Page 19 of Blood on the Ice

“Yeah, well, tell that to Pierre LaMount,” the dragon says with a pointed look. “A murder happened on the first day, Liam. Your father was mistaken about this place. Something in the air makes my circuits crawl.”

His infamous ‘circuits’ are Kaspar’s way of saying the electricity around him feels disturbed. No one really knows how storm dragons can sense things by the change in currents, but it’s akin to a seasoned police officer’s gut. Unfortunately, my protector and childhood friend is rarely wrong. If he believes there is something going on at State U, it’s very unlikely that he’s incorrect.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to let him snitch to my father, though.

“The death of that hockey player was a shock, but I refuse to allow some insignificant sports rivalry gone bad to derail my education. They gave us clearance to move into the house my parents purchased and that’s exactly what we’re going to do, Kas.” I tilt my head as we approach the classical architecture of the building labeled ‘Beauregard Fine Arts.’ There’s an enormous fountain with a Sphinx sculpture in the middle, and I frown. “It’s a bit much, don’t you think?”

“Everything here is a bit much, Prince. The supes on this side of the Veil often do things that make me wonder who they’re trying to impress.”

He’s not wrong.

“You realize few dragons refer to Faerie as their side of the Veil, right? You’re spoiled, Kaspar.” I enjoy teasing him, to be honest. Kas used to be a lot more fun, but that was before he accepted my father’s offer to become my royal guard. Now he walks around like he has a stick lodged firmly in his ass and it drives me crazy. We’re too young to only care about Court stuff.

“That’s the chamber pot calling the toilet a shitter,” he retorts. “You’re one of the most spoiled dicks I’ve ever met.”

I laugh, gesturing for him to follow as I head up the steps of the building. “Truer words, my friend. I won’t bother denying it. Let’s get this meeting with my advisor over and we’ll head back to the house until dinner. That new Pokemon game is calling my name from afar.”

“As you wish, Prince.”

“Stop it, asshole.”

“Fine. As you wish, Prince Dickface.”

I guess it could be worse.

“Werethey testing to find out what’s being said about the new administration?”

Kaspar nods gravely. “I did. I don’t know what the Society was thinking putting that poor woman here, but she’s landed in a nest of snakes, for sure. It’s best if we keep our distance from it.”

Shrugging, I grin a little. “All they accomplished was to make me curious. Everything I’ve read on social media seems to indicate old Magnus made his bed and shit all over it. Perhaps his death was warranted. Both of our people have blood debts, so we’re in a suitable position to understand better than other species.”

He snorts and shakes his head. “There are ways to reconcile those in our clan as there are in your courts, Liam. Vigilante justice isn’t even accepted in the human world, much less the supernatural.”

“Some people deserve what they get, no matter how the retribution lands at their doorstep.” My thoughts drift to the Unseelie traffickers who kidnapped my little brother when he was young. It was a scandal, and they never found him. He’d be in his late teens now and my parents’ detectives have never gotten close to finding a trail to follow. It damn near destroyed them, but it’s been over fifteen years since we lost him. Hope was gone a long time ago. I just wish they’d found his body so my mother could find peace.

“Braden was a different story, Prince. I would slay his kidnappers in a blink if we could find them.”

I nod, my expression tight as I look at my old friend. “I know, Kas. I’d help if I thought it would give my mother the closure she desperately needs.”

The reminder of a painful past quiets us as we walk across campus. My eyes skate over the landmarks, making miniature map points in my mind as we head towards the back of the main green. The designers of this university wisely included green spaces full of lush foliage for the species who are connected deeply to nature. That bodes well for me as I go about my days here because I cannot stand to be stuck in concrete jungles where the life force that helps feed my powers is not present. That kind of set-up nixed quite a few choices on my list for grad schools, and the bucolic look of State U definitely added to my desire to be here.

“I can’t believe they allowed your father to purchase one of the staff housing units. He really is silver tongued,” Kas says as we approach the lane leading to the houses.

My lips curve up. “Yes, my father is quite the persuasive old coot when he wants to be. It doesn’t hurt that he doesn't look a day over forty despite being well over a millennia old.”

The dragon chuckles, giving me a wry grin. “You assume the seller was a woman.”

“I do not. I know for a fact the person he dealt with was that idiot Magnus. But I’m sure they offered some sort of payment for ‘brokering’ and my father has already gone to great lengths to cover up his participation in the ex-Dean’s corruption. That’s what is so funny about this whole situation—none of the species leaders or royals are innocent of influencing the crooked fool, but they damn sure jumped on the train to indict him.”

“Are you worried it will be tied back to you?”

“Not even a little. You know how the King is, Kas. He wouldn’t have made the deal if it wasn’t completely sealed and covered. The new Dean won’t even catch a whiff of Daybreak Court involvement in any schemes. The Knaves leave nothing to chance.”

“I hate those fuckers.” Kaspar huffs, smoke blowing out of his nose at the mention of my father’s secret guards. “Accountable to no one and masked. I don’t trust people who won’t show their true faces.”

This is not the first time we’ve had this conversation, nor will it be the last.

“I’m not a fan, either. But I have no say in the Knaves’ existence until I take the throne,” I remind him. “My father loves his troupe of concealed criminals and no one can talk him out of them—not even my mother.”

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