“I get an actual assignment?” I blink as I look at the demon royal in shock. “Seriously?”
He shrugs. “Don’t act as if you didn’t intend to contact her or the Geminis’ mate, anyway. This is simply a task to go along with your own desires.”
I don’t care what the fuck he calls it—Jasper Eversore just included me in the caliphate business and I’m not letting that go for a fucking second.
What’s Up?
Anton
The way everyone behaved last night made me feel as though perhaps our caliphate is coming together as it needs to. Adding Kit into the group was supposed to help protect him, but afterward, Jasper fought his inclusion even harder. It didn’t matter that he was on board with the induction; he simply seemed determined to trample all over our new member in a way he never did with the rest of us. Of course, shared history and family ties probably play into that dynamic, but no one other than the prince got the vibe that Kit was a plant—at least, not after the first few days.
Jasper’s trauma is so deeply buried under his guise of leadership and control that it manifested as semi-abusive behavior when his world view was questioned.
Shaking my head, I decide the books I’ve been reading to understand KK’s needs may be infiltrating my brain. I’m analyzing everything like a human, and that’s not normal for our kind. To be honest, though, much of it makes sense when you relate behavior to the concepts the books present. None of my brothers would enjoy those observations, though, so I keep them to myself. It won’t help to get anyone else’s back up by dredging up their past. Right now, our focus has to be on the Games and figuring out the bigger picture with Lucian and whoever else is pulling his strings.
“Annie, are you heading to the bathroom or what?”
X is holding their bucket of products, tapping their foot impatiently as I stand in front of my dresser spacing out. I grab my clothes and shit, givingthem an apologetic look. “Sorry, love. I don’t know where my head is this morning.”
“Where it always is,” my mate says as they head for the door and open it. “Going over everything relentlessly until you plan the right courses of action. We just have alotmore bullshit on the tray than normal.”
They’re on the nose with that for certain.
“Did you get the order placed with the pass-through app last night? You were dead set on getting the Hellscape thing to work when we got back to the room.” It’s not unusual for them to be focused on some random thing they absolutely have to havenow, but Xerxes was damn insistent on making the demon link to the human online marketplace work for some reason. I’ve learned not to question their whims with that over the years. It’s never anything worrisome, but it definitely gets them hyper as fuck when it won’t work right.
“I did. Zavida had to help me get around the stupid blocks on the service at this Satan-forsaken school, but I was eventually successful. My package should arrive before we get back from classes today.” X grins broadly, their world right again now that their hyper-fixation has been appeased. “I’m all taken care of.”
We walk into the hallway, meeting Oriel as he carries his stuff toward the large shared bathroom as well. The crow demon looks tired, and I wonder if he went off on one of his thieving jaunts after we all split from Salem’s dorm last night. The desire to pilfer and acquire shit forces him to do so fairly often, and his favorite time to wander around swiping things is night time. Not surprising, but it can make for a grumpy asshole if he’s out late enough.
“Anyone else feel the odd weight to the air this morning?” he asks as we tug open the door and head into the large room. “It’s like… anticipation or something.”
Jasper’s eyes cut from the mirror where he’s standing in his towel as he messes with his hair. “You’re alllate. Even Salem and the shrimp are in the showers before you. Get a move on.”
I roll my eyes. Of course, he’s going to tighten up again the minute we’re back to the normal routine. Hopefully, he doesn’t slide back into kicking Kit while he’s down, too. “We’re five minutes off the normal schedule, Jas. It will be fine.”
“Maybe for O and you, but we know Xerxes needs their time.” The prince arches a brow at my mate, who waves their hand dismissively. “Don’t forget we’re still eating breakfast in theTriclinium. I want to observe the other teams as much as possible, especially since we believe some of them have ties to the fuckwaffle in charge of this place.”
“Hey, guys.” The voice of our newest member gets my attention as he emerges from his stall fully dressed with wet hair. I feel bad for him—not because there’s something wrong with the guy, but because he’s so traumatized by his past that he’s rarely comfortable in his own skin. “Don’t let him get to you; he’s back to Pissypants mode.”
Jasper opens his mouth to retort, but before he can, Zavida walks up to him and hands him a bottle of cologne. He pauses, rolling his eyes to the ceiling before muttering, “I want to be on time, for fuck’s sake. The shrimp has a class on his own first and it’s the fucking predator. Do we really want to give her a reason?”
“I will be there. No bullshit will happen when I’m present, Prince.” Slash comes out of the actual toilet looking imposing and full of lethal power in his small towel. Kit makes an odd sound as he scurries away from the showers to the very last sink. The shark demon grins hungrily as he faces us. “She risks her life if she displeases me and I will take my punishment happily, if that’s necessary.”
“Slash,” KK says from his spot. He doesn’t look our way; instead, he’s rubbing lotion on his face and pretending to look at his reflection. “There’s no need for anyone to get in trouble. Having you there will be enough, I think.”
Slash huffs, stomping over to his sink to brush his sharp ass teeth. “It had better be. I am in no mood for foolishness after what the prince witnessed with her and Darkstar. She’s an enemy on all fronts and as my father says, ‘if you don’t put down the stray that bites, it will do it again and again until you do’. I think it is one of the few things he believes that is ultimately true.”
“What in the hell…” Jasper looks at his general, his expression puzzled. “Are you getting paid by the fucking word this morning?”
Kit grins, finally turning for a moment to look smug. “I like it when he’s talkative. Fuck off, Jasper.”
And now it’s time to head for the showers before they all start bickering again.
Once we’reall dressed and ready, we stop for our bags, then take the elevator to the main floor of Canto IV. It’s full of students this morning, which is odd at this time of day. We’re usually not surrounded by random fuckers from the other floors when we leave because Jasper makes us leave so early. However, today, a throng of demons are milling about.
Maybe Oriel was right about the weird vibe in the air?
“I knew it,” Oriel mumbles as the crowd parts for us to walk through it to the front entrance. “Something is fucking weird, guys, and it’s been bothering me since my flight last night.”
