Mr. Brightside
Jasper
I f I didn’t believe this was necessary, I would have chucked the idea to go to the surface as soon as the shrimp and X were hurt. Better yet, without my father being a complete asshole, I could have simply postponed it until we were ready. It might have even given the rest of my caliphate time to convince the kid to go back to his previous home so we could investigate the present back to the past.
As usual, the universe and all its meddling forces have conspired to make shit difficult.
The commotion around getting ready to leave was an annoyance—I don’t get why the shrimp is easy going with some of my brothers and an incessant pain in the ass to me. I’m doing everything Zavvie suggested; I even kept my mouth firmly closed when he refused to go to his old hometown. That made my soft kitsune smile proudly, something I dislike admitting made me feel good. I know he’s only trying to help smooth things over, but something about the way the shrimp fights me provokes a deep need to fight back, even about the smallest shit.
“Where are we headed?” I arch a brow at the kid’s question and he huffs in irritation. “Don’t be mean, Jasper. I’m obviously asking where the fuck the portal or whatever is on campus.”
See? This is what I mean—I didn’t even say anything.
Slash grins down at him, and I roll my eyes behind his back. My second-in-command is enigmatic on the best days, but since our new member arrived, he’s become completely unpredictable. He doesn’t support me without question and his attitude towards the kid is like he’s adopted a fucking puppy. I told him to help make sure Kit was trained and kept healthy, not become a walking sharp-toothed nanny.
“The place where we can form the portal is in the depths of the library building, little demon. That’s where we are headed.”
Kit frowns, looking confused. “When Dank brought me, the car just… appeared in the middle of campus near the admin building. Lucian and Prince Pissypants were waiting for me.”
I snort, hearing him but ignoring the jibe as I lead the group to our destination.
He’s not wrong, but he’s asking the wrong question and I’m not going to tell him.
“That’s because when someone is retrieving a surface person who belongs here—for whatever reason—they can leave and return via special portals registered for doing those things,” Anton says. “Obviously, you were invited to Discordia and accepted, so Dank was able to use one.”
That’s oversimplified, but close enough for this conversation. I keep walking towards the library with Zav next to me, his tails swishing back and forth. I don’t miss that Kit didn’t give the shark shifter snark about his basic response, nor did he scoff at the peacock. It’s annoying as fuck that only I get the salty shit, but I’m also the one who isn’t allowed to respond to it. And they coddle the fuck out of the shrimp because they didn’t see how strong he was when those fuckers were attacking him—panic attack or not.
Pussies. They’re all pussies and the shrimp can take more than they’re letting him handle.
“Are you saying those portals are used for like… bringing people to fiddle for their soul or some shit?”
Blinking, a barking laugh escapes me and they all turn to look at me. My mirth turns to a scowl quickly as I retort, “That’s just a song, shrimp. Crossroads demons definitely collect on their debts with that kind of transportation, but there are other valid reasons as well.”
“I don’t think I’d like those demons,” Kit says. His rodent companion makes a noise in agreement, making Salem chuckle. “I mean, I get that humans and other beings make the deals, but it feels like Hell’s version of a payday loan, you know? It’s more usury than help.”
“That’s the point ,” I reply as we get to the steps. “Life isn’t easy and it’s rarely fair. Taking a short cut for short-term gain has to have consequences or it’s all anyone would ever do. The world can’t stay in balance if everyone gets everything they want or need all the time. Demons and Fae making bargains with adverse consequences help with that.”
Zav clears his throat as we ascend, looking back at the others. “That much is true. Demons are less tricky than the Fae, but they also can’t tell a complete lie. Even we have rules, KK.”
“It’s completely unfathomable that a species can’t even tell a white lie,” the shrimp grumbles. “How do they survive?”
“By being very skilled with words and intentions,” X answers. “Fae are such a pain in the ass to deal with. Hopefully, we won’t come across any on this little field trip. They’re gorgeous and fabulous, but exhausting .”
Kit sighs and I have to keep my smile to myself. “Okay, Fae are pretty but obnoxious. What else do I need to know? How will I even recognize what anyone is? Are we going to a place that has a lot of different supernaturals or just demons? I feel so unprepared for this trip, and it makes my ass twitch.”
The silence that falls over the group is hysterical, but again, I keep my comments to myself. As long as the kid behaves, I promised Zavvie I would do my best to reciprocate. He hasn’t stepped on my tail yet, so I’m straining to keep my word.
“Well, uh…” Oriel stammers, then finds the thread. “We don’t actually know that, Kit Kat. You could smell some or feel vibes, or see something… Since your lineage is a mystery and you might have a few, it’s hard to predict what mechanisms your powers will use to identify threats and friendlies.”
“Great,” the shrimp mutters. “So I’ll probably, maybe feel, see, or smell something, but maybe nothing, but don’t worry because you’re all here if it goes haywire?”
“Well put, little demon.”
That should have earned my general a smart ass remark, but all he gets is a nod and a long suffering sigh.
I’m going to throttle that little shit someday.
