Chapter 30
Thirty
SLASH
Turning to Xerxes, I lean close to whisper, “Oriel has been gone a long time. I am concerned that with the demands of his crow riding him so hard, he may have gotten distracted.”
The cobra demon gives me a knowing little smirk that I cannot translate, and when I continue to stare at them, they roll their eyes. “Slash, Oriel is fine; I’m certain of it. I haven’t detected any magical disturbances, nor has anyone raised an alarm. He’ll be back when—”
“How’s it going down here?” Oriel’s sudden appearance at the end of the hall stops X’s explanation, and I give the thieving asshole a dirty look.
“You were gone longer than was necessary. I noticed, and have been keeping our guests from figuring it out, but we were running out of excuses. Where have you been?”
Shrugging, the dark-haired demon gives me a very suspicious smile. “I was investigating a noise. Luckily, it turned out to be nothing I needed to report. Now, have any of you found clues or were you just dicking around?”
He’s not lying, but he’s not telling the truth, either. Oriel is too playful for his story to be accurate.
“Unfortunately, we’ve found absolutely nothing,” the Fae prince says as he exits the last room. “This dorm is a bust, and unless I’m mistaken, it’s getting pretty late. Should we be skulking around here when the student body is likely to return?”
“No,” Oriel, X, and I say at the same time.
The lion and the prince laugh at our vehemence, but it is not in jest. We cannot have the other students find us rummaging through anything, especially their private quarters.
Having these visitors along will only make things worse.
It is time to head back and debrief; the rest of our areas will have to wait until the morning.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving,” Archie says before I can add my thoughts. “We’re gonna need food soon. I doubt the others will go for much longer without it as well.”
I have no idea what we’re going to do about that if the little demon and her friends have commandeered Salem’s room.
“Let’s go up to Jasper’s room and contact the others so we can decide together,” X says as they look at the group. “Seems like we can figure it out without bothering the girls. I don’t think they’ll be happy if we do.”
Oriel grins again, and this time, I’m certain he’s hiding something. “Yeah, we should leave them alone. This kind of shit is good for KK, and she needs friends who aren’t us to spill her girly shit to.”
“Very enlightened of you.” Xerxes elbows the crow, and he glares at them before they turn back to the rest of us. “Are we agreed then?”
A portal opens in front of the staircase before any of us can answer, and I plant my feet on the ground as I prepare to fight.
My readiness isn’t necessary, though, because the doctor comes out of it, followed by the dragon, the bear, and the younger Gemini.
Frowning as I look at my companions, I ask, “Why are you here and how did you find us?”
Dr. D’s robes ruffle as he moves toward us, quiet as he approaches. That’s not unusual when Kat is not around, but what is different is who actually answers me: the Gemini.
“Apparently, you guys forgot that the non-demon surface folks need some sort of protection potion to breathe Hell’s air after too long.
I didn’t really know it would be that bad, but Lucas almost suffocated in the arena.
Once your Kitsuné and this physician made a potion with the professor, they got him settled.
They came to our group to give it to the grumpy dragon and the siren.
Obviously, now we’re here to give it to the prince and the lion. ”
My lips curve up as the quieter of the twins explains everything succinctly, and without a lot of emotion that would cloud the situation.
I like that, and I think Damon might be a very good ally indeed.
He is less excitable than his brother, and his brain works similarly to mine and Annie’s.
We need cooler heads among us, and his calm makes it much easier for the rest of my group to focus.
“Damn it, we should have… Man, I’m sorry,” Oriel says ruefully. “Jasper’s not the only one who should have thought of that shit. We all knew it, but missed it because we were too busy trying to figure out how this shit would work.”
“As I have said before, the apology section of this moment is taking longer than it needs to,” the doc says. “I need to administer the potion to those who are affected before they fall ill and possibly expire.”
The doc must be tired of all the bickering; he’s been much less edgy since the little demon arrived, and now he’s all but calling us dumbasses.
“Oh, shit, sorry scary demon dude,” Archie says as he walks over with a sheepish look. “I’ll take mine first. If D says it’s on the level, then I’m not worried. Plus, I’m pretty sure these other demon guys are cool now, too. Hit me up.”
That makes the doctor let out a rusty chuckle, and he brings a bowl out to hold up for the lion. “This one is smarter than most of the beings I’ve seen so far. He understands urgency quite well.”
“Or he’s far too trusting for his own good,” Kaspar grumbles as he looks at the prince. “However, I can also verify that Slade and I drank as well with no aftereffects, Liam.”
Liam looks at his friend, sighing. “Kas, if it saved Lucas and everyone is taking it, obviously I’m going to trust that’s it on the level. But I assume Morgana will need to do so as well? We’re probably not having issues yet because we have stayed inside, yes?”
