Page 39 of Fatality on the Field

He grins, vaulting over the back of the couch with ease to plop on the cushions next to me. “Liam’s finishing up. He and the dragon aren’t back yet, obviously. No idea about the siren and the prof. ”

“So, not well in terms of speed, then?” I arch a brow and he laughs, leaning in to kiss me lightly. “No surprise. Getting ready is going to be a fucking production all the time now. No more getting up and showering fast before I jet off to work in a flurry of last-minute rush, I suppose.”

Lucas winks at me. “I think you can trade off the quick roll and run for all the amazing shit having our family here will bring. I mean, Slade and I can cook. Li and the professor have magic to help clean shit up, and the dragon…”

I wait, my expression amused as he hits Kaspar.

“Well, the dragon’s a soldier, basically. He can help train us better, I bet, and he said he knows how to make our diets more efficient for shifters. That might help my game. Plus, he’ll rock in a blackout, ‘cause he can shock the shit out of stuff to give it power.” The bear gives me a pleased grin, happy to have found positives for the previously asshole-ish bodyguard.

Patting his muscled thigh, I chuckle. “You are a pretty ray of sunshine. And I heard you were a sage advisor to all the stubborn men standing in their own way down there. I think your Nana would be proud of the man you’ve become, Lucas Wolfberg. I know I’m proud that you’re my mate.”

He blinks, his eyes widening as his smile gets impossibly big. “Damn, Morgana! When you drop praise, you fucking go for it, huh?” My bear turns red and sort of shakes his head like he’s trying to ward off some sort of response that he doesn’t want anyone to see. “Fuck. No dice. I can’t stop it.”

That’s when I catch the tent he’s pitching, and a husky, yet delighted laugh tumbles out of my mouth. I don’t think Lucas had any clue how much he enjoyed being less dominant and getting praised for it until we mated, but much like his bisexuality, it’s not something he can control. “We do not have time for that right now. Not with the others on their way to meet up… I’m not ready for the more intimate scenarios with our less contrary members yet. I… need time.”

Emotionally more than physically, but I want both before I commit to Iggy and Kas.

“Of course you do, babe. This is forever-level shit, and it’s not something you can just dive into when they were both such pills.” Lucas shrugs, his expression sheepish. “I can’t control how I react to you saying shit like that, though, so maybe don’t wake the bear, hmm?”

I sneak a look at the most definitely awake part of the bear that is the problem, and he groans. “Sorry. You sort of made it impossible not to look.”

“Look at what?” Slade asks as he shuffles into the family room so quietly I didn’t even notice his footsteps. When he gets closer, his face flushes as he sees what we’re talking about, and I grab a pillow to shove at Lucas. “Oh, well, yes. I can see how that would be… difficult to miss.”

Lucas rolls his eyes to the ceiling and mumbles, “I think if we could all stop giving it attention, maybe I could⁠—”

“Giving what attention?”

I smother a snicker as this time, Liam strides into the room with his dragon in tow. They’re freshly showered and in relaxation garb as well, but whatever they used at home smells absolutely goddamn heavenly. It distracts me from the topic at hand, and I close my eyes to inhale the spicily floral scented whatever with deep appreciation.

“For fuck’s sake…” Lucas says, and I hear the others snort with amusement. “How am I supposed to deal with this shit when she looks like that? Strike that, why does she look like that? What did you two do while you were at home? Is it magic? Because whatever it is, you should definitely do it more often. Though you don’t look like you had a happy trip home, so maybe…”

My poor polar bear is losing his marbles, but I can’t focus on anything but the tasty smell.

“Well, the bonding we did in Hell may be snapping into place more tightly being back in your home realm and… after I used magic to contact mine.” My eyes pop open and I look at my mate in surprise. “The bond will grow with time, and being in contact with Faerie will reinforce it even more. That contact, by the way, was why we didn’t look thrilled when we arrived. My father is… not a fun time even when he isn’t angry at me.”

“The King was in a rare form because he couldn’t contact us,” Kaspar says, finally joining the conversation. “We smoothed it over, but we will need to be more cautious in the future. I believe he was millimeters from sending his personal hit squad to campus. Not officially, of course, and he’d deny it if they were caught, but…”

Narrowing my eyes, I look at Li for confirmation, and he gives me a weary nod. “He thought you were missing with your bodyguard for a week, and despite being a whatever-old ass adult, he was going to wreck the entire campus with assassins to get you to answer your phone? That’s mental.”

Liam chuckles, shrugging a bit. “Royalty is often a little bit insane, maschula. It comes from living in a world where nothing is out of reach, no one tells you ‘no’, and you can make everything that annoys you disappear. No species is designed to be so indulged without losing touch with humanity or morality.”

That description applies to Magnus, so I get what he means by this—and it’s why I’m here in the first place.

“Okay, I can understand that,” I reply as I sigh. “The real question is: are you absolutely certain he didn’t send these fuckers and not tell you? Are we going to run into a bunch of Fae shitheads watching you with vengeful aims, or do we only have the previous assholes to worry about?”

Kaspar sucks in a breath, running his hand over the back of his neck. “I think he held back. If he hadn’t, I don’t think you would have come back to mail and shit. Channing would have been sleeping here until she found you, because the campus would have run with blood. Since there’s no one pounding your door down, I am fairly confident that the Knaves aren’t here.”

“Oh, good, they have stupid villain names, too. Just what we need—more of that shit.” I pause for a second and study the two of them. “Any chance someone in that secret bullshit squad is slipping info and aid to the Fae who talked at the Bay City event? Rogue said that jackwad was from the Harvest Court and is tied to Midnight now. It’s suspicious.”

Liam frowns, exchanging a look with the dragon before they both shake their heads. “I don’t think so. My father’s private force is bound to him so tightly that there is no way they could betray him. No one ever sees their faces; no one has a list of their names. I’m not even sure how or where Kas’s dad recruits them, but once they are chosen, they cease to exist everywhere.”

“My dad doesn’t know who they are after selection, either,” Kaspar adds. “Pretty sure they kill and dispose of anyone not chosen, to prevent word of identities getting out, even to his general. To be honest, they could be anyone, anywhere in Faerie or here.”

Growling, Lucas throws up his hands, forgetting the pillow as it falls off his lap. “You two don’t sound very sure anymore, and I don’t like that in the fucking slightest. Anyone consider they could be killing the people I’m getting blamed for? Hmm?”

“That doesn’t make sense, unfortunately,” Iggy says as he steps around the prince and leans on the back of the opposite side of the sectional. “Neither LaMount nor Beauregard had anything to do with the prince or Faerie. Pierre didn’t attend school here, and Rialto’s family ties could have links across realms, but he didn’t. Liam hasn’t played sports or been in the arts programs. Unless I’m mistaken, I doubt your Knaves would draw attention by randomly killing people for funsies.”

“No,” the prince says as he frowns. “I cannot see that being the case. I believe we are looking for people tied to that villain… cabal… our new friends spoke of. Knowing that Archie was also accused cements it for me. But, as Kaspar pointed out, I should work on things in my garden to help us identify if someone nearby is tied to my bloodline through magic. I am not sure what I will do, but perhaps you could assist, Ignatius?”