My lover is glowering at the recruits as they finish the assignment, while I sit on the bench and hydrate. I haven’t asked why his mood flipped so dramatically, but following his narrowed gaze tells me it’s about Kit and Oriel. The former is doing better than expected—some of his demon power must be developing because his endurance is increasing. He’s notlagging so far behind the rest of the group that it’s laughable, and he doesn’t look like he’s going to keel over mid-lap. That can’t be what is pissing Jas off; heneedsall of us at top form for these stupid games.
No, Jasper is angry about something other than Kit performing better than expected, and I’m not sure what it is. The prince loves to pretend he’s unreadable, and he might be to people other than his caliphate. To us, especially me, his emotions are often as subtle as flashing billboards and this one is saying ‘danger, danger, ready to explode’ so clearly that it might as well be screaming it. I’m not sure anything I can do in public will bring him back from that edge, so letting him stew is for the best.
“I suppose Slash is doingsomeof his fucking job,” Jasper mutters as he paces back and forth along the line we were all standing on before the laps. “At least that’s not being thrown in my face.”
That feels more like petulance than anger, and I will not engage.
Anton passes by us, his eyes meeting my lover’s briefly before he’s gone. Jasper snarls and rakes his fingers through his hair, muttering to himself as he continues his frenetic pacing. I shake my head when he’s facing away, unsure what’s crawled up his ass and died. Annie and Xabsolutelydid nothing, not in the locker room or on the field. Xerxes kept the conversation away from our missing brothers at lunch, redirecting our focus to talking about when the admin might make another announcement about the Games.
Jasper is projecting his frustrations onto everyone, though I doubt it will stay equal when the running is complete. As if he heard my thoughts, the dragon demon stomps over to me, his eyes flashing with the beast. “Why are you so quiet? Usually, you have commentary.”
I give him a noncommittal shrug. “First, that’s not true, and you know it. I’m very internal, and it takes me time to process things. Second, I don’t know what you want me to comment on. Obviously, you’re having a hissy about something, but you don’t feel open to discussing it. Since we’re in public, alternative methods of soothing you aren’t available.”
That makes him smirk, a rough chuckle escaping his lips before he can stop it. “True.”
“You were calmer when we first arrived. I’m not sure what made you flip the switch to asshole, but I figured if you wanted to talk about it, you would.” The corner of my mouth quirks as I give him a pointed look. “And here you are, talking. I was right.”
His features cloud with darkness for a second, then he shakes his head as if to push that emotion away. “Very intuitive, Zavvie. You’re getting better at reading people, I believe.”
“I’malwaysgood at reading you, Jas. That’s part of being yours.” Pushing to my feet, I stretch my muscles, not wanting to tense up after the grueling warm-up. “But you are not as good at communicating, especially with feelings that conflict with how you were raised. Our caliphate has gotten used to the volatility and your outbursts, but Kit is still adjusting to us, this place, and his new reality.”
“I said nothing abouthim,” the prince shoots back and I have to look away to hide my grin.
He’s so fucking clueless about expressing anything but the anger adjacent emotions his father rewarded throughout his life.
I’m about to reply when a loud chittering sound gets our attention. Dottie is perched on top of the water station, bringing her close to face height for me. That’s still quite a bit lower than Jasper’s face, but the small animal is shaking a fist at him. When he snorts and rolls his eyes, I watch as the kinkajou scampers down the dispenser to run across the sideline. I frown, surprised by her acquiescence, then look at my lover.
“She’s not happy with you. Did you do something bad?”
“It’s a rodent, Zavvie. I don’t care if it’s a familiar; I will not give it credence.” Jasper crosses his muscled arms over his broad chest and I sigh. Stubborn as a fucking mule rather than a dragon, and powerful enough to demand that everyone give him his way. The Prince is often his own worst enemy, and nothing I’ve been able to do has changed that.
