Page 87 of Blood on the Ice

“Those are the people who just met us by the stone dragon.” Iggy rubs his temples. “Perhaps the events there and here are related.”

“And maybe some others,” Eli mumbles. Jackson gives him a dirty look and he shrugs. “Look, I’m part of a lot of collectives and my job is hunting information. I know more than most and you can’t ask me to keep it all secret, J.”

Liam holds up his hand, waiting for everyone to get quiet. “I, too, have heard disturbing reports of The Hand wreaking havoc in Faerie. I’m going to assume your friend has traveled there recently by the way you included ‘realm’ in your statement.”

“She just got back from a tour of your lovely lands, in fact. A mess ensued, partly influenced by her unemerged status.”

“You took someoneunemergedinto Faerie?” Kaspar looks like he’s going to keel over in shock. “How did anyone think that would go well?”

Jackson shrugs. “Jo-Jo’s a stubborn Southern woman, and some dream lady told her to go. It was a risk, but other than some very dangerous confrontations, all’s well.”

The dragon and the Prince share a glance, implying inquiries only outsiders can answer. Instead of pressing them, I look at Jackson seriously. “Can Lucas leave the state? We’re planning a trip to see Slade’s family. It’s research, but I don’t want some dickface yanking us off of a plane.”

“Well, why didn’t you say so, Morgana Rosanna Danna? I have plenty of planes you can borrow.” The lion shifter looks delighted, and Eli sighs heavily. “Eli will have to check the schedules for me so we make sure I don’t get a nasty-gram from dear old dad, but I’m sure we can help. As for the Yogi over there, I’ll clear it with the DA. He’s not been formally charged, so we should be able to notify them.”

“What do you think you’re going to find out there?” Channing asks quietly.

I shrug. “We don’t know. He’s going to talk with his father, which I guess includes the mating thing.”

When all three of them look at me like I’ve grown another head, I realize what I’ve done.

I just admitted out loud what our plans are and now the biggest gossips around know.

california girls

“Good job,” I mutter as I move closer. “Now this motor mouth will tell all his friends about our trip like he just did with theirs.”

Morgana rolls her eyes at me, and I wonder if she tires of doing so. “Jackson will not spill the beans to randos. He wouldn’t have told us about this Jo-Jo’s trip if we weren’t trustworthy.”

I snort, shaking my head. “This self-absorbed idiot thinks everyone is trustworthy if they pay him.”

Lucas glares at me, and I return the dirty look. His money doesn’t scare me; the Court has more money than the Wolfberg’s stored in their shoe closets. “Kaspar, you’re the fucking worst, man. Just keep your paranoid crap to yourself. Maybe it helps you protect the Prince to be so jaded, but the rest of us would like to believe we have a snowball’s chance, okay?”

“If you want to blow sunshine up your own ass, have fun.” I cross my arms over my chest, my eyes meeting Li’s. “But he’s my responsibility and my duty, so I’m not going to back down because you’re all dick drunk.”

“Delicious,” Jackson whispers, and Eli elbows him in the ribs. “What? Itis.”

“Morgana and her men are still finding their ground,” Channing cuts in as she narrows her eyes at the leonine lawyer. “Don’t be rude, Jax. You understand there can be waves when mixed groups come together like this.”

What does that mean, I wonder?

Regardless, I can’t let these people distract me. My fury earlier put me far from my Prince if the dragon had attacked closer to campus; I just got lucky when I ran into it. “If Thorne will allow us to borrow his plane, it will help keep us off the radar with the Court, a slew of over-involved relatives, and perhaps the Society… except for one thing.”

Her eyes widen, and she smacks her forehead, finally realizing the flaw in their ointment. “My tracking spells. I’m not supposed to leave State U without proper clearance. It will take ages to get through that red tape.”

“No, it won’t.” The polar bear smirks as he nuzzles his nose against Morgana’s hair. “Nana will take care of it. And yes, grumpy lizard, she can be trusted. That woman has more secrets locked in her head than the fucking tombs of the pharaohs combined.”

I arch a brow at him. “And she doesn’t have a security team on her only grandson twenty-four hours a day?”

“I was trained after the first three kidnappings when I was a kid.” He shrugs as if it’s nothing, and I blink. The children of the Fae royals have guardians, cadres of guards, and magic to keep would-be assailants at bay. Lucas sighs and looks at us seriously. “I don’t look like it, but I can withstand a fuck ton without even trying. Nana made sure no one would try to use me ever again.”

Maybe I’ve misjudged the little shit; the look on his face is more serious than ever before.

“Fair enough,” Iggy says. “Jackson and Eli will go do their research and plane booking shit. Lucas will get Morgana a furlough. What else do we need before we head off to the land of sun, surf, and shifter mafias?”

Slade looks uncomfortable, but he finally sighs. “I need to reach out to old friends and gauge the atmosphere. Hopefully, they can let me know what kind ofmoodmy father and his minions are in. It will help us plan for contingencies.”

“What contingencies?” I ask. “Magical? Physical? Emotional? Give me something to work with, kid.”

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