Secrets

secrets

O nce Lucas shifted back, we decided he should call his Nana to get Guardians on-site. To my surprise, she only asked brief questions while he was on the phone with her, but he assured us she’ll want the complete story later. Morgana grumbled at him to put his damn clothes on, and I nodded at Kaspar to let him know he could shift back and do the same. Our girl was already back to normal, not wanting anyone to show up and see her in anything but her human form.

There’s merit to people knowing what she can do, but not now.

“Li, that thing was not registered. I checked every registered and Council supe within the agreed radius when we arrived.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sigh. “America has more unregistered supes and hybrids than any other country because of their… inclination to buck authority. You couldn’t have known there were creatures hiding amongst the shadows, Kas.”

“It’s my job,” he grunts.

“You kinda suck at it.” Morgana’s smirk doesn’t help the scowl on his face, and I put my hand on her arm. “What? He does. Fire drakes leave trails of destruction wherever they go; it’s why they’re more tightly supervised than most dragons. Outside of storm dragons like dumbass here and Mind wyverns—they make up the top three dragon dicks who can’t be trusted to hold their wads.”

It would be easier if she wasn’t on the nose with her statements; Magnus must have shared that tidbit.

“Listen, you overgrow bat?—”

Lucas’s eyes flash and he puts his hand on the dragon’s chest. “Stop. This isn’t helping us figure out how all this shit ties together and what the fuck we’re going to tell the Guardians when they arrive.”

The professor and Slade look at one another, then Morgana before chiming in, “As little as possible.”

I chuckle and nod my agreement. “Yes, that seems prudent. The only connecting factor between Lucas and me is our wealth and status, or… our connection to Morgana. That concerns me; while I have a guard specifically because rebels like the Hand of Morrigan are always looking to cause chaos, Lucas does not. They avoided direct confrontation with him, which must hold significance.”

“But why ?” The gargoyle almost wails that question and we all look at one another. “Magnus had followers, sure, but this is so much bigger than their petty squabbles. They might have access to a fire drake, but for fuck’s sake, a murder cover-up that’s fooling the cops? No way.”

That seems far-fetched for a group of deluded women and men worshipping a dead guy.

“If you’re right, then we need to trace this back farther than just Lucas and me. Ignatius, you may need to do some work in the school’s link to the shifter archives. Kaspar will visit our home and see what he can scrounge up in the Daybreak Court’s archives regarding the Morrigan and ties to rebel groups here. And we definitely have to go through with Slade’s plan—no question now.”

The guys—except for Kaspar—all agree, but they look at our mate, waiting for her to weigh in on the topic. Morgana leans back against the car, her head tilted up to the stars. I know her mother was a witch, so perhaps she places some stock in the alignment of their places. She’s quiet for a minute or two while she thinks, and when she finally speaks, her voice is soft and husky. “I’m worried I’ll get you all killed. If these people are after me for some unknown reason, continuing on this path will only put more people in danger.”

Lucas snorts and walks over, lifting her off the car so she has to wrap her legs around his waist. He’s strong as an ox, which I think Morgana likes more than she admits. She’s not tiny, but the bear picks her up like it’s nothing. “Babe, the only person who hasn’t said they’re here for the chaos is the dickwaffle dragon. The Prince’s influence compels him to comply, rendering it inconsequential. Stop disbelieving what we’re telling you. When you do that, the Headless Fuckhead wins.”

Her eyes go wide and it’s like he just unlocked something in her brain. The rosy lips I adore form a perfect ‘O’ and her body goes completely still in his embrace. “Y-You’re right. Magnus wins if I can’t ever—Oh, fuck me.”

The siren grins a little, looking adorably endearing as he walks over and presses against her back. “That’s right. If you can’t let go of his emotional abuse and move on with your life, you’re stuck living in the past as he dictated. And yeah, he definitely wins because you’re letting a dead man run your life.”

“Plus, I’d absolutely love to take you up on that offer, and I can’t when you’re gloomy,” the bear says with an eyebrow bob.

Even Kaspar laughs at that, and my chest warms a little. I know he’ll get there, but I have to keep him from burning the bridge irrevocably before he does. “Okay, so what are we telling the Guardians?”

Morgana shrugs as the two men sandwich her, then snaps her fingers. “Oh! We took a romantic walk in the fields. Like, swoony style.”

I arch a brow. “You want that in Council reports?”

“Fuck no,” she mumbles as she deflates. “They need nothing else to bug me about. This shit is going to make my budget even more disastrous.”

The professor clears his throat and waves his hand in the air. “Perhaps we tell them the ‘almost’ truth? We say Kaspar was out flying—which he’s allowed to do—and encountered the drake. He contacted me for help and since you’re the Dean, I invited you along.”

Morgana thinks about it for a moment. “Naturally Slade would come with you since he’s your roommate and Dickface McScalyAss would reach out to the Prince. How do we explain Lucas?”

“You’ll have to hop out of his grasp, but you can say you were meeting with him about the legal case,” I whisper. “Our visit to the police station earlier may have been reported to the Society.”

“Okay. That’s what we’re going with, as well as we have no fucking clue why these assholes are here.”

Thank fuck, we agree.

I can feel the approach of other supes, so I nod. “Time to put on innocent faces. They’re almost here.”

“Well, what the bloody feck is this shit?”

Pixie… mixed with something. Interesting.

The crew behind her is just as fascinating as the purple-haired woman standing with her hands on her hips as she glares at the stone dragon. There’s a rainbow-haired woman who gives off a familiar vibe to Morgana, an enormous dude who is definitely some kind of dragon, and finally, a lithe amused looking fellow who reeks of the sea. I’ve seen a few Guardian ‘fixer teams’ in my lifetime, but this one is so oddly close to our own makeup that it makes me shiver.

