Page 86 of Blood on the Ice

What?!

“He’s got your number,Saaladir,” Liam says softly. “He’ll get there.”

“Whatever,” I mutter. “Lucas, let’s go. Li, you can come with us, and Slade and Iggy can have the guest room showers.”

“Ooooh, developments,” Jackson calls as we trudge towards the stairs. “I’m excited now.”

“He’s the weirdest lawyer on the planet.” Lucas isn’t wrong, so I don’t correct him. Jackson Thorne is fucking odd, but he’s the best, so we have to put up with his eccentricities.

Liam chuckles behind me, his voice husky as he replies. “At least he’s on our side.”

“I’d shudder to think of what he’d be like as opposition,” Iggy agrees. “Channing told me that hacker is so insanely skilled that he has contacts in governments and the criminal world. He’sworking on tracking some other hacker who’s gone missing as a side project.”

I frown, not liking the split focus, but if Jackson thinks he can handle it, I suppose it’s okay. “Interesting.”

Slade and Iggy wave as they peel off towards the guest rooms, and I look at Li and Lucas. “No funny business. I’m tired, sore, and so hungry I might consume the next person who pisses me off.”

“Au revoir, Kaspar, we hardly knew ye,” Lucas cracks and we both look at him for a second before we burst out laughing.

Damn. I needed that.

Iggy and Sladeare already tucked into spots in the living room when the three of us amble downstairs. I kept the guys from misbehaving—barely—but getting all the grime out of our hair and off our bodies wasn’t easy. Turns out running through horse pastures and having fiery ash everywhere is something that goes south pretty quickly. I’ll remember that for next time, though I hope to shit there’snota next time.

“Had trouble with your hair, eh?”

I grin at Eli’s question. The kid is pretty perceptive, even if his lover is smirking like a douche canoe. “Fight remnants were deeply embedded. It was insane.”

“A few of us have longer hair. I’ll shoot Channie a text she can share with our artisan witch’s info. Not price friendly, but the woman works miracles with removal spells. A bunch of her clients are Guardians, so you know I’m not yanking your chains.”

My brow arches as I take in the nickname. I’d forgotten I wanted to check in with my assistant about her loan to the legal team. I need to remember that for later. “Thanks. I’d prefer wedon’tneed it, but seeing as we’re caught in some ridiculous mystery plot…”

“Speaking of Guardians,” Kaspar says as he slinks in from the front. “A small group of them appeared when we called for help. Is the Society sending strike teams out again? It’s been centuries since that was necessary.”

Jackson pauses, his face contorting as thoughts churn in his mind. “Not like it was then, but yes, teams of experienced Guardian agents and assassins are being sent out to deal with the disruptions globally. Currently, there are more unexplained issues than ever before.”

“Why?” I ask. “Why are there so many disruptions?”

“No one knows,” Eli whispers dramatically. “It’s an enormous scandal. More unemerged folk are gaining powers at later in life points… everywhere from eighteen to forties. Those can be handled by current Guardians and occasionally some extra support, but it also appears that nefarious groups are… working together.”

“Like the gangs or mafias?” The quiet siren asks, though I know it must pain him to do so.

“No, well… not entirely.” Jackson sighs and shrugs. “Groups that are already on watchlists for being a threat to keeping ourshit under wraps. The Prince knows The Hand of Morrigan, but whispers say there are demons forming alliances, witches, aquatic rebels… hell, even humans are having troubles according to my sources in the HQ.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Lucas frowns. “Like, why the hell would anyone give a shit about me, other than I’m well known.”

“Your grandmother, cub,” Liam replies as he snaps his fingers. “But why are they focusing on Morgana as well?”

Channing looks up from her teacup, tilting her head. “Tell them, Jax.”

“Oh, fine, sweet cheeks. But you owe me a rescue if she comes for my hide.” The lion shifter grins and leans forward over Eli’s lap. “I’m sharing this with you, but it’s strictly need-to-know information. But since it’s close to home… maybe it’s related.”

I lean back against Lucas, listening intently. “Spit it out.”

“My old friend lives an hour from here in the Hollow. It’s a small town that feeds kids to here like a fucking hamster wheel. There’s been an awful lot of turmoil going on since she moved home. I can’t go into why she came back, but she and her little harem of hotties have been digging into a lot of shit from the past. Disaster keeps plaguing them—on more than one continent and realm—and her best friend is a Guardian in one of those groups.”

My eyes narrow. “Doesn’t happen to be an Irish chick with a rainbow haired girl and two sexy shifters, does it?”

“Hey, that’s the Guardians, yeah. How’d you know?” Jackson says excitedly. “Saoirse has been Jo-Jo’s Guardian since she left the country years ago.”

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