Chapter 25 Truth Hurts
Truth Hurts
Kit/Kat
They all look at me like I’ve finally jumped off the cliff of sanity, but I’m serious.
I want in because it’s right, but also because whatever the hell I am is probably linked to this extermination.
On Earth we’d call it a genocide, and people would pretend that it’s bad unless it’s people who don’t look like them.
But in Hell, it was part of their ‘take over strategy’ like some jackass CEOs gaining a competitor’s companies and then dismantling them.
I can’t decide which is worse—killing entire swaths of people for hate or for business decisions.
Either way, I want to find out if Jasper and the Keeper have anyone hidden that knows what I am.
“I know it’s dangerous and scary and blah blah blah, guys,” I say as my eyes meet each of theirs.
“But you know we’re unsure about my heritage and Zav could not crack things in both realms that he should be able to access.
Perhaps that’s because those who have enormous amounts of power have made certain to obstruct those inquiries.
” I lean back against the couch, brow arched as I stare them down. “Possible, right?”
Zavida pipes up first, his eyes bright. “Yes! It is possible. It’s actually possible in a lot of ways if we consider that the cover-up could have been instigated by the royals or the secret survivors.
We know what the royals can do—mostly—but we do not have shit for records of the species who were eliminated. ”
“Son of a bitch,” Jasper mutters as he rubs his hand over his face. “That makes finding your birth info out before the Games start very unlikely. I was hoping you were just like any other lost one, abandoned on the surface to the fuckers up there. But I was incorrect.”
“Aye, Prince. You didn’t consider that he wasn’t raised in an enclave—so I assume because you didn’t bring it up.
That means the Society bastards weren’t the ones who buried him.
” Arces taps his fingers on the arm of the chair as he thinks.
“Someone buried him away from all of that with no records and no one to watch him; I say it was deliberate.”
I frown, my body tensing as I mumble, “You think my parent or parents… left me there to protect me?”
“Perhaps,” he replies easily. “It could have been your birth givers, or friends of theirs, or damn near anyone who didn’t want you to be killed off for more reasons than I can list. The world is full of times when beings make the best decisions they can at the time, even if it doesn’t feel like the right one.
I don’t want to get your hopes up that you’re going to find a bunch of old rebels who escaped for this long, kiddo.
That might be a pipe dream, but there are those the cranky royals and I suspect have blood outside of the laws. ”
Swiveling to look at Jasper, I make an annoyed face. “Is there some reason you didn’t bring me here earlier? Or say anything useful rather than be shitty to me?”
His face gets red, and he looks at his hands, then coughs.
“I didn’t realize you were one of them. We had all the talks about you and powers and what’s odd…
but somehow, my brain never connected this to you.
I don’t know why—maybe because you hide shit and piss me off.
Until we started chatting Arces up, it just… didn’t even occur to me.”
Oriel tilts his head, and so does Anton.
I know what they’re doing now—they’re doing that bird sense thing where they try to figure out if he’s lying.
When O finally sighs and pats my knee, I know he’s decided that Jasper is telling the truth.
“Jas, you’ve been kicking KK’s ass from the second he got here.
You knew all the pieces, but you couldn’t put them together because you were sure he was a spy. ”
Arces bursts out laughing, slapping his leg as the metal-winged bird makes a weird cawing, clinking sound.
“Bloody here, boy! Neither your father nor that slimy Darkstar would send a demon as weak as this to watch you. No offense, Kit, but until you emerge, you’re just not the threat those two would require. ”
I wave my hand. “None taken. I don’t have the power those villains seek and may never come close. Plus, I have a slew of other issues that practically make living impossible.”
“That is why you would make the best spy,” Slash says with a shrug. “No one would fear you, and since we were forced to have you amongst us, we’d likely write you off as harmless. That would be a good gambit—if they’d never met you, little demon.”
His smirk makes me blush this time, and I squirm in place. “Aw, Slash. You do love me.”
“What does that mean, Scrum?” The Keeper looks at him in confusion and the shark demon laughs.
“Kit is not compliant, vocal as fuck, and has zero sense of self-preservation. The amount of times he’s gone nose-to-nose with the Prince despite the enormous imbalance between them is impressive. He would not have faded into the shadows, as those like Oriel do to cover their tracks.”
“Hey! I didn’t shove the grape up his nose; Dottie did.”
“You have told him to go fuck himself more than any other demon in Hell, though. And without a single mark to show for it,” Salem interjects. “Plus, you’ve kicked him out of places, insulted him, and somehow threw food in his face.”
I guess that’s true; I have been pretty harsh to him in return.
“It’s fine,” Jasper says, shaking his head in irritation. “I saw no need for violence in response because he’s so tiny. I’d feel like I was beating up the skinny nerd and that’s beneath me.”
“Uh-huh,” Zavida mutters as he hides in his tails. “That’s definitely why.”
Slash snorts, his icy eyes glittering as they meet mine. “He be little but fierce. Do not count Kit out, Prince. The practice field would disagree with your biased assessment.”
I groan, slapping my hand over my eyes. “I keep telling you guys I don’t know what happened there.”
