“Slash, I’m fine. I know, I know. I’m breakable where the others aren’t. It makes me irritable, but I know it’s true. Your big nudge just threw me off balance; I didn’t even fall. I’m all good, buddy.” I give him a bright smile, one bigger than my norm, to make sure he knows I’m not hiding anything.
When he finally stops scrutinizing me as we walk to the building my Intro to Supes class is in, I breathe a sigh of relief. Scratching his chin, the shark demon repeats, “But you were thinking too hard.”
“Well, yeah. It’s all I do because my brain is… wired that way.” He nods, and I wrinkle my nose. “It concerns me that some invisible whatever the fuck is running around campus and no one but us seems to even notice. That’s weird, right? This isn’t like a royal thing that I’ve somehow been ‘gifted’ because of the caliphate shit? Like you guys can sense danger like some demonic form of Lassie?”
He blinks at me for a second, then holds the door open to the building. “I don’t get that reference, but I think the correct answer is no. I have no idea why we are sensing something that the other students and staff do not appear to be sensing. I think that worries Jasper as well; he didn’t say it, but I can read his brooding.”
Walking inside, I look around the main entryway, hoping to see other students looking disturbed, but no.There’s just nothing going on but normal buzz to class shit, so I head for the elevator with Slash on my heels. He scares people away from joining us and when the doors close, I look up at him. “I thought he was going to say we couldn’t go to class, honestly. And I know that’s, like, not good to keep missing. It’ll get someone—probably me—pulled into Darkstar’s office. Ireallydon’t want that to happen after Jasper’s gross story.”
Slash grimaces and nods. “I would not want that either—not for you or me. However, should someone try to fetch you, I assure you, little demon… None of us will allow you to be taken to his lair alone. They will have to take great pains to separate us, and that would draw attention I believe Lucian does not wish to have on him.”
“I hope so,” I murmur as the bell dings and we exit. “Because I don’t want to see his bare assorwhatever magic he’d use on me if he thought it would get info about you guys. I have a feeling it wouldn’t be pretty.”
The shark demon frowns, his eyes narrowing and his jaw gritting in determination. “I will make it my goal to ensure that never happens. When I promise things, it is not a casual statement, so I will ask Zavida to help me with some sort of alarm on your phone that will summon me.”
Ducking my chin, I do my best to hide the flush on my face as I mutter, “You don’t have to be at my beck and call, Slash.”
Snorting, he pulls the classroom door open. “Again, I remind you I do not agree to things I do not wish to, little demon. I should have insisted after theprince saved you earlier in the year. I am the one in charge of our safety, after all.”
And he takes it very seriously—which I kind of like… a lot.
“The most commontype of supernaturals are shifters, of course. They are plentiful in many variations on the surface, and governed by individual groups that have leaders in local, regional, and on the national level. Since they are part of the larger treaty between supernatural realms, they also fall under the governance of the Society, which their leaders have representatives on at various levels.”
I sit up straighter as Lillibet continues her lecture, very interested in this topic. My trip back to the human world revealed a lot of this, but I’m hungry for more information. I can’t keep running into shit like a fool because I don’t know the same stuff as the other demons surrounding me, including my caliphate. My stylus flies over the screen as I take notes carefully, despite knowing that Discordia’s professors will have their own slant on this.
“Shifters are also the most common hybrids amongstallthe realms because they often have a drive to find what they call a ‘fated mate’. It’s a magical and biological imperative that drives them to seek a perfect match that will help complete them. It may be one being or several, but the likelihood of their finding that match is widely varied. Since shifters are composed of both very common types like wolves and much more rare types like mythicals, it is claimed that the Fates stopped pairing themonlywith their own kind and expanded the possibilities to include all other species and hybrids.”
Leaning in, I look at Slash with wide eyes. “They can find their soulmate… anywhere? In anyone?”
“Fated mates is a much more complex situation than she is describing.” He glances down to the front to make sure Lillabet isn’t watching us. “Many species have their own version of it, and yes, most can find them amongst their own kind and many others.”
“So it’s destiny, not biology at all, right?” I whisper.
Slash gives me a crooked grin. “While demons rarely interact with those deity loving crones, they are tied inextricably to the timeline ofallsupernaturalssince time immemorial. They are only called by the most recent names because the Greeks somehow got the world to acknowledge their convention most eagerly.”
Fucking wow.
“You mean they’re older than the deities? Like how old?”
“Primordial old, little demon. The descendants of the original creators who were escalated to a higher status to ensure they could continue to be fair and even-handed throughout the entire span of the universe—or so we were taught as children.” He holds up a finger, pointing to my notes, and I realize he’s signaling that we have to be quiet before the bitch notices.
Lillabet pauses, turning to look at the room haughtily. “Shifters are not amongst the strongest supernaturals, and therefore considered one of the lower levels of hybrids. Most of them are abandoned and left to the Society to be raised in enclaves at amuchhigher rate than any other hybrid.”
I wrinkle my nose at her obvious species-ism. That’s definitely no different from the ugly ass racists at home, and I highly doubt the fucking royal court of Hell would have kept their hybrid children as heirs if they weren’t extremely powerful. Out of the seven demons set to inherit the thrones here, all seven are shifter mixes. This petty woman knows that and she definitely knows one of them is sitting next to me, fuming at her audacity.
“She’s doing it on purpose,” I say in a low tone. “Don’t let her get to you, big guy.”
He grins toothily, his light eyes sparkling with malice. “I’m not, Kit Kat. Better demons than her have tried to force a confrontation when it would not be advantageous and they were also not successful. Jasper will have a field day with this, though.”
I have to cover my mouth so the snort isn’t audible. “Jasper has a field day withanythingthat allows him to strike out at people who piss him off. He needs anger management, man.”
Slash doesn’t reply, but I can tell by his smirk that he agrees. Turning back to my notes, I highlight things I have questions about so far and underline what I think will be important. This is the most useful class Lillabet has given so far, and I’mveryanxious to expand on it.
“Mr. Queznar,” the Cubi says as she struts across the front row. “Please list at least five species of common shifters and five species of mythical shifters. If you did the reading from last week, you should be able to do this with ease.”
I squint at the dude who stands, then roll my eyes when I realize it’s that fuckwit species-ist from the Thieves Guild. This should be good; he’s going to say something awful and I’m going to have to let it go.
“Common types include big cats like lions or tigers, canines like wolves or coyotes, birds such as eagles or hawks, large reptiles like crocodiles or constrictor snakes, and aquatic animals like sharks or whales.” The dude turns slightly, shooting a smug look towards us, then he goes back to simpering at the succubus. “Mythicals are rare, but the species who are found most often are dragons, phoenixes, mer-folk, griffins, and centaurs.”
