Page 80 of Blood on the Ice

Morgana looks up from her paper and my dick twitches as she gives me a stern look over her glasses. “Lucas, focus. You said you have a quiz to make up tomorrow.”

Liam grins broadly, kicking his feet up. “Ooooh, that was a ‘Mommy’ tone if I’ve ever heard one. You’re in trouble, bro.”

I laugh as I duck my head and bury myself in the heavy book again. As if I’m touching that shit and getting on the bad list. The Prince is way too full of himself. “I have nothing to say, buddy. I’m studying.”

Slade pulls out his books and Iggy fans out a pile of tests he’s going over, signaling that all of us need to get to work. The room is muted except for a few stretches and sighs, but I enjoy the feeling of them around me. I spent most of my childhood with nannies and various staff unless Nana was in residence—something that was less common as I got older. My parents wereneveraround, so this little group is making me feel something I haven’t before outside of sports—that I belong.

We all stay like that for a bit—that is, until Morgana’s phone rings. She picks it up, frowning as she listens to the other person on the line. I watch as the telltale sign of her irritation, the singlesnake, curls around her jaw. The sound of me clearing my throat gets the other guys to pay attention and by the time our woman hangs up, we’re all on edge.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

Morgana taps her fingertips against her lips, thinking for a second before she answers. “I… that was Channing. She said we should grab a car and head for the back fields of the equestrian program. The campus security division has received a bunch of calls of a disturbance, but before they responded, they checked in with her.”

I arch a brow. “Since when does she have that power?”

“Since some asshole detectives were let onto campus to drag you away in public,” Morgana says absently. “They can call me if they cannot reach her, but I don’t want those idiots trampling all over student or staff rights because they’re poorly trained monkeys in uniforms.”

“I assume you’re going to fix that,” Iggy says wryly. “I won’t fight you on it, by the way. Even if it hits the budget lines, we need better safety measures here. They almost tasered some elemental students doing homework in the woods last spring.”

What?

“Why would…” I blink. “Did the idiot hirehumansto be guards at a supe college?”

“No, but he might as well have,” Slade pipes up. “The moron putwolvesin charge. We all know how stupid that is.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, unable to believe this place didn’t fall apart at the seams years ago. “Everyone knows they’re smartand great at tracking, but their rigid pack shit prevents them from deciding without?—”

“Input from the alpha. Yes, I believe that was the purpose,” Iggy says ruefully as he sets aside his work. “And since Magnus likely ignored them, the calls were made by a shifter with the designation who wasn’t concerned what might happen to students of species not valued by wolves.”

“Anyone who’s not a wolf?” Morgana snorts. “Yeah, that sounds like Magnus.”

“Well, if security is being alerted and we still haven’t heard from Kas…” Liam frowns and the rest of us move when we realize what he’s thinking.

The fucking dragon is out there spooking the goddamn horses and Zeus knows what else.

“Looks like we’re headed for the horse paddocks,” I say as I slip my shoes back on. “Make sure you’re wearing colors the fool can see. You know how dragons flame first and ask questions later.”

“Not red,” Liam says as we break to grab jackets and shit. “His dragon is not a fan.”

I wonder why the hell that is?

When I turnonto the back roads of the university, I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My bear senses trouble, and it’s not just a fucking dragon having a temper tantrum.There’s something bad going down nearby and we’re headed right for it. I growl softly and the sound is echoed by my mate next to me.

“Do you feel that?” the Prince asks.

I nod, and before I can plan a response, he and the mage mutter in foreign languages. One is Latin, that I’m sure of, but the other is… Gaelic, maybe? Regardless, a bright light forms on either side of the backseat, then it spread over the car until they meld together. As a shifter, I rarely get this close to magic users, and it makes me a little antsy until Morgana grabs my free hand.

“They’re warding the car, babe. It’s for our protection, not to trap you.”

“How did you know I was?—”

Her lips curve up. “My mother was a witch, remember? My dad had her practice casting on me, so I wouldn’t lose my shit if she had to protect us at some point.”

Slade frowns. “That’s weird. Weren’t they both professors at Swallowtail?”

“Yep,” Morgana says as she shifts to look out the windows. “My entire life was teachers until Magnus fucked up and I had to go on trial. Why?”

“Seems odd that your parents would practice that kind of thing with a child,” Iggy says. “For a major family like mine, or maybe a gang leader’s son like Slade or a prince…”

---