Chapter 8
Eight
ANGELO
We’re taking a pretty big chance letting these demons split us up after they found us breaking into an area of the school we shouldn’t have been in.
But Rogue and Archie seem to be okay with them, and my twin isn’t fidgeting like he would be if he were nervous.
Damon doesn’t know he has a specific twitch that gives him away, and I’ve never told him, not even when we were kids.
It helped me recognize when he’s upset and when his emotions are worrisome.
I used it to drag him away from our parents before there’s a big issue then and now.
I’m using it to gauge how stupid I was to let our group be halved by an elevator.
I’m pretty sure it’s fine.
The door opens onto a huge hallway, and I shake my head.
D and I weren’t in Canto IV when we attended Discordia.
Luca’s obscenely wealthy, but it’s on the surface, not in Hell.
We were given a suite in Canto III, which is a step down from the rich fuckers who live in this building.
Everyone here is tied to the courts in some way or another, and the top floor is the swankiest of all.
The caliphate’s suites are likely three times the size of rooms below this floor, and I’d bet they’re basically fancy goddamn apartments.
“Right this way, gentlemen,” the crow demon says as he smirks. “We’ll convene in Salem’s room because that’s where Kit lives and is comfortable.”
I arch a brow. These dudes are impossible to figure out.
At the Apalachin, it was clear as day that most of them were enamored with the smallest, unemerged guy.
My Princess liked him, too, and his moxie was impressive.
But now it sounds like they’ve found out that dude is a girl, and some of them seem fine with it while others?
Not so much. Rogue didn’t seem shocked, though, so I guess she had some sort of… female intuition about it?
This kind of shit is why I hate Hell… politics and intrigue constantly.
Though, I guess I can’t really say it’s less at home at the moment. I sigh as we all exit the elevator and it heads back down. Damon pushes his glasses, a sign that he’s getting a tad more restless than before. “What’s wrong, bro?”
He looks at our hosts opening the dorm room door via some security panel, and then back at me. “I’m not going in until Rogue and Archie are up here. No offense, guys.”
The Prince snorts, inclining his head at D. “While we don’t have any intention of holding you hostage, I understand the instinct. Come, Zav. We’ll get comfortable while the others wait with our guests.”
Squinting at the smaller demon hybrid, I consider the facts.
I’ve observed behavior that says the fashionable one and the pride heir are involved, and now the prince and this nerdy vulpine.
There’s a rift within some of the group about the new guy/girl’s revelation, but the ones who don’t seem mad definitely still like her.
This is fascinating, as it’s so different from how my best friends, my twin, and the girl we’ve been in love with forever came together as a family.
We were all able to share with minor issues, other than Rebel fighting his feelings.
None of these demons have their shit together enough to be ready to claim a mate—yet I’d be willing to bet it’s the only thing in the universe that would make them share.
Especially the prickly, pouty, prima donna Prince of Hell.
I look over at the demons remaining with me and shrug. “Guess you guys get the babysitting duty.”
The emo-bird hybrid just laughs softly. “Jas is under a lot of stress at the moment. Zavida’s the only one who can keep the edge off, and they’re probably telling KK and Salem that guests are inbound. Trust me, you’d rather be out here if you knew the deets, too.”
There’s a bang in the room that sounds like a door, and Damon winces. “Someone’s pretty pissed we’re here.”
“No, it’s probably just irritation that we did not text ahead. We’re having a few interpersonal difficulties that make communication… difficult. I believe Kit will be happy to see your family once she’s had time to adjust to the idea of guests in his space.”
“You’re Anton, right? The heir to pride?
” Damon asks. He’s making conversation because the constant flipping back and forth between he and she for the new demon is probably making his head spin as much as mine.
I doubt he knows what to do with their uncertainty, and the only person in our group who will know is definitely my princess.
She’s always able to either settle or start shit, whichever is most applicable in the situation.
“He definitely is, but he’s also the most analytical of us all.” The dark-haired demon grins through his steel. “Zav is the techie, but Anton is better at crunching data than anyone. You’d never know his major is architecture, not business or math.”
I blink in confusion. “You guys have majors?”
Anton scoffs. “Of course we do. It’s college, Gemini. Why wouldn’t we have majors?”
“Because you’re the court heirs?” Damon replies sharply. “Obviously, you’re going to do whatever it is you do when the prince takes over.”
“Cute that you think our parents—especially his—will ever let that happen.” The sarcastic reply from the bird demon makes me chuckle in understanding.
“What the hell would we do until then? Not to mention they all have secret replacements for us if we get killed or piss them off… If we don’t have things to make ourselves useful somehow, we lose protection value. Get it?”
“Actually, we do,” I say with a rueful look. “We don’t have replacements that I know of, but I doubt Luca is any less prepared.”
“Thus, we have majors. Not always ones the summoners like, but it keeps us busy.”
I’m about to reply with the elevator dings, and Damon sighs in relief. The other caliphate members exit with Rogue and Archie in tow. Everyone looks fine; in fact, our girl is chatting with the long-haired Lust heir happily. “There you are, Princess.”
