No Roots
Kit/Kat
I swallow hard as Salem moves away from me, shivering as my body immediately misses the heat of his pressed close. My lack of panic proves how much I’ve learned to trust my roommate over the past few months. I don’t know what to make of that, but I definitely know it’s a huge step in terms of healing. These dudes have been slowly conditioning me to accept physical touch—something I didn’t really notice, but I realize now was to help me in ways they couldn’t say out loud.
Thinking I’d bitch at them is a fair assessment.
My defense mechanisms are sharp and formidable; I needed to keep the softest parts of me away from the people who could hurt me after the incident. But Salem and some of the others are peeling them like a fucking onion, which is both exciting and dangerous. I couldn’t tell him ‘no’, though. My body, my heart, even my brain—none of them wanted me to say that word when he asked. All I could do was consent and now my insides are this weird mess of buzzing anticipation and squishiness for the kind panda demon.
So I do what I know: deflection. “Hearing the steps is one of the power manifestations, right? That’s maybe…. a shifter thing?”
His lips curve up and by the look in his eyes, I know Salem has caught on to my scheme. However, he doesn’t call me out; he just nods, walking over to the cabinets and gathering some supplies from our stores. “I do, Kit Kat. Obviously, a lot of animals have good hearing and most have better hearing than the humans. It doesn’t tell us much—yet.”
“And the magic thing is confounding us for now.” I frown, my elation at the small moment of connection with him fizzling. “So really, we don’t know hardly anything more than when I got here.”
Salem makes a huffing sound as he methodically packs up his granola bars, organizing each pile by the ribbon color before he slides them into a sealed bag. “Don’t be silly, KK. We know you might have three things which is rare as shit, and we know that your magic is scary AF. The time thing paired with that display at the stadium gives us some clues, and so does the hearing. I bet you’ve had other?—”
A loud pounding at the door precedes it sliding open to reveal a beaming X and Anton. Xerxes holds up two bags, their eyes dancing. “Uniforms and the casual stuff—school logoed, of course. I have plans for some other stuff I’ll make for non-school fashion.”
I blink, my chest tightening again as I look at the two of them. “You had to get up super early to catch the supply store without a line on a Saturday.”
“Point of fact, they didn’t sleep,” Anton grumbles fondly. “Naps don’t work well for Xerxes; they tend to fuck up their circadians.”
Dipping my chin, I mutter, “Sorry, guys. That’s my fault.”
X snorts, and I look up to see them striding into the room without waiting for permission. “Hardly. We’re grown demons and I didn’t give a shit. It was very comfy, and my snake is practically docile since. Don’t take on guilt that doesn’t belong to you, KK.”
Anton gives me a small smile, his chin tucked as his pretty eyes communicate similar happiness in his less flashy way. “You seem to be well this morning.”
My eyes widen, but I clamp down on my emotions quickly. Salem chuckles as he continues preparing for our trip at the counter. I clear my throat, shrugging as if it’s no big deal. “I do feel stronger. Obviously, so does X. I should probably take the stuff they’ve got and get dressed for the trip, right?”
Salem turns to wink at me, then looks over at the other two. “We should let Kit Kat get settled before?—”
The door to the dorm flies open again, and Oriel slips in, a stack of clothing in his arms. It doesn’t look new, but a sniff tells me it’s not dirty. His eyes are tired, but he’s smiling a little. “Morning, KK. I brought you some surface-type gear from one of my hordes. I figured you didn’t have much to wear up there since you came with so little shit.”
Every demon in the room looks at him with their jaws dropped like a fucking cartoon character. I frown, tilting my head as I study them then glance at the crow shifter. “Why is everyone acting like you showed up naked painted in pancake syrup?”
Oriel guffaws, the caw-like edge of it telling me that he finds this extremely funny. I haven’t heard him do that before—I don’t think? His eyes sparkle at me as he catches his breath a moment later. “Kit Kat, you’re fucking ridiculous. That is not the ‘naked in syrup’ expression—I promise you, you won’t be able to miss that. ”
“Okay, Mr. Pedantry, why are they so damn shocked?” I fold my arms over my chest, giving him a stern glare.
“Because… Oriel never and I really mean never in a thousand years has given any of us a damn thing from one of his fucking treasure troves.” X puts their hands on their face, still looking amazed. “I mean, my flabbers are fucking ghasted , man.”
The crow furrows his brows, frowning at them darkly. “Stop it, asshole.”
“Is that true?” I ask curiously. “Like never?”
“It’s not as big a deal as they’re making it,” he grumbles as he stomps towards the kitchen area. When he gets close, he thrusts the pile at me, and I look at it. I get the feeling it’s sized perfectly and probably exactly like something I’d wear. “Just go get dressed before Prince Prickface gets here.”
I lick my lips, hugging the pile to my chest as X jerks their head at the door to my room. “Okay. But um, thank you, Oriel.” I get the strangest urge to peck a kiss on his cheek, but there are too many people in this room. Instead, I give him a soft, grateful smile before I follow the cobra towards my room.
X opens the door, setting the bags they brought inside the door and winks. “Don’t worry, Kit Kat. We’re out here if you need help with anything.”
“I’m pretty sure I can get dressed on my own, Xerxes.”
