"That's handy," Thomas muttered against his arm.

"Sometimes," Jay admitted. "Hello."

Kevin's panicked voice came over the line. "Jay, 82 *

you gotta get back to the dorm. Someone was in here. The gnomes are all dead, and it looks like whoever it is used their blood to write on the wall."

Terror froze Jay's heart. For a moment, it completely stopped functioning.

Thomas snatched the phone from Jay. His enhanced hearing must've picked up Kevin's voice.

"This is Thomas. What did they write?"

There was a long silence before Kevin spoke again.

"Wolf whore, you're next."

"We'll be right there."

Thomas hung up and wrapped his arms around his mate. "It's going to be okay, baby. I'm here to protect you.

No one is going to get to you on my watch."

"Those poor gnomes," Jay said. He'd sent them to their death. He gave a sad laugh. "I guess I won't have to worry about too many gnomes asking to be in my service now."

Thomas held him tighter until Jay could almost feel his ribs reshaping under the pressure.

"Release me."

"Never," Thomas vowed.

"I can't breathe."

"Oh, sorry." Thomas relaxed his hold enough for Jay to catch his breath."Let's get dressed and see how 83 *

everything looks. Maybe I can figure something out from the person's magical signature."

"What makes you think the person is magical?"

Thomas asked. "It could just as easily be a regular person."

Jay thought it over for a moment. "No. You'd need some sort of magic to subdue gnomes before killing them.

Gnomes might be of limited magic, but they're strong. They can defend themselves against attack." Jay pulled on his jeans while he considered the angles. "Someone had the ability to stun them before using them as ink."

Within minutes, the pair was dressed and heading out the door.

Jay came up short. There were at least a dozen gnomes lined up at the door. Their faces were solemn, and there were tears in more than a few gnomes' eyes.

Guilt churned Jay's stomach. "I'm so sorry about your friends. I'll do whatever I can to find out who did this horrible thing."

A male gnome stepped forward. "You mistake our purpose, Master. We're not here because we are upset about the other gnomes, though we are."

The other gnomes nodded their agreement.

"We're here as protection. Someone means our master ill, and we aren't going to let anything happen to you." The gnome handed over a small silver whistle on a 84 *

delicate silver chain. "If you feel yourself in danger, blow this whistle, and the gnomes closest to you will come."

Jay accepted the gift with a bow. "Thank you. I appreciate the support, and if anyone would like to back out of our agreement, I will be more than happy to release you from service."

There was a general buzzing of disagreement.

The gnome who had stepped forward as speaker looked around at the other gnomes. "It is unanimously agreed that no one wants out of service, but thank you for the offer. It isn't often that we are given the chance to be true protectors. Most people forget that we were once the original bodyguards of the fey before they all died out. It is only in the past four hundred years that we've been relegated to household chores. We feel privileged to get the opportunity to protect such a powerful wizard."

Jay swallowed the lump in his throat. "Thank you for your offer of protection. Hopefully, we can find out who did this before he has a chance to strike again. I'd appreciate it if you could watch over the pack while I'm gone and send a few more people to my dorm room after it has been inspected."

"Consider it done."

Jay looked at the gnome for a while. The creature looked vaguely familiar. "What's your name?"

85.

The gnome gave him a sharp-toothed smile. "My name's Briar. You bonded with my boy, Thorn. He's been a handful for the past few years, and I was worried he was going to fade. Now, he's bursting with energy and has convinced some humans to let him intern with them. I'd like to return the favor."

"Welcome, Briar," Jay said. "I wish we could've met under better circumstances."

"Me, too, Master."

After bidding the gnomes goodbye, the pair grabbed a limo back to school.

It was time to hunt a killer.

The ride back to the dorm was made in silence.

Thomas cuddled his mate close. Even though Jaynell wasn't speaking, he could feel the distress pouring off the wizard.

"Shh. We'll catch whoever did this."

"And make them pay." He'd never heard that tone from his mate before. When Jay turned to face him, his mate's eyes glowed with a golden fire that promised retribution.

For the first time, he realized that his beautiful lover wasn't all about a gorgeous face and pretty magic tricks.

86.

