Page 15 of Quiet Burn

Like a ten minute span of time where I played detective?

“Yes. It is puzzling.” Slash looks at the prince, his brow furrowing for a moment, then he turns back to the rest of us. “Salem is right. Nightshade intake should increase.”

Sighing, I squint over at the big guy. “You’re not my trainer, and I can hear just fine.”

“That’s an idea,” the prince says as he snaps his fingers. “A good one, in fact. Slash, you will help us train the pleb. You’re already doing some of the work, and this is one of your most useful skills.”

I can’t help the look of horror on my face as the shark shifter gives me a smug, tooth-filled grin from his seat. My palm slaps the table and I hiss, “You don’t get to assign people to harass me, Eversore. That’s not what I agreed to.”

He shakes his head, looking amused as he sips his coffee. “I believe you’ll find that you agreed to averyopen-ended bargain in reference to the dating situation. Your caliphate oath placed you under our protection and training you for this life-threatening eventiswithin our purview. As the leader of the caliphate, I’m giving that task to the person most capable.”

God fucking damn him, he’s right. I want to punch him in the nuts so hard he pukes.

“Ugh,” I growl as I throw my hands up. “Fine. Slash canconferwith Salem then because he’s the one who does the most with food. But the first person who keeps me from eating dessert is getting their balls turned into an earbuds case. Got it?”

I want to look threatening, so I point my fork at the Prince, stabbing the air a couple times. He merely smirks, and Oriel chuckles behind his hand. Looking at the rest of the guys, I notice their sheepish expressions, and I know Jasper has won this round. That demon just sicced his fucking mother hen general on me and I don’t have a leg to stand on if I complain.

“As for the rest of your training, I believe Zavida will be the best one to?—”

“Ha!” I stab the air again, my expression triumphant. “Zav and I already planned to study together. You’re too late, asshat. Suck on that.”

X chokes, picking up their napkin and wiping their mouth. “Damn it, Kit Kat. You can’t say that shit when I’m drinking.”

Shrugging, I give the Prince a smug smile and bat my lashes. He frowns, tilting his head and panic races through me.Shit, too girly… fuck, fuck.Clearing my throat, I paste a scowl on my face as I glare back. “Stop staring at me, dickface. It’s not my fault you’re too slow.”

Please let that distract him.

“That’s the kind of initiative you should be taking,” Jasper says in a non-committal voice. “I wouldn’t have to take charge if you’d focus, Kit.”

Anton snorts this time, giving his leader a wry look. “Dude, you always take charge, even when we have shit handled. But I think Zav, Slash, and Salem are good picks. What I don’t like is the shared odd sensation we had during that meeting, and our theories about why Darkstar held it. He’s definitely up to something.”

“Yes, he is.” Jasper scratches his jaw, his handsome face marred by the warring emotions on it. “I don’t know if he intended to size up the teams, scare people, or simply soak up glory like the self-centered prick he is. But putting all the powerful caliphates in this room has a purpose beyond giving us early insight into the Games structure.”

“What the fuck is with that, by the way?” I ask as I spear a tomato-like thing on my plate. “I get that it’s Hell, and that all the fuckers in here are probably rich, but what’s the point of having a competition if you’re stacking the deck? Won’t it be boring?”

Oriel finally gives up the dessert he’d been withholding when my tray looks pretty empty and I squeal happily, only to turn bright red when they all stare at me. “Uh, you really like this shit, huh?”

Why am I so stupid tonight? I’m going to fuck everything up and I have no idea how to stop it.

Ducking my head as I get myself under control, I rake my hand over my short locks then look up at them. “Dessert wasn’t a foregone conclusion at most of my homes. I like having sweet things whenever I want versus an occasional special treat when I’m lucky.”

“Damn it,” Salem mutters as he bumps my shoulder with his. “Now I’m going to make as much sweet shit as I can and no one can stop me—not even you, Scrum.”

Slash eyes me as I dig into the treat, his eyes glittering as he nods. “Agreed, chef. Provide things to make him happy and we will work around that.”

That’s not what I expected him to say at all—who would have known?

Trouble

Slash

Something was off about the little demon after the meeting last night. He tried to play it off as being tired—which is believable given what Jasper told us about the fire in that study room. Kit’s powers are emerging very slowly and until they’re fully settled, he needs alotof rest and fuel. That’s part of why I’m so focused on making sure he doesn’t burn himself out with poor self-care. A demon that is coming of age is like an energy vampire—every bit they use has to be replaced with twice as much to balance out the exchange.

I have this niggling feeling in the back of my mind that it wasn’t simple exhaustion, though.

Glancing over at him, I tune out Professor Wormwood’s lecture on the basics of magical spells and how they resemble math equations or cooking recipes. I’ve been constructing spells, hexes, and curses since I was a kid playing in the pee-wee version of magical battles. The mage-dhampir hybrid is well versed, but this lesson is way beneath my capabilities. Lucky for me, that means I can watch our newest caliphate member closely.

“What’s going on with you?” Anton murmurs from his place on my other side. “I know you’re above this level of discussion, but Ifeelthe tension in you, man.”

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