Page 8 of Quiet Burn

The worst part is, I believe him without a doubt.

Danger Zone

Oriel

Sitting through my first two classes was a pain in the ass. Slash isn’t known for being verbose, so we didn’t get updates during his turn at being bodyguard in the separate chat we started. I know it grated on everyone, but not a single complaint filtered through, even from the Pissy Prince.

Slash keeping our new inductee safe was a foregone conclusion, anyway.

Once he had to drop Kit at his Human History class, all bets were off. We all poked our heads out to check on him, which went unanswered because the guy is nothing if not stubborn about his education. The rest of us are much morelaissez-faire, but I suppose it’s because much like knowing Slash would keep him safe, we all know we’ll be leaders whether we flunk classes at Discordia or not.

Not that anyone would dare fail us, of course.

I cut out of the spy craft lab early to lurk outside his classroom so the ache in my gut would shut the hell up. As the minutes tick by, I fiddle with the ring on my thumb, spinning to quell the anxietybuilding inside of me. When he comes out of Kindervelt’s class looking relatively unbothered, I sigh in relief.

“Heya, Kit Kat. Time for the big table again.” He wrinkles his nose and I shrug. “We would be almost done with the show for the semester after a week, but the Games changed everything. It’s especially important with your attack.”

Brushing his longer hair out of his eyes, Kit sighs heavily. “I know, O. The stares are beneficial this time, but it’s hard to… keep my brain on that wavelength. You know?”

“Yep.” I hold out my arm, grinning a bit as Dottie chirps a ‘hello’ to me when her human takes it. “We’ll survive it, though. I think after another week, our claim on you will be cemented enough to forgo theTricliniumfor Salem’s cooking instead.”

His squeeze on my arm makes my smile wider. “Thank fuck for that. I sort of learned not to be a big eater early on, but with Slash growling at me every time he thinks I look hungry and this injury sucking my energy, I guess I need food more. Luckily, Panda-man never lets me leave without provisions.”

I chuckle, shaking my head. “It’s easy for us to forget how much he does for the group because he used to be asleep like eighty percent of the time. He’s awake more in the past week than I’ve seen since we were kids. You’re too amusing to nod off.”

“I’m more fascinating than snoozing—what a review,” Kit snarks, his eyes dancing with mirth. “You really know how to compliment a dude, man.”

Was that a bad thing to say? Fuck if I know; this isn’t my forte.

“You know what I mean,” I mutter as we leave the academic building to head across the campus to theTriclinium. “Salemand Slash hovering over you that way is both interestingandcomplimentary, I think.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. It’s not like the big guys fawn over every person in our path, you know.”

Kit hums under his breath, not answering as we cross the middle of the quad area. He’s right—the amount of eyes I feel on me has multiplied by a large factor. His grip on my arm is likely part of it, but since I cling to the shadows more often than not, my being in the open is drawing curiosity as well. But the sensation of being watched instead of being the watcher is pretty annoying and now I get why he’s so ruffled by it.

It makes you feel vulnerable.

“Someone said you barely spoke before last week. Are you secretly a hermit, Oriel?”

“Not remotely secretly, Kit Kat. I’ve never been shy about preferring solitude and staying out of the limelight. It helps with my function in the group, obviously, and I can gratify my own needs better there as well.”

“Gratify…?” he chokes out.

I almost bark an amused laugh before I realize he might think I’m poking fun at him. It takes me a second to get myself under control before I reply, “The crow part, man. I like to hoard things, and I love to steal them. Anything not needed for the caliphate is fair game for my collection of shiny shit that makes the bird happy.”

Damn, I never tell people that. What the hell?

“Oh… oh. Got it. Sorry,” he says. His face is flushed bright red and it literally delights me when he ducks his head. “Yeah, that makes sense. The shifter sides of you guys are really fucking cool to learn about.”

“Huh. I guess I’m so used to all this…” I gesture at the landscape of Discordia and Hell in general. “…that I’ve never given thought to how cool it must seem to someone who didn’t know it existed.”

Kit snorts, rolling his eyes at me as we get to the steps of the cafeteria. “Oriel, two weeks ago, I thought my future included either an Ivy League school and a bunch of rich dicks with double popped collars or being stuck in my small town working in a diner until I could find enough money to get out. Demons, shifters, and magic would have been cool to anyone, but to me, it’s a goddamn miracle.”

Leaning in, I tap my finger on his nose with a pleased smile. “Then regardless of the sucky ass circumstances that lead you here or the ones we face now, I’m stoked as fuck to be part of that so-called miracle.”

The color rises in his face again, making my chest tighten, and he’s about to respond when a voice calls out in front of us.

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