Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
ZAVIDA
Jasper has been surprisingly quiet since the jovial bear called him out.
An introspective dragon isn’t a common occurrence, and I think it’s about time my lover had a good think about how dumb he’s being.
I’ve done my best to help him work out his feelings and traumas surrounding Kat for months.
However, this time, he needs to figure out what he’s doing wrong on his own.
Otherwise, I fear Slash is right—he can’t expect to ever be mature enough to run an entire realm and not turn into his goddamn dad.
None of that means I don’t love him, nor does it mean I don’t get why he’s so fucked up—I just want him to grow up a little.
“This place is way too fucking big to search in any worthwhile fashion,” Lucas grumbles before he coughs. “Why is everything in this place so enormous? Does the King have an inferiority complex or something?”
That gets a choked laugh out of my prince, and he stalks over to look at the bear. “You really don’t have a filter, do you, kid?”
Shrugging, Lucas rubs his hand on the back of his neck. “I do, but I don’t see how mincing words helps us if we’re all gonna be buddies and shit.”
Ignatius pokes his head out of the bathroom near the edge of the field, making a weird sound as he moves back to the group.
“That area needs a deep cleaning, but it’s clear.
Maybe we should…” He stops to cough into his hand and then goes on, “move on? I don’t think we’re going to find anything in the arena. ”
What is with the two of… oh, shit!
Turning to Jasper and Angelo, I wave my hands until they’re paying attention. “Guys… we forgot…”
The elder twin frowns as he tosses a bunch of towels on the ground beside the lockers. “Forgot what? How to keep this damn campus clean? Because I gotta say, Darkstar is fucking failing at that big time. It was much less shitty when we were here.”
Jasper snorts and rolls his eyes. “Yes, when you spent as little time as possible anywhere on campus, you noticed a sizeable difference in—”
My tails fan out, shivering as my Kitsune pushes a loud, foxy screech out of me without my permission.
They both shut up, and Jasper blinks in surprise as I glare.
“Sorry to be dramatic, but… I think Iggy and Lucas are going to suffocate if we don’t get those…
things? The air, Jas, we forgot about the air. ”
The prince’s eyes widen, and he smacks his palm on his forehead.
“Shit, shit, shit! We did. Zav, you need to go into one of the rooms and use your power to find the Doc. Once he comes here, he can help them, and you can find out if any of the others are having problems. If they’re not outside as we have been, it might not be as bad. ”
I frown, watching the tall polar bear sink to the ground as he coughs. “On it. Back soon.”
That said, I zip into a portal rather than running because I may have noticed this at the end of the two non-demon blooded folks’ ability to stay oxygenated appropriately.
When I step out in front of Dr. D’s office, I rap on the door hard, hoping he’s listening.
Luckily, the door opens immediately and I’m able to pant out, “Need help. Arena. Visitors. Air.”
His robes shiver, and the demon’s flames increase on his head as he stares at me.
“That is quite unfortunate planning, Master Zavida. Come inside so I can grab my things, and we will travel there via my powers. You must breathe, though, and calm yourself should I need assistance. Is Master Kit okay?”
I follow him into the office, closing it behind me as we enter the exam area. “K—Kit isn’t there. Um, we have some… unofficial visitors… on campus. He’s in the room with some… friends… and we’re… uh, giving tours of the campus in groups?”
Dank puts his mask on, and even with it on, I feel the look of disbelief he’s giving me. “Your visitors must have come a long way to be so affected by our environs. Would that be why you did not bring them here rather than travel to fetch me?”
This old goat is so fucking sharp he could cut diamonds.
“Yeah, sort of?” I scratch my chin as he gathers a bunch of things and stuffs them in his black bag. “The Prince is anxiously awaiting us so his guests don’t… die.”
A rusty chuckle echoes in the room, and the ancient demon holds up his hands, summoning a portal with so little effort that it scares me. “The young are so very dramatic. They won’t die of suffocation this quickly; the effects take quite a few hours to set in.”
I turn red as I gesture for him to follow me into the portal quickly. “Um, the guests in the groups have been here for a couple of hours. We sort of forgot about this issue because some of them do have demon blood, and…”
The physician makes a worried sound, bustling past me into the void at my words. When we both appear in the arena, I’m shocked to see both the professor and the bear on the ground, sprawled out. Anxiety fills me as I worry it took too long, but Angelo grins at me.
“We knocked them out, so they’d breathe more shallowly.”
Jasper turns to look at the doc sheepishly. “Sorry, Dr. D. I really didn’t know what else to do when they started turning different colors. Clocking the assholes was all I could think of quickly.”
The doc’s robes shiver again, and I arch a brow as a feather escapes. “Prince Jasper, you should know better than this. Allowing non-demonic beings to walk our realm without equipment or spells is irresponsible.”
Damn, he didn’t hold back.
“You’re right, of course, and you have my sincerest apologies for troubling you during the beginning of your holiday rest period.”
