“Ah, so you believe he was instructed to look for you during his visit and make you pay for that affront.”
“Definitely.”
The bird demon tsks as he mumbles, “Young royals should know better than using those who are not ready for vengeance in their schemes. However, I am certain the Major was quite shocked when you not only withstood the assault, but shifted into a powerful beast as well. Am I correct?”
My face heats as I look at the floor. “He didn’t really have a chance to think much, I don’t think. I shifted into a dragon—which I didn’t know I could do—and well, you saw what my dragon did. It was over pretty fucking quickly.”
“I see.” The doc tilts his head as he waits for me to meet his gaze. “Why did your dragon do that?”
Shrugging, I say, “He was an asshole.”
“Perhaps, but that does not warrant the rage that forces a shift of such a powerful animal. Think harder, Katarina.”
I frown, biting my lip as I consider what was going through my mind when the dragon took over. When it comes to me, I blink and then swallow hard before I answer. “I didn’t like that he violated Jasper’s boundaries. It was obvious he didn’t want to hurt me, and the Major was forcing him to.”
“Have you ever been in a situation like that before?”
My body locks as I remember the incident, and I feel my pulse spike. “Yes.”
“And what happened then, I wonder?” The demon muses as he applies cream to the injuries carefully. “What did you do when it happened before?”
“I didn’t know until just now, but… I think I set the place on fire,” I whisper.
I’ve never seen a flaming bird skull look quite so pleased as he does right now, but it’s almost like Dank is gloating.
1 From the ancients to the beasts, I command you to listen and obey!
2 Your time here is over, faithful beast. Transform yourself and sleep again.
Your Betrayal
Jasper
My dragon is displeased that we’re stuck waiting, and for once, I agree with him.
Of course, we’re aligned for completely different reasons, and that’s going to be a problem—eventually.
Looking around at the mess my caliphate and these… helpers… now have to clean up, I’m finding it hard to control all the emotions rioting inside of me. However, it’s not time for that; it’s time to work together to get rid of the Major’s fucking body before someone stumbles onto our treasonous act and trips an alarm. While Darkstar has no love for agents of the court, he won’t hesitate to use this situation to his advantage.
“Slash, now that you’re back from coddling the shrimp, gather the others.”
My second gives me a suspicious look, his expression turning cold as he nods sharply. He lumbers over to the rest of my brothers, bringing them into a circle with the Keeper around the corpse. Once they’re all in place, I lift my chin and glare.
“What is our plan?”
The Keeper scratches his beard, and then says, “Have to be a disposal job. If we move it and try to cover it up, it will bring hellfire down on the whole campus. At least if he’s just missing in action, people can assume things until someone actually decides it’s worth pursuing.”
The demon makes a good point—if he falls out of contact with Slash’s dad, the General might ignore it for a while, thinking the Major is snooping or whoring about.
“Fine. What are we using for disposal and how are we getting it to the place where it will happen without being seen?”
“We could stow it under a tarp and hide it until nighttime.” Oriel’s wings fold against his back as he tilts his head to look at the large body. “Once it’s dark, there will be fewer people around, and it will be easier to transport without being caught.”
Slash shakes his head. “Still very risky. He is quite obtrusive.”
“Lots of weapons at hand. We could chop it up,” Anton says as he stoops. “There are sharp enough implements in the cabinet, and while some take the parts away in bags, the others could clean the mess.”
“Nae, lad. The best way to get rid of pieces is a fairly good clip from here—we’d need to use the Wastes or my razorback devil pigs.”
