It’s a good question and one that we need to find an answer to—Darkstar changing his tune this completely is concerning.
“However, despite the uselessness of the humans as allies or colleagues across the realms, theyarevery integral to maintaining the status quo in Hell. As you know, there are entire industries in our home dedicated to humans needing our services and goods. Working for the royal Court or other consortiums that employ demons who have the species and lineage gifts for acquiring power from other realms is quite lucrative. Many of you will graduate from here with offers from those firms because of what you are and who you are descended from—you should be honored.”
Squinting up at the front of the room, I feel my intuition spike at that statement. This is Mythology class, not career services or even some sort of business class. We’re supposed to be learning about the differences between reality and what the surface folks (or other realms) believe about history and the stories from it. Why did I just feel like I was in some sort of recruitment commercial?
Slash grunts as he stabs at his phone. “I am texting Jasper about this. I dislike Darkstar favoring anyone. That is suspicious.”
“Perhaps Zav needs to do some deep-diving on the outside companies doing bargains and deals and all of that shit?” Oriel elbows the big guy, his eyes serious. “Maybe that’s where some of the money to help a rebellion is coming from. Siphoning it from that industry would be easy, I bet. It’s not done with traditional payment, and those contracts can be traded for cash—a good way to launder it.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose, not liking the sound of the thief’s guess. Obviously, he’s funded up there with all the shit the Geminis have their fingers in, but he’d need more to stay in the loop. I hate politics, and I hate serious stuff like this even more. I just want to cook my food and be with my friends—not fight a damn war, but… The day’s finally come where we’re going to be part of it whether I want to or not.
“Yeah,” I say as I slouch in my seat. “Well, I suppose Zav will need to set up his what-sits to track money from a lot of places once we have a better idea of what allies he has down here. The Games might reveal that, I think.”
“How?”
I make a face as Oriel draws me deeper into speculation. “Because Lucian will hold his own form of court for most of them and the crowds will get bigger the further into them we get, right? That means he’ll give special treatment to his favored people in his section when there are events. We should be able to… I don’t know, tech something or spell something so we find out who it is.”
“That’s a good point, Salem. Very smart.”
I know the big guy isn’t being sarcastic, so I’m feeling pretty good although we’re stuck here until this windbag shuts his pie hole.
Glitter and Gold
Kit/Kat
The knock on the door scares the crap out of me. I jump about ten feet in the air, disturbing Dottie in her snoozing place above my head, and damn near fall out of the chair. I was reading one of the books Annie gave me last night, using his really neatly printed annotations to cross-reference with my textbooks. Keeping my mind busy helped me not be anxious about being alone in the room, when there are many shitty people on campus—both visitors and permanent residents. I obviously didn’t let the guys know I was skittish; it would have led to fights about skipping class and the watchful eyes on us.
But yeah, my brain was taking little side quests to What-If Land, so I had to occupy it.
“Coming,” I call as I blow out a breath and slow down my heart rate before I walk to the door carefully. The knock makes me suspicious because my caliphate knows the code; they don’tneedto knock to get the damn thing open. I pause by the reinforced wood, listening with my new sharpened hearing skills and sniffing to see if I can identify what the fuck is on the other side.
“Saltwater?” I mutter before I look at the door in confusion. “Slash, is that you?”
“Excellent job, little demon. You were cautious about opening up to someone unknown and used your new abilities to mitigate the risk.”
His rumbling praise makes my stomach flutter, but I yank the damn thing open and I glare at him, anyway. “Why are you testing how I deal with visitors? No one dares to come onto this floor. Jasper would fricassee them.”
The toothy grin also makes my body shiver, though I try to shake it off, and he arches a brow. “Do you think those with ill-intent are going to stay away because of the prince’s temper? If that were true,no onewould ever attack you, nor would they spread rumors. Yet, even the weakest demons take part in the gossip mill when they think we cannot hear them.”
I frown. “If you hear them, why is it still happening?”
“I have been forbidden to eat them, and we find other ways to make them suffer. Jasper believes too many missing students would draw unwanted attention, especially this close to the Games.” Slash’s scowl tells me they disagree on that topic, and I wonder what the other guys have said about it.
Damn men and their secret meetings—it pisses me off something fierce.
“I’m a big… boy, Slash. I could be in those discussions; no, scratch that… Ishouldbe in those meetings. It’s bullshit.”
The shark demon comes into the room, shutting the door firmly before he turns to look at me seriously. “They are not meetings, Kat. Those were random conversations held in passing when you happened to not be around. That might sound fishy, but it is true. I would not purposely exclude you with your safety, even with our new shared secrets.”
My face flushes as I step closer, looking up at the gigantic man until it almost gives me a crick in my neck. “You’d better not. That promise about it not changing things holds even when it involves defending myself and risky shit. I don’t want you guys to fashion me into some damsel in your heads once you know the truth. I’ve always had to protect myself, and even more so since the incident. Ihaveto take care of myself or I feel helpless again. You get that, right?”
His jaw grits as he walks over to pick up Dottie and sit her on his broad shoulder. “My instincts dislike that sentiment; I have to admit. However, my brain understands what you are saying, and I will do my best to give you the chance if need be. But you also must listen when I say that our demons and our animals will naturally want to protect you like Salem did in the Fae place. We cannot stop them from doing it. That doesn’t mean we believe you are weak, little demon. It only means we value you greatly enough to put ourselves in harm’s way so you are safe.”
Ugh. Why does he always have to make senseandbe sweet about this shit?
“It’s not fair that you’re good at being practical when you’re also being nice,” I grumble as Dottie chitters happily from her perch up high. “And you’re a traitor, girl. You didn’t even complain that he picked you up!”
Slash chuckles as he pets her head with one finger. “She knows I mean you and her no harm. Therefore, she can trust me to carry her while you gather your things. It is time to go to the gym again for our sessions. We have a lot of time today that should not be wasted.”