My eyes skate to Gemini, and he looks at me in equal surprise.
Is it possible Jasper’s heart has grown three fucking sizes like that green dude who hates the Whos?
My lips curve as I remember that cartoon KK showed me, as my grumpy dragon isn’t very different from the guy on the mountain being mad about happy people.
However, unlike the furry holiday hater, Jasper doesn’t have to do anything but get out of his own way to have a joyous Krampusnacht or Yulemas.
“I am a physician to the crown, and at your service, Prince. Your friends, especially those friendly with Master Kit, are like my own. Please move aside and lend me the quick hands of Master Zavida, so I might help these two.”
Scrambling over to the prone visitors from the surface, I wait for the floating demon to give me instructions.
Once the doctor is next to Lucas, he hands me the bag and pulls his hood down.
The flames are sparking high as he also removes the mask to reveal his avian skull.
“You must get the following items out in exactly this order, Master Zavida. Mortar, pestle, ferrous oxide, powdered horn, the teeth, the vial of blood, the vial of tears, the rusty nail, belladonna, the dirt, and finally, the jar of scales.”
My eyes widen, hoping my brain allows me to remember that list in the right order as I panic. Pulling the dark ceramic bowl and the pestle out of the bag, I hand them to him quickly. “I’ll try to do it right, but tell me if I mess up.”
“I can help,” Angelo says as he drops to the ground next to me. “I’ve been around Fae long enough to get a little experience with spell shit.”
Smiling gratefully, I reach into the bag and pull out a jar labeled ‘ferrous oxide’. “Thank goodness they’re not here right now. This is definitely an enormous bottle of iron.”
The Gemini chuckles, watching as I hand it to the doctor. “Yeah, that wouldn’t be their favorite thing.” He looks into the bag and frowns as he lifts out another bottle. “Powdered demon horn, huh? I guess that isn’t obtained in a pleasant way.”
“It is not,” Dr. D replies as I hand it to him. “The demon must be dead to grind the horns to dust as needed.”
Yikes. Not a fan of that.
“Doc, that’s not exactly—”
The fiery-headed demon turns to look at Jasper reproachfully. “Do you plan to quibble with every bit of this treatment, Your Highness? If you do, we will surely lose these friends and anyone else I have yet to see.”
Angelo whistles low as he hands me a small, see-through jar of what looks to be tiny human teeth. “First, marvelous job, Doc. Second, are these baby teeth?” I feel a shiver as the container passes between us and chuckle.
“They are gathered by the cousins of the Fair Folk who live in our realm as welcomed hybrids, Master Gemini. You may know of them as ‘tooth fairies’? It is a hybrid of a normal faerie and a bone demon descendant.”
My lips curve as I realize KK would love being here to learn as the old guy works. Even with the… I blink at the blood vial labeled ‘hell boar & vampire’ before I give it to the doctor. “Not something I expected to handle today, but okay…”
“Being a healer is often full of surprises,” the doc says as he mixes the ingredients in his bowl. “Next, please, Master Zavida.”
I look at Angelo, and he gives me a grossed-out expression as he hands me the vial.
It says ‘tears of unrepentant murderers’ and I don’t even want to imagine how those were obtained.
In fact, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be involved in demonic casting this intense ever again if I can avoid it. “Here you go.”
The pattern continues until we reach the scales, and when I pull the jar out, I’m shocked to find that it’s got about ten of Jasper’s fucking dragon scales in it.
I look over at my lover, and he shrugs. “They’re powerful, they grow back, and the doc needs them for some magic.
I would not want him to be short of this rare resource in a situation like this. ”
I have no idea how to respond to that, as it’s the second time this month Jasper’s shocked me by helping people outside of our caliphate without being compelled to do so.
“Most dragons wouldn’t give a flying fuck about what’s needed to heal others,” the twin says as he looks over his shoulder at Jas. “I’m pleasantly surprised by your generosity, Eversore.”
Jasper rolls his eyes at the other demon, sighing heavily. “Dr. D is our physician, Gemini. He would be using them for me and my caliphate, especially with the Games looming. I’m not as charitable as it sounded.”
“Ah, but you are pretty honest, even when it doesn’t reflect well on you,” I say as the doc finally finishes and leans over Lucas to dribble some of the weird-smelling shit from the bowl onto his lips.
Licking my lips as he moves to Ignatius, I keep my eyes on the visitors as my brain races through all the ways their mate will attack us if we don’t fix them in time.
The prince huffs, bending to peer at the bear as the doc works on the professor.
I see a tiny bit of concern in his eyes, but before I address it, Lucas coughs, spraying a little of the liquid in Jasper’s face as he comes to.
Angelo and I look at one another, waiting for the explosion as the bear rolls to his side and wheezes.
Jasper’s face is dripping with the smelly elixir, and he seems to be stunned in place.
I have to admit, this was also not on my bingo card for today, and I’m gonna have a hard time not laughing.