Quiet Burn (Discordia University #2)

Talk

Kit/Kat

“ W ell, what in the fresh Hell is this shit?”

My eyes pop open at the sound of Jasper’s sarcastic drawl. Every part of me is warm and cozy, and when I move slightly, I remember why.

Oh, fuck.

The sound of four men in animal shifter form curled up around me tells me it wasn’t just a nice dream. Nope, it’s absolutely SnakeX, PandaSalem, PeacockAnton, and CrowOriel surrounding me in the little blanket nest in front of my chair. Dottie makes a tiny yawn sound, and I grin, leaning into her small face for a second for strength. Once I feel put together, I look at the three remaining caliphate members in the doorway. Zavida looks like he might want to scurry over and hide in his tails in this pile. Slash is grinning with his chin tucked to his chest, but I can tell he’s… pleased?

But Jasper looks frustrated and his eyes are full of an emotion I can’t decipher. It seems like he’s wrestling with something internally and I’m pretty sure no matter what I answer, it will be wrong. PandaSalem moves his fluffy head where it’s resting next to Dottie, his furry cheek rubbing on me lightly. I think it’s supposed to be encouragement, so I gather my courage and spunk up to reply to the grumpy ass demon prince.

“Salem said it’s like a puppy pile when he came home from Fae class and Oriel agreed.” Sticking my chin out, I run my fingers over the smooth snake skin that’s barely left my side for hours then the feathers of the surprisingly affectionate peacock on my other side. “X was with me resting and I said they could show me their snake. Anton felt them shift and came to check on us. I said it was okay for Annie to show me, too. Do you have a problem with me doing exactly what you assholes said I need to do before the Games start?”

My words must catch the dragon by surprise because he sputters incoherently. That makes Slash and Zav laugh, and they come into the room while Jasper continues to struggle with a response. Slash immediately walks over to ruffle my hair, making me flush, and grabs the tray of drinks off of the table by my chair.

“I will refill these, little demon. You and Xerxes must stay hydrated.”

That small gesture makes my chest flutter—I’ve never had someone worry so much about me.

SnakeXerxes hisses softly, then finally shifts their coils in what I assume is a stretch. That triggers a flurry of feathers and fur to move, and blood flows to my sleepy limbs again. Spikes of sensation tickle my body as they all stretch and wiggle in animal form. I know we need to move, especially because it’s obviously dinner time since the others are back. On Fridays, that’s pretty late, so we’ve been lazing about for a long fucking time. In fact, I’m not sure if I’ll even be able to sleep tonight because our nap was that long.

“It’s good that you and X were able to get so much rest,” Zavida says as he plops down on the floor close to the animal pile. “The doc will be happy, I bet. I’m not sure what will come from these three skipping all their classes, though.”

Unfortunately, that unbreaks Jasper’s speechlessness, and he snarls, “Without telling anyone you’d be gone, I bet. Another mess I’ll have to smooth over, especially if it gets to Darkstar.”

Slash returns with the tray of drinks, bending a bit to let me grab mine. “If you are going to scold them, Prince, they should shift back so they can answer for their behavior. It would be pointless to discuss otherwise.”

I frown at the big guy. We’re comfortable and I’m not eager for a lecture. “Why would you say that? He was quiet for once!”

PandaSalem sits up, his chubby panda body adorable as he yawns and stretches his paws in the air. The birds follow suit, and finally, Xerxes slithers off of me. I frown, feeling the warmth and safety slowly ebb when they’re not surrounding me. I might just get up and kick that fucking shark’s ass. Wrinkling my nose, I glare at Slash, waiting for him to answer as I sit up grumpily.

“Little demon, it is never good to have serious discussions when we are not in higher cognitive function forms. We can hear and process, but the primitive urges make true complex thoughts more difficult. I do not think you want to have the conversation twice, am I correct?”

Damn him. He’s absolutely right and I hate him for it.

“Fine!” I cross my arms over my chest, sighing heavily. “Go ahead and do the thing, guys.”

Jasper’s brow arches as all four of the other demons shift back to their humanoid forms, but he laughs when my hands fly to my eyes. “Forget something, shrimp?”

Fuming internally, I keep my hands glued over my face as I mutter, “Maybe. Someone could have warned me, though. Dickheads.”

“Aw, don’t be sour, Kit Kat,” Salem says in his rough, ‘just woke’ up voice. “Our nap was the highlight of this week. I’m totally ready to cook now.”

“You should have been cooking an hour ago,” Zavida grumbles after his stomach burbles. “But I get why you didn’t. We should probably order out so it’s faster.”

I don’t peek—I swear—as I wait for someone to tell me when the guys are at least covered. But I am glad Zav suggested takeout, so I nod. “I think that’s a good plan. I’m kind of hungry now and I bet you guys who were in class are, too.”

“Do whatever, but I’m still waiting for an answer as to what was going on in here and whether I have a mess to clean up from your absences.” Jasper finally stomps into the living area, throwing himself into his big chair opposite mine as his eyes flash. “You can take your damn hands off your eyes now, for fuck’s sake.”

I hate doing what he says, but I remove my palms to give him a dirty look. Dottie makes a loud, angry sound, scrambling down my body to shake her fist at the dragon and I smile. He’s not scared of her, obviously, but I appreciate her showing up every single time the fuckhead gets nasty with me. Petting her head, I push up and lean against my armchair. “You’re a prick, Jasper.”

