Chapter 35
Surprise, Surprise
Kit/Kat
All this drama is really fucking hard to follow when I feel like I’ve been hit by a damn building.
I’m sleepy, achy, and my brain is so much slower than normal—even after I’ve had an episode.
But I did the best I could to talk Jasper off the ledge when Oriel pleaded with me, and I stuck my nose in when Lucian was giving my guys shit.
That definitely burned off what little energy I had to spare, but fortunately for me, O is now walking away from that scene with Dottie and me safely in his arms. I close my eyes as I feel him starting up the steps, and my body relaxes a bit when the sounds of the others following his lead hit my ears.
It might be okay to rest now—everyone is here and unharmed.
So I let myself drift, catching only the merest snatches of their conversation as the caliphate moves through our dorm to our floor.
At least, I think that’s where we’re going. I’ll find out later.
My eyes flutter open, and I squint into the dark room as my vision slowly adjusts to the lack of light.
I don’t know if it’s dark because the lights are off, the time of day, or both.
To be honest, I don’t actually care because as much as my head is throbbing; I think it’s best that this is the atmosphere I woke up in.
I breathe in, then out, letting the calm vibe in the atmosphere settle into me as my mind comes into focus as well.
I’m glad we’re in what I’m pretty sure is the dorm room Salem and I share rather than a bay in the doc’s office.
I already saw him recently, and I haven’t really had time to process the info he gave me about the guys’ animals and demons regarding sex.
Dank wouldn’t rat me out, but I feel ridiculous having to go in and out of there so often.
That’s my hang-up, I know, but no matter how supportive and kind he is, it’s hard to move past the judgment I felt at most medical offices after the incident.
It’s yet another layer of bullshit that came out of that damn night that pops up when I least need it to.
People simply do not understand how many intricate, complex webs of trauma can result from a single event—medical, legal, parental, sexual, physical, emotional, therapeutic…
The list goes on and on because up there, the system is set up to pretend to protect victims while it mostly re-abuses them.
I shift a bit, pushing the thoughts of the past away so I can focus on the here and now.
The scent of incense or candles tickles my nose, and I inhale it, my lips curving up a little as it soothes me.
Someone took great pains to make certain this space was set and maintained with care so that when I woke up, I’d feel safe and secure.
My initial guess would be X, but after the recent behavior of O and Salem, it could have been them as well. Or maybe a combo…
“You’re awake,” a raspy voice under me murmurs, and my eyes widen.
How did I not realize I’m lying on someone? Who the fuck am I right now?
My frame tenses, and the arms around me tighten just a bit. “Careful. You’ve been in and out for a while, and you might not want to just jump up.”
I move my head a bit, just a tiny shake, to clear the cobwebs and purposefully calm the atmosphere so I can identify who has me in their grasp. When I finally look up, I sigh with relief when I see Salem. Swallowing around my dry throat, I reply softly, “Two fucking days? Really?”
“Really,” he says with a gentle smile. “We’ve taken turns being here to make sure you had what you needed, but no one missed too much class.”
“The professors are going to give me such a hard time,” I groan. “I keep missing classes for ‘medical’ shit.”
The panda chuckles, his hand patting between my shoulder blades gently. “They won’t. Not only do they know you’re attending without powers—to their knowledge—but your bestie, Dr. D, personally visited them the morning after that damn fight.”
“Dank went to my teachers?” I ask incredulously. “In person?”
Salem laughs again, his expression filled with mischief.
“He did, and from what I understand from Zav, it was made crystal clear that any pressure placed on you for medical absences would be considered an affront to his position as royal physician. Zav said some of them looked like they were going to quit on the spot and hightail it the fuck off campus.”
“I’ll be damned.”
“We all will, KK, but not because you somehow gained one of the scariest fuckers I know as your ally.” I frown at him, not agreeing that Dank is scary in the slightest. “I know he’s acting like a kindly old man with you, but trust me… that demon is terrifying to most people, even Jasper.”
Jasper probably deserves it; I can see him giving Dank shit for no good reason.
“Now, now,” Salem says as he shifts me a bit in his arms. “Don’t get feisty. You’re not ready for that yet. Two days is a good start to handling what happened, but it’s not enough. It will take a couple more days for you to be at normal strength and to process this.”
His words make my panic rise, and I lift my head this time, looking him directly in the eyes. “What do you mean, ‘what happened’? What will I need to process, Salem? I know I sort of blacked out, but… what happened when I lost time?”
“Oh shit,” he mutters as he takes in my rigid posture. “You don’t… Fuck, man. I’ve never heard of anyone forgetting when—damn, damn, damn.”
That doesn’t help me at all, and my breaths come faster, signaling the need for me to get a grip on myself before this escalates. “Five fingers I see.. four windows covered…”
“KK…” the panda demon says as he takes my hands in his. “Look at me. You are safe, and nothing bad happened while you were out. At least, not to you.”
I pause in the slight rocking motion I was using to soothe as I listed things. “Then why… Why did you seem so freaked out?”
A dark, rumbling voice at my back answers for him. “Because you shifted for the first time in public and the lion inside of you was going to tear Queznar to pieces for his insolence.”
Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I turn to see Jasper standing there, shirtless and barefoot as he stares at me. “L-lion? Shifted? Like… you guys? That’s my…?”
The prince shrugs as he drops to the floor in front of our chair, sitting cross-legged so he’s at the same level as my face.
That alone is fucking weird, but I don’t have the bandwidth to snark at him about that right now.
“It’s one of your abilities, yes. Is it the only one besides your demonic blood?
I don’t believe so, but we have no idea at this point.
I do know that Zavida and I have discussed it at length, and we believe that your shift, though late in your life, has manifested in a juvenile form because your demonic lifespan will be long like ours. ”
My brows furrow as I ask, “You’re saying I’m a baby demon and my lion is a baby, too?”
Jasper actually snorts, then shrugs at me.
“Perhaps not a baby, shrimp. But younger than us by far, obviously.” He arches a brow, his smirk deepening as he looks me in the eye.
“You do understand that despite our appearance being that of college-aged humans, we’re much older than that in human years, yes?
Compared to ancient demons, we’re at this stage of life, but to humans, we’d be dust by now. ”
Of course, I knew they were much older by the way they talked about things and the way human history is taught to the freshmen, but I didn’t ask because… that makes all of this even more real?
Huffing, I look back at Salem. “Why does he seem so determined to think I’m stupid?”
“I don’t know, KK. You’ve been obviously intelligent since I met you.
” The panda chuckles as he pats my back again.
“Though, to be fair, Jasper treats most demons like they’re beneath him in some way or another.
It’s how the asshole in the big chair raised him.
He’s better now than he was when we first met as kids, though. ”
“Oh fab,” I retort wryly. “So in another… thousand or so years… he’ll realize I’m no less capable than you guys?”
The prince’s lips twitch, and I can tell he wants to laugh, but refuses to allow himself to.
Instead, he coughs. “I don’t believe you’re intellectually inferior, shrimp.
You’re simply not educated about demons, Hell, and the world you now live in.
I have to assume you don’t know things, so you’re not missing important context if that’s the case. ”
“Awfully big words for ‘I act like you’re a rube on purpose’, Prince.”
He scowls at me, opening his mouth and then, like magic, he stops the insult I know was coming.
Sucking an annoyed breath in through his nose, Jasper breathes out slowly and then turns back to me.
“Zav set this room up for maximum comfort and the feeling of balance and safety. Arguing with you will defeat his intentions, and I don’t want to do that to him.
It was important to him that you awaken in a non-stressful environment, so you could process this without fear. ”
I arch a brow, surprised that it was the Kitsuné who did this and even more surprised that Jasper is honoring his wishes despite his absence. “Why?”
Rolling his eyes, Jasper shrugs, looking irritable.
“I don’t know; he’s soft like that. Zav didn’t have the best emergence with his animal, unlike most of us.
While our parents were disappointed with the lack of full blood sometimes, none of them were as furious with the animal we gained other than his.
He wanted to make sure you didn’t have one of those panic things or whatever. ”
Jasper Eversore, Prince of Hell, and my eternal fucking critic… did all this to make someone else happy.
You could shoot me with a damn arrow and I wouldn’t feel it through the shock running in my veins right now.
Something ridiculously important happened down there besides my stupid animal coming out at the worst possible moment, and I really want to know what it was.
However, I think this is probably stretching the limit of Jasper’s ability to be nice as it is, and I will not risk fucking up Zav’s kindness by pissing him off until he breaks.
So I tuck that question away for later, knowing that Xerxes, Salem, or Oriel will answer for me in private—I hope.
“Why do I need a couple more days here out of the public eye?”
The Prince sighs with relief when I don’t push him on the emotional stuff, his expression clearing up.
“Because the first time you shift, your body has to get adjusted to it. You went in and out pretty quickly, which is harder on you; hence, the two-day coma. However, we have to work with you on how to do it on purpose now that people have seen it, and how to prevent it when you don’t want to do it.
Otherwise, you’re going to be exposed to much more dangerous attacks by people who expect you to know what the fuck you’re doing. ”
“Knowing how to talk your animal down in high emotional settings is something that will take time, though,” Salem interjects. “It’s difficult to gain their trust, and even harder when your animal is known for a volatile nature… like, say, a dragon.”
Jasper glares at him murderously, and I feel the air shimmer.
“Shut up, Salem. You know damn good and well I have to deprogram him from the way they raised me. I’ve spent decades unlearning the things I had to do to survive there and—” He stops, taking a deep breath and grits out, “But this is not the time for that. He is correct about needing to work with your animal versus against when possible. The latter is quite difficult and will drain you until you have more strength built up.”
“What you’re saying is that you guys arranged the rest of the week off via Dank so it would flow into the weekend to help learn this? Is that what I’m hearing?”
Jasper grins toothily for a second, then nods. “Yes, Kit. You’re going to spend a lot of time with us in the gym, starting with the fucker with the absolute most control I know.”
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who that is, and if Jasper thinks it’s disappointing, he’s a fool.