Chapter 56 Your Betrayal
Your Betrayal
Jasper
My dragon is displeased that we’re stuck waiting, and for once, I agree with him.
Of course, we’re aligned for completely different reasons, and that’s going to be a problem—eventually.
Looking around at the mess my caliphate and these…
helpers… now have to clean up, I’m finding it hard to control all the emotions rioting inside of me.
However, it’s not time for that; it’s time to work together to get rid of the Major’s fucking body before someone stumbles onto our treasonous act and trips an alarm.
While Darkstar has no love for agents of the court, he won’t hesitate to use this situation to his advantage.
“Slash, now that you’re back from coddling the shrimp, gather the others.”
My second gives me a suspicious look, his expression turning cold as he nods sharply. He lumbers over to the rest of my brothers, bringing them into a circle with the Keeper around the corpse. Once they’re all in place, I lift my chin and glare.
“What is our plan?”
The Keeper scratches his beard, and then says, “Have to be a disposal job. If we move it and try to cover it up, it will bring hellfire down on the whole campus. At least if he’s just missing in action, people can assume things until someone actually decides it’s worth pursuing.”
The demon makes a good point—if he falls out of contact with Slash’s dad, the General might ignore it for a while, thinking the Major is snooping or whoring about.
“Fine. What are we using for disposal and how are we getting it to the place where it will happen without being seen?”
“We could stow it under a tarp and hide it until nighttime.” Oriel’s wings fold against his back as he tilts his head to look at the large body. “Once it’s dark, there will be fewer people around, and it will be easier to transport without being caught.”
Slash shakes his head. “Still very risky. He is quite obtrusive.”
“Lots of weapons at hand. We could chop it up,” Anton says as he stoops. “There are sharp enough implements in the cabinet, and while some take the parts away in bags, the others could clean the mess.”
“Nae, lad. The best way to get rid of pieces is a fairly good clip from here—we’d need to use the Wastes or my razorback devil pigs.”
I arch a brow at the Keeper, considering his input. “The pigs would be a good way to get rid of every single piece of him without leaving a trace.”
Xerxes waves his hand. “If we chop him, Slash could eat him. The gym springs aren’t that far. Shift and easy peasy… no parts.”
My best friend shudders. “While I will eat those who force me to, I would prefer not to ingest someone who has been… a difficulty in my life. It would be like eating my pain.”
I have no idea what the fuck that means, but I can guess where the theory came from.
Growling in annoyance, I look over to the changing area impatiently before turning back to them. “What else, then? The pigs and Wastes are too far, Slash is unwilling…. We need a solution quickly.”
Salem coughs, giving me a confused look. “Why the fuck don’t you just burn him, Jas? You are a goddamn dragon.”
I suck in a breath, telling myself not to lash out simply because he asked a question that assumes I’m not very bright.
“Because it will leave a magical signature that we cannot fully erase, Salem. We can do our best, and it might fool most demons, but if the court sends the powerful trackers, they will eventually untangle the hexes and enchantments. That puts us back at square one, only with bigger problems.”
He looks chagrined, rubbing his hand through his hair. “Sorry, Jasper. I didn’t know that. It just seemed like an easy fix, man.”
“The Prince is right—both about the magic and losing time.” The Keeper looks around before he whistles so loudly that we all wince.
His bird comes rocketing through the air to his side, making that noise that irritates the hell out of me.
“Arces will scout for us. That will give us time to scramble if someone is coming towards the arena.”
As soon as he finishes his sentence, the bird takes off again, soaring into the sky on its mission. I frown, considering the familiar for a moment before I ask, “Where is the rodent?”
Slash glares at me again and rumbles, “Dottie is with the doctor and Kit. She followed behind me, and I let her in before I returned.”
“Geez, I didn’t even—now I feel bad,” Oriel mutters. “Poor girl is probably losing her fucking mind.”
The Keeper grins at him. “Don’t worry. Familiars are so in tune with their companions that they can sense when injuries are serious.
If the lad had been gravely harmed, the little lady would have been making a fuss the likes you’ve not seen before.
Size doesn’t matter when a familiar is truly determined. ”
Also, something good to keep in mind as it explains why the damn thing had the stones to shove a fruit in my nostril.
“Now that we’ve established that, back to the topic at hand,” I say, getting their attention once more. “This fucking corpse has to go, and we still don’t have a viable plan.”
“We sure as hell can’t Weekend at Bernie’s it,” Zav mutters, and Salem snorts at a joke I don’t understand.
Oriel is still chuckling while my brainy mate walks around the inside of the circle, his tails swishing, as he thinks.
“Our inability to use magic without being caught at some point is really limiting us.”
“No shit.”
Zavida whips his head around and gives me a stink eye that would wilt a garden full of flora. “Sarcasm is not useful at the moment, I believe. Creativity is better used to help us brainstorm.”
Ouch. He’s definitely not letting me off the hook for being frustrated.
“We have to be missing something. We’ve thought about magic, physical labor, weapons, gag movie plots, and consumption.” Anton stands next to Zav as they both gaze at the body. “He’s huge, so anything we do has to be geared towards removing something of his mass.”
