Lose Control
Salem
M y radar was up when Slash dropped Kit Kat off at Lit class. My roomie was moving stiffly, and our group chat was quiet all morning, so I knew something had to have gone down in Arms even the submissive guy is ready to rumble.
“Kit, why didn’t Slash simply take you to the office? It was closer.”
The unemerged demon’s eyes dart between the two of us and I feel his anxiety spiking. His finger spins his ring quickly, a sure indication that he’s having as much trouble controlling the demons in his head as we are the supernatural ones in our bodies. “Look, I don’t want people to see me run for a doctor every time someone gets a lick in, okay? They already think I’m weak. They think I’m your… shared boy toy. If I don’t show backbone when it’s rough, I’ll end up in a room with bad intentions and no Jasper to help me escape this time.”
“He’s not wrong, Salem,” Zavida murmurs. “Hell is enormous, and Discordia is rumored to be full of hidden spots, portals, and passageways we don’t have a handle on yet. He has to be seen getting tougher as people accept our public claiming and induction of him, or they will continue to come for him—even if it’s for nothing more than the clout.”
I frown. The kitsune is definitely the expert on that, so I can’t argue. He’s the smallest and least over-powered of our caliphate—or was until Kit Kat. He and X have been targeted in the past, and they both had to show the rich assholes in our schools that they would give as good as they got, if not worse. “You’re right; I just…”
Kit ducks his head, muttering, “It hurts my fucking soul to admit this, so don’t get used to it, but I don’t think Jasper is to blame this time.”
My jaw drops and I burst into laughter, something that helps calm my raging emotions a bit. “Holy fuckbuckets, KK. I should hop upstairs and buy one of those human lottery tickets, then a jacket.”
“A jacket?” His brows furrow as he tilts his head and looks at me in confusion.
“I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a really cold day today in our slice of paradise.” His amused grin as he gets my drift makes my chest do that weird flutter I get when my souffles come out perfect, and my bear puffs up inside.
I want him to make that face all the time—it’s my new obsession.
Lit and Intro to Fae both go by with little issue. Oriel, Anton, and Slash have Fae with us, so the gang’s almost all here when we close up our stuff to head out for the day. X has class for the next two hours, but Jasper will meet us back at the dorm to wait until dinner. Normally, on Friday night Kit would get sent to the Hacker Collective with Zavida, but since they’ve aced all our stress relief activities, that’s off the table. The kid’s looking even rougher now than he did earlier, and I suppose his supe healing is really taking it out of him. Dr. D probably did as little as possible to hide the magical signature of someone else's healing, especially since Kit didn’t want anyone to know he’d seen a physician.
“Come on, little lady,” I say to Dottie as I stand up and stretch. She chitters happily, and Kit nods as if to say it’s fine if the kinkajou catches a ride on me. “Where are we headed, guys?”
Oriel looks thoughtful for a moment, his glittering eyes skating around the small, floral scented classroom full of vegetation. “I think we should walk around for a minute and review the stuff in here.”
“Why?” Slash asks as he assesses our environment.
The crow shifter rolls his eyes, waiting for someone else to answer. No one does, so he gives in. “Because this flora is both from Hell and Faerie—both common and uncommon things Kit could run into during classes, the Games, and even at the stupid dance. I’d like to test whether he’s going to react to any of it so we can make a list of his reactions to them, both adverse and affinities. Even knowing something is neutral will help us narrow down possible threats or weapons.”
“Could lead us to his possible demon or hybrid species, too,” Zav adds as his fingers fly over his tablet screen. He’s likely building a list for later so he can construct something we can all keep on our devices to have close by at any time. “This is a really good idea, O.”
I blink as my face turns bright red. They all stare at me and I mutter, “I’ve been simply exposing him to things in the food without considering the risks. We already have some things we can add to this database or whatever.”
Kit blinks then grins. “Crunkleberries are good and make me a little high. I did okay with beast meat, bat wings, chasm worm, and the root veggies. Oh, that cow, too.”
Nodding at his assessment, I add, “Also our potatoes, fear fish, pomegranates, Cantu berries, and bat berries. That’s all good so far.”
“Kit Kat, have you run into anything yet that didn’t work?” Oriel says curiously. “Because this definitely leads to most demon types in your blood, but gives us nothing to rule out.”
He shakes his head. “Other than deviant demons trying to assault me, the Headmaster, and your Pissy Prince? Nope.”
“Put that he’s allergic to assholes, then, Zav,” O says with a smirk. Kit holds his fist up, bumping with him happily. “Okay, then we need to get this done so we don’t leave His Highness waiting.”
I offer my arm to the small dude and he takes it—something he wouldn’t have done even days ago unless he absolutely had to. It makes my panda puff up again, and I feel the dirty looks hitting my back as I lead Kit to the left side of the indoor botanical garden. “This pretty-smelling stuff is Faeberry. They use it to make liquor that will knock your shoes off.”
He leans in to sniff it, then pulls away with a look of delight. “That shit smells amazing and I’ve never really… drank… but I might give it a try someday when…”
The sentence trails and Oriel steps up to Kit’s other side to take his hand. “When you feel safe enough to consume it. I get it, Kit Kat.”
Damn, that dude is perceptive.
“Yeah. There were intoxicants involved in the incident, so I haven’t been able to let go like that again since.” He ducks his head and I look at Oriel to get us moving to the next plant. When he sniffs the Crawling Thorn Briar, he pulls back to make a face. “Wow, that’s pungent. What is it?”
“It’s a sentient crawling briar patch that resides in the Midnight Court. They use it for a lot of things from food to catching trespassers. Does it hurt you or make you uncomfortable?”
“Nope, it just feels like I should respect its boundaries—and it stinks.”
Zavida looks up. “If you were unable to be near Crawling Thorn Briar, you’d be in the lupine family, non-Fae related, or the Cubi family. They all have issues with it, though there could be more I haven’t memorized yet.”
“That helps,” Slash says as he points to the huge Bone Tree in the corner. “Try this one.”
Of course he’d pick that—it can sense royal and mythical blood.