Talk to Me
Kit/Kat
T he rest of the class passes by like a turtle plodding along in a race with a rabbit. I do my best to keep my shit together and Jasper does his worst, occasionally mitigated by one of the guys preventing us from locking horns too badly. I got the insinuation that Lucian made him change his lesson plan from his careful retort, but that doesn’t excuse his shitty attitude. That dude needs to quit taking his frustrations out on the most convenient target. He’s a fucking adult, for Satan’s sake.
Slash meets us at the arena, studying the group for a moment before jerking his head to indicate I should follow him to Supernatural Law. It’s a short class—probably because it’s so dreadfully boring that Professor Holmes would struggle to keep us interested for longer than an hour. The man redefines the term ‘beige’ and it doesn’t help that his hybrid shifter species is a sloth.
I know this shit is important for someone like me, but man, I’ve almost pulled a ‘Salem’ twice now.
I follow the shark demon into the room, letting him pick our spot, and then settle in for whatever nonsense the professor has been redirected to teach. The Games is changing everything little by little, and even though I’d only been here a week before they were announced, it’s fucking with my Feng Shui.
If I can make it through this class without snoozing, it’ll be a miracle.
“Wake up, little demon.”
My eyes pop open at a rumble and I take in my surroundings in a mild panic. We’re in the Law classroom and if my fuzzy brain is correct, Holmes is winding up his lecture on—something I definitely slept through entirely. Lifting my head up, I turn bright red when I figure out I’ve been snoozing on Slash’s big shoulder.
Oh, shit, am I drooling?!
A quick swipe of my mouth relieves me when I find no strings of embarrassing moisture there. I blow out a quick sigh, then squint up at the big guy. “Why did you let me sleep like that? Didn’t he notice?”
“Psssh,” Slash scoffs as he shrugs. “Holmes is so blind; he wouldn’t notice if you walked up to him and bopped him on the nose, much less that you were sleeping in the back of the room. Didn’t you see how thick his glasses are?”
My lips curve a bit when the typically monosyllabic shifter blabs an entire string of words at me. I kinda like that he’s less reserved when it’s just us. “Okay, but why didn’t you wake me?”
“You wouldn’t fall asleep at six p.m. if you weren’t exhausted. The time change from up there to Hell can be rough for the new demons. Plus, you were injured two days ago.”
I especially enjoy it because when Slash does talk, it’s pretty on the ball.
“Ugh, fine. Did you at least take notes?” I look over his huge arm to see lines of chicken scratch that makes my brain fritz for a moment. “And if those are the notes, do you have a translator in our group?”
He grins toothily, nodding. “Zavida is able to take my scrawl and make it legible for everyone else, don’t worry.”
“That’s in the demon language, isn’t it?”
Nodding, he closes the notebook and gestures for me to pack up. “It is, and you will pick it up gradually. At least, I think that is how it works.”
Dottie crawls up my leg from where I think she might have been napping in my bag, and I grin as she grabs my finger to hug it. “It looks like some weird mix of runes, hieroglyphics, and Latin, maybe? Did you guys make a pidgin language to keep everyone from being able to read your shit?”
“Around the Salem Trials, there was a movement in Hell to safeguard our works by making them impossible for those without demon blood to read.” Slash frowns, pausing to think as I stand up. “You’d have to ask Jas or Zavida for more information, but I believe it was to keep those of our kind living on the other side from being burnt to a crisp by panicked humans.”
“We’re pretty stupid as a species,” I agree as we head out of the classroom. “I’m not afraid to admit my people are the fucking worst.”
“No.” I look at him and he shrugs. “Storybooks and deities are the worst—trust me. Humans come a close third, but they do not hold the crown.”
Gee, glad I sort of asked… more shit to assimilate.
“I should probably leave asking questions about them until I’m fully grasping the demon part. Just thinking about adding on more unbelievable shit to my plate is making my stomach turn.”
The big guy laughs as he holds the door for me and we amble down the hall to take the stairs to the bottom floor. By the time we get down, we’ve moved away from supernaturals that make me want to hurl to discuss the laws I missed during class. The professor went over the official rules of the Games—not that anyone expects them to be followed, especially with all the loopholes purposefully left in the wording.
“Did he send us a copy digitally? I really want to read every damn word of this fucking nonsense.”
“You, Zav, and Oriel will likely be the only ones to do so, but yes.” Slash tilts his head, arching a brow at me. “You have an affinity for fairness, it seems.”
I snort. “Mostly because nothing in my entire life has ever been fair. It’s like an addiction to an unattainable object, my shrink said.”
“I’m not a fan of doctors that dig in your brains,” the shark says, his expression disapproving. “I think they mix up shit until a slight problem becomes much larger and less manageable. That gets them more appointments and more money. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
You know, I’ve never thought of it that way, but it is a bit like a pyramid scheme. Now I’m never going to see therapy the same way again—awesome job, big guy.
I’m surprised when our path doesn’t take us to the Triclinium for dinner—no, we head straight for the dorms when we get in the middle of campus. We’ve been walking quietly for the past bit, and it was more comfortable than I would have imagined. I didn’t spend a lot of time above jabbering because I had no friends, so finding out that Slash is a good person to be silent with is yet another positive tick in his column. But I figured Prince Dickhead would insist on being ‘observed’ again, and it appears that’s not the case.
