The other guys look back and forth between us as if they are terrified to respond, but it’s X who breaks the quiet with their giggles. Anton snorts, followed by Slash laughing, and then everyone joins as the hilarity of my mistake fills the dorm with humor. I turn to Dottie, pleading with her for relief, but she titters as she, too, understands my gaffe and finds it funny.
“Traitors everywhere,” I mutter as I hunker down in my chair to hide my flaming face. “I hate everyone.”
“Apparently, not Jasper,” the voice says wryly, and when I catch him, I give the sly Kitsuné a double dose of my middle finger for his trouble.
Jasper just stacks his stupidly muscled arms behind his head, looking so impressed with himself that it’s stifling. That asshole is going to lord this over me for at least a week, and I won’t be able to do a damn thing about it. I might as well prepare myself for the fury now.
“Ha ha, Kit said something silly,” I mimic as I roll my eyes at them. “We should definitely make him feel as self-conscious as possible so his anxiety doesn’t kick up. Oh, wait…”
Salem points his spoon at me with a stern expression. “Bad, KK! You’re just embarrassed,notanxious. I can tell the difference and you’re getting way better at dealing with entendres. Don’t be a faker.”
“I’m not…” I say weakly, and even Dottie looks at me sideways. “Okay, okay! You win. I’m fine, just dreading that royal asshat making fun of me for saying that for weeks on end.”
The prince in question arches his brow, looking at me suspiciously for a moment. “Now, why would you think I’d do something mean like that?”
“Because I’vemetyou?”
Jasper’s smile broadens as he dips his chin. “Nicely done, but it won’t win you enough points to prevent your eventual torture, little demon. What else do you have to offer?”
“He’s got a honking great sapphire,” Anton says wryly. “Though I realize now that might not have been what you meant.”
“Does he now?” The prince looks intrigued, but I don’t answer. “What if I said you could trade it for my good will? No teasing about your desire to… whack me all day, every day… ever.”
Man, that’s tempting, because he’s definitely going to make me suffer for tripping over that phrase.
“Nope,” I say regardless. “Not for sale, Eversore. Do your worst—I’ve seen better, I’m sure.”
The twins were ruthlessly devoted to making me look stupid, pathetic, and useless whenever they could back home, so I’m not pulling his leg. Bryce and Blake weren’t ever satisfied with overshadowing my accomplishments with their sport glory—no, those budding psychopaths preferred to make sure everyone knew I was a loser. So yeah, I have some experience with this shit that will help me get over whatever he plans to do.
Xerxes looks at Oriel, then at me before they say, “But that’s worth quite a bit, KitKat. Maybe you can barter for more from the prince if you’d be willing to part with it.”
I snort, giving them a dirty look I reserve for snitches and meddlers. “Probably could, but he has nothing to offer that would be equivalent to its value to me.”
That makes the stormy-eyed crow demon perk up, and he looks up from where he was playing with his rings while the rest of us chatted. “He doesn’t?”
Pretending to think about it for a moment, I sigh audibly, then shake my head. “Nope. Not a damn thing. It’s just too important to waste.”
The declaration sounds pretty firm, and I pulled off some pretty good acting, but inside? I’m full of jelly and shivers because I admitted that I treasure something he gave me. I don’t like letting people see possible weaknesses, and I didn’tjustflip Jasper off by saying that. It also gave the rest of them a weak spot, should they choose to aim for it, and the crow a vulnerability he desperately wants.
These fucking demons do weird shit to my ‘smart’ brain and send all my decisions south of my fucking neck—it’s a real issue.
Protector
Anton
The crow looks like he’s about to burst with giddiness, and my love is holding onto the edge of their chair cushion like they’re physically stopping themself from clapping. I recognize that Kit often struggles with expressing vulnerable emotions and that statement was unusual for him. It must be why X is happy and Oriel is practically vibrating, but I’m uncertain I grasp the significance completely.
Jasper, however, seems nearly as clueless as me. He frowns at the smallest member of our caliphate, tilting his head. “I didn’t expect you to say that. I find myself a tad bit flabbergasted.”
Oriel smirks at the prince and I wonder if he’s going to get up and do a victory dance. “See, Jas? Some people can’t be bought or bribed; Kit’s one of them.”
Kit shrinks in his seat a bit, his confidence deflating as he mutters, “I mean, I probably could be if the right circumstances are in place. I’m not perfect, O, and there are things I’d compromise my ethics for—I think.”
Interesting, because that isnothow it seemed when he first arrived.
“That’s not unusual,” X says as they sit back again, their eyes flashing with what definitely appears to be pride. “Lots of people have shit they’d sacrifice themselves for, KK. You probably haven’t felt that before because you’ve been so isolated. It’s not a bad thing, just something you have to be careful about revealing to potential baddies.”
Salem walks over, wiping his hands on a towel. “Exactly. I’d do some less than savory shit for the people in this room, and lofty ideals wouldn’t stop me for a second. That’s what being in the caliphate means, right?”
