Chapter 12
Twelve
KIT/KAT
Itake a moment to decide, but I grab the bottle of Fae wine and take a small sip from it.
Both women give me amused looks, and I shrug.
“This is hard for me to talk about. I don’t discuss the.
. thing… from the past, and because of that, I’ve never discussed sexy stuff out loud with anyone.
A little bit might help me not feel so anxious. ”
“I won’t let you do anything crazy,” Morgana says as she reaches over to grab my phone. “See? No drunken texts and—”
“No, no…” I feel my face flush as I take the device back. “Being able to see if they message me makes the worry less because I know they’re all out doing nefarious things with the other guys. Having it in your hands will make my stomach twist in knots.”
Rogue arches a brow as she looks at the gargoyle hybrid. “Oh, she’s got it bad, M.”
Morgana studies me for a moment, her gaze sharp and analytical. “Someone remind me to ask a few questions about that anxiety, please. I don’t think it’s time yet, but I believe we need to discuss it.”
My anxiety comes from my attack; what the hell does she mean by that?
“Um, okay, but nothing about… that, okay?” I give them both a firm look—I think—but it’s probably not very frightening to the women who are obviously powerful and settled in to who they are.
“No, no—not that, Kat. I want to ask about something else, but we should start with simple things.” The dark-haired woman gives me a reassuring smile, then takes the bottle of Fae wine to swig a much deeper drink than me.
“Since you don’t have anyone but dudes to chat about sex with, especially supe sex, we should start there.
You’re not a virgin, but you probably got nothing around the bases prior to that, right? ”
Swallowing hard, I push back the fear and nod. “Right. And I, uh… don’t remember a lot of.. the incident. Just enough for the nightmares and flashbacks.”
Rogue’s expression hardens as she grabs some Black Cow cheese to nibble. “This is tasty—like really fucking good.”
“You’re half demon, woman! Of course it is,” Morgana snorts, shaking her head.
“The two of you are going to make me feel ancient, I swear to fuck. The food here should be really good for you because of your species. I don’t know demon shit specifically, but my experience with Fae and demis has always been that anything related to your home realms will be particularly appealing.
People, plants, food, language, music… whatever. ”
“Shit, I didn’t know that.” Rogue wrinkles her nose, snarfing more cheese.
“I never let Reb tell me anything about Faerie. He was brought here older than me after my big trauma—the Kellys selling my actual brother off for whatever reason. I’ve never explored the Cubi stuff because I didn’t have anyone to ask, and the Faerie shit makes me sad. You know?”
My eyes widen as I stare at her. “Your parents sold your brother?! I thought my fucking fosters were bad… Holy Alastor’s naughty list, Rogue, that’s terrible!”
She shrugs, sighing heavily. “They’re not our actual parents.
We were adopted as lost ones, I guess, and whatever Reck did, they traded him for a better model.
I’m kind of lucky it wasn’t me; I don’t know why because they absolutely despise me.
But that’s not important now; we’re talking about you, kiddo. ”
“We’re talking about both of you—sort of,” Morgana corrects her as she picks at the food tray and goes for meat.
“Rogue’s Cubi side is underdeveloped and malnourished because she ignores it.
You have a lot of underutilized things because you weren’t put into the supernatural world foster system.
Why is probably a big deal, but we can’t solve that tonight.
We can help you prepare for some of the normal human-esque things like sex and add in the supernatural aspect. ”
“I guess maybe I can learn about demon stuff along with you,” Rogue mumbles. “I thought my half-demon status was why the Kellys disliked me, but I don’t give a fuck about them now that I’m an adult. I should use every skill and power I have, rather than deny them.”
“I’d like that,” I reply sincerely. “Everyone here knows everything they need to, and I’m scrambling to catch up on demon shit and supernatural shit in general.”
Morgana passes me the wine with a grin. “Have another sip, Kat. We’re going to ask questions about your guys so we can help you understand.”
Uh-oh.
I take the bottle and sip again, then I pass it to Rogue. “Um, well, I don’t know if they’re my guys, at least not all of them…”
“Girl, you are blind as a bat!” The pink-haired Fae chugs a bit of the wine and wipes her mouth.
“Those demons look at you like someone walled them in a tomb, left them there for centuries, and now they’re released and hungry.
Your past may be why you don’t recognize that gaze, but neither of us missed it. ”
“She’s right,” Morgana says. “Even the pissy royal lizard is after you, but he’s too caught up in his own applesauce to admit it right now.
Since you didn’t catch that, I should warn you that the shark is going to beat his ass if he doesn’t get it together soon.
That one is not shy in the slightest about his feelings for you. ”
Slash? Feelings? I mean, he said he wanted to… but all guys want that, right?
“Slash has expressed some interest in me, yes,” I mumble as I feel heat all over me. “He kissed me in the Hell Spring room. It was… nice.”
Rogue snorts and shakes her head. “Aquatic shifters love to do things near their favorite place. You need to remember that sharks sometimes have two fishsticks to deal with. That might shock you if you haven’t caught a glimpse yet.”
I blink, waving my hand. “Ooh! Ooh! Xerxes is a cobra hybrid, and they definitely have two!”
