Page 27 of Blood on the Ice

Hissing curses under my breath, I scrub my hand down my face. “That explains a lot. Is this intrigue related to her? The last thing I want to do is get on the bad side of some groupie still in love with dear old dead Magnus.”

“No. Lucas’s poison levels go back at least three weeks, if not more. The person trying to hurt him has been doing it since he arrived on campus for hockey orientation and Morgana hasn’t been here that long. She’s just gotten caught in the crossfire of another high-level PR nightmare.” Zuzanne cocks her head atthe room. “Let’s go talk to them and we’ll all develop a plan from there.”

Something tickles my brain and I remember how wired this building is. I’ve always hated coming here because of the invisible tech and I can’t imagine whoever installed all of this isn’t monitoring it. I made certain our conversation was shielded when I stepped up to Zuzanne, but I don’t have enough materials to extend my personal shields to all four of us. We cannot have that conversation anywhere in this place; if we don’t know who’s involved, it would put all of us in danger.

“No. It’s not safe.” I roll my eyes around the hallway, then stare at her for a moment until she gets the idea. “Morgana was supposed to meet Slade, Channing, and I for a game night. You go back to the lab and finish your serum. Hopefully, that will help the kid long enough to get him out of here. He can go back to Morgana’s with her and we will meet at my place to have a more serious discussion. It’s warded so tightly that Merlin wouldn’t be able to get in.”

Zuzanne laughs and shakes her head. “Your ego will be the death of you, Iggy. But I see your point. Go figure out the witchy woo things. I’ll handle getting Lucas up and moving.”

She turns on her heel and marches off, making me chuckle. An alliance with someone as rooted in the provable world as her is unexpected, but that kind of networking will be even more valuable than saving Fraü Wolfenberg’s grandson. I grin to myself as I walk back into the room with a fake smile.

“Zuzanne has something cooking that might help while we’re figuring this out. I’m going to finish my scrying and once she gives Lucas the serum, you should be able to take him home. Then we’ll research some more and she’s going to meet us at myplace tonight. It will add seriousness to game night, but it’s a good gathering place.”

Morgana studies me and the single snake she called a troublemaker darts out to lick the air. It hisses low and I’m pretty certain by the change in her expression that she knows I’m not telling the truth. I didn’t know that a gorgon’s snakes could do that, and it makes me a little giddy to add it to my mental encyclopedia. She stays quiet, though, as I look around the room, hoping to let her know why I’m being cautious. When she nods, I almost sigh in relief.

“Okay.” The Dean’s shoulders square and she uses her free hand to brush sweaty strands off of the polar bear’s forehead. “That sounds good, right, Lucas? You can come to my place and you can tell me about the other contractors coming next week.”

Contractors? He hired people to renovate her house? Slade and I are so screwed.

The hockey player opens his eyes, looking exhausted but happy. “I can come to your place? Can I feel the new sheets?”

Morgana’s laugh is rich and smoky as she nods. I watch her go from worried to soft care as she nods. “I suppose I could put the new bedclothes on that you had sent. I’m too old to be sleeping on the couch and living out of suitcases, anyway. I don’t think I told you how much I appreciated you doing that. Living in Magnus’ shadow was eating away at me more than I wanted to admit.”

Suddenly, the talisman stops on a familiar building and my gaze narrows. The greenhouse near the Natural Sciences building would be a perfect place to gather the physical ingredientsneeded for this type of poison and magic. It doesn’t tell me who is doing this nonsense, but it definitely gives me a place to look.

“Did you find something?”

I look up and see both of them staring at me hopefully. “A start, perhaps. However, more work is still needed to fix it.”

Zuzanne shows up with a flask of red liquid right at that moment, holding it up with a triumphant smile. “First, we help him stand up. Then, we read.”

Hopefully, whatever this is gives us enough time to find the source and take it out or I have a feeling the Fraü won’t be our only problem.

truth hurts

It’s a damn good thing I’m strong as an ox.

Otherwise, hefting the tall, muscled hockey player from across campus at the science building to my house would have been unsuccessful. We all agreed that as long as I could make it, we wouldn’t bring anyone else into this mess. IncludingBeatrice and the lab techs working on her ‘secret project,’ there were already too many people involved.

What did that human say? ‘Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead?’

This is where we stand currently. Iggy and Zuzanne are working their angles and I’m carefully toting the weakened Lucas up my stairs. I honestly couldn’t tell you how many people saw us on the trek, but I’m hoping that paying no mind to the lookie-loos discouraged them from filing the image in their head for later. Sometimes, simply pretending what you’re doing isn’t weird makes everyone else accept that as reality.

“Just a few more steps, big guy,” I grunt, as I help him up the final few stairs on my porch.

He’s still pale and all the effort has exerted the hell out of the sick shifter. “You didn’t have to do this, Morgana. I could have found someone to?—”

“Shut up and get inside.” I give him a crooked grin. “I know your big, manly self can’t stand that I half-carried you across campus, but I’m not a wilting flower. Gargoyles are incredibly strong. Get used to it.”

“I have to get used to it?” Lucas asks, his face looking heartbreakingly hopeful.

Son of a goat swilling deity, how am I supposed to say ‘no’ to that face?

Pressing my lips together, I give him a stern expression. “We need to talk, but not until we’re inside.”

“Okay.” His steps are slow as he shuffles into the house. I watch him look at the stairs to my bedroom and shake his head. “Nope. I want to go, but I’m exhausted.”

Thank fuck.

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