At least, for now I can. Who knows what I’ll need to keep my secret later on?
By the time I finish dressing and binding myself, I’ve worked myself into a bit of a frenzy. I don’t know where Jasper plans for us to go, nor do I have any clue what kind of beings I could encounter. According to what Dank told me, his potion will mask the ‘feminine’ parts of my scent as I continue to gain powers, but I have no fucking clue if that will work with anything besides demons. My guys aren’t big surface visitors—a fact that helps me immensely. But supernaturals who live up there?
They could be a big ass fucking problem.
Thus, I’m exiting the room looking for Dottie without pause. She comes running over from a perch on Slash’s chair. Apparently, she’s not only fond of birds, snakes, and bears (oh my). The shark shifter gets up as soon as she darts over to me, his eyes sharp as he makes his way to me. Large hands land on my shoulders as he looks down at me seriously, ignoring the sounds of protest behind him.
“Little demon, are you well this morning? Will this be too taxing?”
I grin a little when X makes a grumbling protest about Slash’s lack of care for how they’re doing. The huge demon arches a brow, waiting for me to answer as he stares at me. He’s deathly focused, so I actually look inside, taking inventory of how I feel on various levels before I answer. When I’m ready, I wrinkle my nose. “Well, I don’t ache or feel weak. Salem fed me, so I’m good for a little bit on that front. I’m nervous as fuck about this trip, though, so I’m full of jittery sparkles and spiky anger. Is that what you wanted to know?”
He nods, tilting his head. “It is and you were good for telling me honestly, little demon. I will make sure I’m close by to help dampen the nerves. If you need to ground, you can grab my arm. Yes?”
I’m not grabbing anyone in front of fucking people I don’t know, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“Okay, big guy. But the others can help, too, right?” My eyes move to the pouting demons behind him, then cut to Jasper as he scowls. “Well, except His Royal Assface. He doesn’t want to be helpful, so I’ll make sure I stay as far from him as possible.”
Somehow, that makes him scowl even harder and I throw my hands up in frustration. Slash chuckles, shaking his head. “Do not worry. I know you have the entire caliphate to assist with protection and comfort. Except for the Prince, of course.”
A dark growl comes from Jasper’s direction and I narrow my gaze. “Stop being a dick and tell us where the fuck we’re going.”
Moving around the shark shifter with Dottie in my arms, I see that Salem has emptied his bag and is currently filling it with his supplies. The care he takes makes me smile a bit, and as if I said his name, the panda demon turns to wink at me. “Just making sure we have what we need to survive a day up in that stupid place, KK. We can eat their food and shit, but it doesn’t rejuvenate us like ours does. Plus, I’ve got a little safety kit Annie and X brought from the doc.”
They were busy AF this morning, I guess.
Oriel finally pushes through the crowd, his dark eyes dancing as he takes me in. “I knew I had the right size!”
I look down at the ripped black skinny jeans, my combat boots, and the oversized Ramones tee-shirt that came pre-punkified with a grin. My eyes move back up to his as he pulls an army jacket from fuck only knows where and hands it to me. “I was worried at first, but you did well, O. This all fits well and none of it makes me want to off myself if people see me in it.”
X scampers over to look at me, handing me a tech watch in black. “Zavvie fetched this for you because we can use it to keep connected if we get separated. I know we have phones, but um… just in case, right?”
Peeping at the red-headed kitsune, I give him a grateful smile. It makes him flush and hug his tails, which seems to be making my pulse skitter now. It’s so damned cute and I’m tired of pretending it isn’t. “Thanks, Zav. I’m sure you guys can track me, too, which helps my anxiety a bit.”
Jasper scoffs, rolling his eyes. “Yes, of course we can, shrimp. Now if you idiots are done dancing around him, we should get moving. Time moves differently there, and we don’t want to keep burning portal access time.”
“I asked where we’re going.” I cross my arms over my chest, stubbornly refusing to move until he includes me in his goddamn plans.
The Prince sighs loudly, running his hands through his raven and dark green locks in annoyance. “Fuck, you’re such a pain in the spikes. Fine. We’re going to your hometown?—”
“ No!” The shout is out of my mouth before I can stop it and six pairs of demon eyes are looking at me in confusion. Xerxes, of course, knows why I’m flipping out, but they stay quiet.
“Little demon, we should try to find?—”
Shaking my head, I hold a shaking hand out. “No, we shouldn’t. Where Dank picked me up is not where I was dropped off as a baby, nor are the Jamesons even close to my first fosters. They’ll be no help at all.”
Dottie looks at me, her baleful kinkajou gaze telling me that I’m wrong about whether they’ll be helpful. I remember finding her rooting through their secret safe, and it makes me pause. I can’t take them there until they all know; no one in that town will cover my ass, especially not my idiot foster brothers.
“Maybe we should go to the coast instead,” Anton says.
I could kiss him, but again, I’m thinking about kissing a lot of people today, so I should calm the hell down. “What’s on the coast?”
“Trouble,” Jasper replies with a dark frown. “If you’re too wimpy to go home, then we should investigate what the fuck Lucian has been doing up there; Anton’s right. That means no running your mouth and starting a fucking feud, got it, shrimp?”
Now I’m like fifty times more likely to do it—but he’ll find that out later.