Chapter 2
Changes
Jasper
Iwon’t admit it out loud, but I’m very conflicted about this plan.
It’s the most logical course of action, which is why I agreed with both the Geminis and my general when it was suggested.
However, I have a leaden sensation in my gut that is making my dragon and my demon restless despite their satisfaction at getting to decimate that orc earlier.
The feeling of dread sitting deep inside of me makes me look over at the shrimp when the doors to the dungeon open.
His lack of control over his developing powers and small stature worry me like Zavida’s did many years ago.
The comparison makes me uneasy, so I cut my gaze to the darkness outside of the open doors. “Slash leads. Keep the shrimp in the middle, surrounded. Zav, be ready to illuminate if needed.”
Anticipation ripples through my caliphate; except for Kit, we’ve trained together for many years, so they know what their roles are if we’re attacked.
That helps the gnawing concern a little, but not entirely.
I won’t be able to call on one of them to hide the kid like we did on Faerie lands—this place might not even have a safe place to conceal him.
More than likely, safety is the only thing not available in Gemini’s recreation of the seventh ring.
“You know, since you all revealed your demons and spoiled the whole ‘slowly get acclimated’ thing, I’m kind of hoping to yank the band-aid off the rest of the animals, too.
Well, except Prince Prickface, because I saw his dragon, too.
” Kit pauses for a moment as we exit the elevator and start moving through the inky atmosphere in formation.
“There’s only Zav and the big guy’s left. ”
Slash chuckles softly, and I marvel at how emotive he’s become since this kid arrived.
Prior to Kit’s arrival, my second-in-command rivaled the Easter Island statues for silence most of the time.
Now he’s not only talking more, but laughing and smiling when he’s not about to destroy someone.
It’s bizarre, and I have no idea how to handle it, either.
His voice is low as he replies, “Sharks require liquid, little demon, not land. I could not fully shift here.”
Not to be outdone, I interject, “And Zav frequently has his tails out, so you’ve seen plenty of him.”
I sense the eyes on me as we stride forward, and I’m sure they’re all judging me. It takes a moment before Xerxes speaks up, their voice full of amusement. “Are you concerned with how much KK sees of us in our natural forms, Prince? It’s not as if we’re posing for nudie mags.”
The shrimp coughs and I swear, I feel the heat of his embarrassment radiating from him.
My eyes narrow and for a moment, my focus wavers from our surroundings to wondering why he and several of my brothers seem to be suspiciously quiet after Xerxes’ declaration.
It’s as if there’s something that happened that none of them have shared and that makes me simmer with anger.
Our caliphate cannot be united if we are all hiding things from one another.
I knew this little shit would be bad for unity—and here’s my proof.
“Someone tell me what the unholy fuck is making you all—”
Slash stops short and I almost run into the back of my huge friend because I’m distracted. He turns, and my demonic eyes flash as our gazes clash. “Do not be foolish, Jasper. Can you not sense the waves of envy flowing through this chamber?”
“That’s not it,” Zavida mutters, and if we were alone, I’d paddle his delectable ass as red as his hair for the sass.
Anton clears his throat, his voice calm as he adds, “While I would never argue with our Envy brother about the effects of the line, I believe Slash is correct in his statement about the energy in this antechamber. My bird is ruffled inside, and he’s unusually communicative with the incubus.
That is causing it to be difficult to focus on the task at hand rather than what they are whispering in my mind. ”
The peacock hybrid is correct, I realize.
My mind has been running over things I already know and honing in on things that soothe my dragon—hoarding what’s mine to myself.
Drawing in a slow breath through my nose, I close my eyes for a second while I speak to the inner monsters.
Once I’ve commanded their submission, I can open my eyes and see much more clearly in the dimly lit room.
Someone quite powerful embedded that little booby trap just outside of the doorway, and I bet it was to amp the newcomers up so they are simmering with emotion by the time they get to the main area.
“Fucking Gemini assholes,” I mutter as I shake my head. “Guaranteed, there are cameras hidden here so they can watch the carnage while they wank off later on.”
“Ew,” Kit says and I spin on my heel to look at the kid who fueled my earlier turmoil.
“What? I don’t need to picture some random demon peeling his banana to a snuff film.
It’s gross, especially because I got the heebie jeebies about these dickwhistles from the way Rogue and the twins talked about them.
I’m pretty prepared for these people to act like ‘To Catch A Predator’ featured targets. ”
Honestly, he’s not wrong—the elder Geminis are well known for depravity.
“Fair enough,” I sigh. The others look at me in surprise, and I shrug. “Slash is correct; if we cannot manage our emotions effectively, we will run into more surprises like this. The further in and down we go, the stronger they will be. Watching out for one another is paramount.”
Zavida peeks out from behind the tails he escaped in when I snarked at him. “Code word, Jas?”
