Chapter 41 My Turn
My Turn
Kit/Kat
“You know, you didn’t answer my question.”
Slash looks at me, his brow cocked up as I hide behind the second row of lockers in the pool area. My head is peeping around the corner of the bank of them as I change the soaked clothes from my jump into the spring. “I didn’t answer what?”
I squint at him, raking my lower lip between my teeth as he gives me the toothy grin that makes my insides flutter a bit.
“Do you think I have more than that, um, lion form? Like really? Because that shifting stuff is hard, and I don’t think I’m good at it.
But then… I don’t think I’m good at the demon stuff, either. ”
His chuckle is fond as he pulls a tee shirt over his head, covering the immense chest littered with beautiful ink, and it feels sad as I lose my view.
“I think you expect everything to come easily because so many things having to do with school have always been that way for you. Zavida says it’s because humans would call you gifted?
I believe it’s that you have so many hidden powers that have not yet emerged, but that is not what you asked. ”
“It is not, and my stupid ‘giftedness’ is more of a curse than a blessing. It hasn’t helped me with anything besides being alienated most places, so fuck that,” I grumble as I duck back behind the lockers and head for my clothes pile to pull them on.
My current companion is very literal, and he’s definitely the best person to ask if the ‘multiple species’ thing is likely because he won’t cushion his response.
“Whatever went on up there is now history, little demon. Consider yourself… leveled up?” My lips curve as he attempts gamer speak, but I wait for him to finish before I respond.
“Yes, that’s what the others call it. You have ‘leveled up’ and since we’ve seen traces of the demonic magic and now this shifter side, but you are not fully free?
I believe the theories are correct—though I do not know what other things you’ll manifest. It could be so many things, and we have no new leads about your provenance, only the proof from the tree. ”
Once I’ve covered myself, I shove my wet clothes into one of the plastic bags in the dispenser on the wall. It will keep my stuff from getting soaked by the wet things, and I can toss it in the laundry when we get back to the dorm. “Dottie? Dottie? Where are you?”
My kinkajou did not follow us into the pool area, and I guess that should have clued me in about what it was going to be like in there.
But I didn’t really think much of it when I was preparing for Slash to turn into a big ass shark, and definitely not once we were knee-deep in the ‘Kit isn’t a boy’ conversation.
However, now that we’ve spent the past two hours trying to teach me how to call the animal inside of me on command with minimal success, I’m missing her support.
“She is probably still in the outer area,” Slash rumbles from the other side of the lockers.
“The smell of this spring is difficult for anyone without demonic blood. The sulfur in the water is part of it, but also I believe there’s hex work in the tiles surrounding it.
Hellspring water is quite valuable to magic users, I’ve been told, though it’s common and plentiful for us in this realm. ”
Picking up my bag, I walk around the row to give him a baleful expression. “Demons are that worried about people stealing something you call ‘common’ that they protect it from their trusted familiars? Man, you guys are really paranoid, and coming from me, that’s saying a lot.”
The shark shifter sighs, shaking his head as he stuffs his things in his bag. “Don’t be obtuse, little demon. We simply don’t want people getting it for free, and familiars can be duplicated by various magics and powers. Beings are welcome to buy it at a premium in all the places where it is sold.”
I laugh softly as he grins again, enjoying his playful response. This really is a side of the serious man that I don’t think anyone else sees. “Yes, I forgot demons will part with anything for the right price. My bad.”
Slash arches a brow. “Not everything, and that is very good for you, Kat Camponella.”
“I knew telling you my real name was a bad idea,” I mutter. “You’re going to fuck that up in public one day; I can feel it.”
“But I won’t sell you out to Darkstar for a guaranteed Games win to piss off my father so…”
My nose wrinkles, and I stomp over to smack him in the abdomen—which hurts my hand more than him. “Mutually assured destruction secrets, remember?”
He flashes even more teeth. “For now, little demon, but not forever.”
I had to say it out loud, didn’t I?
By the time we find Dottie perched on top of the pull-up machine and head out of the building, it’s getting late.
We probably won’t be late for dinner because some of the guys have one more class before they’re off, but the quad is much less crowded than earlier.
I’d be surprised if a lot of the demons here aren’t packed into the Triclinium, fighting for a place in line for whatever the special of the night is.
I’m thankful Jasper only insists on lunchtime meals mostly—the food isn’t terrible, but I hate being surrounded by all those enemies.
Of course, I’d feel that way even without the massive cabal plotting against the rulers of Hell, but that’s not the point.
“I think the others believe you were going to, like… beat me into submission or something,” I say as we get closer to the dorm. “They were all kind of weird about you teaching me to shift.”
“Unsurprising.”
Frowning, I huff when he doesn’t expound. Dottie chitters and snuggles closer to my neck, then pulls back, making a face. “Oh, sorry, girl. My hair must smell bad, right?”
