on anything when people are being insidious bullies, no matter what gender they are. Kat said some guys here were doing shit similar to what our so-called ‘mean girl adults’ are doing at home, so it’s not something that only females do. And it’s so prevalent that even calling it out means some folks will say you’re playing the victim and others will claim you’re playing into the patriarchy just for pointing out reality.”

Liam walks over, pulling me into his arms for a brief second. I suppose he sensed I needed touch, and I give him an appreciative look when I pull away. He looks at the demons seriously as he says, “I hope you shut that down rather than allowing it to stand. Morgana wishes to handle everything on her own, and we try to respect that, but sometimes, it is necessary to give a small assist in the background.”

“Yeah, like throwing our rich-dude weight around. Only time it’s cool to do, and I love it,” Lucas says with a big grin. “Not that she loves it, ‘cause she doesn’t. Gives us shit every time.”

And that will never change, even if he’s adorable when he stands here bragging about it.

eight

SLADE

Watching Li and Lucas help Morgana defend the kid makes me feel warm inside. The only person who ever tried to do that for me was Iggy, and he was limited in some respects by his position at the university. My mate and her other fated, however, don’t give a shit about Hell and its politics, so they can tell off the prince and his boy band as harshly as they want. I think most of them have come around—even fallen for their hidden girl—but if their leader would get on board faster, Kat’s life would be a lot easier.

At least, that’s what I assume, and my instincts are pretty good with this stuff because of my family gang structure.

“You look perturbed,” Iggy murmurs under his breath. “Is the topic bothering you? I can distract them if it’s bringing back⁠—”

Pressing my lips together to keep the smile from being too obvious on my face, I shake my head. “No, it’s okay. I agree with them, but I’m not… quite confident enough to chime in yet.”

Iggy tilts his head, his eyes soft as he says, “But you have more experience with this than I’d ever believe Morgana, Lucas or a prince have ever had.”

I sigh in agreement, knowing that he’s nailed why I feel so compelled to speak up. “I know that. However, saying it aloud is definitely opening me up to questions that I’d rather answer only in front of our family.”

His breath catches for a brief second, but I hear it. Iggy will not admit to anything soft with this audience, either, but I think he just had a moment of revelation. Fixing things with me will certainly help his inclusion in the group, and he might realize how good that feels for people like us who have been disdained by our blood families. “I… uh, well, that makes sense.”

I almost never make Ignatius Briarton speechless, and I can’t even revel in it here.

“Slade?”

The sound of my name pulls me away from my mildly obsessive perusal of the man who finally admitted his attraction to me last night. I look at Morgana, my face flushed when her eyes sparkle with happiness. It’s comforting to know she’s not in the least bit bothered, and I clear my throat of emotion before I reply, “Yes, ma’am?”

She chuckles softly as she walks over and leans in to murmur in my ear, “Behave, darling. I want to focus on the after-breakfast activities.”

“Is that what you wanted to ask about? I mean, the last group of demons should be back soon and we’ll sit down to eat. Afterward, I suspect the royals will negotiate who is working on the book, who is doing a secondary search, and who is cleaning up.”

Morgana nods, looking around the room at the mixed crew finishing up the food and getting to the table. “I’d prefer we don’t waste anyone on clean-up when we have other options to make it faster. Can you talk to Iggy about maybe doing his thing to make that happen?”

I cough and dip my chin. “What makes you think I can convince him?”

“The stubble burn on your jawline, my beautiful boy? Plus, he can’t take his eyes off you, even while we’re talking. If he watched you before, now he’s downright stalking you.” My eyes meet hers and she smiles softly, brushing her fingertips over my jaw. “I’m so happy for you, but if he fucks up? I believe he will be answering to me and the other boys, Slade. Lucas will definitely throttle him; I have no doubt in my mind.”

Blinking as I absorb that statement, I fumble with words for a few moments. “Really?”

My mate chuckles huskily as she nods. “Oh, yes. I’m fairly certain that once you are mine, those two consider you to be just as much theirs as me. And you’re mine, so you fall under their protection now. I’m uncertain how, exactly, but that’s not my job to determine. I’m just making sure you realize it.”

This is more people worried about my well-being than I’ve ever had at one time, and like Iggy, I’m worried I might show way too much emotion for mixed company.

“I… um. I appreciate that. I’ll… Let me ask Iggy if he can do the clean-up stuff, so we can dig into the magical book and such more quickly.” I lean in to kiss her cheek lightly, and then pull away so I can do what she asked.

Her eyes are on me, but I definitely don’t want to express all the feelings rocketing through me from her words, so I move back to where Iggy and I have been working so I can talk with him privately. It’s not hard to create a little bubble of privacy for him, and once he sees the look in my eyes, it’s the first thing he does. I smile gratefully, glad that he knows me well enough to realize when I want him to make certain we’re speaking with no one listening.