“Probably,” I admit as I think about it. “But I’m not sure your idea of behaving and mine are copacetic. I’d prefer he not eat anyone unless I give the go-ahead. Friends bicker sometimes, and make mistakes that hurt each other as far as I know. Morgana and Rogue seem pretty cool, so I doubt they’d do anything bad on purpose, but I’d like to make sure they aren’t consumed for specious reasons.”
“Check with Kit Kat first before taking vengeance—got it,” X says cheerily as they wink at me. “Now that we’ve weighed in on the social register, can we talk about what the fuck we’re going to find on the seventh level of this stupid labyrinth?”
My brow furrows as I notice the change in their stances. “Okay, I read the Inferno a long time ago. Refresh my memory, please.”
“The seventh circle of Hell is supposed to be violence,” Zavida says as he pushes his glasses up. “Obviously, the structure of our world down there isn’t exactly described correctly in that work, but it seems like Gemini has this set up that way.”
“Most of our atrocities get sent to either survive or perish in the Wastelands,” Anton adds. “You don’t know the geography yet, but there are other sections of the realm besides Canto IV, obviously. They aren’t circles or levels—more like humans would define as small countries. It’s a lot like… Europe, I think?”
I think about that for a moment, digesting his description and assimilating the information into my new reality. “Okay. So they aren’t defined by the different sins or whatever? Keep in mind, I’ve never lived with a religious family, so I’m fuzzy on some details of that mythos.”
“Ah, but they are.” X grins broadly, their face lighting up. “Because we are, too. Each of us is the heir to a family line that sits on the royal court of Hell, right?”
I nod, tilting my head at them. “That’s what people keep pointing out.”
“Our families are the heads of each line—with our parents being the rulers currently. As you might imagine, the Strykers are the heads of the Sloth line,” Salem says as he looks down at me. “And me turning out to have a panda side has always been something I get to live with other demons knocking on. It’s stupidly appropriate, and I was lucky to be born an heir so I could bond with these guys. It keeps most of the bullshit fromtouching me.”
“People are assholes,” I say, my face pinching in anger at the thought of other demons giving the gentle guy shit. “I think your bear is cool as fuck.”
Salem beams at me and Oriel elbows him in the side with a smirk. “Stop hogging the attention, bro.” The dark-haired demon turns his intense gaze on me, looking amused. “I’m the heir to the Greed line. As he said, the crow portion of my blood is spot on, but no one dares give me crap about it. I’m far too good at stealing anything that isn’t nailed down. They don’t want me to find the things they desperately want to hide.”
“That explains that stupid guild and that jackass who was being rude. You’re both naturally and genetically inclined to be better than all of them. That was the first time you ever demanded the lead, though, right?” I squint at him curiously and he nods. “Man, did I step in it without knowing.”
“I’m sure you did, KK,” Xerxes cuts in. “Oriel’s never wanted the spotlight, so they weren’t used to him claiming the crown—regardless of how accurate it is for him to wear it.”
“What are you, then?” I pause, licking my lips as I consider the possibilities for a moment. “Wait, you’re a snake, and you’re very alluring. Are you Lust?”
“Ding-ding.” Anton winks at me, his rainbow hair falling over his eyes. “And of course, I’m the heir to Pride. It becomes more obvious as you go along, I fear.”
My gaze roves over Zavida, Slash, and Jasper. “That makes him Envy, you Gluttony, and Prince Prickface is Wrath. All of which fit you so perfectly, that it makes me feel dumb not to have put it together by now.”
Jasper opens his mouth to comment, but Slash stops him. “Do not, Prince. He was not familiar with the supernatural, nor the human writings about our realm. It is in poor taste to mock him.”
“Fine,” the dickwad grumbles as he sighs. “Since I can’t tease you for missing what was right in front of your nose, I’ll simply say that many centuries of intermingling and staying away from the surface have spread all the types of demons to the various lines. That’s how you get an incubus like Anton in the Pride line, and hybrids across the board.”
This is the most information they’ve ever given me and it’s going to end soon when the damn elevator to Hades stops—I’m so pissed right now.
“The weather dragon and Morgana’s people seemed confused about what kind of dragon you are. Is it some big secret?”
Jasper’s eyes darken and he gives me a slow, sexy smirk that I want to bask in. “Sort of. I don’t give weapons to those who might use them against me, so that is a well-guarded secret. Perhaps some day, you’ll be worthy of it, but that is not today, shrimp.”
Annnnd now I fucking hate him again.
“Whatever. Keep your scaly secret, then.” I fold my arms over my chest and Salem’s palm presses against my lower back lightly. That he’s helping me stay level is kind of amazing, and I’m not sure how to respond to it… but I like it. “If you won’t tell me that, then let’s get back to what’s going to be happening when this stupid door opens.”
Zavida scratches his chin, his tails puffed around him, but not blocking my view. “As far as the text goes, it’s about violence. Dante said it had three circles inside of it for criminals who hurt others, then those who harmed themselves, and finally, those who did their crimes to God and nature. I doubt the Geminis are worried about being that accurate, so my guess is that this floor will have the hunts, a fighting ring, probably some sado-masochistic set-ups, and stuff like that. But it will be pretty gory and hard to watch, no question about that.”
Putting my hands on my face, I suck in a slow breath. Gore isn’t really my issue; I’ve watched horror movies that were gross. There’s really only one violent thing that will definitely cause a problem, and if I’m lucky, that isn’t what this stupid bacchanalian event will be focused on. I look up at the demons carefully, licking my lips before I say, “I think I’ll be okay for most of it. I’m not triggered by violence on TV or gory stuff in movies. I’m sure there will be things I don’t expect and I might be grossed out by stuff. The only thing I really need you to watch for is… well, you all sort of know. If we happen on that, I won’t fight anyone who whisks me away, so I don’t draw too much attention. Okay?”
Slash’s eyes meet mine as he growls, “We will make sure you are not harmed, little demon. Just like in the battle, someone will make certain you are safe.”
I let out a relieved sigh, dipping my chin as I look at my shoes. I’m a pain in the ass to have along because of my bullshit, and I hate to think that they’ll eventually grow tired of it like everyone else has. The amount of times foster parents or siblings accused me of being a ‘woe is me’ whiner or called my panic attacks tantrums or drama is significantly more than zero. It’s a common insult to throw at people with mental health issues because the generations before mine weren’t taught to treat them the same way they would diabetes or a heart condition. I can’t stop my anxiety, my intrusivethoughts, or my panic attacks any more than those people can stop their insulin from spiking or their arteries from clogging.
I’ve learned to ignore the shitty comments because I know they just don’t understand because it’s not happening to them.
But these guys have become important to me and I think having them turn on me that way would break me. So I force a small smile, nodding at the shark shifter as I push away my innermost fears. “Thanks, big guy. I don’t enjoy thinking about being weak, but I’m not dumb enough to believe that demons acting out their darkest fantasies and violent behaviors might not cause a problem with my stupid brain.”
“KK, stop beating yourself up,” Xerxes chides. “No one is mad that you have issues. We put up with Jasper’s rage and Slash wanting to eat everyone when they look at him funny. Anton and I sometimes lose control of our tempers and it makes people do… fascinating things you haven’t seen yet. Oriel even steals from us, and we know it was him. And Salem falls asleep in the middle of important shit. Everyone has baggage, and if people don’t get that, they can fuck right off.”
