The Plan

the plan

T he trip back to my house is quiet. We’re cramped and most of the guys are banged up. It took a few minutes of wheedling, but I finally consented to sitting on Lucas’s lap in the back while the damn dragon took the wheel with the Prince up front. Iggy and Slade are scrunched into the back with us, but they seem fine with it. I’m exhausted from blasting the damn fire drake with everything I had to encase it in stone—usually, my targets are much smaller than that. It ate up a great deal of magic I’ll have to regenerate, so I’m not sure I have it in me to argue this bullshit tonight.

Not to mention discuss the stupid Guardians and what we’re going to do about the rest of our fucked up shit.

Kaspar pulls into my driveway, and suddenly, the vibe in the air is very heavy. I open our door, needing to get out of the stifling atmosphere before it makes me angry again. I’m owed an apology—a sincere one—and a promise that fucker won’t treat me like garbage again to soothe his own trauma. I survived one broken dragon taking his shit out on me and I’m not letting this one get the chance to do the same.

When the others stay in the car, I frown. I don’t know what they’re doing, but I need to lay the fuck down and eat something before I crash. Tonight’s activities were damn draining. They don’t move, and I shrug. If they want to have a dude meeting in the car, I’m not standing around like a fool while they chat. I wiggle my fingers at Lucas, then trudge up to the porch to let myself in. Physical keys are a pain in my ass and I make a mental note that I hope sticks in my brain to ask Iggy and Liam about transitioning us to something less object based.

Not everything has fucking pockets, and it’s hard enough to keep track of my damn phone.

Striding into the house, I flick on the lights only to shriek at the top of my lungs. The two guys sitting on my living room sofa smirk at me and I put my hand to my chest to quell the thumping of my heart. “Poseidon’s salty ass crack, Jackson. You scared the stone off me.”

It’s not hard to hear the thundering herd of men approaching at my strangled yell of fear, so I wait until they pour into the room in various stages of defense mode. Eli laughs from his spot next to our lawyer, and I have to stop myself from shouting again when Channing appears in the doorway to the kitchen with a tea tray.

“What the hell is going on in here?” Lucas growls. He looks tired, but he’s got big ass bear paws, so he was definitely mid-shift when he realized who our uninvited guests were. “Fuck, man, it’s not the night for surprises.”

Iggy lowers hands covered in glowing magic and Slade’s aura goes back to normal as they see their friend. Unfortunately for everyone, the last two to join the pissed off party are Liam and Kaspar, both of whom are much deeper into fight mode. Kaspar has scales and glowing eyes while the Prince is damn near shedding sparkles everywhere as his magic fills the room.

“Guys, guys, guys,” I say in a tired voice. “Calm down. It’s okay. We’re not in danger.”

Liam huffs, turning off the light show so easily even Jackson looks impressed. “By the stones on the henge, I almost cast first and asked questions afterward. Are you three insane ?”

“I’m sorry. Jax got the message that shit went down here and we re-grouped to drop in immediately. Rick, Ken, and Foley are headed here as soon as they wrap up the leads they’re following right now.”

Slade rushes over to help Channing with the tray, despite being filthy and covered in the mess of our battle. I laugh softly, finding his innate chivalry adorable but crazy in our current state. Looking pointedly at Jackson, I clear my throat loudly. “Okay, people. With an invasion foretold, some of us must get cleaned up. Entertain yourselves until we get back.”

Lucas beams as he takes my hand, especially when I don’t fight him. “That’s right, suckers. We fought a fucking dragon and we’re covered in sweat and winner .”

Artemis, save me from competitive dudes.

“Yes, well, it’s a good thing we brought things this afternoon,” Iggy says as he runs his hands through his hurricane-blown hair. “And better that there are three showers.”

“I’m going to our place,” Kaspar says. As soon as he turns to leave, I make a face at his back because I’m completely over his bullshit. “And don’t think I didn’t feel that, Morgana.”

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’s working 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 Slade are 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’s not a 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 we don’t need 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 our shit 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.”

“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 someone unemerged into 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.