She Works Hard for the Money
MORGANA
T he discussion lasted well into the night, and when I woke up this morning between Liam and Lucas, I actually felt completely settled for the first time since I arrived at State U.
I don’t know if that’s because we finally got the damned dragon to meet us halfway or because my soul senses that things are coming together as they should be.
Whatever it is, it made breakfast and the goodbyes afterward a lot more satisfying.
Iggy hugged me, and Kaspar gave me a sharp nod that wasn’t full of disdain.
Today might not be so fucking bad, and that’s a good goddamn thing.
“Channing, I’m here,” I call as I step into the outer office.
My closest non-mated ally looks up from the stack of papers she’s already reviewing with a smile.
I need to talk with her about not burning herself out simply to get caught up, but now isn’t the time.
I’m too calm this morning, and I don’t want to upset the balance of the universe. “How are you this morning?”
Her cheeks flush bright red, and my brows raise.
Something is definitely going well for her, and I’m damn glad to see it.
Channing clears her throat, then says, “I slept quite well, thank you, Morgana. How are things at home since you’ve returned?
You mentioned having much to discuss after the trip. ”
I frown a little, the paranoia about surveillance that the guys have drilled into me making me wonder.
My eyes dart around the room for a moment, and my assistant grins, holding up a finger.
She reaches into her desk, pulling out an innocuous-looking pen and holding it up as she slides a paper towards me.
Once I approach, she clicks the top several times in a rhythm, then I feel a noticeable burst of energy spread throughout the space.
“There we go. Jax had Rainier and Kendrick work on this gadget. It’s only effective in a very limited area, but we should be good to speak for the next ten minutes without fear of tech or magic catching our words.”
Damn, I was smart for hooking her up with them; this is excellent.
With an audible sigh of relief, I nod. “Okay, that’s perfect.
Tell them thanks. As for the discussion?
On a personal level, I think it’s headed in the right direction from top to bottom now, which is an immense relief.
In the realm of professional stuff? We may have a shortcut coming for rooting out the shit here with less strain, and if so, I will be insanely grateful.
Globally? We’ve got major problems and I?—”
My phone buzzes, and I look down at it with a frown.
The message there is forwarded from Liam, but it appears as if the demons we met during the orc battle have updates about the rest of their experience at the Apalachin, as well as questions about things up here.
I quickly respond to my mate, letting him know I approve of responding, and also that I would be okay with him sharing my information with the small demon they whisked away for protection.
I didn’t get to know him before the fight, but it sounds like he wants to speak to me directly, and I’m curious.
“What was that?” Channing asks as she keeps her eyes on the wall clock.
“When we went to visit Slade’s family, we ended up at this big criminal meeting thing.
It was insanely complex and terrifying in scale for one city’s network.
We met two other groups of supes that seemed like they could be allies—one from Hell and one from the city we were in—who got our contact info because they’re working on things that connect with shit here.
It’s a much bigger problem than we thought, so it seemed prudent to gather more friendlies. ”
Her eyes widen as she stares at me in shock. “You made friends with demons?”
Shrugging as I chuckle, I say, “What can I say? I attract danger like bugs to a zapper. Actually, both groups had demons in them, and both were tied to the highest levels down there. There were also Fae and shifters as far as we could tell, but that’s not the important part.
What is important is that there’s a much larger conspiracy going on that seems to extend to the other realms, including Hell and Faerie and everything in between. ”
“Son of a bitch.” My assistant shakes her head, inhaling deeply as if she’s trying to steady her nerves. “I can see why you want to get this State U shakeup done. You need to get it off your plate, so you can focus on the wider picture.”
I nod again. “Yep. This is small potatoes in comparison, but until my tenure is secure enough to make the changes needed to fulfill my sentence? I will not have the freedom to do anything that needs to be done. I’m trapped until I get us where we need to be.”
“Hopefully, whatever you and those men have on the docket will be successful, then. I know Jackson and his team are working hard to get the charges dropped for Lucas. It’s pretty clear that there’s no other evidence aside from proximity, but small-city detectives with delusions of grandeur aren’t as easy to move as you’d think.
The more outside pressure we apply, the more things ‘anonymous’ people leak to the internet to scare off our allies putting the screws to him. ”
“How is he managing that when he seems dimmer than a five-watt bulb?” I ask in exasperation. “That guy couldn’t find his ass with GPS, a flashlight, and glow in the dark arrows.”
Pushing her glasses up as she looks away from the lock for a moment, Channing sighs.
“Rainier doesn’t think it’s him, nor does Eli.
They believe there are more powerful forces helping this windbag along—and he might not even know it.
He’s a pawn, and the people keeping him in place are bishops, you know? ”
Oh yes, I know—Magnus loved chess until he played me and suddenly it was ‘stupid human shit’.
