Page 69 of Blood on the Ice

“Wild horses, pet,” Iggy says as he joins us. His gaze falls on the Fae before he leans in to whisper, “Your Highness, did you….?” He waves his hand through the air.

Liam chuckles and nods. “The moment I arrived. I knew the shifters could not sense it. Morgana and Lucas are safe. Of course, Jackson’s people assured me they have other ways of subverting those problems.”

Channing ducks her head as she mumbles, “I’m not sure what you all mean. Is there a danger I don’t know about?”

“And what the hell did you do to Lucas and me?” Morgana follows up. “I wasn’t informed of any problem.”

Shit. Iggy blew their cover.

“Rain, take Channing and deal with her security, please?” Jackson mutters as he works on the papers. “I can’t believe she was left out. You can do it without K, right?”

“Why areyoutaking her?” my old friend huffs. “The Prince or I can do the requisite…”

“No.” Eli cuts him off, finally looking up from his screens. “Rain will do it. She’s also working with us on this project and we need to be confident in the method.”

“I’m thePrince of the Daybreak Kingdom,” Liam says incredulously. “How can you possibly think you’d be more capable than I at this procedure?”

The tall mercenary pushes off the wall with a smug smirk. “Because the method we use is different and will accomplishwhat we need while you will cast a simple, temporary charm. I won’t hurt the woman.” He turns to Channing, who now looks like she wishes she could sink into the floor. “You know that, right, Specs?”

I arch a brow at the nickname, watching her reaction to the dangerous man now walking toward her. There’s something going on with the girl Iggy and I have known for years. I’ve never seen her quite this flustered, despite typically being reserved. “Chan, are you okay with Jackson’s guy helping or do you want the Prince to help?”

She frowns at me, clearly unhappy I brought the spat to her feet. “Well… I….” Sucking in a breath, she huffs it out again as she straightens. “I believe if they require extra protocols for me to assist them with Lucas’s case, then I will have to submit to whatever it is, eventually. So, Rainier can do it right the first time and we can stop focusing on me. I’m not the one in trouble.”

Morgana smiles a little as she looks at her friend. “Mmm. That is very logical, Channing. I can’t argue with that.”

Then why does she look like she’s ferreting something out?

Rainier holds his hand out to our friend. “Let’s go. Jackson will be done with the forms soon, and we’ll all be on our way. I want to finish this before you fly back to your nest.”

“It’s settled then.” Liam also looks suspicious as he watches Channing leave with the guy, but his focus returns to Morgana and Lucas quickly. “Lass, for the record, I couldn’t mention what I did with all the other ears in the room. Please know it was necessary, and I’ll fill you in when we get back to your place.”

“Mmm. You most certainly will, Prince. Not a fan of being kept in the dark, especially after my ex made me look foolish for years.”

Ouch. I guess that’s fair, but Liam just took a direct hit.

“Babe, don’t be mad. He probably protected us and that’s always good, right?” Lucas speaks up again. The tension in his frame is obvious, and I bet he’s struggling with his animal. I doubt the bear enjoyed being shackled, and he’s being very calm and controlled. “This has been a shit day and I think we all want to go home to talk about all this in private.”

“That we can agree on,” Foley pipes up. “This is why I hate coming to backwater burgs for jobs. They don’t follow rules, they make shit up, and instead of being normal rich fucks, they use dangerous methods to hide their corruption. It’s unpredictable, which I like, but it puts my people in danger, which I don’t.”

“I don’t think you could have put it any more succinctly,” I tell the fidgety redhead. “And it’s why this won’t be nearly as simple as you probably assumed. Small towns and even small cities are full of history and backroom bargains.”

Morgana snorts as she shakes her head. “That makes everything three times as hard. Our focus is being disrupted by a multitude of individuals with various motives.”

And god help us if anyone else throws their hat in the ring—I might even have to contact my father.

1 Protect what is mine. Keep the evil from invading his mind. The Children of Hecate command it.

let’s get it on

The ride home is quiet until we’re outside of the city limits. Only then does Lucas turn in his seat to look at Liam curiously.

“I know Jax told me you went to bat for me. That was cool, man.”

I smile to myself at the relative simplicity of how men communicate big things. Catching Liam nodding in the rearview, I move my focus back to the road as I speak. “It’s weird that this amped up so quickly. The people pulling the strings must have very specific timelines in mind to force the police to take such drastic measures without proper support.”

“But what are they aiming to achieve is the real question,” Liam says. “Obviously, screwing with Lucas fucks with the hockey program. It distracts you, and possibly Fräu Wolfberg. But none of those things seems worthy of such an elaborate scheme.”

Lucas frowns as he slouches in his seat. “Unless there’s shit we don’t know about. Fuck if I know what Nana is voting on or involved in with the Society or her Council. M is reviewing financials for every department at the college. Maybe there’s something hidden in that? Wouldn’t surprise me.”

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