Smile

smile

T his bullshit feeling like garbage is pissing me off.

I’ve got Morgana on board with the mating thing—which feels like a major victory given her trust issues—and I can’t do a damned thing about it. My body is too weak to enjoy frisky time even though my spirit is definitely willing. In fact, my bear is growling weakly in my head, angry that he can’t force me to really show our woman what mating with a bear is like.

It’s no fun in my head, trust me.

Morgana looks down at me, her expression a little amused, and I wonder if she feels the battle going on inside of me. The one misbehaving snake pokes its head out of her curls, flicking its tongue at me before disappearing again, and I have my answer. Her inner beasts are frustrated as well, and the gorgon side is the more cantankerous one.

“How did this happen?” Ignatius asks, and I arch a brow at him, smirking a little. He rolls his eyes to the sky and lets out a beleaguered sigh. “I don’t mean that . I know how that part works, thanks. What I’m asking is how the two of you, being from shifter families and old enough to understand how it works, mated without conscious intention.”

Channing grins and raises her hand. “I know!”

We all look at her in surprise and she shrugs. “My sister is a hybrid and a fairly rare blend. Of course, she’s not really my sister because she’s much older, but I’ve always called her that. She’s a Guardian, and she was adopted into our family generations ago and always keeps tabs on our line because they took such good care of her. I enjoy hearing about her charges because she’s kind of a trouble shooter? She doesn’t have permanent ones because her team are specialists. Anyway, she told me about something like this that happened recently.”

Holy fuck, that was a lot of words for the diminutive ice-wielder.

I clear my throat, looking at Morgana, then back at her assistant. “Tell us how it happened, Channing. Please.”

“Well, it’s not as uncommon as you’d think, especially in hybrids, because their mix isn’t always copacetic. Sometimes, their sides work together and sometimes not, but the magic or bloodlines that make them who they are have enough sentience to exert their wishes without the permission of the humanoid parts. My sister’s friend has a charge who doesn’t even know about supes—unemerged as an adult—and her sides have mated with several people. The supes know, of course, but she doesn’t because something is keeping her from emerging fully.”

Morgana blinks. “What the actual fuck, Channing. That’s like… a whole romance novel worth of crap happening to one person.”

“I agree,” Slade says. “Growing up in my family wasn’t easy because of certain things, but our younglings always knew what they needed to do so they could survive in this world. That chick has been hamstrung like a motherfucker.”

“Oh, definitely. She has several mates and four Guardians trailing her at the moment because they don’t know what the hell is going to happen. But my point is, when it did, my sister talked to as many retired agents and Guardians as she could to do some research. It turned out that it happens occasionally with single-sided supes, but much more often in hybrids than anyone realized.”

“So it’s my fault… again,” Morgana groans as she puts her face in her hands. “How would I have known? If the Society people didn’t realize it, it didn’t happen with Magnus, and I never felt a single twinge with any other people I’ve been with… It seems like that’s a damn landmine waiting to explode.”

Ignatius scratches his beard, his nose wrinkled as he ponders for a moment. “This feels like information that should get distributed to all the Guardians, educators, counselors, and caladrii across the globe. Hybrids need to realize what could happen.”

“I’m sure they plan on it, but until they figure out what happened in that case, they aren’t likely to share. My sister said her friend had to visit the fucking Fates, Iggy. No one fucks with shit they’re directly involved in, and we all know a mate bond is not a choice we make ourselves.” Channing crosses her arms over her chest, looking determined. “I shouldn’t even be sharing this because you’re not under an NDA, so if it gets out, I’m toast. Keep your mouths shut.”

I hold my fist out for her to bump. “I like the spunk, girl. Being around my mate is bringing out the fierce in you.”

She flushes a cute pink and bumps me back, while Morgana smiles brightly. “Thanks, Lucas. I enjoy seeing my new boss smile; every time I saw her on campus before we met at the rink, she looked sad and lonely. Tonight, Morgana, you look almost happy. The Fates were right, even if you didn’t expect it.”

That makes me turn red, and I roll over to bury my face against Morgana’s stomach. Of all the accolades I’ve received in my years being a sports star, I’ve never felt so fluttery in my gut when someone complimented me as I do now. I guess that’s part of my bear’s desire to make our mate happy and well cared for, which is a struggle when I can’t sit up on my own. Mumbling against her shirt, I reply, “Stop it. I’m not well enough for my bear to be preening.”

Slade laughs, and Iggy joins him. Before long, Channing and Morgana are laughing, too, which makes my goofy ass bear even happier. He’s extremely glad my embarrassment is entertaining this group of people. It’s fucking weird because, much like the night with Morgana, he’s never given a single fuck about any group of friends or teammates I’ve been around.

Tonight is a fucking cornucopia of odd sensations and revelations; I can’t imagine what’s going to happen next.

By the time the night is winding down, I’m feeling sluggish again. It’s dark, and the porch is illuminated with these hysterically cheesy electric tiki torches that are obviously Magnus’ ridiculous adventurer themed decoration and the rest of the crowd is pleasantly sauced. I’ve refrained from drinking because of my condition, but even Channing occasionally hiccups.