Thank hell we didn’t have to add more enemies to our growing list.
When the small ginger demon comes back out, he looks sheepish as hell. “Sorry about that. We’re having—”
“We know,” Rogue says as she pushes through the crowd to look down at the shorter guy. “It’s fine. Are we good to go in now?”
“Yes. Sorry. Um, if you didn’t know, my name is Zavida.” The hacker clutches the poofy tails around him, and I realize that works as a comfort mechanism like when D pushes up his glasses. “Kit is ready for people to come in now.”
What the fuck is going on with the back and forth—and how do we even address this demon?
We all walk inside, the caliphate members following me, my twin, our girl, and Archie. Once we’re in, I look around and then curse under my breath. “I fucking knew it!”
Jasper is sitting in a big chair at one end of the circle in the living area, and the nebulously gendered demon of the hour is in the one completely opposite him. “Of course our dorms make yours look terrible, Gemini. This is the best floor in the best building on campus.”
“Don’t hate us cuz you ain’t us,” a voice calls from the kitchen area.
Yes, there’s a full chef's kitchen condensed into this space, and it’s as ridiculous as it sounds.
“Salem, don’t taunt them.”
The object of all the weird vibes scolds the heir who seems to be cooking, and I turn to look at Damon in confusion. Heirs who have majors? Ones who do menial tasks like cooking? A recently human guy seemingly in charge of them all despite it being the royal caliphate?
“You’re not being punked,” the gorgeous long-haired heir says as they flop into a chair with the serious Pride heir. “Promise.”
I feel smug when they curl together and I notice the foxy ginger taking a seat at the prince’s feet. At least some shit is what I expected. “Well, that’s good to know. I admit I’m confused by all of this.”
“Take a seat,” the huge enforcer gestures to a chair that is likely his, and my girl scampers over, tugging Archie and the bird baby with her. “You don’t have to—”
Archie lets Rogue drape over his lap, and they arrange Javier on top of her. “It’s all good, big guy. If you guys can share, we can, too.”
I snort, giving my twin a look. “We are not sharing a chair, D. It’s been a long time since we were kids. Hit the floor.”
Interestingly, the large aquatic demon and the crow also take the floor, but sit by the new kid’s feet.
The prince scowls darkly enough to bring clouds overhead if we weren’t inside, and I have to smother my laugh.
Yes, they’re having an issue, and the only ones involved at this point are the stubborn as fuck royal and the equally unwilling to budge girl with a secret.
Everyone else is just caught in the crossfire.
“Rogue, you’re missing people.”
Our woman grins, tilting her head. “And you finally told them the big secret. Good for you. I see it’s still being worked out, but I knew you had it in you.”
Snarling, the prince pounds his fist on the chair. “She knew?!”
“I didn’t tell her!”
I glare at the shitty dragon. “Don’t yell. My Princess is smart as fuck, plus she’s half Cubi, you dimwit. Of course, she knew. Honestly, I can see how you didn’t know—D and I didn’t pick it up, nor did the rest of our crew—but Rogue probably knew the second we met.”
“I did,” my mate says with a smug grin. “But I’m not outing anyone who doesn’t want to be. How the fuck did I know Kat wasn’t trans or non-binary like Xerxes? I wouldn’t do that shit.”
“See, that’s what I said,” Xerxes grumbles. “No matter who knew when or how, until our lovely new member was ready to admit it, outing her was shitty.”
Kat stands, and the tiny animal on her lap leaps to the floor, suddenly growing to the size of a small dog.
That stops her from yelling as she looks down at it in exasperation.
“Damn it, Dottie! When are you going to show us exactly how big you can get now? Are we going to find a rhino-sized kinkajou ramming Prince Pricklypants in the ass one day?”
The entire room bursts into laughter, even some demons who hide it, and the medium-sized rodent does a dance as she chitters back to her companion.
“Hey, it could be worse, girl,” Rogue says as she holds up ugly-six feathered Javi. “This is one of my boyfriends right now. And he screams loud enough to shatter my eardrums whenever he pleases.”
Kat’s eyes go wide as she looks at our mate. “That’s… one of… Where’s the other one?!”
“Kidnapped.”
The humor stops immediately when she says that, and even the pissy prince looks chagrined. Kat walks over to Rogue, patting her shoulder lightly. “So that’s why you’re here without telling anyone. You’re looking for clues.”
“Yep.” The princess sighs and looks around the room at everyone before swinging her gaze back to Kat. “We both have it rough. You know what? I have an idea.”
Arching a brow, Kat moves to pick up her familiar. The feisty thing had made its way to the angry dragon and started thumping his leg in retaliation for the acid tone while her master was distracted. “Oh? And what would that be? I’m kind of… ‘surprised’ out.”
“We’ll call Morgana, get her and her crew down here, and have a girls’ night in your room. That’ll help for sure. I bet she’s got man bullshit to bitch about, too.”
Oh, this is a fucking terrible idea, and every guy in here looks like they want to disappear in a puff of smoke.