Dinner & Diatribes
MORGANA
“ T hank fuck!” I say as I hear the guys coming in the front door.
The blender is running full speed with the latest batch of margs, and the hot portion of our dinner is on the warmers.
It smells delicious, if I say so myself, and I grin as they clomp through the living room to the kitchen. “What kept you guys so damn long?”
Lucas enters first, looking grumpy until he sees the spread. “I’ll be damned. You cooked. Who knew Hell was freezing over?”
I frown, my eyes narrowing as I glare at the exuberant bear. “Shut it, Wolfberg. I can cook basic stuff; I just don’t prefer to do it. But I was trying to keep myself occupied while you all did whatever the fuck you were doing for so long.”
Before I can get deeper into my pretend snit, Liam crosses the kitchen and kisses my cheek lightly. “ Salaadir , it smells delicious in here. I’m definitely starving, and this is a wonderful surprise.”
Slade beams as he joins us. “The prince is right, Morgana. You did a fantastic job of distracting yourself and taking care of us. Don’t be cranky because Lucas teased you. He’s irritable about the dorm thing.”
“Dorm thing?” I lean into the beautiful siren, enjoying how soothing his gentle nuzzles are. “What dorm thing?”
“Let’s get the food and go to our HQ before we discuss it.” Iggy makes a face that says we shouldn’t talk about it when we’re not protected, and I nod in understanding.
“Right. Well, load up. I’ve got two pitchers of margaritas we can take out there, and three different taco meats because I wasn’t sure who would like what.
” I dust my hands off on my half-apron, then untie it and hang it on the wall hook.
“Note that stuff like this is about my limit for being kitchen domestic; if you want fancier things, you might have to ask Lucas. His Nana taught him all the shit.”
Li blinks and grins widely as he turns to our hockey-playing jock. “You? You’re the gourmand in the group? I’m astonished, honestly.”
Blushing bright red, Lucas mumbles something as he follows Iggy to the plates and loads up. “Well, my Nana insisted that I be ‘less ridiculously unprepared for the real world like her son’. I was kind of her ‘do-over’ in terms of not raising a spoiled rich brat.”
“Slade is a fucking fabulous cook,” Iggy cuts in as he pauses, making his tacos. “Seriously. If it weren’t for him, I would have either survived on takeout or had to hire someone. I’m useless, like Lucas’s parents, unfortunately.”
Thank hell someone is less skilled than me or I’d feel like a complete idiot.
“Iggy’s right,” Slade says before he heads for the food.
“It was one of my ‘jobs’ growing up because I wouldn’t do other stuff.
My dad thought it would shame me into doing the shit my siblings were, so I didn’t have to be amongst the grunts, but…
” He shrugs as he pushes his glasses up and gives me a small, crooked grin.
“It didn’t work because I enjoyed doing anything that kept me away from my actual family and their bullshit. ”
His acceptance of the dumb shit his family put him through makes my chest hurt, and I walk over to put my hands on his face, resting my forehead on his as I stoop.
“Slade, you don’t have to do a damn thing you don’t want to with us, got it?
If you want to cook, you can, same as Lucas, but if not?
We’ll order in or go out because I prefer my family to be happy and healthy, not useful. Got it?”
My newest mate’s cheeks get even redder and he mumbles something unintelligible, obviously flustered by the sentiment.
Lucas chuckles and I hear him move to the table, then his footsteps come closer to join us.
“Lady M, you’re making him so mushy that he’s speechless.
I think I speak for both of us when I say we’ll let people know if we feel like we’re being put upon, okay? ”
I nod, then look at my bear. “Gotcha, big guy.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Iggy mutters from the buffet. “I never once made him take care of me. He insisted, you know.”
Slade blushes even more as he shrugs. “That’s accurate. Don’t be mad at Iggy for what he said about my roomie stuff. He wasn’t making me do anything; I promise.”
I think he’s underestimating the power of yearning for someone who isn’t reciprocating, but I’m going to let the professor fix that shit on his own.
“Okay, now that we’ve been weirdly squishy…” Liam winks and I laugh as I let go of Slade. “We should finish getting our stuff and go out to the HQ so we can discuss the dorm issue.”
Nodding, I grab a plate since the guys have already started, then suddenly, it hits me.
“Where the hell is that fucking jackass who guards you, Li? I didn’t notice how calm everything was until I considered how much food was left, despite Lucas’s protein loading.
” The bear shoots me a mock pout as he pours his drink and I laugh. “Sorry, babe, it’s true.”
“I don’t know, honestly.” Liam pulls his phone out, his fingers flying over it as he texts, then frowning when he doesn’t get a response. “He was with us when I arrived, and I figured he was unloading the SUV, but you’re right… It’s been too long for that.”
“Call him and find out what’s going on,” Iggy suggests. “Maybe he just went on an errand? I’m not sure he’s completely ready to share his every move yet, so he probably just took off.”
Liam shakes his head. “No, Kas usually texts me if he’s peeling off for something he needs to do for himself. I’m safe here, obviously, but I have to know where he is in case of an emergency. Other than the pouty fit he threw before, this isn’t the norm for my old friend.”