“That’s correct, Liam,” X says with a nod. “Lucas went down first because he was outside. I suppose the doc and our brothers found Kaspar and Slade inside, too? That’s lucky as fuck.”
“It is,” I say as I glance at the dragon. “Your biology might have extended your ability to survive, but the siren would have been harmed. We owe Dr. Danckwardt a great deal of gratitude for assisting without reporting your presence to anyone on campus.”
“I serve at the pleasure of the crown, Master Slash. At Discordia, that means Prince Jasper and his caliphate.”
Bullshit… that old goat seems to serve at the pleasure of our newest member, and he doesn’t even try to hide it.
The Prince takes his dose from the bowl and makes a face. “Disgusting, but not the worst thing I’ve ever tasted, unfortunately. Should we go upstairs and get our mate to drink now?”
“The doctor should, but the rest of us should congregate in Jasper’s room as planned. I agree with Oriel and Xerxes that interrupting their session would not be wise.”
Kaspar snorts, looking around at all the men assembled before he asks, “Do you all truly believe that we’re going to get our asses kicked if we so much as peek in that doorway?”
Clapping him on the shoulder, Lucas shakes his head. “Lady M was very clear about leaving them alone until morning. I don’t think pushing our way in is worth her wrath, big guy. You’re on the rocks with the prof as it is.”
That gets a laugh out of almost everyone, and I cough to get their attention once more.
“Doc, if you want to go up first, it would be better. That way, you’re inside speaking with the little demon and her guests when we come up the staircase to go into the royal suite.”
Without a word, the plague-masked demon creates another portal, steps in, and disappears.
“I guess he agreed?” Archie says as he looks at me.
When I nod, he scratches his chin. “You’ve got a lot of folks who don’t talk much around here.
I don’t know how your woman deals with it.
Open and honest shit is much faster than simmering to yourself.
That’s one of the last things we all smacked Reb with when we were all together. ”
Damon grins a little. “He’s right. We sort of demanded that our grumpy asshole participate, and it really helped things move along faster.
Now he’s off being tortured or whatever, and it’s hurting Rogue that they didn’t come together sooner.
Don’t let that shit happen to you, especially if you’re headed to those fucking death matches, man. ”
“Today is really full of people telling me off, and I’m not even allowed to respond to the insults,” the dragon growls. “Look, we get it. No need to keep shoving it down our throats. I’m sure your prince and the professor agree.”
“Poor little dragon,” I shoot back. “At least you weren’t gasping for breath on the arena field. Your bear has definitely had it worse.”
That gets the attention of the Fae prince and the dragon, with the former heading over to pull the young shifter into his arms. “The shark is right. I didn’t properly greet you, nor did I check you myself. I am sorry, cub.”
I knew they were together as Jasper and Zav are; this display has proven it to me.
“Has enough time gone by yet?” The bear in question looks at each of my brothers, and then me from the circle of his lover’s arms. “I’m pretty ragged out from that whole near-death thing, and I’d kill for a place to lie down.”
Oriel smiles again, nodding at the hockey player. “Yeah, I think we gave it enough time. Let’s head up these back stairs, and we’ll find you a place to sprawl, Lucas. Maybe we’ll figure out how to provide better hospitality once we’re all within range of the women, too.”
“I doubt it, but hope springs eternal,” Xerxes says cheerily as they gesture to the door at the end.
“Come on, everyone. If we’re all headed back, we can text Jasper’s group that they should, too.
If they haven’t figured out whatever the hell they were trying to get by now, I highly doubt it’s happening tonight. ”
“Don’t be so sure,” I mutter to the cobra demon as the others follow Oriel into the stairway. “When Jasper puts his mind to shit, it’s seldom that he fails. It’s just getting him to listen that’s hard.”
“Do you think he’s listening to a random group of supes, none of whom are royal or you?” X hisses at me quietly. “I don’t. Zav is there, which might help, but our leader isn’t great at taking advice from unknowns. Hell, he isn’t even great at taking advice from his caliphate.”
I sigh, realizing that my brother is right. The Prince will argue with the elder Gemini and probably the professor, which will slow down whatever process they’re using to locate… whatever it is. “Should we text Zavida now and save our guests from the pain?”
“Nope. I’m digging all this hard-truth shit that everyone seems to be dishing out to all the stubborn idiots. Let someone kick Jasper’s ass that isn’t KK for once; it might help get his head out of it.”
Covering my mouth so the others don’t hear my laughter, I give X a reproachful expression.
“You need to be more cautious about talking that way in front of these people. Our prince still has a reputation to maintain. He will be furious if we make him look like a fool in front of the Fae royal especially.”
“Slash, I hate to break it to you, but Jasper Eversore can make himself look stupid with no one else’s intervention. That’s one of his downfalls, and it’s because he’s goddamn stubborn. He’s going to have to figure that out before it gets us killed in the Games.”
As if I didn’t already know that.