Hell for the Holidays (Discordia University/Faetal Attraction/Secrets of State U Holiday Crossover)

Chapter 1

One

ROGUE

When we step through the portal, I frown and whirl on Angelo. “What the fuck is this?!”

The landscape surrounding us is definitely an old, Gothic-style university not hugely different from the ones on the surface, but there’s Yule decorations everywhere.

Okay, maybe not like Christmas above, but there’s very clearly wreaths, quartz and other crystal hanging decorations in various places, moon and pentagram items made of some weird tree bark, plus imagery of Krampus everywhere.

The materials and depictions are all different, but I wouldn’t have expected this in the fucking slightest when we walked through the entrance in Bay City.

“Oh, shit,” Damon says as he gives me a sheepish grin. “We forget to mention the time jump from there to here. It’s not always predictable, but I guess we’re a few months ahead.”

I blink at him then shake my head. “No wonder you guys were able to finish school years in the summers.”

Angelo nods. “The differential is not constant. To be honest, no one’s ever explained how or why to me—not even in school. Hell simply seems to move to the beat of its own heart. I assume the other realms are similar.”

Wrinkling my nose, I shrug. “I suppose Faerie does, but I don’t remember.”

“This is weird, man. They’re celebrating Yule and Krampusnacht?” Archie says as he looks around. “Wanna clue us in, guys?”

Damon chuckles. “There’s lots of crossover due to the magic most demons have.

They celebrate both as if we’re a mixed religion family, though the royals publicly acknowledge our goaty friend.

However, I’d be surprised if offerings to both aren’t present in non-public areas of the palace.

It’s oddly okay, yet not okay to do so.”

Peering at Archie as I absorb that information, I ask, “Is Javi okay in that thing?”

“Golden, babe,” he says with a wink. “Never fear, well-trained baby wrangler over here.”

I shudder a bit, but give him a grateful smile. “Thank fuck because I am just not built for that shit.”

“That’s fine with us,” Angelo rumbles as he walks over and puts his hands on my shoulders. “And it’s fine if you change your mind, too. Progeny is an area where I believe everyone in our family will cede to your desires, Princess.”

“Not your parents, though,” I mutter. “I know it’s gonna be a fucking problem with everyone but Graciella and Odhran. They didn’t give a fuck about me and won’t even notice if I don’t procreate.”

“This feels a bit heavy for standing in the middle of foreign territory?” Damon says as he looks around. “It’s probably exam time and that’s why the campus is quiet, even during the day.”

Arching a brow, I smile in relief. “As if you would have ever left the inside of the library during a time like that, little D.”

His smile is shy and he shrugs. “That’s why I was in the top one percent and Ang scraped by at ten percent.”

“Shut it, know-it-all.” The elder twin lets go of me to glare at his brother and I take the opening to wink at Archie. The Gemini are less annoying than most twins I’ve met, but they do fall into the patterns at times.

“Okay, so if the demons are all tucked up in their books, what should we do?” my leonine mate asks to disrupt the staring contest between the twins.

Damon breaks first, looking around and then frowning. “Well, we should do our best to avoid Lucian, of course. But maybe we could go check out the arena. It should be getting close to the beginning of the Games and I think seeing what they’ve done to it may be useful.”

I have no idea why that would matter, but since I’m unsure of our surroundings, he can choose.

“Alright, let’s go, boys,” I say with a firm nod. “Time to investigate the sportsball field… or whatever.”

Angelo groans, but he takes my arm and we set off as a group. “D, we may need to be ready for a transformation if demons are in there.”

Oh, that’s just wonderful—I’ll be fighting my other half even more by the time that ends. Just what I needed.

When we arrive at the ridiculously large outdoor arena, I can’t help but wonder how fucking many demons this place holds.

It’s definitely bigger than any stadium possible at home because they’ve used magic to extend it so far into the sky that I have to lean my head back.

The twins don’t seem surprised at all, and Archie just cuts his gaze to me briefly and mouths ‘holy fuck’ as we walk through the tunnel to the field.

I guess when you live in a realm where magic and powers don’t have to be hidden, anything is possible.

“How weird was it to live here during school and not have to hide who you really are?” I ask Damon.

He shrugs, pushing up his glasses before reaching down to take my hand.

“Both comforting and not for us, I think. We were so used to hiding our demons and such. Since people here do not hide powers—well, most of them, anyway—we had to adjust to having magic as an everyday solution to problems. The harder part was switching back when we came home from the terms.”

“Luca and Lola were adamant about blending and representing when we were in the view of people connected to the other supes up there.” Angelo sighs and runs his hand through his hair.

“I struggled more than D because I was the large and in charge one so he was left alone by assholes. When we came to the surface again, Luca often put a limiter cuff on me for the first few weeks after we returned.”

“That was the lame-ass bracelet you always wore in middle and high school? The one you’d find and lose over and over? Man, you could have just told us,” Archie snorts. “Reb gave you shit about it all the time and you never once threw it in his face that it wasn’t your choice.”