The best part is, Morgana reclined against the end of the couch, letting me sprawl between her legs with my head on her stomach. Everything about this, including her fingers idly combing through my hair, is soothing to both me and my animal. I feel like crap, but there’s a sheen of comfort and care over the top of that, making my blood hum with satisfaction. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt like this and that’s a sad commentary on how I grew up.

No surprise there. Nana isn’t touchy feely and my parents are absent at best.

Channing sighs and looks at her watch with a rueful smile. “Time for me to turn into a pumpkin, guys. I need to be at the office by six to prepare assignments for the staff.”

“We can drop you off,” Slade volunteers. “I have an eight a.m. lesson and Iggy needs to catch the Professor in the morning before anyone’s pissed her off.”

The thought makes me smirk and Ignatius rolls his eyes at me. “You have no idea what I’m going to have to deal with. I was a dick, but she holds grudges like cursed Incan idols. I’ll be lucky to come out unscathed.”

“Which you deserve,” Morgana reminds him with a matching smirk. “At least, according to Slade, and I feel he’s a pretty fair judge of behavior, even with you.”

Her declaration earns her a pout and more laughter, but our guests help us clear the garbage, then walk through the house to the front. I can feel them staring at the decor, probably communicating the same concern I had when I first stepped in here. The board used this stupid house to doubly punish Morgana, and even the others recognize it for what it is. When we reach the front, Channing looks at her boss as she holds me up.

“If Lucas hadn’t arranged something, I would take care of it. This is beyond psychologically abusive and I’m making sure that assessment gets to people I know will be quite unhappy with this affront.” The elemental straightens her spine and looks at the trophy room in disgust. “Goddess help us when we figure out the nightmares he has hidden in here.”

I nod, having also felt the tang of some creepy shit, but I resisted mentioning it so I didn’t scare Morgana. “Yeah, there’s some major bad vibes in here.”

“Magic,” Iggy murmurs. “We’ll bring a lot of cleansing supplies this weekend and get this place aired out. Anything dangerous I’ll contain and we’ll turn over to the archivist at the university.”

Morgana looks at them all gratefully, her expression relieved. “Thank you—all of you. I’m so stubborn I would have continued to live out of a suitcase until someone forced me. It’s the gargoyle in me.”

That settled, they leave and we watch until their car pulls out to drive down the lane. Once they’re gone, my new mate turns to me, her lips quirked in amusement.

“Are you ready to sleep or should I put a movie on to help lull us there?”

Us. That’s going to take some getting used to.

“You’re very… accepting of all this for someone who claims to have purposely kept herself isolated because of her nature,” I reply as she helps me back to the living room. “I’m shocked you weren’t more explosive when you found out hybrids have a higher chance of discovering fated mates after their magic mates them.”

We make it to the couch and she helps me get comfortable before she joins me and responds. “I’ve been thrown a lot of curveballs in life. My parents never hid my adoption, but they also didn’t always tell me everything. Like most parents, I suppose. They changed jobs sometimes or started additional income streams without me knowing—which was hard when it changed my status to other students because it was public knowledge. They didn’t tell me before they retired and went running to their island resort. I didn’t know when they meddled in my shit, either, until I was older. Plus, I’ve had some wacky exes, even before Magnus. I guess at some point I learned hysterics don’t change whatever you’re upset about. It’s better to be calm and plan.”

I ponder that, nodding. “I handle adversity similarly because of my chaotic childhood. It’s why I was so serene when you walked into the locker room to find me with a dead body.”

Morgana groans and rolls her eyes up to the ceiling. “With this poison shit, I almost lost track of that. I assume Jackson has kept the Detective from pursuing an arrest for the moment. We haven’t heard from the authorities, right?”

I shake my head. “Nope. My phone doesn’t have anything from them or the lawyer. Even Nana is quiet.”

“Is that normal?” she squints and asks.

“At times, yes. Sometimes she goes quiet because of a big negotiation in progress or she’s dealing with one of my parents’ messes. She tries not to involve me in their shit, for obvious reasons.”

She frowns, pulling out her phone, and leans against me as she searches for Nana’s name. It comes up with nothing new, but then she searches for my parents’ names.

That’s when I discover why Nana is silent—she’s definitely too busy.

“Fuck, they’re such absolute assholes,” I groan as I turn to lie down. “Why were either of them even present at some dirty rich people's party in London that got busted by every law enforcement agency in existence, I don’t know. They got detained by human authorities, too.”

“That’s going to be sticky,” Morgana murmurs. “Especially if they were… indiscreet because of… influences.”

I snort. “You can say if they ran their mouths because they were high, you’re right, and it wouldn’t be the first time. I think if Nana wasn’t who she is, the Society would have neutralized them ages ago.”

Her nose wrinkles and she curls up against me, flicking the TV on. “Fucking rich people.”

“Indeed,” I agree, smiling to myself as I hold her.

We can argue social justice later—for now, I’m happy to let her win.