“We all will, KK, but not because you somehow gained one of the scariest fuckers I know as your ally.” I frown at him, not agreeing that Dank is scary in the slightest. “I know he’s acting like a kindly old man with you, but trust me… that demon isterrifyingto most people, even Jasper.”
Jasper probably deserves it; I can see him giving Dank shit for no good reason.
“Now, now,” Salem says as he shifts me a bit in his arms. “Don’t get feisty. You’re not ready for that yet. Two days is a good start to handling what happened, but it’s not enough. It will take a couple more days for you to be at normal strength and to process this.”
His words make my panic rise, and I lift my head this time, looking him directly in the eyes. “What do you mean, ‘what happened’? What will I need to process, Salem? I know I sort of blacked out, but… what happened when I lost time?”
“Oh shit,” he mutters as he takes in my rigid posture. “You don’t… Fuck, man. I’ve never heard of anyone forgetting when—damn, damn, damn.”
That doesn’t help me at all, and my breaths come faster, signaling the need for me to get a grip on myself before this escalates. “Five fingers I see.. four windows covered…”
“KK…” the panda demon says as he takes my hands in his. “Look at me. You are safe, and nothingbadhappened while you were out. At least, not toyou.”
I pause in the slight rocking motion I was using to soothe as I listed things. “Then why… Why did you seem so freaked out?”
A dark, rumbling voice at my back answers for him. “Because you shifted for the first time in public and the lion inside of you was going to tear Queznar to pieces for his insolence.”
Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I turn to see Jasper standing there, shirtless and barefoot as he stares at me. “L-lion? Shifted? Like… you guys? That’s my…?”
The prince shrugs as he drops to the floor in front of our chair, sitting cross-legged so he’s at the same level as my face. That alone is fucking weird, but I don’t have the bandwidth to snark at him about that right now. “It’s one of your abilities, yes. Is it the only one besides your demonic blood? I don’t believe so, but we have no idea at this point. I do know that Zavida and I have discussed it at length, and we believe that your shift, though late in your life, has manifested in a juvenile form because your demonic lifespan will be long like ours.”
My brows furrow as I ask, “You’re saying I’m a baby demon and my lion is a baby, too?”
Jasper actually snorts, then shrugs at me. “Perhaps not ababy, shrimp. But younger than us by far, obviously.” He arches a brow, his smirk deepening as he looks me in the eye. “Youdounderstand that despite our appearance being that of college-aged humans, we’remucholder than that in human years, yes? Compared to ancient demons, we’re at this stage of life, but to humans, we’d be dust by now.”
Of course, I knew they were much older by the way they talked about things and the way human history is taught to the freshmen, but I didn’t ask because… that makes all of this even more real?
Huffing, I look back at Salem. “Why does he seem so determined to think I’m stupid?”
“I don’t know, KK. You’ve been obviously intelligent since I met you.” The panda chuckles as he pats my back again. “Though, to be fair, Jasper treatsmostdemons like they’re beneath him in some way or another. It’s how the asshole in the big chair raised him. He’s better now than he was when we first met as kids, though.”
“Oh fab,” I retort wryly. “So in another… thousand or so years… he’ll realize I’m no less capable than you guys?”
The prince’s lips twitch, and I can tell hewantsto laugh, but refuses to allow himself to. Instead, he coughs. “I don’t believe you’re intellectually inferior, shrimp. You’re simply not educated about demons, Hell, and the world you now live in. I have to assume you don’t know things, so you’re not missing important context if that’s the case.”
“Awfully big words for ‘I act like you’re a rube on purpose’, Prince.”
He scowls at me, opening his mouth and then, like magic, he stops the insult I know was coming. Sucking an annoyed breath in through his nose, Jasper breathes out slowly and then turns back to me. “Zav set this room up for maximum comfort and the feeling of balance and safety. Arguing with you will defeat his intentions, and I don’t want to do that to him. It was important to him that you awaken in a non-stressful environment, so you could process this without fear.”
I arch a brow, surprised that it was the Kitsuné who did this and evenmoresurprised that Jasper is honoring his wishes despite his absence. “Why?”
Rolling his eyes, Jasper shrugs, looking irritable. “I don’t know; he’s soft like that. Zav didn’t have the best emergence with his animal, unlike most of us. While our parents were disappointed with the lack of full blood sometimes, none of them were as furious with the animal we gained other than his. He wanted to make sure you didn’t have one of those panic things or whatever.”
Jasper Eversore, Prince of Hell, and my eternal fucking critic… did all this to make someone else happy.
You could shoot me with a damn arrow and I wouldn’t feel it through the shock running in my veins right now. Something ridiculously important happened down there besides my stupid animal coming out at the worst possible moment, and I really want to know what it was. However, I think this is probably stretching the limit of Jasper’s ability to be nice as it is, and I will not risk fucking up Zav’s kindness by pissing him off until he breaks. So I tuck that question away for later, knowing that Xerxes, Salem, or Oriel will answer for me in private—I hope.
“Why do I need a couple more days here out of the public eye?”
The Prince sighs with relief when I don’t push him on the emotional stuff, his expression clearing up. “Because the first time you shift, your body has to get adjusted to it. You went in and out pretty quickly, which is harder on you; hence, the two-day coma. However, wehaveto work with you on how to do it onpurposenow that people have seen it, and how topreventit when you don’t want to do it. Otherwise, you’re going to be exposed to much more dangerous attacks by people who expect you to know what the fuck you’re doing.”
“Knowing how to talk your animal down in high emotional settings is something that will take time, though,” Salem interjects. “It’s difficult to gain their trust, and even harder when your animal is known for a volatile nature… like, say, adragon.”
Jasper glares at him murderously, and I feel the air shimmer. “Shut up, Salem. You know damn good and well I have to deprogram him from the way they raised me. I’ve spent decades unlearning the things I had to do to survive there and—” He stops, taking a deep breath and grits out, “But this is not the time for that. He is correct about needing to work with your animal versus against when possible. The latter is quite difficult and will drain you until you have more strength built up.”
“What you’re saying is that you guys arranged the rest of the week off via Dank so it would flow into the weekend to help learn this? Is that what I’m hearing?”
Jasper grins toothily for a second, then nods. “Yes, Kit. You’re going to spend alotof time with us in the gym, starting with the fucker with the absolute most control I know.”
