Page 2 of Quiet Burn

Is he fucking kidding me? I look like shit microwaved.

A groan slips from my lips as I slowly push to a sitting position, hoping the world doesn’t start spinning. When it doesn’t, I let out a long breath of relief. I’ll be able to stay upright in my damn classes without someone supporting me. That’s a fucking miracle, and I’ll take it. “Salem, you arewaytoo chipper for this time of day.”

“You just need some caffeine, Kit Kat. Now hustle up so I can help you to the showers. I’ve got breakfast and snacks all packed up for you and Dottie.”

I frown at him, confused by his sunshiny ‘mama bear’ routine. “You made things for us to take so I don’t have to eat that food? Why?”

“Because you’re hurt, dude, and no one should have to survive that shit on empty while nursing wounds. Don’t be dense.” He ruffles his bed head messy black and white hair, making it look ridiculously hot—and I didn’t think that was possible. “Come on. I’m sure the others will crash our gates if I don’t get you in there soon.”

Son of an ale-swilling goat-man.

Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I grunt but wave my hand when Salem gets closer. “No, no. I have to do some shit myself. I don’t like feeling… dependent… on people.”

His eyes widen and he looks sad for a moment. “You really had a number done on you, man.”

“Lucky me,” I mutter as I prepare myself for the pain, then I slowly lift up until I’m on my feet. The ache intensifies and I have to plant myself in place firmly to make certain I don’t sway. “The Universe justlovesgiving me challenges to rise above.”

Dottie chitters again, scampering on the floor as she waits for me to move. I realize I’m not quite steady enough to do so on my own and the panda demon gives me a crooked smile. He holds his arm out for the kinkajou, who climbs him like a tree and positions herself on his shoulder.

I might be jealous of my companion animal; how weird is that?

When I don’t move, Salem pads over to me, giving me the other arm to hold onto. “You’ll have to grab your stuff, Kit Kat. I’m more concerned about making sureyouget to the bathroom. Everything else is icing, you know?”

Nodding, I swallow my discomfort as I scoop up the clothes and basket. It’s light enough that I manage okay, so I look up at him. “Okay. I think I’ve got it.”

Together, we shuffle towards the door, exiting my room and making our way across the living area at snail speed. I hope I get less stiff as the day goes on or I’m going to havea lotof trouble in the hallways and from professors. Since Jasper fucking obliterated the assholes in the study room and we’ve not heard a single word about them, we can’t mention my attack to the administration or anyone else.

“Did Jasper say if he’d found anything out about the…” I drop my voice even though we’re on our own floor. “…bodies?”

Salem grins at me as we walk towards the bathroom. “That’s a good question, Kit Kat. You’re a lot more cognizant than last night. Although, off-his-tits Kit is pretty awesome, too.”

Oh, no. What did I say? Or do? Fuck.

The demon seems to sense my fear and he laughs softly. “Don’t worry. No one saw you do anything stupid and O made sure you went straight to bed. You’re safe.”

“Thank fuck for small favors,” I grumble. “I’ve never been high in my life and I have zero clue what crazy things I’d do or say. I don’t… remember… a lot from the hospital in the past, so I don’t have a frame of reference.”

A shadow flickers over his face and I carefully squeeze the bicep I’m holding onto. Salem rumbles next to me, and I get the feeling he’s going to press for more information about my attack at some point. “Well, the birdie and I escorted you to your room then tucked you in. It wasn’t hard to imagine you wouldn’t want anyone interrogating you in that state.”

Now I definitely owe them some sort of reward; Jasper could have asked me anything.

“That must have made him really pissy. You guys did me a huge solid,” I say softly.

He winks at me playfully, then stops to pull open the bathroom door. “I’ll take a K. I. O.U for it.”

Damn these guys for being interminably hot,andstupidly clever. I suck in a deep breath as the voices echoing from inside the bathroom carry. “I guess it’s time to see how well I do standing on my own.”

“But I can?—”

Uh… fuck no, you can’t. I’ll die on the spot.

“Are you okay in there,little demon?”

Slash’s question makes me freeze up and I hold my breath so I can hear whether or not anyone is coming close to my stall. When I confirm that they’re all still doing their own thing, I go back to scrubbing my skin hard. I feel like there’s a layer of filth I can’t access with the loofah and spicy soap, but I know that’s not true. It’s the same feeling I had after the incident and no matter how hot the water, or how strong the scent of the body wash, I didn’t feel clean for months.

My shrink damn near locked me up when I burned myself with bleach wipes trying to get him off.

Suffice it to say, I knowwhyI’m acting like this. but engaging my logical brain when my anxiety and PTSD are flaring is really difficult. If I’m doing okay, I can think like this and try to talk my lizard brain off the ledge. It’s when I lose control of the animalistic part and go feral that I need to be watched. I should probably talk to Oriel and Salem about how to tell I’m headed in that directionbeforeI wig out.

---