“What’s with diverting from the norm?” I ask him as we approach the front of the dorm. “I thought we had to make a unified appearance or whatever.”
He grins at me. “It is a caliphate meeting night, so Salem is preparing dinner in your room. Once Anton and Xerxes are out of class, we will combine the meal and our meeting.”
That’s not a terrible plan. Jasper’s a bit less shitty when he’s being fed—not by much, but it will help.
“That’s actually cool with me. I like cooking with Salem; we have fun and it’s very educational.”
Slash snorts. “Educational? How is that possible?”
We walk inside, and he follows me to the elevator, snarling at an unfortunate freshman who tries to join us until the kid backs off. I give him a frustrated look and the shark ignores me. “Slash, how am I going to get people to quit hating me if you all growl at them? And to answer your question, Salem is teaching me about the various plants and meats and fruits and shit.”
He looks surprised for a moment, then nods. “Okay, that makes sense, little demon. You are learning our food while you cook. That is actually very helpful given you are likely a magic user. Herbs and plants will be important to you.”
Don’t think I missed that he ignored my complaint about the alpha posturing.
“How in the… here… do you know I’m a magic user? I haven’t shown an affinity for anything yet as far as I know.”
His laugh is dark as he bumps my shoulder with his. “Because you are too small to be a shifter… even the less predatory animal hybrids grow larger as their animals develop. You’re obviously not one of the Cubi or vampiric because you would have started to change your eating and sleeping habits. Thus, we are left with magic users, including demis and Fae.”
“Have you… does everyone assume that and no one told me?” I scowl as I cross my arms over my chest, not liking that idea in the slightest. I hate being talked around rather than to. I’m going to punch every single one of them if it’s true.
“No. They are all far too emotional about it, and I prefer to allow you the space to change without the pressure a guessing game would engender.”
Shit. This dude is racking up points like a fucking Hall of Famer.
“Thanks, big guy. That’s actually really nice.” I bump him back, but I bounce off his big ass arm and he bursts out laughing. My eyes widen, as I’ve seen him chuckle a bit, but this is real laughter—it’s kind of glorious to watch.
When he notices I’m grinning like a fool, his brows furrow. “Why are you staring at me?”
“You don’t usually let loose like that. It’s cool.” Ducking my chin, I tear my gaze away because I can feel the heat rising up my chest to my neck and I don’t want him to notice it. “I enjoyed seeing it; that’s all.”
“Kit, you don’t have to hide every time you say something real. We won’t make fun of you.”
I wrinkle my nose as I look up at him, but his expression is serious. “Old habits, I suppose. The idiot boys I lived with in the last home were… not exactly touchy-feely, and it was probably the best one I ever stayed at. I didn’t have any friends because of moving around a lot. I’m mostly an awkward penguin.”
His lips curve up. “Sharks eat penguins, little demon.”
Annnnnnnnd there goes the stupid color in my face again…
I press my hands to my flaming cheeks, looking anywhere but the big shifter shaking with humor. “Don’t make it weird, man.”
“We are supposed to be dating you. I assume we will have to get comfortable with innuendo and such eventually.”
He has a point and I refuse to acknowledge it. “There’s no one around but us!”
“Better for practicing, yes?”
The elevator dings right as he shoots back at me and I groan. The Universe definitely gets its jollies by tormenting me and this is a prime example. “I suppose so, but maybe warn me first so I don’t…”
“Don’t what, Kit Kat?” Salem is standing in front of the elevator, clearly waiting for me to arrive to help him in the kitchen. “Is Slash making you uncomfortable? ‘Cause I’ll?—”
“You’ll do nothing , slumber bear.” The shark gives me a nudge and I trudge out of the car with a sigh of irritation. “I don’t owe you an explanation, but I was practicing our banter as Oriel suggested.”
Excuse me, what?!
“What the hell does that mean?” I growl as I whirl around and stalk up to the large demon, pushing up on my toes to try to look him directly in the eyes. It doesn’t work, of course, but I feel a lot more threatening.
“Oriel said it would be easier for you to accept certain aspects of the dating gambit if we practiced them when others were not around,” Slash explains. “It seemed logical.”
I poke him in the chest, giving him a dirty look. “He might be right, but you dipshits need to quit talking about me behind my back. Talk to me instead of about me, or I’m going lose my temper. Got it?”
He looks confused, but he nods. “I do not wish to upset you, little demon. I believe Oriel was trying to ease the transition for you as well.”
“I know your intent was good, which is why no one is getting a nut punch. But it makes me feel like a bug under a microscope, not a person. Does that make sense?”
“Yes, actually.” Slash looks chagrined for a moment and when I turn to look at Salem, he’s making the same sheepish face. “As the royal caliphate, we are often watched like humans do their reality shows. I find it uncomfortable, whereas many of the others do not. I will try not to make you feel that way.”
“Thanks,” I say with a small grin. I lower myself to the ground again and move out of aggressive range. “I appreciate it.”
Salem smirks as he watches us, his head tilted. “You know, somehow you’re getting him to say more words in this hallway than I’ve heard him say in months . You must share your secret, Kit Kat.”
“ Don’t ask me, Salem. I just live here.”
As if I’m going to spill the big guy’s secrets—yeah, right.