Page 67 of Fatality on the Field

Speaking of my darling, musical coffeeman, Slade is in full caretaker mode with a dish towel tucked into his waistband, his hair an absolute disaster, and a cooling rack of muffins parked on a wire trivet next to the stove. He’s prying a stuck one out of the tin when he glances up and sees me. The look on his face, all bright smiles and pride, warms my heart in my chest like his damn baked good.

Des, ever the opportunist, slithers out from under my hair and bobs her head at the sight of food. Her tongue darts twice, then she coils herself like an earring and settles in, content to judge from a distance. I square my shoulders and stride in like I own the place, determined to make this morning go well before the drama of our collective days begins.

“Whose idea was this?” I ask as I nod at the setup with an arched brow.

Obviously, I know, but I want to let them show off a little.

Slade lifts a muffin in salute. “It was mostly me,” he says, then jerks his chin at the professor. “But Iggy helped with the frosting.”

The mage looks up with the slow blink of a contented house cat and says, “I only did a little bit, truth be told. Slade is being kind—I found him halfway into it when I came down.”

Kaspar, not to be left out, growls, “And I went to grab more milk because they used it, otherwise no one would have any for their damn coffee.” He glares into his mug, as if daring it to contradict him.

I walk over, grab a muffin, and tear it in half. It’s still warm and the center oozes cream cheese to match the frosting. This isn’t breakfast; it's a damn bribe that I’ll be drooling over all day. I glance at him, and then at Ignatius. “You two are wasted on academia; this is restaurant quality.”

Iggy preens, just a little. “Slade’s the genius. I simply assisted.”

Chuckling, I watch Slade turn red as a beet before I shove my muffin half into my mouth with a groan of happiness.

There’s a pause as Kaspar slurps his coffee and scowls. “Thought you got all that out earlier,” he mutters.

Slade blinks and if possible, gets even redder as he says, “The fact that I’ve had this much sugar before seven in the morning means I’ll be bouncing off the walls all day. But I thought we all deserved a nice treat.”

I chew and swallow, finally saying, “While I die of sinful sugar consumption, what’s the schedule look like for today?”

“I’ll be prowling the quad until noon, and then staking out the student center. With the news coverage, someone will be stupid enough to let things slip. The rumor mill is our best friend when it comes to this sort of shit and the college has an enormous one.” Kaspar glances at me, his expression pointed. “I’ll end up finding out more in an hour than you will in hours of meetings, probably.”

“Let’s not get territorial about who is contributing the most,” Slade says. “We all have different ways of getting the things we need to figure out what the hell is going on, Kaspar. You just don’t have as many finite commitments as some of us.”

I cross to Kaspar, set a hand on his shoulder, and squeeze. His muscles jump under my fingers, but he doesn’t shake me off. I keep my voice low, just for him. “You were excellent yesterday. I know it sucked, and I know you’d rather be shot at than have to sit with your feelings, but you kept everyone alive and made sure nobody got caught in the shrapnel. Thank you.”

He tenses and then grunts, “Don’t get sappy on me. I did my job.”

I drop my hand and give his back a gentle smack. “Noted.”

Turning to Iggy, I set the remains of my muffin on the counter beside his elbow. “You did good, too, Iggy. Thank you for not snapping at anyone even though I know you were running on fumes, and being brave enough to take something unknown and terrifying on without batting a lash.”

His mouth twitches in the beginnings of a real smile. “It’s remarkable what can be accomplished with appropriate incentives.” He looks at Slade, who goes pink but doesn’t look away, and then looks at me with a smug expression.

I’m not pretending to be subtle, so I just bend and press a kiss to Ignatius’s cheek, right by the hinge of his jaw. He blinks, startled, but doesn’t pull back.

“Thank you,” I say again, making certain he knows I see his effort and appreciate it.

Then I turn to Slade, who is still fussing with the rack. I step into his space, pull him into a tight hug, and hold him there. His arms go around my waist, and he clings like I’m the last raft on the Titanic. I lean down and say, “Your breakfast was one of the best parts of this morning, Slade. Thank you for thinking of everyone, so the world seems a little less terrible today.”

He shivers, and then chokes out, “I enjoy seeing you smile, Morgana, and I like taking care of people.”

I let him go, ruffle his hair, and step back. “I shouldn’t have lost track of you earlier, but trust me, next time, I will not. I promise.” Ignatius snorts into his coffee and I laugh softly. “Soon enough, magic man. You have other things to sort out first.”

Slade gives me a sideways, blushing look and then hurries to wrap up two more muffins for me to take when I leave. He brings the care package over, sets it down with a flourish, and says, “To help you feel this good when the day is making you feel bad. This kind of shit calls for treats all day long, I think.”

I take what he offers and sit at the table between Kas and Ignatius. For a second, I just let myself be surrounded by food and people who care about me. This is what I fight for, I think. Not the institution, not the power, but the chance to sit here and have a fucking banana muffin with my family. We all eat in silence for a minute, just the click of Iggy’s spoon against the side of his mug.

When I finish my muffin, I glance up and see Slade watching me, his expression so open it hurts a little. “Are you okay after yesterday? I know it was hard on you,” he asks.

I nod, sighing before I take a sip of the coffee he hands me. “Yeah. It was rough, but we overcame it and now I just have to deal with the fallout. That, too, will pass, you know?

“Good,” he says. “Because the world’s still spinning and we have so many mysteries to solve, that I don’t think we could survive if you were out of the running.”