The Keeper pours himself another cup of tea, then looks at us expectantly. “What, pray tell, happened on the field? Perhaps I can use that to reference my knowledge of those who fell after the coup.”
Great, now they’re going to spill my ridiculous, uncontrolled power spike. I’ll never live this shit down.
“So you all shifted, and many of you lost your grip on your animals?” Arces muses as he strokes his rough hands over the bird now perched on the arm of the chair.
I don’t know how he’s doing it without slicing his palm open, but I guess he’s lived with the damn thing long enough to know how.
“Very interesting indeed. Others felt the call?”
“We managed to get some texts out once Zav and X were secured. They were injured, and I think between that and Kit’s injury, the animals had too much control of our brains.
” Salem looks chagrined and I know he hates that he was so violent.
He prefers this calm, laid back guise to that, but as the guys have all explained, your animal knows what it needs to do. Sometimes, you have to let it go.
And sometimes, it tells you to fuck off, like that day.
“I was too deep in the shadows and the dragon to tell you anything.” Jasper scowls, but I know that’s only because he despises being sidelined. He wasn’t the leader at that moment, only an infuriated dragon looking to take shit out.
Slash grins toothily. “I brought him back once I arrived. It was difficult, but with the help of Oriel and Anton, I got to the sky. However, when I came down, it was very messy. We had to help calm Kit and guard the injured until Jasper returned to himself. All the other demons were… bloodthirsty.”
“An accidental death in combat class would pass muster,” the Keeper mutters. “Yes, it could have been an attempt on someone’s life. Which, I am unsure, but your theory holds.”
I open my mouth, but I see Slash tapping his wrist pointedly out of the corner of his eye.
That’s a symbol for a watch or the time, but I don’t—Oh.
The corner of his mouth quirks when he knows what dawned on me, and he shakes his head slightly.
He doesn’t want me to mention the time bending thing to Arces.
I don’t know why, but I trust Slash a lot, so when I speak, I say, “They think I had some empathetic, emotion pushing powers or something. I can’t really describe how it felt, except that I was definitely not at the wheel. ”
“Hmmm.” Arces strokes his beard, then leans back in his chair with his hands clasped.
“I believe you, Kit. But I will have to consult my journals to be certain of my theories. Will you allow me to request your Human History class be swapped for Familiar Training 101 after the holiday? I don’t know when they will start the first Games trials, of course, but in the meantime…
I think you’ve seen enough of that history from their point of view—ours isn’t necessary. ”
“Uh, yeah, I’d be fine with that. Guys?” I look at them, knowing that class is one that I don’t have them with me. “Does that seem like a good plan?”
“Yes.” Jasper steeples his fingers in front of him as he nods. “I think finding out what your rat can do besides assault me with fruit is helpful.”
That makes Salem laugh, then Oriel, and before I know it, they’re all snickering at the beleaguered grumpy dragon. “She was only trying to protect me, Jasper. You know that.”
“I do, which is why I didn’t skin her for a hat.”
His threat makes Dottie get up from her comfortable position, stalking to the edge of the table and shaking her little fist again.
The bird near the Keeper looks at her for a moment, then turns to send a blast of ice-dagger filled air at the prince.
He yelps, leaping up as they embed in the chair where he was sitting a moment ago.
“Fucking hell, Arces!”
The Keeper throws back his head to howl, and I cover my mouth as a pissy prince plucks the icy projectiles out of the material.
“Rook has been working on manipulating water through our bond. I have a wee bit of skill with it, and he obviously decided to practice on you. I suppose it was in camaraderie with your wee rodent, Kit.”
I snicker again, then look at the odd metal bird. “Thanks, dude. I appreciate the support. I’m sure Dottie does, too.”
My kinkajou moves away from the edge so she can wave at the bird. I think she’s being friendly, so I don’t worry about it. Jasper, however, finally finishes dusting his seat off and growls as he plops down. That makes Dottie turn and blow a raspberry at him—which is when I lose it.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. The damn animal is worse than you, and that’s saying something.”
Salem’s arm wraps around my shoulder as I double over, enjoying that the prince has spent much of this night being poked and prodded without recourse.
Oriel was not wrong about how much I’d enjoy this trip, and I’m grateful as hell that they made me come here.
Not only did I get to see Jasper humiliated over and over, but we’ve gotten solid clues to follow up on.
A loud roar echoes through the house, shaking it as my eyes fly wide open. “What the actual fuck was that?”
Arces grins, his eyes full of anticipation. “That, new demon, is the Wastes telling me it’s time to go find my dinner. Rook probably came home after seeing it and I was too busy gossiping with you to notice. You should all take leave—it’s not good for demons of your age to be here after dark.”
I look at Jasper, then Slash, and they both seem perturbed, so the Keeper is telling the truth. “Okay. We’ll take off. I, um… I’ll try to get back out here before Solstice or Yule, okay?”
Arces stands, towering over me as he grins. “You do that. Make them bring you to visit.”
“I will!” The others stand, too, scooping up Dottie and ushering me to the door as the bird caws again.
I guarantee I’m not coming here alone just yet, buddy, so be ready for the crowd.