That’s a good idea. I give him a pleased nod, and he emerges a bit more from the safety of his appendages. “Yes, Zav, I think we should have a word any of us can say to alert the others that they are being magically manipulated.”
“Like a safe word for fuckery!”
Every one of us turns to look at the shrimp and he crosses his arms over his chest as he scowls. “Stop doing that. I used the term correctly, jackasses.”
He did, and that’s the entire issue. But instead of letting this get us off-track again, I clear my throat and reply, “So you did. Suggestions?”
“Inconceivable!” Oriel says, his face lighting up as he grins at the shrimp. I arch a brow, not getting it, but the way Kit and Salem look excited tells me this must be something they learned from him.
Slash tilts his head, then nods. “That is acceptable.”
I wait until the others give their agreement, noting that whatever inside joke this phrase comes from is shared only between Kit, the crow, and the panda. Those three are getting awfully cozy, and—
Damn this fucking envy magic; it’s not greater than my own, but it’s pervasive if I don’t keep my focus sharp.
“Fine. That word will be the signal that one or more of us are being affected by something and we need to wrestle free of it.” That settled, I look at my general, gesturing to the darkness ahead. “Let’s keep going or we’ll never get home.”
The pathway into the main area of level seven was long, and we had to pause several times to quell various inclinations of our animals or demons.
It was obviously designed to ramp up emotions and supernatural sides as much as possible before guests arrived in the vast chamber we’re standing at the edge of now.
My nostrils flare as they fill with the scent of blood, sweat, cum, and tears so strongly that I have to fight off an immediate shift.
Sneering at the sheer amount of screams that echo off the walls, I grit my teeth and face my caliphate.
Except for the kid, they’re wearing similar grimaces.
As demons, we’re not turned off by the prospect of sex and violence—especially combined—but there’s a current of evil running through the activities going on in this big ass underground coliseum of filth.
All my instincts are rebelling against it in a way I’ve never felt before.
“I hate to be a Judgy Judy,” Kit says as he looks at the group of demons and shifters experimenting with violently sadistic bondage toys in a nearby corner.
“But that looks painful and like the people being whipped didn’t agree to be there.
We need to move somewhere else before I think about it too hard, please. ”
His voice trembles a little, but instead of commenting on it, I nod sharply. “Slash, lead us away from the posts. Whichever direction you feel is best, old friend, but make this view go away.”
A feral grin takes over his face and I’m not sure if it’s because he’s enjoying the feel of unchecked rage like me, or because I didn’t give his favorite trainee shit about his shakiness.
I’d prefer it to be the former, but somehow, I doubt I’d get my wish if I asked.
So I follow him, our pace casual as Slash diverts our path toward what smells like it’s going to be a centurion pit.
They’re common in the Wastelands, and it’s not a shock that they’d have one here.
I didn’t expect it to be as big as the one we’re now facing, nor packed to the gills with half-naked, beaten supes of various species attacking one another as if their lives depend on it.
Which I’m certain they do because the wrath emanating from that pit is strong enough to make my dragon take notice.
“This is…” Zavida trails off as he scoots up next to me, the soft brush of his tails letting me know he’s struggling. “… barbaric.”
I nod, taking his hand behind the furry appendages and squeezing it.
“This is how my line meted out justice in the darkest ages. Prisoners sentenced to death were sent to the Wastelands to be shoved into a pit with nothing but each other and the guards watched as they slowly killed one another, wasted away, became cannibals, etc. Now they use those pits for fights to the death, but not this.”
“KK, don’t. You don’t want—”
Salem’s voice is filled with worry as the kid elbows his way out of the middle to step up, even with Zav, Slash, and me.
His eyes narrow on the screaming, fighting mass of supernaturals tearing one another apart and his lips press into a grim line.
“Humans think demons are harbingers of evil. They blame their bad actions on possession or influence from them. But this looks as disturbing as things I’ve seen in history books, and I’ll be damned if we didn’t do this shit ourselves. ”
I expected him to lose it—to have one of his panic attacks and retreat into his mind until someone brought him back like usual.
But I was incorrect; the demon inside of him is seeping into him more quickly than he’s letting on.
Kit prepped us to save him from the ugliness he won’t be able to avoid in this compound, but he’s doing much better than he thought he would.
“Evil is evil, no matter what species it is,” Zav says as he looks at the kid. Shrugging, he jerks his chin at the pit. “There’s always shades darker than what you have seen before. It’s a bottomless well, Kit Kat.”
The shrimp nods, letting out a slow breath as he continues to watch the mayhem as if he’s trying to condition himself not to be revolted.
A tremor runs over him, and my lips quirk when I see my Kitsuné reach his other hand out to lace his fingers with Kit’s.
I’m certain he’ll pull away and Zav will be hurt, but miraculously, that doesn’t happen.
Things are changing swiftly indeed, and I’ve been too damned full of my own shit to notice.