The response from my kinkajou makes Slash laugh, and I give him an exasperated look. He just ignores me until Dottie makes a loud noise again, then finally relents. “Fine. Yes, I think they feared I would be quite hard on you. But… I do not think that is why they were being strange.”
“Huh?” I ask as I tilt my head. “What do you mean?”
“Little demon, you have shared things with several of us now, and that will affect how we respond to you spending time with others. It is in the caliphate's nature to share, but not of demons in general, especially those with powerful and dominant bloodlines.”
When he opens the door to Canto IV, I squint at him curiously. “Are you saying that everyone is jealous? Of me? That’s ridiculous.”
“Not of you, Kit. They want to spend time with you—alone, together, teaching, studying, other things. All of that makes men behave… oddly.” This time his expression is indulgent and smug, which makes me want to smack him again.
Since my hand is still throbbing, I forgo it, but I sniff at him as I enter the building.
“You can be huffy about it if you like, but it will only get worse.”
“Worse?!” I squeak, then cough to hide it. “How could it be any worse? That has to be why Oriel and Salem are muttering about one another, which I also missed.”
“Probably,” the shark demon replies as we head for the elevator. “However, at this moment, you don’t have the Prince of Hell in the mix, and that will make everything much more complicated.”
As we step into the car, I whirl around and look up at the big man incredulously. “Jasper will never be… part of this! I mean, I’ll have to tell him eventually, but…he’s not…I’m not… Slash, we don’t even like one another!”
His big hand lands on the shoulder opposite Dottie, and he stares down at me with an indulgent look in his eyes.
“If you say so, little demon. However, I have strong suspicions that you were brought to our caliphate for a reason—and that even if you believe this was a coincidence, it was not. I am not… mythological in beliefs as some others are, but my gut told me that I should not cast you as Jasper wanted. Now that we have shared, I think the reason for that is deeper.”
“Deeper?” I ask quietly. “What does that mean, Slash?”
He shakes his head. “I am uncertain yet, so I do not want to give the possibility wings to fly away. But I will tell you once I have more evidence that I am correct. It does not change my promise to you either way, so don’t fret over my silence.”
“You’re telling someone with anxiety and PTSD not to fret over the unknown? That feels like an ambitious request.” I smile a little, hoping to entice him into sharing with me for my curiosity’s sake alone. “We have trouble with those sorts of demands, to put it lightly.”
The door opens to our floor, and he’s about to answer when Salem appears, his face focused on the inside of the elevator. When he sees us, he curses softly, then kicks the trash can nearby. “Damn it. You guys aren’t DormDash.”
I blink in surprise, looking at my normally easygoing panda demon as he pouts. “No? But… we are… us, Salem. Isn’t that enough?”
He runs a hand through messy, wet strands of black and white hair and then nods. “Well, yeah. I mean, you are always enough, KK. But… I’m waiting for an especially delicious delivery for tonight, and these motherfuckers are even later than you two.”
Slash narrows his eyes at the panda, then crosses his arms over his chest. “That’s why you attacked the furniture rather than greeting us?”
His snark gets him a sheepish grin from my roommate, whose petulant frustration melts under the heat of the big guy’s glare.
“Sorry. Again. I mean… I didn’t mean to scare you.
But… Why are you so late? Did Slash overwork you?
Are you okay? He’s a taskmaster, and if you’re too exhausted to have fun, I’m going to be very—”
“Ahem.”
I snort when Salem backs up as Slash wards his odd hyperactivity off again. “Salem, did someone give you one of your drinks late in the day? You’re not supposed to have them after mid-afternoon, and I’ve been gone awhile.”
The panda frowns as he holds his arm out to me.
“No. But this afternoon was a bit… difficult, and when we got back here, the guys and I put together a plan to soften the blow of how bad today sucked for all of us. I mean, we’ve all had Slash’s version of training, and he’s so fucking hardassed, so you have to be dying to relax.
We knew you would be and also… Jasper’s tense, too. ”
Slash cuts his eyes to my roommate, his interest very piqued. “Why is the prince worked up?”
“The Major and Lucian showed up to class,” Salem mutters. “I’m probably the least shitty-looking of everyone, so he’s drinking scotch and blaming himself. Big surprise, right?”
“Fuck,” Slash says as he swipes his hand over his face. “We do not have time for him to nurse his wounds over things he cannot change.”
“Yeah, well…”
I look at the two of them, thinking about how good they’ve been at accepting me and helping work through my shit.
Oriel and X have been very good, too, and even though I was bristly at first, they’ve all done their best to make sure I stay safe and secure.
Hell, they even risked their asses at the ball and in front of Lucian.
This time, it’s my turn to fix something, and Jasper Eversore is the recipient of that debt—Hell help us all.