But I couldn’t relax. If my demonic father was desperate enough to send scores of demons through the portal—a portal that was apparently leakier than a sieve—he’d stop at nothing to capture me.
Including killing my soul-bonded mates.
Kenji popped into view, soaking wet and with tufts of cat fluff stuck in his teeth.
All thoughts of marauding demons vanished from my head.
“Oh my goddess, Kenji! You better not have murdered that poor little kitty!”
My soggy familiar huffed crossly before coughing up a hairball.
“Of course not. I was doing you a favor by creating a distraction.”
“Hmm. I might have believed you if you’d left immediately after me, but I arrived back fifteen minutes ago.”
“I got caught up in the chase.”He shrugged.“It’s a kitsune thing. We have a strong prey drive.”
“Really? I’ve not seen you hunt anything before.”
“I hunt cockroaches. There are loads in this shitty building. Plusgiganticspiders.”
I clung onto my bear and vampire while shuddering in horror at the thought of giant spiders crawling all over me while I slept.
Zane laughed. “He’s a little liar. There are no spiders here. It’s way too cold and damp.”
Kenji bared his teeth at my incubus.
“Don’t worry, pet, I’ll protect you from all the things that might want to bite you in the night.” His gaze slid over to Rasmus, who flashed his fangs in return.
“Maybe I don’t need protection from things that might want to bite me?”
“Good, because biting is very much on the menu tonight,mea amica,” my vampire purred.
36
Maverick
Fucking security mages. Two of the assholes watched me as I strode toward the gym to prepare for my first class. Montgomery must have hired these idiots from Goons-R-US because they didn’t act like legitimate security operatives.
Neither wore actual uniforms, for starters, and each time a pretty female crossed their path, they spent more time ogling them than scouring their surroundings for threats. Unsurprisingly, Montgomery hadn’t been interested when I expressed doubts about their professionalism.
He told me Tiberius Vane was overseeing recruitment, which did nothing to reassure me, and he said if I had concerns, to fill out an online feedback form.
The two clowns standing outside the pool building raised their weapons when Kai emerged, his blue skin steaming from a morning swim. He eyed them warily, no doubt wondering what their fucking problem was. The minute I stormed over, the idiots backed off.
“Is there an issue?” The mage security teams all knew my reputation. I’d spent several years working for the Shifter Council. Even now, I worked as an independent contractor when needed.
Only last week I’d been called in to help bring down a feral mountain lion shifter who’d attacked a church. It was one of many recent incidents. As with demon attacks, feral shifter cases were rising.
“No,” the gray-haired mage said with a sneer in Kai’s direction. “Just making sure the merman has permission to swim.” The younger mage stood silent, but his fist curled, ready to cast an attack spell if needed.
“He’s an aqua-magical. Of course he has fucking permission, you moron.” Kai shuffled uncomfortably, but I was over this elitist bullshit. If the mage assholes wanted a fight, they’d get one.
The older mage puffed his chest out, full of self-importance.
“It’s our job to verify students. Especially the lesser magicals who are only here because of the Mage Council’s benevolence.”
“You do realize he’s the crown prince of the mer kingdom, right?” The asshole mage paled. He hadn’t realized he was in danger of triggering a diplomatic incident.