“I don’t like feeling weak, either, Glaser,” the elder twin says as we step out into the massive field. “Plus, Luca didn’t want anyone knowing I had that problem, so he fucking wove a geas into it. It’s not even legal down here, but no one monitors him up there.”

I frown, tilting my head. “I’m pretty sure it’s not there, either, Ang. Those things are for royalty and leaders only. At least, that’s what we learned as Guardians. The top honchos on the Council can do it, but even they have to petition way up in the Society rafters.”

“Luca doesn’t give a fuck and it’s much more obvious now,” Damon says mildly. “Do you feel the weirdness here, bro?”

Angelo arches a brow and joins us near the sideline mid-way across the field.

He closes his eyes, and I watch his demon tail escape as he focuses on the energy Damon asked about.

“Something really fucking weird happened here, but I’m not sure what.

It’s like… it’s been scrubbed by a lot of different methods.

Several types of magic, actual cleaners, and something else have been used to cover something up at best. I can’t get a reading on what, though. ”

Damon nods as he scans the surrounding area. “It’s fainter in other places, but I think an incident definitely was masked in this place. I don’t know if it was a bad thing or just an accident, but people with a lot of skill made sure most demons wouldn’t be able to pick up on it.”

I let go of his hand, turning to face them both. “Why can you two sense it?”

The twins look uncomfortable for a moment, and they shrug as they say, “Summoning lines.”

As if that explains it.

“For those who don’t have in-depth knowledge of demon lore?” Archie says as he bounces on his toes. “Don’t mind me, I’m keeping screaming Javier from giving us away.”

Angelo chuckles at the lion’s antics then sighs. “Luca and Lola both have lineage back to courts, just not closely adjacent. Our summoning linked us to that, and Damon likely believes that connection means our royal friends were here doing something they had to cover up.”

“Oh, damn,” I murmur. “I hope Kit is okay. The others, too, I guess, but that kid seems like good people.”

“Always picking up strays, aren’t you, Sparkles?” Damon says with a fond smile. “I’m sure we would have heard if there was a tragedy. Right, Ang?”

The elder twin nods. “I agree. The Gemini mafia isn’t aligned with the throne, we’ve learned, but D and I agreed to work with the prince. He and his band of broskis are aiming to help people down here as much as we want to help people up there—I think.”

“Hopefully,” Archie murmurs. “We’ve seen bitches turn recently, and I’m not quite ready to accept anyone at face value right now.”

I frown, moving to stand by my soft-hearted kitty, looking up into his blue eyes. “You don’t have to be hard, Archie. Even when betrayal is common, and we’re always suspicious, it’s okay to be the one whose… less icy.”

“I know, Wheels, but how can I do that when everything is a trap?” He shakes his head, his expression a little sad.

“I can still be kind, but I have to be less open until things aren’t so…

sketchy. Look at Javi! I’m carrying him in a fucking baby sling.

Shit happens when we aren’t on guard. I don’t want to be the one who accidentally gets you killed, babe. ”

Poor, loveable, kind Archie… we’ve all pulled him into the cruelty of reality and he’s struggling to adjust.

“You won’t,” I push up on my toes and kiss his lips lightly. “We will all protect each other, and we will find Rebel. That is my promise to you guys and myself.”

“They’ve added more boxes.” Angelo’s words make me turn to look where he’s jerking his chin at the air way above the field.

“They don’t normally surround the entire place.

This is for visiting elite—everything from royalty to fuck knows who based on Lucian’s new buddies.

Our parents will attend some of the Games in those; I’d bet anyone Darkstar wants to hide will be in the ones that are opaquely shielded glass. ”

“Not good,” Damon adds. “That means he could very well plan to have visitors who influence the outcomes. If the Court boxes cannot see who is in all of those things, their security won’t be able to set accurate protocols for them. We have to tell the caliphate.”

Archie scratches his head. “I’m not sure I get who we’re rooting for.

The King and his lackeys are bad, but so are the goons working with your dad and that headmaster dude.

If we tell the prince’s gang and they tell the royal security, it saves the bad folks and if they don’t tell, it helps the bad folks. ”

“That’s the crux of this shit converging between the realms. The bigger assholes can’t get what they want, and we may have to keep lesser ones in place to prevent it,” Angelo replies.

“Choosing the lesser evil in this circumstance will allow Prince Jasper and his caliphate time to deal with their parents in their own way.”

“You think they aren’t ready to take on the King.” My words are a statement because I can sense it in Angelo’s tone and posture. “And trying to do both things when they aren’t even ready for the smaller threat is a fool’s errand.”

“Yes.” Angelo gives me a half smile as he turns to look at all of us.

“For now, the status quo in Hell has to be maintained as best they can. I believe those demons will eventually be able to take over, but like D and I, they don’t have their plan in place yet.

There was a look in the Prince’s eyes that told me he has one and these last minute shenanigans are fucking with it. ”

“Then we’ll do whatever we can to work with them as long as they stay on board with us,” I say firmly. “Let’s go explore somewhere else. Maybe we’ll run into our new friends along the way.”

After all, that is definitely part of my plan while we’re here—the kid needs someone who isn’t trying to fuck her.