Page 30 of Quiet Burn

Kit finally walks over, the sword clutched in his hand as he keeps his eyes on the ground. “Um, thanks. Sorry I… did my thing and you had to… do that.”

I blink. He’s sorry? I was worried I’d trigger some bad thing from his past, but it was the first thing I could think of that wasn’t somewhat violent. “KK, it’s cool, man. I didn’t want to shake or smack you because it might make you spiral, but… this concerned me, too, even if it conforms with our plan.”

His eyes finally move from the floor to mine and his cheeks go a pretty pink as he mumbles, “It was okay. I didn’t… you know. You didn’t make me freak. Obviously. It was… a good plan.”

It might have been, but the way he’s acting, I’m not so sure.

The restof the class is nerve-wracking even for me. Keeping an eye on my own partner, plus Kit, is hard as hell. I know the others are watching him, too, but something in my gut has attached his safety to my bird’s deepest value—pride—and I can’t allow anything untoward to occur on my watch. I’m normally not this edgy, except with X, but here we are.

My plan was a cock-up, after all.

“Annie, why are you scowling so much?” X asks as they dance around their opponent nearby. Luckily for us, Jasper put that fucker Ivan with demons other than the ones in our caliphate, so the distraction of keeping an eye on Kit didn’t lead to disaster.

I dodge a perfectly aimed strike from Magnus Chilton, a drude from Zav’s family line. He’s not as obnoxious as many of the others in the room, so I don’t bother with smack talk. X is using short daggers against his opponent, Kristian Hoebert. The incubi is from his own house, so it’s not likely he’s in any danger. Plus, despite the snarky bullshit Hoebert is spewing, Xerxes is owning his ass. He had to learn that shit early to defend himself from the less evolved demons in his family’s court.

“You know why, X,” I mutter as I duck a side blow from Chilton. “This irritates the bird.”

Their eyes follow mine before we look away, and a bright smile appears on his face. “Ooooh. Nowthatismuchmore interesting than kicking Hoebert’s ass.”

“Get fucked, frilly ass,” Kristian mutters as he continues to unsuccessfully defend his position. “I’m being careful because of who you are.”

Snorting at his bullshit, I dart forward, knocking my partner’s weapon loose. “Concede, Magnus. We’re done.”

The drude rolls his eyes, picking up his sword before he stomps away. His magic requires me to be unconscious, so he didn’t have a fucking chance to do anything. X finally gets the best of his partner, too, and we both head over to put away our practice weapons. As we head for the other side of the field, Zav is struggling with the much larger brute he’s fighting, but his kitsune speed and portal ability are helping. They have short bos, which I know Zavida is skilled with, so he should be able to avoid any real injury.

“Let’s watch him. It’s okay to be concerned, Annie,” X says as they grab my hand. “I think he’s doing pretty well considering Jasper put him with Aesyllian Furon.”

My jaw tightens and I nod, the desire to be closer greater than my usual reluctance to share my emotions with anyone in public. “He was captain of the fencing team in secondary school. I don’t know what the hell Jasper was thinking when he assigned that.”

“Concede!”

The sound of Zavida finally getting control of his bout makes me sigh in relief as X and I stop in front of our dueling friend. Kit is holding his own, surprisingly, but he’s getting slower. Unfortunately for him, the Fae demon is zinging magiceverywhere, forcing him to have to dance around as he works in his shots. Not having magic is actively hurting his chances and if I were to bet on the purpose of this forced exercise, it would be to showcase how vulnerable Kit is. The rumors will get around before we even make it to lunch.

That’s a damn good way to encourage attacks outside of the official Games to remove his piece from the board.

“Where the fuck is Jasper, anyway?” I ask Zav when he finally joins us. He’s dripping with sweat and rubbing a towel over his fiery hair, a telltale sign that his fight took a shit ton of his energy.

“No idea. I noticed he disappeared after the assignments, but I was too focused on keeping myself from getting conked to see where he got off to.”

I frown, noting that X and I were both likewise consumed by our opponents and watching out for Kit. “I think these pairings were given to him on purpose. I can’t see him pairing me with someone who can barely use magic on this plane and Kit with a Hellympian, you know?”

“No shit,” Zavida says as he finally puts his glasses on. “I’m fast as fuck, so I would have been a bigger challenge for Furon than Kit. This is definitely not a coincidence, nor is his disappearance. We should?—”

A loud clang, then muttered curses force my brothers and me to pay attention to the battle again. When we do, Kit is standing there with his sword up, looking like he might keel over. Furon is on the ground under his foot and he’s grinning broadly.

How the fuck did that happen?

“He cheated!” Aesyllian fumes from the ground. “I want the Professor to mark it. Where is Eversore, anyway?”

Xerxes walks over, giving the hybrid a small kick in the ribs as they lean down with a smirk. “No idea, Furon, but I definitely have to snap this for socials. Anyone ever tell you that you’re an insufferable tool?”

“Shut up, you weirdo. I’m reporting this nonsense.” Aesyllian pushes Kit’s foot off of him after X’s phone flashes, then rolls to his feet. “And that had better not end up online or you’ll be hearing from our lawyers.”

Ignoring his bluster, I walk over to Kit, my eyes scanning him carefully. He’s going to have a few bruises, there are some magical burns on his arms, and that might be the start of a shiner, but otherwise, he looks okay. “Kit Kat, how are you doing? Do we need Dr. D?”

He shakes his head, pushing wet hairs off his forehead as he trudges up to our group. “No. I don’t want to go running to the doctor every time some dick gets a few licks in. It just makes me look weaker. I have to suffer through this—at least in public.”

A brilliant idea hits me and I snap my fingers. “You might have to in public, but you don’t have to all day.”

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