Did Jasper get a personality transplant since Weapons class?
Zavida pats his hand, looking proud. “Good point, Jas. You’re absolutely correct,”
“I concur,” Anton adds. “I believe we should actually beactivelylooking for signs like Kit feeling the tension before… in the vein of X’s lineage. But also, I do not believe any of us besides Jasper feel cold in the shadows, do we?”
They all shake their heads, and Jasper gives me a smug smile. “See? That’s more of my lineage, as Anton is suggesting.”
I wrinkle my nose. “So you believe I may come from Wrath or Lust? I can see the first one, but, uh, not the second.”
Xerxes laughs, their eyes sparkling with mischief. “I think your past may have more to do with that than it being a sign that we’re mistaken. Once you get healed enough to give that theory a test drive, you may find out otherwise.”
“No shit,” Oriel and Salem say at the same time. I gape at them, but they don’t see it because now they’re eyeing one another like they’re getting ready to compare dick size.
Yes, even I know what that looks like on guys… I had two asshole brothers who did it all the time.
Animal
Salem
That Poe-reading motherfuckerknows.
Realizing he’s been let in on the secret changes the dynamic a little, but it doesn’t make me mad. Obviously, I enjoyed that brief period where I was the only one beingaggressiveabout my play for my Firecracker. But Oriel has been with us when demons and animals were revealed, and I think he’ll be a fabulous partner in crime for romancing KK. I’ll still want her to myself sometimes, but that’s going to be true of anyone who gets into the inner circle of trust.
“If you two are done staring at one another, we should probably gointothe Beastiary so the shrimp can talk to the Keeper,” Jasper says drily. “I’d prefer not to be here all night, especially since I was hoodwinked into coming.”
Zavida flushes at his comment, but he focuses on KK rather than seeking forgiveness from the Prince. “I knew you wanted to find out about Dottie, and we discussed coming here. Things just keep getting put off because of weird stuff, so… I sort of hijacked our schedule to make it happen. I hope that’s okay.”
I watch Kat’s face light up with a smile that is genuine and my Kitsuné brother gets even redder. He’s definitely crushing hard, and a quick glance at Jas verifies he will not make a big stink about it. That’s a fucking miracle in itself, and before he changes his mind, I bump KK’s shoulder. “Let Dottie out and we’ll go see what this grumpy fuck has to say, hmm?”
Kat’s smile flips into a frown as she looks up at me nervously. “The… Keeper… is mean?”
“Hornclaw is brusque,” Jasper corrects him. “He is ancient, like Dank, and has little patience for most students because they do not respect his purpose or his animals. Demons generally interact poorly with non-familiar creatures unless they have been raised to be less…traditional.”
“Okay, hecomes offas mean,” I say. Jasper nods curtly, and I take KK’s arm, waiting for Dottie to perch on her spot. “But I think you’ll be fine. You have a familiar already, and she’s well-trained. You don’t treat her like shit, either.”
“Plus, KK has wrangled most of us, and we’re not the most pleasant sort.” Oriel grins and KK dips her chin shyly.
Oh, he’s done some serious ass-kissing; I can tell.
“Come, everyone. We are wasting time.”
I chuckle as Slash looks at us impatiently, walking past Kat and me to knock on the big wooden door sharply. The shark shifter is both patient and impatient with helping our newest member. I believe that’s part of his indecision about her and it’s caused because he doesn’tknowshe’s a ‘her’. He’s processing some interesting feelings and thoughts at the moment, which means unless he’s interacting directly with Kat, he isn’t in the mood to fuck about.
Though, I could be totally off-base on that and I’d never know because Slash will tell no one.
“Don’t make this grumpy demon mad, big guy,” Kat murmurs as we approach the bulky demon. “I want him to like me just in case this familiar thing is… you know. A thing.”
“Very astute, shrimp.”
“Jas, come on, man,” Oriel says as he puts himself between the prince and Kat. He’s on the other side of her, giving our leader an annoyed look. “I know you’re hungry, but stop ping-ponging between halfway decent and cranky dick. Zav set this up to be nice; it would be shitty to ruin it for him, hmm?”
I whistle low as O calls Jasper out with just enough accuracy that it’s a direct hit. Anton and X smirk at one another, joining the crow near KK. “Damn, dude.”
“Fine,” Jasper grumbles as he rolls his eyes. “Slash, what the fuck is taking so long?”
Right as he complains, the slot on the door opens to reveal one cloudy eye and one scarred one with a metal patch over it. “Who’s that? No classes today!”
Kat shrinks back into my side, and I narrow my eyes at the crusty old fart who made her worry. Slash, however, just laughs as he looks at The Keeper. The shark demon isn’t intimidated in the slightest, especially with Jasper approaching from behind him. “Slash Scrum and the Royal Caliphate seek entry to The Beastiary, Keeper. Your Prince wishes to visit.”
