Page 4 of Quiet Burn

The Prince snorts, walking to his private station to apply aftershave. “It’s hard not to. You’re moving like an invalid and you snarl anytime someone touches you. I don’t knowhowwe’re supposed to maintain this facade.”

“Behave.” Slash’s single word makes all of my dorm mates straighten, even the grumpy royal. “They will believe what we tell them to.”

That’s easy to say when you’re sporting a fin and razor teeth all day.

“Slash, you have the ability to silence a room with a look. Not all of us are so formidable,” Zavida says as he ruffles his rusty hair.

“Let’s map the flow for today, then,” X says as they roll their stockings up their legs. “They said the classes will flip to prep for these stupid games, but not change. It’s Monday, so who’s where?”

Kit pauses his brushing, his eyes wide as he looks at us in the mirror. Spitting quickly, he rinses his mouth before replying. “I have Intro to Supes and Deconstructing Historyaloneon Monday and Wednesday.”

His admission gets a chorus of groans or growls depending on the demon, and the tension in the room ratchets up. Oriel lifts his hand, clearing his throat, “Let’s not forget I found him being cornered by Lilibet in there last week.”

“Fuck,” Anton mutters. “We haven’t had time to deal with that mess yet.”

“I have a free period during the first slot,” Slash says with a toothy grin. “I can deal with the Cubi. She’ll back off once I’m there or I’ll make her suffer.”

Jasper rolls his eyes, sighing as he pulls his uniform on, adjusting it for his preferred shift. “Fine. What about the second class?”

“Guys, I don’t really need…”

“We all have class.” Zav looks up from his phone, his eyes dark as he fixes his tie. He’s always the first one dressed, but Kit has him beat by a landslide. “That’s an issue, but I don’t believe we can solve it this semester without a great deal of administrative power.”

X wrinkles their nose as they lace their knee-high boots. “We willneverget Darkstar to sign off on that. He’s definitely up to something and if he hates Kit and us, he’ll never approve the moves needed to make it work.”

“Hello!” We all spin to see the guy in question glaring at us in annoyance. He’s clenching his fists at his sides and there’s frustration rolling off him in waves. “Just because you have a plan that I agreed to doesnotmean you get to dictate my entire life. I will be okay in one class alone, especially since it’s not Lilibet. If I’mnot, I’ll tell you. How about that, douchebags?”

I blink, a slow smile creeping over my face as I yank my shirt over my head then move closer. “Okay, Kit Kat. You’re right. You agreed to do this shit because you’re not an idiot, but treating you like fine china is off the plate.”

“That’s not what we?—”

Oriel shakes his head at Anton. “It’s not what we meant, but it’s how he felt. I get it. But Kit, you gotta know we’re worried about someone hurting you again. Until your shit emerges, you’re a lot more breakable than the rest of us.”

Our leader grunts as he finishes up his routine, and I take that as agreement until he says otherwise. Slash nods, then the rest of my brothers fall in line with our thief’s assessment. Kit sighs, gathering his things with his shoulders slumped. I frown, not liking the loss of his spitfire, so I take them from him gently.

“Let’s drop these off and grab the rest of your stuff, dude. The rest of these dicks can argue about whatever they want until we meet at the elevator.”

My answer is a tiny grin, and when I whistle, the kinkajou comes running out of a pile of towels where she was curled up. Her big eyes blink as she stares at the group, then she chitters loudly and shakes her paw again. I really think that’s her method of telling us all to get fucked, and Kit chuckles before holding his arm out.

“Alright, Salem. We’ll take Dottie and get supplies. Clearing all this testosterone out of my lungs is probably a good thing.”

Before anyone can shoot back, I lead him away from the sink, looking over my shoulder at the caliphate with narrowed eyes. They need to give the poor kid some fucking space or we’re all going to go down in flames. Our discussion about the shared interest in Kit was a good first step, but we can’t let our instinct to protect him alienate us.

As we walk back to the dorm, I look down at our new obsession. He’s moving better, but he’s definitely not going to classes without an escort. Jasper wouldn’t tell any of us how the fuck Kit avoided getting roasted, but I’m glad he’s not lying in the infirmary with burns while Dr. D hovers over him.

“You know, if you need to talk about what happened… before Jasper showed… all you need to do is tell me,” I say softly. “We don’t have therapists here and shit, so…”

His crooked smile makes my chest tighten in that odd way, but he shakes his head. “Not yet. I’m still… processing it all, especially Jasper’s help. It’s hard to explain, but I’m not completely sure which details are real and which ones I maybe… imagined?”

“Fair enough, little dude. But I’m here if you need one ear who’ll shut up to listen.”

Strangely enough, I mean that—even the part about doing it without everyone else around.

A knockat our door tells me it’s time to head for the elevator, and I close up the container of fruit Kit and I were tossing to Dottie. “Time to face the music, girl. Your master and I have to put on a show for the crowd, so you gotta behave.”

My roommate snorts and shakes his head. “Dottie will do what she wants, no matter what. I trust her judgement by now.”

“Oh, that’s going to go over so well,” I mutter. Looking at the kinkajou, I shake a finger playfully. “You have to let people touch him, young lady. It might not be comfortable for him at first, but that’s the only way we can sell this shit.”

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