“This is the fire drake and its companions that Fraü Wolfberg reported,” I reply smoothly. With the others struggling, my ingrained diplomacy takes charge. “I am Prince Liam Spéirgheal, first heir to The Daybreak Court, keeper of the Veil. Who, may I ask, are you?”

“Oh, shit,” the aquatic guy says as he gives the pixie a reproving look. “Please excuse my companion’s enthusiasm, Your Highness. Saoirse wasn’t raised in your lands, only here. I am Zasha Fydor Petrov, and this is my school.”

“Your school?” the shifter snorts and shakes his head, his beard vibrating as he laughs. “More like my clutch, minnow. Allow me to introduce myself, Prince Liam. I am Tharin Drakos of the ice wyverns.”

Kaspar’s eyes widen, and he gives me a slight frown. I don’t know what quarrel the ice wyverns have with the storm dragons, but it must be over dishonesty. Otherwise he wouldn’t have weighed in so publicly. I smile politely, turning to the ladies. “They overpowered you, I’m afraid. Rubbish manners for such noble mythical shifters.”

The pixie lets out a peal of laughter and I see the hint I needed—she’s also a veela. “Naw, don’t be worried, Your Highness. My best friend Jolene always says men are never more in the way than when they’re not even needed in the equation. Zasha and Tharin love to throw their weight around, but Julia and I are the brains out of the outfit.”

Morgana walks over, holding her hand out with a grin. “Your friend sounds delightful and quite wise. I am Morgana LeCiel, Dean of State U. The Prince introduced himself, but going clockwise, this is Professor Ignatius Briarton, Slade, Lucas Wolfberg, and the jackass over there is Liam’s bodyguard. You can call him jackass, too, or I guess Kaspar.”

I have to hide my chuckles behind my hand, coughing as the Guardians all laugh at her bluntness. Once it dies down, I tilt my head. “You know all of us, but I didn’t catch your names, ladies. At least, not all of them.”

“Julia Ricci, actual commander of this unit, and this is my slithermate, Saoirse O’ Flanagan. We’re fairly informal, which is why everyone is claiming they're in charge when that’s not the case.”

Nodding, I jerk my chin at the mess nearby. “Kaspar came out to stretch his wings, which I’m sure Tharin can relate to. He was attacked by the fire drake—which we had no idea was living in this area—and the other species on the ground joined it. We had to subdue it before it wreaked havoc on the entire college.”

Saoirse walks over to the stone beast, kicking it gently. “Yep, the woman is one of yours, J. This is living stone.”

Julia whips her head around to squint at Morgana, and my hackles raise. “Holy fuck, you’re that Morgana.”

Our girl stiffens, immediately frosting over as she looks at the Guardians. “I am not out of my radius without warning. There’s nothing to report. I didn’t start this shit, either. I only contained it.”

The wyvern walks away from the group with the water shifter, leaving us with the two women. Now that they know who my mate is, I find myself on edge whether they’re going to believe us. But the flashy pixie gives her a brilliant grin and slow claps. “You are a hero, lady. Even my charge—the bestie I mentioned—thinks so. Socking it to a cheating crooked lizard is fucking epic. And you may not know it, but many people think you got the wrong end of the dildo with that trial.”

Iggy snickers at her words, then Lucas, and before long, only Julia and Morgana are left assessing one another seriously. I suppose it’s because their kind is rare and they’re trying to figure each other out, but we can’t stand here all evening while they play ‘who has the thicker snakes.’ Kaspar is still standing there glaring and not talking, so I sigh and take over again.

No wonder Saaladir and my old friend hate one another so much—they could be twins.

“Fae aren’t much bothered by multiple species of our kind in small areas, but I know various dragons and gorgons are. To get this moving so everyone gets to sleep tonight, we should dispense with the bluster.”

All the women look at me and I almost shrink back—that wall of ice is chilly as fuck.

“The Prince is right, of course,” Morgana says when she recovers. “What do you need to know?”

“You said this drake wasn’t expected. Did you check the registry?” Julia asks in a no-nonsense tone. “It’s not a formality in the States.”

Kaspar snorts. “No shit. We’ve been here a long time, just not at this location. I checked both the Society’s and the dark net sites. No drake mentioned.”

Saoirse bounces on her toes. “That means this is ours , Ju-Ju. We get to pry out of these dumbasses why they’re here and how they hid this big asshole. I can’t wait.”

“How will you do that when he’s encased in stone?” Slade asks curiously. “The others you can wake up because I subdued them with my song.”

Tharin stomps over, his gigantic frame looking like he’s a character in a fantasy TV show despite his normal dress. “We have many resources at our disposal, young siren.”

“So are we done?” Morgana asks as she looks around. “I have no problem with leaving this mess to you for the moment. I’m tired and I will have a fucking nightmare in logistical issues with repairing the damage done tonight.”

Julia and Saoirse exchange a quick glance, then nod simultaneously. The gorgon is the one who speaks, though, and I’m inclined to believe she truly is the leader. “You may go. Seer has your names in her memory banks, so we’ll know who to look for if we have more questions.”

Thank fuck.

One by one, we turn to get in the SUV when Zasha’s voice rings out. “Just a quick Q from me, eh? Why do you think you were attacked by a multi-species group with such firepower?”

I smile innocently, putting on my most regal face as I shrug. “Your guess is as good as mine, Petrov. But I am a Prince and people seek to unseat rulers all the time. For all I know, my father did something disagreeable within the Veil I am not privy to.”

It’s likely, and my constant worry, but he doesn’t need to know.

That said, we pile into the car and I relax for the first time since we arrived at this field.

Now all we have to do is avoid another catastrophe like this and we’ll be fine.