He brushes a lock of hair off my forehead and asks, “Did we, though? Or perhaps we were hit with something so unexpected that it still hasn’t really occurred to us what it might be?”
What the hell doesthatmean? Dank is going to be so tired of me and my litany of weird girl talk with him.
“I don’t know how to respond to that,” I mutter as I dip my chin. “But if you guyswantto do parties and… whatever… I won’t stop you. I have lots of books to read.”
The big guy drops his hand on my shoulder and uses the other to lift my chin again. “I should go on the record to say Ihatethose things, and was not complaining. But also, so do a lot of my brothers; we attended because we had to be seen. We are not now because this revival of the Games and your arrival have become more important than appearances. I have not heard a single complaint fromanyoneabout not going to smelly, beer and sex-smelling dorm parties, little demon.”
Oddly, he’s right as far as I’ve heard, too. Not one of the caliphate members has mentioned going to parties or doing anything other than our normal routine together. But for the mandatory Samhain ball and that damn surface meeting thing, we’ve been very comfortable and happy being homebodies. I never considered how damn weird that was until just now; they’re all royals and this is their college— yet they’re spending time in the dorms with me every night.
Anxiety…. anxiety….. anxiety…. so much worry about what that means and what I’m ready for.
“Kit.” I look up and see Slash’s reproachful expression. “Stop obsessing. If any of us wanted to do something, we would. We do whatever we want all the time, do we not?”
“Even when I want to throat punch people, yes,” I grumble. “I suppose that’s true.”
“Then do not allow voices of doubt in your head to accuse you of things you did not do.” Slash grins toothily. “Eventually, you will do enough things on your own that you do not have to take credit for shit you did not decide. It is coming as your power develops, and then you can internally kick your own ass. Agreed?”
I snort. “Getting my powers will not change who I am, Slash. I will not start doing wacky shit and have to apologize.”
“That’s not what I meant. I am saying as you get your powers, your confidence is growing. You will be strong in mind and body, which will give you the ability to stand up for yourself even more.” Both of his hands come up to frame my face, and my body vibrates with pleasure. “You will do things that are good and things that are bad—regardless of intent, we all do that. And when you fuck up with demonic and shifter powers, the ripples across the water are larger. So yes, you will eat crow.”
My eyes widen. “I didnot! We kissed—that’s all!”
The room is silent for a moment, then Slash breaks into that laughter that, to this day, I’ve only seen come out for me. He fills the room with his humor, and I struggle to hide from him as my face turns bright red. I’ve obviously made a wrong assumption about his words, and man, is he taking it well. When he settles again, he taps my nose with his finger.
“Little demon, I have never met a single soul or soulless being that makes me laugh as you do. I never wish for you to stop because it delights me.” Now I’m really red, and he clearly enjoys the fuck out of it. “However, I would not expect you to have taken such a step with Oriel yet. I know how damaged you are, and also that Salem and Oriel would never push you. As for us? We will move slowly together and keep moving until we are comfortable. Does that sound amenable?”
“It does… because it’s nice not to be the only one who isn’t completely experienced and totally in the know about all this shit,” I mumble.
Slash grins down at me as he holds my flushed face. “Ah, but I doknowabout it all. I simply have notdoneit all. I think I will enjoy directing it, though. Don’t you?”
Nice one, Daddy Shark. Now I’m going to be thinking about that all fucking day.
Bad Intentions
Xerxes
Iamnota happy camper. In fact, I’m not a happy anything because I’m soaked in sweat and bruised to within an inch of my life because this asshatMajorhas pushed our prince to make us fight until we’re all going to need healing potions. It’s not very easy to do that to demons, especially hybrid ones like my caliphate and me, and every inch of my body aches as I pant from the bench on the sidelines. Our only breaks have been in between fights, and that’s only if you’re bleeding—which I am. Otherwise, you have to do laps around the damn arena.
Poor KK would grit her teeth and kill herself to make it through—or get knocked out.
My eyes move to my leader, noting how he looks as if he’s going to shatter his fucking teeth if they grit any harder. He’s angry about this class session, and he is going to be extremely difficult to deal with afterward. Jasper doesn’t enjoy having his hand forced by anyone, and definitely not the watchful eyes of his father’s stool pigeon and our stupid headmaster. Together, their presence is going to injure more demons than train them, and that’s proven by the constant flow of infirmary workers carrying people out on stretchers. Luckily, none of those people are from my caliphate, but we’re taking a hell of a beating.
“Hopefully, Kit is doing better with the big guy than we are here,” Salem mutters as he joins me, nursing a bloody cut under his eye that’s dribbling down his face. “I wouldnotbe okay with him being here during this gauntlet.I don’t even think the Games are going to be this vicious. Magic will help those who are distance fighters, and this fucker is making everyone go hand-to-hand even if it isn’t their skill set.”
I nod, pushing the towel against my nose as the blood gathers there. “Exactly. This isn’t about training; it’s about finding weaknesses in every student they’re watching. If they had notebooks, I’d assume they’re making a list for later, but they don’t.”
“Doesn’t mean they aren’t using a bounce spell or something,” the panda grumbles. “Some lesser demon could sit in front of a book in another room watching the notes scribble themselves as the dickwaffles watch us. The question is… why?”
“Because they want to figure out how to harm us in Lucian’s case,” Zavida says as he stumbles over with a dazed expression. “As for the Major? I haven’t figured that out yet. I can’t see why he’d want to find weaknesses other than to report to the General and King? But what does that get them? No idea.”
“Do you think our parents are actually plotting against us, too?” Salem mutters carefully. “Or at least… the worst of them?”
I don’t want to give that thought credence, but… they took Hell by coup starting with the Games, and some of them are ass-tastic even for demons.
“They could be,” I admit, pushing dirty hair off of my face as I sigh. “Mine, Annie’s… Jasper’s, Slash’s… Zav’s…” I’m not sure about Salem or Oriel’s folks; they never make a fuss at the royal stuff, so they’re not actively fighting the bullshit, but they don’t seem nearly as invested in making those guys miserable as much as forcing them to work in their line’s specialties. O’s folks are the question marks, truthfully, because his dad is fucking awful, but that’s always in service of thievery and their guild shit. “I don’t know about the others’ involvement.”
Salem sighs and rubs blood from his knuckles into the black and white strands of his hair as he shrugs. “My folks always go with the flow, even when they don’t agree. If the King says so, they’ll stay in the ballpark. So probably.”