Morgana bursts out laughing as she looks at me. “Well, the wine is taking effect. But yes, reptilians often do. Did it come out of a pocket? They share that possibility with birds and aquatic reptiles or amphibians.”
Frowning, I think about it for a moment.
I was so shocked when they shifted, but I didn’t want to seem scared.
“No, but Anton is a peacock shifter, and he had… a pocket thing. I saw them both when they shifted for me in private. I’m not used to that stuff, and I asked most of them to shift into their animals or demons one by one so I could get used to it before the games. ”
“Damn, girl. You have a shark, a dragon, a Kitsuné, a peacock, a cobra… What else is on the table?” Rogue grins broadly, looking excited. “I mean, that’s like a smorgasbord of weird and huge dicks. I’m kinda jelly.”
“Rogue, you have twin demons, a Fae, a phoenix, and a lion. Don’t you think that’s weird enough?” Morgana deadpans. “There’s a hook, probably a pocket, and fuck knows what the demons have. Plus, Fae do super weird shit together when they get it on, right?”
The Unseelie’s face turns red. “We do, but I haven’t really… Not with Reb yet, and now he’s poofed…”
Damn. She’s sad again, and I don’t want that.
Gathering my bravery into an enormous ball inside, I reach over and put my hand on hers. “I’m sorry he’s missing. Worrying about someone you care about, especially with a tragedy in your past, makes everything harder. You’re doing an amazing job of functioning.”
“I agree.” Morgana nibbles on the meat sticks Salem made, a thoughtful look on her face.
“I’m not sure what I’d do if one of my idiots went missing.
Even the damn cranky dragon being MIA for a couple of hours bothered me, and people trying to frame two of them is making my gargoyle rage.
It’s taking all my effort not to just start chopping off heads in fury.
But that’s because I’m mated to most of them, much like you, Rogue. ”
Biting my lip, I let go of Rogue’s hand and whisper, “I don’t know anything about mating. The guys have said demons rarely find fated ones—you must be an exception because you’re hybrid.”
That gets their attention, and both women look at me as if I’ve lost my mind.
Finally, Morgana speaks, her voice very neutral.
“I don’t know about demons in Hell, but I’ve known demons on the surface to have fated mates—non-hybrid ones, at that.
I didn’t know them well, obviously, only as people my parents were friends with casually growing up. ”
“Damon and Angelo’s parents are not fated.
They are a Hell-style political/business arrangement from what I’ve gathered.
” Rogue wrinkles her nose as she chews another piece of cheese.
“Are your guys promised to people? Have they even mentioned that? It’s pretty common in supernatural families, especially wealthy or royal ones.
I’m gonna have that issue with Javi when he’s not a fucking plucked vulture and his parents find out.
He hasn’t said it, but I’d guarantee it’s gonna come up. ”
The bird in her lap screams, and I wince. “Damn, that guy is pissed at you now.”
Dottie leaps off my shoulder, scampering over to the angry bird and starts chittering at it. They have a furious exchange for a few moments, but eventually, the bird stops breaking our eardrums. She turns to look at me, pleased as punch, and I throw her a berry from the tray. “Thanks, girl.”
“Your familiar is very protective,” Morgana says. “That’s good. Every magical I’ve known with one has owed it their life many times.”
“But I’m not… I’m not just magical,” I admit as I fidget with my hands in my lap. “Um, so far, I mean.”
“Wait, wait…” Rogue takes a drink of the wine, finishing the bottle before she cracks open the scotch. “You know some of your shit? Why didn’t you tell us?!! Damn, we might be able to help!”
That makes Morgana chuckle, and she lifts the Bone Tree scotch out of the Fae’s hands. “She’s right, though I think the wine is kicking in. What have you emerged so far?”
I hesitate for a second. The guys told me some things I can’t tell anyone, and I don’t know if I should give that up yet.
Deciding to be cautious, I reply, “Well, shifter things. I sort of shifted into a lioness during a big dorm fight because someone attacked the guys. And, um, a dragon in the arena when this royal fuckwit came after Jasper.”
“That’s why we smelled something off there!” Rogue smacks her leg, and the bird jumps, squawking again before it settles. “I knew there was death. But it was so damn faint—the others weren’t sure.”
“It was someone important enough to use a lot of cleaning techniques, right?” Morgana says knowingly. “You had to make sure no one knew they were gone or where they died.”
“Yep. Even though I didn’t mean to, the guys were certain I’d be in a demon prison if people found out. That’s how Jasper found out about me being a girl, though. He, Zav, and Anton were the last ones I had to tell, and the whole dragon thing ruined it.”
Rogue blinks and then looks over at Morgana.
They do that annoying talking with their faces thing the guys do for a moment, and I scowl.
After a few more minutes of my stewing in annoyance, the gargoyle clears her throat.
“We need to talk about the things I was putting off earlier than normal, I think.”
“Why?”
Rogue smiles, this time reaching out to pat my hand. “Because that snippet tells us you are in the dark about something your men may be keeping from you, and that’s not fair, especially since one of them is being a dickwad about it.”
“Kat, we need to talk about fated mates and what happens when they find one another.”
I look at Morgana like she’s lost her goddamn mind.
What the hell does that have to do with me?