Suddenly, a much louder squeaky sound comes from behind us, and when I turn to look, I have to cover my mouth. Dottie is back on the water cooler, standing on her back legs as she lobs small pebbles she must have found on the sideline at my lover. He blinks in shock as they bounce off him, and I can barely keep the laughter from escaping. It’s not even close to being harmful, obviously, but the tiny animal is so clearly unafraid of him. He has no idea how to handle something with so little power attacking, so he just stares in mute shock.
“What… What in the fresh fuckingHellis that thing doing?!”
Wrinkling my nose, I swallow the amusement, hoping it won’t escape when I speak. “Uh… I think Dottie is mad at you. Why, I’m not sure, but she’s definitely making her displeasure known.”
Jasper scowls, stomping closer to where she’s perched. “What’s your problem, you little shit? I haven’t been nasty. Sending the class on laps was completely legit and not remotely a punishment for anyone, especially your unemerged friend. I cannotbelieveI’m talking to this walking winter hat.”
He makes a disgusted sound as he stomps away again, and I look at Dottie curiously. “Whatareyou mad about? He’s been a much bigger ass before and you didn’t seek things to hurl at him.”
The small creature settles back on her haunches, looking at me like I’m an idiot. Her tail wraps around the spot as we stare at one another, then it finally breaks when Jasper paces past. That’s when her expression seems to change to one of derision, and I laugh softly.
“Okay, he’s definitely gotten under your fur, and you aren’t able or willing to make it clear why. Got it.”
Now I’m stuck withtwouncommunicative pissy beings, and I have no clue how to get either of them to give me a hint on how I can help. My eyes cut to the rest of my caliphate as they finish their assigned laps, while muddling through the best way to approach this so it doesn’t drag on all night. Once Weapons is over, we only have an hour until dinner break, then a caliphate meeting slot after that. If I can convince everyone to meet outside of the main building after their six o’clock classes, we might take a detour to the one place thatmighthold answers for at least one of the furious creatures on the sideline with me.
I grin to myself, pulling my phone out of the special pocket in my gym clothes and send a private text to all my brothersexceptfor Kit and Jasper. It will be difficult for either of them to protest my field trip if they aren’t aware I’m orchestrating it. Slash can bring KK from their law class, and I’ll scoot off to meet my love after his least favorite class—Human Diplomacy. Jasper will be grumpy after that, of course, but if I’m careful, I can soothe him before we meet the others.
This plan is perfect, and if I’m very lucky, it will accomplish more than just discovering what the damn kinkajou is trying to tell us.
The restof Weapons went better than I assumed it would, given the mood of our professor. Jasper backed off of Kit to focus on grinding the entire class into the ground. He made everyone use large broadswords andpractice a variety of attacks and defenses with groups that mixed every twenty minutes. By the end, no one was spared the ache in their arms and legs, even Salem and Oriel. Being bigger and stronger than Annie, X, KK, and I, they’re not as easily pushed to the brink of their endurance.
Today was an exception because the prince was grueling in his demands for perfection.
I damn near limped to Supernatural Law with Kit, and once Slash joined us, quiet fell over our small group. They both seemed really comfortable with no chattering, and I soaked in the feel of not having to keep track of conversation that zings back and forth. It was actually nice and I see why our newest member is so damn comfortable with the big guy. He doesn’t demand attention, nor does he talk simply to fill the air. So our trip to Holmes’ class and the subsequent calm during it were extremely soothing for me, especially with my nervousness about arranging the secret trip.
As soon as Holmes dismissed us, I gave Slash the nod, and took off, eager to find Jasper before he heads for our dorm. Using the extra burst of speed from my partially re-filled reserves, I zoom to the graduate level in the Knowledge Enclave. It’s important to re-direct him before he’s made a firm decision about the rest of the evening; Jasper Eversore is stubborn as fuck normally. When he’s struggling with emotions, he digs in further until he’s almost as immovable as a damn mountain.
