Page 103 of Quiet Burn

“Yeah, a little,” I admit as I open my eyes. “Doesn’t make any of it untrue, though.”

Slash leans over me, looking down at me with a frown. “You cannot bottle things up like that, little demon. Your magic will eventually push them out by force. That will have serious consequences.”

“The big dude is right,” Xerxes agrees from their table. “It’s both emotionally and magically better for you to get your pent-up emotions out. Just grab any of us and make us sit down to listen. It will be just like your therapy from the surface.”

I arch a brow, rolling onto my good side to look at them. “Anyof you, huh?”

“Not the Prince.”

X and I both snicker at Slash’s very blunt statement. The cobra shifter sighs, their lips curving up. “Slash is right. Maybe at some point, but not Jasper right now. He has too much baggage weighing him down to be any help. While most of us have figured out how to manage our shit, he’s struggling as hard as you most days.”

Making a face at them, I grumble, “No shit, Sherlock.”

We’re quiet for a moment until X gasps, then smacks their forehead with their palm. They look pained, then turn back to me with a cautious expression. “Of all the things you just word vomited, I think the one thing we can actually address easily is the last one, Kit Kat.”

“The uniform thing? You can?”

“Of course we can,” the big shifter hovering over me says with a dismissive wave. “We will take you to the bookstore after this appointment. You can replace the lost items easily.”

Damn it, no I can’t—at least notallof them.

“Flag on the play, man. I don’t think I can get everything I need there and um… also, does my scholarship cover replacements? Because I’m seriously completely tapped out on the Discordia required stuff other than what I have on. All these stupid attacks have ruined everything.” They both laugh at my admission and I pull back, glaring as they try to stifle their amusement. “What?”

“KK, you’re one ofusnow. Don’t sweat it.”

I frown, confused at X’s flippant response. “What does that mean?”

“It means they will provide you with anything you need without charging you. All of the caliphate’s needs are met via palace accounts. You have no need to fret.”

The big guy’s words make me bristle a bit, and despite it being stupid to question such a boon, I can’t help shaking my head, “Uh-uh. No way. I don’t want to oweanyone,especially not Jasperorhis shithead father.”

“Don’t be stubborn, little demon.”

I glare at Slash, and he shrugs. X finally stops chuckling when my expression turns dark. They sigh, tilting their head as they study me. “We’ll bill it as mine if it makes you feel better. No one will question me needing extra clothes. I’m easily the biggest spender on that sort of thing. That way, the King won’t know a thing. Is that acceptable?”

They’re really trying and I hate to continue being stubborn simply because of pride. Plus, I won’t win that battle given it’s Xerxes’ lineage.

“Okay, fine. But, um… what about the things Ican’tget there?” I look at X pleadingly, letting my gaze drift to their chest, then back to their eyes. I need them to understand what I’m trying to say without making me out myself to Slash. I’m not ready for that yet, even though I know the longer I wait, the worse the fallout will be.

“What could you… oh.Oh!” The handsome demon bats their lashes at me as they catch up. “Well, that is even better. Now I have a reason to poke Prince Prickface to get our passes faster. We will go shoppingup there.”

No, no no, no… that is not what I wanted at all.

I would think of all places, Hell would be on Amazon’s route. After all, their founderhasto be a crossroads demon in disguise, right?

Disgusting

Jasper

My Arms class was incredibly subdued after the mess of the previous day. The idiots sparred without magic carefully as if they might draw out my dragon at any given moment—which is probably true. Seeing the shrimp and my other caliphate brothers injured was one the hardest things I’ve had to witness while keeping control of my inner beast. At home, I could have let the dragon lose his shit, flown off and destroyed stuff for a while, then come back to deal with my fury once the fire was burned out. Here, I don’t have that luxury and managing my emotions without the carnage is… difficult.

Not to mention my fucking sub gives me disappointed looks anytime I lash out to relieve the pressure. Like it’s my fault the target is always the mouthy shrimp who defies me at every turn?

Growling under my breath, I stalk towards the Admin building with determination filling my veins. While my second is baby-sitting the two injured members, I’m going to find out what the goddamn hell that dumbfuck Darkstar thinks he’s doing with all these shitty edicts. They’re causing problems for the entireprogram, not just my brothers. According to the email from the infirmary imps, their beds are filled with demons injured enough to miss classes until mid next week. That’s before we discount the actualdeaddemons the crews burned and gathered ashes to send home to families.

I may not have been responsible for any of their deaths directly, but they occurred in my class, and I’m not fond of the hint of failure it implies. Eversores do not fail and my father will be sending a displeased missive soon enough. He doesn’t care about the deaths in any emotional sense, nor do I, but our reputation is marred by the loss of control in public. It doesn’t matter whether I was coerced to run the training this way, nor does it matter that it was a set-up. The King expected me to find a way to come out victorious and I did not.

His wrath will be painful and I will take all of it so the rest of my brothers aren’t subjected to whatever punishment he sends along.

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