“They’re working on tracking it down, right?”
“Mmm, yes. Actually, Eli has a server dedicated to each task we’ve given him, working like a Trojan army. As for tracing the magical or supernatural vein, they’ve got Foley following leads Rain and Rick dig up. It’s pretty efficient and I have faith that they will get it done, Morgana.”
The nicknames don’t escape my notice, and my lips curl up.
Channing Oswald is settling into that group nicely, and I have to pray they don’t hire her away from me so they can monopolize her forever.
I’m quite certain there’s Fate-shaped hands in that mix, and I would love that for her, but how I’d find anyone else to—Oh!
“Hey, Chan. Did you have Eli do his thing with that girl I sent you the name of? Dixie Abernathy?”
The frown she gives me looks hurt, but she nods. “Yes, he’s working on it. I’m concerned that picking up unknowns isn’t the best idea at the moment, though.”
Aw, she’s jealous; that’s actually cute, but I will not say it.
“Channing, I didn’t pluck her out of obscurity to replace you.
” Her faux-shocked face doesn’t deter me, and I go on.
“In fact, we found a girl that all of my men and I got good reads off of, even Liam. She’s working in a shitty place for shitty people to support her schooling, and it occurred to me that if she passed muster, she could be your right hand.
All generals need their lieutenants to get things done for them, right? ”
She blinks owlishly, completely stunned silent for a moment. “I… Oh. I mean, yes. You’re right. Of course you’re right. I could use someone who is loyal to us to help with the workload, especially until we fill the rest of our ranks with trust-worthy people.”
I grin. “Exactly. I believe this girl is that person, and she’ll fit right in with us.
I wanted to support her, yes, but I also wanted to support you.
I think we have to build infrastructure if we’re going to achieve anything at this good old supe boys’ club school, and if we don’t, we’ll succeed momentarily, then it will fail again. ”
“Damn, you’re good,” she says with a sheepish expression. “You knew I was worried about being replaced and didn’t make me feel stupid while you explained the plan. Honestly, your communication skills are so good that I’m not at all surprised you convinced the Society not to off you.”
“Sort of,” I mutter. “Mostly, I revealed what Magnus had been doing to earn his sentence, and once they saw the scope, my actions seemed less about personal revenge and more about saving them a great deal of future embarrassment when he inevitably got caught.”
“Powerful people are always motivated by their own self-interest more than anything else,” Channing says with a sad sigh.
“You’d think they would want to get an abuser away from the vulnerable people under his care, but no…
They were most concerned with retaining the rep here and restoring the local Council’s sports money. ”
“If we could change that about the world, it would have happened long before any of us were born, Chan. That’s not even a ‘human’ thing; it’s a being alive thing.” I eye the clock and frown again. “We’re just about there. What will we be talking about when it pops off?”
“Your night out with the guys, sans the sneaky stuff.”
I chuckle, shaking my head. “Oh, no, lady. I’m not divulging that stuff to anyone.”
“But…”
The ripple of magic smacks into me, and I change course quickly since the pen thing has run out of juice. “You’re not spilling the tea about your love life, so I’m not telling you about mine.”
We both paste on faux-girly smiles as she replies, “Fine. I’m enjoying the company of several people who know a lot about what they are doing.”
I snort, unsurprised at that revelation. “Yeah, I guessed that much. And I’m happy for you, by the way. I don’t want to lose you to a traveling circus, obviously, but I also enjoy seeing you look this happy.”
“I would never ,” she says firmly. “Yes, this is fun and new and really hot. But I’m not ready to go running around being a concubine when my career is doing well. There’s a middle ground, and I will look for it if need be.”
Nice. I knew I was right about Channing, and here she is proving it again.
“Besides, if this girl passes the college background checks, there’s back-up, right?”
Her question is carefully worded, but I know what she means.
If Dixie is acceptable and gets trained, it will allow her to occasionally accompany Jackson and his merry men if that becomes an occasional request. “Yes, that would give us options. See? I knew you’d find the silver lining in my decision. ”
“Okay, so now that we’ve gabbed, we should go over your schedule for the day, yes?
” Channing winks and I beam. “Stay on time, or you’ll miss going to the rehearsal Slade texted me about.
He was hoping you’d be able to come see him in the orchestra, since they’re doing a first run-through of the musical. ”
“Why didn’t he ask me this morning?” I frown, wondering why he contacted my assistant rather than me. “I would have said ‘yes’ and re-arranged things.”
“That’s why, Morgana.” She smiles ruefully, shaking her head.
“The theater department used the quick-book spells to get their auditioned folks ready for a run within a week, so he had no idea they’d be doing this when you got back.
He didn’t want you to cancel anything important when you can see it later on, too. ”
Sneaky, adorable musical mate—nothing is more important than supporting them, and he knows it.