W asn’t the norm before me is what my royal mate isn’t saying—damn that dragon.
“Great. He’s disappeared off the radar because he doesn’t want to be around me.
Last time, he got attacked, so that’s fabulous.
” Shaking my head, I stomp over and pile food on my plate, then grab my margarita.
“Let’s go, boys. We might as well get our nutrition in before the asshat ends up in trouble and we have to fly to the rescue. ”
Grimacing, my prince put his plate on the stove and comes up behind me.
“Don’t be so tense, macushla . That dragon has been defending himself for centuries, and the fire drake incident was a fluke.
Who the hell would have expected an unregistered dragon of opposing strengths to show up here?
No one, even my meticulous best friend.”
“Okay, okay,” I sigh and I lean back into him.
“I’ll believe you, but we’re going to have another damn conversation with him when he gets back.
He has to at least say he’s going somewhere, so we don’t worry.
I know he hates me, but it’s just rude and inconsiderate to the rest of you to fuck off with no word. ”
“Agreed,” Iggy says as he walks past us. “Even I think it’s bullshit, and I know I’m still earning my spot, but I’ve been more open than that.”
I hate that he’s right, but I like that it makes Slade look happy as hell, so I’ll let it go.
Liam pockets his phone when it goes to voicemail again, his expression tight. “Unfortunately, the professor is right. He’s behaving better than before and my old friend is not. We’ll have that discussion when he returns, but for now, we’ll go talk about the other situation.”
I step back, smiling as I head in the direction Iggy went. “Yeah, I have to admit that I’m pretty curious about what held you up. It’s why I made all this stuff; I wanted to ask, but I also didn’t want to be a nanny goat nagging about when you’d all be home. It felt stupid.”
Slade joins me as I walk out the back door, and I hear Lucas’s footsteps behind him.
I know Liam will be at the back of the group, making sure the gentler men are sandwiched between us for their protection.
He doesn’t tell me that’s what he’s doing, but I see him forming a protective layer around Lucas and Slade without a word more and more.
The Prince is a lot more possessive and aggressive than he lets on with his demeanor; I think.
Once we’re all on the patio, Liam claps his hand once like that human device and I hear a distinct ‘pop!’ that must be the magic sealing our private headquarters. He smiles, choosing a spot on the other side of Lucas facing me, and I sip my drink before I say anything.
“Come on, guys. We’re safe and the bubble is closed. Let’s hear it.”
Lucas swallows his huge bite of taco, then rubs his stomach. “First, the tacos are delish, babe. Second, the incident isn’t as big a deal as we’re making, but the implications are pretty shitty. You should know that we would have called if there was imminent danger.”
“No, we wouldn’t have,” Iggy mutters, then holds his hands up when I glare. “I don’t mean we would have hid it, Morgana. I mean, there would be zero reason to invite you into a bad situation if we had it handled. The bear mis-spoke, I believe.”
Heaving a deep sigh, I nod. “Fine. So why did Lucas call you guys over?”
“Because I went there and grabbed a bunch of my stuff to fully move in here after class. I figured I’d get my important things and have a service to do the rest tomorrow.
However, when I got inside my dorm, there was this weird sensation that it had been invaded.
Like, I just knew someone had been inside that shouldn’t have.
” He shakes his head, looking annoyed, then shrugs.
“So instead of dealing with it on my own, I texted the guys to see who could join me.”
Damn, that was really smart.
“Lucas, you win today for being mature and not trying to handle it on your own like an idiot. Obviously, the dragon loses because he’s not fucking here and won’t answer.” I take another sip of my drink, my eyes dancing merrily. “Everyone else is in the middle because they came to help.”
“We did,” Iggy replies, as he wipes his mouth.
“But honestly? We couldn’t figure it out—not really.
That’s part of the implications Lucas mentioned; we concluded that whatever had been in his place was skilled and powerful enough to hide almost all of their signature. That’s very concerning, obviously.”
“Not feeling a supe or a human was unusual,” Liam agrees. “It’s seldom that I’m stumped like that. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time neither Kaspar nor I could identify a being by the scent or magical residue from their presence.”
“I tried singing, and it revealed nothing,” Slade says as reaches for his drink. “That never happens.”
My eyes narrow when I pick up on what no one else seems to notice. “You sang? In the dorm where you were all playing Nancy Drew?”
His eyes beg me to let it go as he nods. “I did. But it didn’t help, so I guess I’m not strong enough, either.”
Lucas snorts, rubbing his neck as he sighs.
“You know, I’ve had crazy fans or weird rich girls chase me in the past, but this?
Between the murder frame and some super powered stalker, I’m definitely glad my intent was to move in here full time.
The dorms aren’t safe for me or anyone else near me there. ”
“You’re safe here,” Iggy says seriously, then tilts his head. “Well, as long as you don’t touch any of the shit we labeled for disposal before we get rid of it. Otherwise, you should be good, because of all our wards and shit.”
The professor’s right except for the super secret knowledge that Slade doesn’t want any of them to know—anyone who can hear him make music with his voice without being a zombie is his mate.