Page 89 of Blood on the Ice

“Liam, this trip is…”

“Dangerous? Indeed, old friend.”

Huffing, I walk over to him, feeling dread in my bones that I can’t explain. “Yes, but not just that. It seems… superfluous. Can’t we use other sources closer to the school? Why get mixed up with mobsters and criminals?”

Ignatius smirks at me. “Because if a bunch of supe baddies are pairing up all over, don’t you think major criminals would get offers to join in? Even if they wouldn’t—like Slade’s father—riches would tempt them, too. Axel trusts no one, and he knows non-aquatic supes can’t really take away his territory, outside of deities. He doesn’t have a good motive to join, but others might.”

I ponder that for a moment. “Like The Hand. The royals’ strength prevents them from establishing a foothold in Faerie. But someone combining power with them might offer to help. And that offer could be replicated to displaced supes in all the realms: Faerie, Earth, Hell, the Gardens, and Mounts…”

“Exactly.” My head turns to see Morgana standing with a smug look on her face. She shrugs as she pads back into the living room. “You’ve been too caught up in suspecting me. Whatever strategy skill Liam keeps you around for has been pushed aside to be snippy with me. I’m glad you’re back in the game.”

Running my hands through my hair, I look up at the ceiling, not wanting to admit she’s right. “Okay. Fine. I’ll back off of you and try to focus on this fucked up chess board. But if you…”

“Yes, yes. If I step a toe out of line, you’ll zap my ass with lightning,” she says as she waves her hand. “I get it, man.”

I can’t help it. I crack a smile this time.She really is indefatigable.

“You got it, toots.”

That makes her grin a little as she herds the others from their seats. “Let’s go get everyone set up in their rooms. I won’t be able to sleep if I think I have another dragon roaming this place unchecked.”

If only she knew…

leaving on a jet plane

Biding our time as Jackson, Lucas, and the others arrange this damn trip has been absolute torture. Channing and I slogged through the budget of some of the smaller departments—depressing as that was—and made a lot of notes on how criminally under-funded their programs were. We brought in a few professors, students, and even alumnae to giveus firsthand dirt on what their lives were like under Magnus’ regime.

The Society wanted me to clear up the corruption here, but I don’t think they expected me to take it this seriously.

That doesn’t matter to me in the slightest—if I’m going to put this entire campus through the ringer, I’m going to ensureallthe students are given a fair shot at education for what they pay. The days of allocating eighty percent of the budget to the Dean’s pets and sports team are over. It will make waves, but Channing and I are making sure we have the evidence to back up our moves. The graduation rates and post-university career success stories will bear out some of them, but testimony will make it even more compelling.

“Morgana, I agree with your efforts, but this is going to make the target on your back worse,” my assistant says with a sigh. “People at State U have been accepting the way it is for a long time. Getting them to shift will be difficult.”

I chuckle and shake my head. “Honestly, Chan? I don’t mind if everyone is up in arms. We’re going to find backers when they hear how completely fucked this shit is. Donations earmarked for specific programs, scholarships, and events have been funneled through the correct accounts, only to be moved to unapproved ones as soon as board meetings are over. No one was auditing this shit and we’re lucky it’s been kept secret this long.”

She grimaces as she looks at the papers in her hands. “That’s true. Most of the financial chicanery happening under Magnus broke laws in both worlds, and that draws attention supes don’t need. The Society will have to do a lot of PR spinning once this becomes public record.”

“Exactly.” I toss my set of printouts onto the table, sighing as I lean back in my chair. “We’re going to be untangling this for years. Magnus had a small flotilla of assholes working hard to hide all his bullshit. I don’t know if they were skilled humans or if he also had magic users go over it with distraction enchantments. There’s just no way a question was never raised about any of it unless he was double-dipping on his security.”

The ice-wielder pushes her glasses up, tilting her head as she studies me. “Your ex was very good at keeping his circle tight and full of worshippers and grifters who benefited from keeping his secrets. We’ll be working on this for quite a while. Does that bother you?”

“Fuck, I don’t know. It would have been a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to do this time and get the hell out, you know?” I grin a little and shrug. “Now I’m attached to people and trying to solve some big Nancy Drew ‘Mystery at the Supernatural University,’ so I guess I’m less eager to run away.”

Channing laughs softly, her eyes dancing. “I can’t say I blame you for that. Sexy men and searching for clues is way more interesting than hiding yourself on some tropical island until the bad press goes away.”

I’ll be damned; how did she know?

“You’re very observant, Channing. I knew there was a reason I hired you.”

A knock interrupts our humor, and my new friend leaps up to go to the door. She waits for me to nod before opening it, then smiles when she sees Lucas leaning against the doorjamb. “Dean LeCiel, there’s a student here to see you.”

Her voice is full of suggestion, and I feel my face redden as the muscled bear lopes into the room with a smirk. Lucas winks at her as she scurries into the outer office, shutting the heavy oak behind her quickly. His eyes rove over the table full of accounting paperwork and he clicks his tongue. “Damn, Morgana. This looks like my nightmares come to life.”

I snort. “That makes two of us, baby. Numbers have never been my thing, but prisoners donotget to choose the punishment for their crimes, no matter how justified they were.”

“Pity. I would have lobbied to be head shoe shiner at the palace before this shit.” He walks over to me, putting his hands on my shoulders and massaging them firmly.

“Shit, that’s nice,” I sigh as my eyes close. “And yeah, I could have survived a lot to avoid this, but it brought me here to you guys, sooooo…. I’m not complaining.”

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