My lips curve as we walk up the steps to Canto IV, thinking about how satisfying it will be to see them all fall flat on their faces. “Is it hubris to feel so happy about their eventual ousting at our hands? I don’t care if it is, honestly, because they’ve all spent most of our long-ass lives making us miserable.”
“We have to keep Kit away from them,” Annie murmurs as he opens the door to the dorm. “None of them can get their dirty hands on him. It will be awful, and… I don’t think any of us could live with ourselves if they hurt him like they have us.”
My mate has never spoken truer words, but I have no idea how we’re going to accomplish his suggestion.
Trapped
Kit/Kat
“Again!” Jasper says as he jumps to his feet.
The fucker has been pinning me to the ground every round with a smirk that grew increasingly infuriating with every failed attempt to win. He’s not being an asshole to taunt me, though; this time, he’s doing his best to rile me so I fight harder. I know what he’s doing, and yet I’m still not angry enough to do more than duck a few hits and land a few punches before he gets me.
It doesn’t help that the more we spar, the hotter he looks and my body has told my brain to fuck right off.
I set my feet for another go, gritting my teeth as I reach for the darker parts of me. It would helpa lotif the strength that makes my lioness come out or whatever the fuck happened during that battle would show up to throw some power my way. Alas, nothing inside of me seems to want to beat the fuck out of the prince. If you’d told me that even a week ago, I would have laughed in your face, but here we are.
“Use your emotions, but do not let them overtake you, shrimp,” Jasper says as he falls into his stance.
“Thanks for the advice, Emperor Pout-patine,” I mutter as I advance on him. The jackass is really fast for the biggest demon I know, and like Slash, it’s clear he’s been trained for this since he could walk. His movements are fluid and easy as he ducks my first punch, and I growl as I dance out of hisway when he whirls around. His tail is a built-in weapon, too, and I have to watch it as much as his fists.
Being struck with it stings like a bitch, even with the non-spiky part.
“Is that a reference? You and those human movies… It’s lost on me, unfortunately.” His smirk deepens as he tries to sweep my leg in the distraction, and I barely escape his maneuver without getting trounced once more. “Oh, very good. Your speed is improving a bit.”
“Yay,” I grunt sarcastically as I watch him, looking for another way to strike. “I’m not slow enough to flatten immediately; how exciting.”
“Tuck your thumb! You’re going to break something.”
Rolling my eyes at his non-response, I do as he says while I circle the ring we’re fighting in. He set it with his magic so I’d know where the bounds are, but I don’t think anyone I fight in the Games will stick to a set space. My comment on that was ignored, so I guess he’s working on something specific that I don’t need to know about. “I’m likely to break something anyway, Jasper. You’re about fifty million times stronger than me, even when you’re holding back.”
“I won’t let that happen,” he says as he darts forward, and I have to duck and roll out of the way. “Look at that! You’re learning.”
I get to my feet, my tired body wishing the half hour would be up, but I school my features not to show it. Jasper might give me quarter in this practice, but real enemies will not. I have to focus on pretending this is real. “Isn’t that what this is supposed to be? A lesson?”
Before I can blink, he’s in my space and knocking me to the ground again. I groan as his huge frame presses me into the field, both out of exhaustionandthe pent-up tingling racing through me from these moments where I’ve been shocked to find that I’m definitelynotterrified of the dragon holding me down.
Fucking hormones, I swear to shit. I have no idea how people live with this all the time.
“Did I hurt you?” he asks, his eyes going wide as he doesn’t move as usual. The color of his eyes has changed, and there’s a rumble to his voice that is decidedly not normal.
“No, I…” I swallow hard as lovely sensations flood my limbs and my body clenches eagerly. “Um, no. You didn’t hurt me, I’m…” I can’t seem to finish a sentence as I look up at him while the weight of his heavy-ass dragon-muscled body presses me into the ground. My pulse spikes and my gut flutters as I lose control of myself entirely—something that usually only happens when I have an attack.
This isnotan attack, though, and I’m damn near frozen in place as it grabs hold.
“Shrimp,” he says softly, too softly for the surly asshole who likes to torture me. “I…”
“What a fine display of dedication!”
The funny feelings dissipate like mist on the moors as a loud, booming voice echoes throughout the stadium. Jasper’s face reflects panic—which I haven’t seen on him before—as he scrambles to his feet. I’m left dazed and certainly fucking confused by the abrupt switch, sucking in a breath as I work to right the world so I don’t sway when I get up. The prince, however, is dusting himself off as he stares up at the stands toward what must be the person who spoke. The panic has morphed into his usual arrogant scowl, and I realize that he’s about to put on a show for our uninvited spectator.
“Major. What a pleasant surprise,” he growls as his tail whips in a way that Iknowmeans exactly the opposite of his words. “What brings you to the arena during my private session?”
Holy fuck, that goddamn court dude everyone is so worried about is here!
I push to my feet, willing my body and every part of me to give me the strength to also put on an act for this dangerous motherfucker. We don’t need him spreading shit to Jasper and Slash’s dads, nor do we need him deciding to monitor me. I have to be just beige enough for him to ignore me completely in favor of the dragon demon despite my ball of conflicting emotions and bone-weary condition.
“Taking on extra duties to ensure your caliphate is top-notch. Very noble… something your father would find pleasing, no doubt.” The huge soldier stomps down the last rows of the stands to leap over the edge and hit the ground without even flinching. “This is your newest member, I take it.”