It took longer than I would have preferred, but I got all of my brothers to help keep Kit in check while I called the portal and within a few minutes, we were stepping out of it onto terra firma in Bay City. Squinting at the bright light of the surface, I growl under my breath. The official demon portal comes out at a spot called ‘Demon’s Gate’ in our territory of the city. I don’t want to make a huge splash that will draw the attention of the Head Fuckwit up here, so I turn to the others quickly.
“Modify your appearances—all of you. I will, too, but we need to fly under the radar for as long as possible. I don’t want to head straight for the Gemini complex, but if we don’t keep a low profile, someone will snitch to them.”
Kit’s brows furrow. “The demons up here are… enemies?”
Zavida wrinkles his nose, squeezes his eyes shut, and his tails go poof, leaving the nerdy ginger looking like a common human gamer. He’s wearing jeans and a tee shirt that says ‘I don’t care how big the room is; I cast fireball’ with a set of twenty-sided dice. Without his tails, you’d never know he wasn’t the owner of a fucking comic book shop. “Some are, KK. Luca Gemini is definitely in the probably not column, but we’re not sure about all of his fiefdom.”
“His heirs are question marks,” I grunt as I crack my neck then retract my spines. I’m still big and intimidating without them because I’m a goddamned dragon hybrid, but it feels like I’m missing a part of me when I go bare. The shrimp’s eyes cut to me and he nods as he studies me. “What?”
“I don’t think I’ve seen you without them yet,” he murmurs in response.
Slash speaks before I can growl back, looking just as annoyed as I am when he unshifts his fin. “We all must suffer for this trip, little demon. But the Prince is correct—we know Luca and his wife are probably in cahoots with Darkstar.”
“We aren’t sure of who else might be helping outside of the demon community, either.” Anton doesn’t wear any external signs of his animal form so unlike the three of us, he doesn’t have to adjust. However, he looks around carefully regardless, because his and X’s images are fairly well known by demons everywhere. Their faces are flashy enough to compare to celebutantes up here.
“Okay, okay. Trust no one. I get it, guys,” Kit says as he slips his kinkajou in the messenger bag. “If all that’s true, we should make our way towards shops or something. Annie and X will need something to cover up their fabulousness. All of you look like you need glasses because you’re squinting so much—I assume sunglasses would be helpful.”
I want to argue with him; I really do. But the little shit has a point, as much as I hate to admit it.
“Fine,” I say as I pull out my phone. Scrolling for a moment, I find the settings that will allow it to work on the surface. A moment later I have service, so I use an app for a supernatural ride share service. “I’ve called transportation. It won’t be fancy, but unless we want the people we need to investigate to know we’re here, this is how it needs to go.”
Salem and Oriel are flanking the former human as he looks around. I nod at them, then look at the kid, hoping they understand that I’m tasking them with sticking close to him. Kit won’t be upset by that, and I need to focus on getting us to the main part of Bay City without being recognized. Once we get there, we can do as he suggested then wander the main area to get a sense of what’s happening in the city.
“Can someone tell me what the hell we think this… guy and his wife might be doing?” Kit looks at all of us expectantly and I realize he’s being vague because he doesn’t know if any of the demons walking around in the area are listening.
At least he’s not dumb.
“We don’t know, Kit Kat,” Oriel says as he squints at the sky then back at us. He must be itching to fly off and spy in his animal form, but that’s not an option for today. “But the scuttlebutt is that he was up here, in this area, before Halloween. Some kind of party is what I picked up when I did some scouting of the shitheads in the office.”
I nod, my eyes darting around as I watch for familiar faces or our damn car to arrive. “It could be coincidental, but it’s not likely. That guy has always been unhappy with current leadership and his wife is just as crafty. Finding like minded demons who have eyes and ears in the courts might have given them the ability to push something like the Games.”
“To wipe you guys out?”
The wide, worried eyes of the small dude look at me and the oddest urge to comfort him comes over me. I frown, clenching my fists at my side as I shrug, pretending it’s not a big deal. “Probably. Take us out, start a war, and ascend is how our parents got their chairs at the big tables.”
“Couldn’t they do that without a big fucking mess like these Games are going to be?” he asks softly. “I mean, it seems like a lot of work for something they could hire assassins or whatever demons have. Right?”
Slash grins toothily and I scowl at him until the sharp teeth fade. “I have assassins for breakfast, little demon. At least five since this summer, to be exact.”
Kit looks at me for confirmation and I shrug again, enjoying his expression as he realizes the big guy he’s cuddling up with is completely serious.
But then he shocks the shit out of me.
“Well… good. If they’re coming for my family, then they deserve it. I hope you make it hurt, big guy.”
That makes my general look almost giddy and the others collapse in laughter. I rub my temples, unable to process what just happened without feeling like my brain box is going to fucking explode. Luckily for me, a big SUV with dark tinted windows pulls up in front of us just in time to keep me from having to deal with any of them.
“Let’s get moving. We have things to do and limited time.”
Plus, I have no idea what the fuck to do with the shrimp’s newfound approval of murder.