“Right you are, unemerged.” Arces turns to Jasper, his scarred face ruddy with excitement. “I take back my former fury, Eversore. Even though you withheld information because you’re a sneaky shit, I very much approve of your new member. The kid has spunk.”
“Oh, he’s got more than spunk,” Jasper drawls as he makes a face. “But I suppose your stamp makes me feel marginally better about it.”
Zavida pokes his head out of his tails to shoot a dirty look at his lover. “You promised.”
“Fine,” the dragon grumbles as he sinks further into his chair like a sulking child. “What do you think he is, then? We don’t know because his heritage up there has been muddled by the foster system and some ridiculous shit that’s preventing Zav from finding anything online.”
Leaning back in his chair, the Keeper strokes his beard with his other hand. “I’m not a seer, young royal, nor am I skilled in deceit, like your thief or your hacker. I don’t have the answers you’re seeking simply because I am good with animals. Though, I suspect you believe Kit is a hybrid shifter as well, which is why you asked.”
“We believe he is a hybrid, yes,” Oriel says. His fingers are steepled in front of him, and he’s observing the big man. My darkly handsome crow isn’t sure that he trusts Arces yet, even if Jasper does.
It’s because of me, and I don’t know how to react to that.
I just dip my chin and look at my hands, unsure of what I should say now. Fortunately for me, I don’t have to wade into that discussion because Anton does it for me. “It follows that you might get a sense of it because of your affinity. I see where his train of thought was going.”
“Yes, but I am of more use to you when I say that few surviving demon lines can bond with familiars.” The red-headed man smirks when I whip my head up to look at him curiously.
“Surviving lines? I mean… I know there are a bunch of demon types, but… no one mentioned that there were some that no longer exist.” I chew on my lip nervously as I wait for people to expound. Again with more info that everyone else knows and I’m woefully behind on. It’s making me feel like I really am going to get people killed by accident.
“Aye, Kit. When we entered the last war after Jasper’s father and his caliphate won the Games, there were some rare demonic lines that were hunted to extinction. People who are not me, mind you, said they were executed to prevent them from helping defeat the current leadership’s run for the throne. But as I said, I would never say that because suggesting a minor genocide was perpetrated by the crown to win the war would betreason, you see.”
Jasper groans as he looks up at the ceiling, and his tail twitches back and forth in agitation. “Arces, there’s no possible way any of those species survived. You know, they scoured the entire landscape of Hell to make sure the ‘traitors’ were found and eliminated.”
The Keeper shrugs, his expression full of mischief. “Ah, but that’s the key, isn’t it?”
“What’s the key?” Slash asks with an annoyed grunt. “Don’t be cagey. It’s counterproductive.”
Arces strokes a finger over Dottie’s head gently as he sighs. “Scrum, I wasn’t being cagey. This conversation is a minefield and I’ll thank you to remember my words about being a big oaf earlier. Dancing around delicate situations isn’t my forte.”
“You don’t need to worry that we’re going to rat you out,” Xerxes says firmly. “We’re not fans of that style of management.”
I nod, looking at the professor seriously. “And no information is bad information with this mystery. I mean… I can’t talk about what things I think I can do, but… I would like to find out what else might be coming.Please.”
“Wait.” Jasper holds his hand up, looking around for a moment, then back at Arces. “You have this place completely warded, yes? That’s what you’ve always said in the past, but this… is edging toward extremely sensitive territory. I need to know if Annie and X should add another layer before you continue.”
“Aye, but if you want to throw extra on before I speculate wildly about something that would paint an enormous target on your newest member’sback, I won’t be offended. It’s probably not remotely true or possible, but we risk much to discuss it.”
Jasper nods, then gestures for the two magical demons to do their thing. His expression is pensive as it darts between Arces and me, and I have to lean against Salem to help calm my thrumming pulse.
This man has a theory about me that’s so dangerous, he’s afraid they’ll kill us for speaking it out loud—of fucking course he does.
Uh-oh!
Slash
The Keeper must be trustworthy if our prince has been slipping him promising demons throughout his tenure at Discordia. However, I am still unsure about sharing our theories and concerns with Kit outside of our circle. I have difficulty allowinganyoneother than my brothers and the doc near him because of my animal’s instinct to protect the small demon at all costs. It’s a war within me, especially paired with my curiosity aboutwhatthe Keeper is doing with the demons he mentored over the years.
I prefer not swimming in gray areas like this and it’s making it hard for me to concentrate.
“While they create a field, I must ask why the prince was bringing you promising young demons. Jasper would not hand weapons to just anyone, in my experience.”
“Very nice, Scrum. I see a glimmer of your father in you, but not enough to make me worry.” The one-eyed demon gives me an assessing look, but I see the sparkle in the good eye. “Young Eversore caught my eye when you were all but pups. Through a lot of careful planning, we’ve been able to keep our association out of the public eye.”
A bang at the door makes Kit jump and I snarl as demonic power rushes to my extremities in preparation to defend. “Stay down, little demon!”
Arces throws his head back and laughs heartily and Jasper waves his hand at Salem. “Go let Rook in before he destroys the door again.”
“Again?” Kit says as he watches the panda move to comply. “Does… Rook… do that often?”