“Perhaps, but I’m the head prick. Someone fill me in… now ,” he growls as he leans his head back on the cushion of his chair. He rubs his temples, and I realize that he looks a bit haggard for someone who wasn’t hurt in the big battle.

I also realize that he’s been handling shit since it ended and I don’t know if he’s slept a wink—damn.

“Jas, I’m sure they emailed the professors. Right guys?” Zavida says, his eyes hopeful as his gaze darts from Salem to Anton to Oriel.

Anton nods and I almost let out a sigh of relief. That’s one. Maybe we won’t have to listen to the ‘clean up your messes’ portion of the rant. Salem and Oriel look sheepish, and I lick my lips as I avoid letting my eyes drift below their chins. Not one of the three of them put on a goddamned shirt, only sweats, and after the snuggle fest, I’m feeling far too warm to deal with that .

“Fuck,” Jasper mutters as he closes his eyes. “Of course you two delinquents didn’t bother.”

Salem chuckles, winking at me as he heads for the kitchen. “I’m going to get some menus so we can decide what we’re eating while he loses his shit.”

“That would be wise,” Slash says. When I look over at him, he’s studying the group around me, including Zavida sitting just a bit outside of the circle. Before I can figure out what his problem is, he’s dropped to the ground and is scooting over to us. His big hands pick up my feet and he grins toothily as he rubs them gently.

I’d complain but honestly? This level of pampering is becoming more comfortable than I’d like to admit. Perhaps I’m getting spoiled, but I can’t seem to make myself tell him to stop. Anton chuckles, grabbing X’s feet to join in, and when Salem returns with the menus, Oriel mimics us. Zavida frowns a bit and it makes my chest feel funny, so I jerk my chin at him with a shy smile. We’re still figuring things out, but I won’t let him feel excluded.

Jasper growls when his foxy lover allows me to take his pale feet in my lap, his eyes dark. “What the hell are all of you weirdos doing? Satan’s burnt taint, I can’t deal with this shit after today.”

There it is—the opening to find out why the shit he looks like he’s been run through a grain thresher.

“Maybe you could tell us what the hell crawled up your ass and died rather than taking your frustration out on me?” I say softly as I raise my eyes to his. My expression is serious and I’m approaching it like he’s a rabid animal on purpose. I think we could all use a break from his ire, but I also think Jasper needs a break from himself. He needs people to listen to his shit for a few minutes, even if he’s going to act like a dick later.

The Prince tilts his head, studying me as I lean against Xerxes while I’m working on Zav’s right arch. His gaze darts to the kitsune, a small smile cracking as he notices the tails wrapped around the dude. “Okay, fine. You want to hear what I had to deal with while you guys fucked around?”

“Hey, wait,” X says with a frown. “No one fucked anything. That should be made very clear. It was just everyone being comfy and feeling close to KK. It will happen for everyone, eventually, I’m sure. Don’t act like it was some rando hookup, J.”

A flutter in my chest makes me duck my head at his words, and the big guy holding my feet chuckles. His thumb runs over the sole of my foot gently and I look up at him through my lashes. “Careful, I can be ticklish.”

“Yes, that must be why I feel your pulse speeding up.” Slash smirks and I know my face must be getting even redder by the second.

Jasper growls. “Okay. X’s clarification is noted. Are you ready for the story now or what?”

“O, Captain, my Captain,” Oriel says, his voice tinged with playful sarcasm. “Regale us.”

If they don’t quit screwing with him, we’re going to get nowhere.

“Shut up, Oriel,” the Prince sighs. “So you asked about the bodies, right, shrimp?”

I nod, watching his face. “I did and no one’s ever answered me.”

“We’re not picky about that shit in Hell. The clean-up crews came for them and then disposed of them in the Wastelands if their families didn’t want to pay for them to be sent back to their homes.” I blink, looking shocked, but Jasper shrugs. “Demons that are permanently killed aren’t worth a damn thing and obviously, we don’t believe in reincarnation. Only the wealthiest or highest tiers of demon lines give a fuck about the dead. Don’t let it bother you.”

My eyes move to the others and see nods all around. “Weird. But I guess it makes sense. Why would any demons actually want the bodies then? And why the Wastelands? What did the bodies look like? Was there anything odd?”

Jasper blinks, shaking his head as if to clear it at my word vomit. “Uh… in order: rituals and parts, beasts who are carrion eaters, dead, and not that I know of.”

Slash laughs, winking at me. “The Prince loves to talk but I think he’s unused to your inquisitive nature, little demon.”

“Well, if we’re all getting closer, he should get used to it.”

“Hmmph.” The dragon’s grunt doesn’t tell me anything, but I wait for him to go. “Well, after that shit, I had to deal with Darkstar and then classes and… as promised, my father.”

Oh no.

“We’ve been cleared to go above this weekend. I tried to get him to push our permission further into the future so we’d all be top notch, but without telling him why , I wasn’t able to convince him. So we have to go tomorrow if we want to poke around the surface for dirt on our illustrious Headmaster.”

I wasn’t prepared for him to say that at all.

“Are you sure that’s wise, Jas?” Zavida whispers as he hugs his tails. “It’s dangerous for us to be there at all, much less when some of us are recovering.”

X snorts. “Guys, I’ll be fine by tomorrow. I’ve been regenerating all day and I spent hours in my animal form. And KK’s been good all day, I think. Right?”

All eyes whirl to me and I want to deny it, but I know it’s true. I’m fine now and I have no good excuse for avoiding the place I ran away from to come here.

God damn it.