“I still think we can move him at night.” Oriel gives them a stubborn look, his feathers ruffling. “I’m the one who operates in the dark here all the time. I know where the security is, where there are guards and where there are holes… I could easily guide us around them.”
Before I can correct him, Slash jumps in. “You can guide us around them in the sky, old friend. You do not sneak around Discordia in this form. You fly as the crow, and transform when you are safe. Your methods will not apply directly to this situation.”
The dark-haired demon frowns, then looks thoughtful.
He holds up a finger and then puts it down as he sighs.
“Okay, the big man is right. While I know the routes and shit airborne, I haven’t studied the ground specifics as closely.
I might be able to guide you, but I don’t feel one hundred percent now.
Though, you bet your sweet asses that I’m going to correct that over the next week or so. ”
Everyone falls quiet when he admits that, and Anton grins. “I would have had a much tougher time admitting that, O. KK would be proud of you.”
The last thing I need is them falling into a wankfest over their emotional growth and how happy it would make the absent member of our caliphate—at least, right now.
“Enough of that,” I bark as I rake my hand over my hair.
My tail twitches as I pace back and forth, angry that we don’t seem to be able to figure out something that should be so simple.
“Focus! If we can’t do this without losing the thread, we cannot function on the Games field.
Not being able to think quickly as a unit will get us killed in that forum. ”
“He’s right,” Slash says reluctantly. “Our lack of cohesion now is a bad omen for our performance there. We will deal with that after we resolve our current issue.”
“Maybe a different point of view would be helpful?”
We all whip around to see the very distraction I was fighting against dressed in someone’s oversized sweats with a cloaked demon and a pissy-looking kinkajou in tow.
Rolling my eyes up to the sky, I push all my emotions back into the box again before they take over.
I was hoping we’d figure this out before Kit emerged from the bathroom, but as usual, the universe cares not a whit for how its timing will affect the people walking around in it.
“KK!” Salem cries as he abandons his spot in the circle to walk over and pick the kid up and spin around. “You’re okay. I was worried, little dude.”
Snorting, I look away as the others clamor to give their congratulations. They get a few moments to greet him before I turn back around and growl, “What did I say about focus?”
Dark brown eyes narrow at me as the newly emerged shifter crosses his arms over his chest. “What crawled up your ass and died, Jasper?”
Counting to ten… remembering painful injuries… thinking of horrid things…
“Nothing. I would like to get rid of the body you left for us to deal with so none of us end up in the royal dungeon with scheduled executions.” I arch a brow and shrug. “Though honestly, I’m not sure everyone would end up that way considering their parents.”
“Rich asshole,” Kit mutters, and I’m surprised to hear the crusty old bird-doctor chuckle behind him. “Just because you have a pedigree doesn’t make you any less a part of this—what happened to all that brotherhood and chanting shit?”
Zavida leaves his spot studying the Major, his tails flicking happily as he walks over.
“He’s just worried, KK. This is a big deal, and we’ve had a hard time thinking of a way to fix it without either getting caught or leaving a trail that points to us.
Usually, we’re able to accomplish stuff like this without a lot of effort. ”
“Perhaps it is because you were incomplete until now,” the doctor says as flaming feathers float off of him. “If you have completed the caliphate ritual, your group efforts will need to be coordinated together to succeed.”
I give the old demon a disbelieving look. “Are you saying we won’t be able to think on our own anymore? I don’t recall ever hearing that a caliphate bonding caused that.”
“Nae, Prince. The doctor means that your teamwork will fail if you don’t work together—and right now, you’re not functioning as one.
” The burly bestiary demon looks at my brothers, then me, and finally, Kit.
“There’s a storm brewing, and you’re fractured.
Cracked foundations won’t hold up under pressure. ”
“We’re not cracked,” Salem says with a frown. “In fact, we had a really good bonding time the other night. It’s getting better.”
Dr. D laughs again, flames flaring on his cloak as he shakes his head.
“Do not be obtuse, young Stryker. It is quite apparent that whatever happened here today has caused this rift, and if you do not resolve it, I fear we are all going to share the darkest level of the palace torture chamber together—even the haughty prince.”
“For fuck’s sake, what?!” Kit stomps over and pokes me hard, knocking me off balance a little.
“It has to be you, so… tell me what it is. Are you feeling less special because poor, parentless, non-royal me is a dragon, too? Have I hurt your pride because I didn’t struggle to fly with you or whatever?
Out with it, Jasper! Tell me why you’re acting like a fucking prick again! ”
My eyes darken as I look at the newest member of our group, the fury inside me fighting with my demon and my dragon as I say, “Because you lied to me… you lied to everyone! When were you going to tell us you’re a fucking girl… whatever your name is!”
Everything goes still as my words leave my mouth, and when I look around, I’m horrified to see the results of my outburst. They all knew…
at least, most of them. Zavvie is blinking in confusion, and Anton looks taken aback, but the rest of my brothers and these damn ‘helpers’ know.
None of them warned me, nor did they insist that this faker give up the secret.
I’m surrounded by people who betrayed me, including my inner beast and my demon, and I have no idea how I’m going to survive this.
OH NO!