His mate was a dangerous man who was as much of an alpha as any wolf.

Thomas swallowed back a moan.

It was sexy as hell.

Luckily, they pulled up in front of the university before Thomas could do anything inappropriate. Now wouldn't be a good time to jump his mate.

"Are you coming?" While Thomas was daydreaming about a naked Jaynell, the real thing was looking at him like he was an idiot.

Thomas' cheeks flushed red.

"Sorry," he muttered, sliding out of the limo.

It was a short walk from the street to reach Jay's dorm. The hard part was wading through the crowds of students blocking the entrance. Finally, with some growling and shoving, Thomas cleared a path for his mate.

Jaynell's roommates were huddled outside the dorm room looking pale and sick. The triplets had identical expressions of shock and horror. Kevin rushed over to Jaynell and wrapped him in his arms before bursting into tears. Thomas resisted the urge to rip the kid's head off and toss it out the window, but the wolf part of him let out a low growl. He didn't think it could be heard over all the noise, but Jay carefully eased out of his roommate's arms.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," Kevin cried. Gripping 87 *

Jay's arms, he continued to sob. "I didn't think he'd do anything. He said he was just going to leave a note."

"Who?" Thomas asked, even though he was certain they both already knew.

"Dragonspawn," Kevin said, through his tears.

"Michael Dragonspawn was here. I was on my way to class, and no one else was home. He asked if he could step inside and leave you a note." Kevin sniffled back tears. "I told him it would be fine if he locked the door after him. I didn't know he'd kill them."

"Of course you didn't," Jaynell said, rubbing his friend's back.

Thomas knew he should feel sympathy for the distraught young man, but all he could think about was how his mate's hand was running over another man's body.

He didn't realize his was growling until Kevin stepped carefully away from Jay, lifting his hands in a placating gesture. "Relax, Wolfy, I don't have designs on your man."

"Good, then I won't have to rip out your throat,"

Thomas said conversationally.

"Thomas!" Jay shouted. There was a spark of amusement in the wizard's eyes so the werekin didn't worry too much.

Before he could say anything else, Headmaster 88 *

Vreel appeared. The elderly wizard gave Jaynell a concerned look as he handed over an embossed envelope with Jaynell's name written in swirly ink.

"You have been challenged by Dragonspawn to a match of your avatars. The winner will have to give up his power to the other." The headmaster gave Jaynell a sad smile. "If you don't accept the challenge, Dragonspawn said he will kill two more gnomes every day you put off the match."

Thomas stepped forward to confront the headmaster. "Jaynell is still a student. Shouldn't there be someone who can stand up for him? What kind of place is this that you not only let a murderer get off after killing two other beings but it lets him challenge a student to a match so he can suck Jaynell dry of his magic?"

Headmaster Vreel looked embarrassed. "There is no written protection for gnomes and, frankly, the person strongest and best able to take on Dragonspawn is Jaynell himself. His father left him a great deal of power, and I've heard rumors that his mother passed on her abilities also.

Dragonspawn used to tutor Jaynell, so he knows of his magic. Has he ever met your avatar?"

Jay shook his head. "I trained with my avatar with another tutor. Dragonspawn never saw him."

Vreel smiled. "That may be your saving grace.

89.

Dragonspawn's avatar is a griffin, but as far as I know, he only has one head."

As the pair made plans for the battle, Thomas made plans of his own.

This might be a battle among wizards, but werekin looked after their own.

The battle wasn't scheduled until the next day, so Jaynell went home with Thomas and brought his roommates with him. Uncertain if Dragonspawn was going to return, he didn't want to leave his friends at the dorm when even the headmaster couldn't guarantee their safety.

When they got out of the limo, James met them on the steps. For the first time, Jaynell realized maybe it wasn't such a bright idea to bring a bunch of wizards to the pack home without asking the alpha.

"I'm so sorry, James. I should've called and asked you first. I invited my friends to stay here until tomorrow when I battle Michael."

To Jay's surprise, the alpha didn't look the least bit put out. "You're a member of the pack now Jay. You're allowed to invite people into your home if you like. If I don't want them here, I'm not shy about telling them to go."