Page 26 of Blood on the Ice

Morgana frowns. “Are you sure it’s necessary?”

I blink, tilting my head. “Of course I am. Why do you ask?”

Something that looks like fear crosses her face and she shrugs. “I avoid allowing magic users access to pieces of me for… very good reasons. I don’t wish to give you pieces of Lucas if it isn’t absolutely required.”

Smart, but unexpected. I wonder why she’s worried about it.

“It’s fine, Morgana,” Lucas says softly. “Nana will have the family mage do whatever the hell she has them do, and I’m sure it will negate whatever this dude does.”

“You have afamily mage?” I blurt incredulously. Being employed to work only for one family line is an incredibly lucrative yet dangerous occupation for one of my kind. You have a lifelong patron, but you also risk being terminated with ruthless efficiency if you don’t do your job well—and I don’t mean fired.

Lucas nods, closing his eyes as he puts his arm up on Morgana’s lap. “Mmm hmm. The Wolfenbergs have had them in several countries since forever. Cyrus is the one in the States; it’ll probably be him dropping by to check me unless he’s stuck trailing my parents again.”

“I think you need to cut and get on with this,” Morgana says in a worried tone. “I’m not sure he’s supposed to be blabbing all this stuff. Whatever it is may be affecting his inhibitions, and I know neither of us wants Fraü Wolfenberg to think we took advantage of his condition to get gossip.”

“Quite so,” I reply as I lean in and make a surface cut to his forearm. Lucas doesn’t flinch, so I hold the chalice under his arm with one hand and squeeze his limb to get the blood dripping with the other. “Now we wait for a few moments and then I’ll dip the talisman.”

Morgana’s face softens, and she looks down at the prone man, using her free hand to brush strands of hair off of his face. “Not too much longer, Lucas. Once we figure out what this is, I’m sure Zuzanne or Iggy can fix you right up.”

When I have enough blood, I dip the end of the talisman into it and set them both aside. My hand leaves his arm and I wait for the shifter healing to kick in. It takes longer than it should and I frown.That’s odd.I watch until it seals up, then turn to my materials. Pulling an old scrying scroll out of the bag, I spread it out on the other end of the table Morgana is perched on and start murmuring the words to activate it. It glows once and I pick up the chain of the talisman, swinging it over the paper back and forth as I chant the spell. The most dangerous possibility combines science and magic, but I don’t want to claim that just yet. If some nut decided to get back at the old goat in charge of one of the most powerful Society families through her heir apparent, they could easily have mixed old and new to keep us from saving him in time.

That’s the scheming that starts wars and we haven’t had a full-on supe war since the 40s.

There have been small skirmishes, of course, and the humans always think it’s their history, but that’s exactly what they formed the Society to do—protect all the people by preventing the dominant species on the planet from annihilating everything not like them.

Too bad the asshole deities who are part of the Councils didn’t consider that before they created the fucking humans.

“Ignatius!”

I glance up as Zuzanne appears in the doorway with a troubled expression. The scrying is being difficult and I haven’t ruled out magic yet, but she clearly has something to say. My eyes cut to the Dean and Lucas, who were speaking in low tones as I worked. “Yes?”

“I need to speak with you.” She crosses her arms over her chest and I can see the tension in her frame, so I dispense with my usual snark. Clearly, she wants to keep it a secret, which is concerning.

Rising to my feet, I place the scrying stone on the map carefully and let her shepherd me a few steps away from the doorway. “What is it, Zuzanne?”

“My findings were concerning. The levels of wolfsbane in young Lucas’s system were alarming and even worse, he had a build-up of digitoxin that can only be from small, repeated doses or itwould have killed him. In fact, if he weren’t a shifter with healing gifts, it definitely would have.”

I frown, mentally adding that to my list of suspicious thoughts I’ve been having. “Zuzanne, I’m having a difficult time ruling out magic. However, finding oleander and wolfsbane in your bloodwork means the culprit is banking on the effects of science or magic to not only harm this young man, but kill him eventually. They’re used as ingredients in a variety of hexes and curses—particularly ones that are aimed at shifters.”

“No shit, Ignatius! If he’d been a wolf shifter or hybrid, he’d be in the ground already,” she scoffs. “We have to speak with Morgana privately before we tell him. My serum is in progress for the medical aspect. Discover the enchantment type and the responsible person.”

“The university’s relationship with his grandmother is not my concern,” I reply with a glare. “This is a police matter and you know it.”

I don’t even see her fist before I feel the punch in my arm that nearly knocks me off my feet. “Fuck, Z!”

Grinning smugly, she tilts her head. “A pox on you for thinking that was what I cared about, Ignatius. I’m worried someone tried to kill this student and when it didn’t work fast enough, they attempted to frame him for murder. I don’t know why, of course, but we have no idea who’s involved and if they have eyes in law enforcement. Telling the idiotic campus security or the hapless moron in charge of magical incidents in the police will only put him at further risk.”

I didn’t consider that and I’m disappointed in myself—I’m a globally ranked chess player and I usually think five steps ahead.

“That’s an excellent point, Zuzanne. I should have thought of it.” Scratching my chin, I sigh. “We need to go in and finish my scrying. Once I have a better idea of what we’re dealing with, we’ll speak with both. Based on what I’ve seen, Morgana will not allow us to leave Lucas out of the discussion. There’s something going on with them and he’ll convince her in seconds.”

Her eyes widen, and she slaps her forehead. “Buggering hell, Iggy. I know why.”

“Why?” I ask curiously.

“Because the conversation we were having before he arrived was a bit too hypothetical for my taste, but I indulged it because Morgana is the Dean.” She rolls her eyes to the ceiling and mutters something before looking at me with a resigned expression. “I think Morgana and the star hockey player accidentally mated last night.”

Holy. Fucking. Hephaestus’. Fiery. Balls.

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