“Excellent plan, X,” Jasper says as he waits for Slash to hold the doors open. Once he does, we exit the carriage and I groan happily when we reach my door. “You reallyarehappy to be back, hmm?”
I give him an incredulous look. “Of fucking course I am. This day was stuffed to the gills with crap I despise: danger, bad guys, fancy clothes, behaving, starving, and listening to you. If you added in much else, you’d have to dip into trauma to make it worse. I just want to get into my jammies and curl up in my chair, while I wolf down everything not nailed down.”
The prince nods, tilting his head. “Your appetite is getting stronger. I suspect that is because more of your powers are developing, which is good. If we can encourage that, it will help immensely.”
My lips curve up as Zavida takes his hand, looking pleased as he tugs the bigger demon away from my dorm. He winks at me before he murmurs, “Let’s go, Jas. We should get cleaned up so we can eat. Even you have to be hungry after such a long time on the surface.”
That gets the asshole’s attention, and he smirks wickedly as he follows the Kitsuné’s lead. “Yes, I believe I am… hungry.”
For the love of frilly bathrobes, now I’m going to be imagining that…
“Aw, KK, your face is getting red again,” Salem chuckles as he opens our door. “Don’t worry, if they run over a bit, we won’t wait for them. Jasper can get lost in his… devouring sometimes.”
“Shut. Up.” I put my hands on my face and scurry into our room as the others laugh and head for their own rooms. The teasing is even weirder nowthat two people know my secret; they know that I’m feeling girly about the two of them getting naked in there. “You’re going to give me away if you’re not careful, you know.”
Salem rolls his eyes at me as we drop our bags at the entrance, shaking his head. “Firecracker, I can guarantee a few things for you. One, I won’t be the one to give you away before you’re ready. Two, until he’s looking for it, Jasper willneversee the truth because he’s too busy worrying about you having other secrets. And three, the one you should worry about is Slash. That dude seeswaymore than anyone realizes.”
I blink at the panda, dumbfounded by his very astute summation. “You’re probably right. X won’t give me away because he was worried from the beginning that I was trans and he’d be outing me. The others may notice weird things, but right now, they’re chalking it up to being human raised.”
“Bingo,” he says as shoots a finger-gun at me. “So we’ll carefully navigate how to keep you under wraps until you’re ready to give up the goods—or you don’t have a choice, whichever comes first.”
That makes my teeth grind, but he’s right.
“Yeah,” I breathe as I walk towards the door to my bedroom. “I’m gonna change and put things away like X requested, then I’ll come out here so we can chat until everyone else gets here. Is that okay?”
“Aces, dude…ette.” Salem laughs and I roll my eyes at him as he opens his door. “Don’t get all worked up about it, okay? I really meant it when I said I’m not upset, and I definitely meant it when I said I’m all in. So… take it easy on yourself in there.”
Damn him for knowing me that well.
“Okay,” I murmur as I slip into my room. “Thanks, Salem.”
When I shut the door, I trudge over to my dresser and look in the mirror. I look like I’ve beenthrough it, and I guess that’s because I need to fuel up or whatever. Dottie makes a beeline for her perch, stuffing some of her feed in her mouth as she watches me peel my clothes off. I groan when I peel the binding off, so happy to have it loose despite the waffling on my skin from keeping it so tight for so long. One thing I have to do now that we’re back is get Xerxes to hop on the replacements for the real binders. I’m not gonna last with this damn gauze shit.
“Put it on the list, Kat,” I mutter as I dig out a sweatshirt and pants from the bags X brought this morning. At the very least, these have boxer briefs and regular lounge stuff, plus my uniforms. I’ll need that for Monday, and theygot enough that if I’m fucked up again, I should be good for seven days. “Smart, smart cobra. They don’t give them or Salem enough credit.”
Dottie pumps her fist, chittering her agreement, and I smile. She really loves most of the guys and the others, she’s just getting to know slowly. I like that; it makes me feel good that my emotional support kinkajou has bonded with the demons who are becoming my found family.
“Salem will have fresh snacks for you, girl. Don’t fill up on the seeds and stuff. You’ll want the fruit.” My warning makes her pause with puffed-out cheeks full of food and I laugh softly. “Or eat whatever, just don’t vomit anywhere.”
That seems to work for Dottie, so I turn back to my dirty pile and stuff it in the laundry bag from the closet. It has other shit in it, too, but if X will send it all to the cleaners, I won’t complain. I have no idea how that system works and they all keep telling me to let them handle things.
Does it matter if it’s my stinky socks? I think not.
“KK, I’m out here working in the kitchen. Ollie, Ollie, oxen-free.” Salem’s cheery voice makes my heart thump, and I have to blow out a slow breath to calm it.
“Be cool, Kat. He’s super hot. He knows you’re a girl, he likes you anyway,andhe cooks for you. Most people would die on the spot to have that, and you cannot let the past fuck this up. Breathe, take it slow, and let him lead. You can trust Salem.”
My pulse doesn’t agree, but luckily, my kinkajou does. Dottie scampers off her perch and up my leg to sit on my shoulder. She looks at me seriously—as much as a small bear-rat can—and I know she wants me to understand that she thinks Salem is okay, too. Her soft chittering seals the deal, and I scritch her head gently. “I know, girl. It’s just hard, but I want to try. That’s new—I’ve never wanted to heal as much as I do now. I think it means I’m ready, right?”
I chuckle as she responds in her typical fashion, then look at the door to my room. When I go out there, we’re going to talk and that’s when everything will become ‘real’. But I’m pretty sure I’m ready for it, and if I’m not? I’m also certain that Salem and X will help me. Not that Xerxes has really… Well, whatever. It’s all jumbled up, but I know the cobra will help me figure things out.
All I have to do now is just open that door and leave this room—which is harder than expected.
Whistle
Xerxes
“How do you think it went?”
