Page 89 of Quiet Burn

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Zavida

“Ithink we should bring the others in, too, Jas. I’m not hurt badly—not like Xerxes was.” I look at the tense as hell dragon, waiting for the doc to come back from his stores in the back. “Dr. D can look at them at the same time. Salem didn’t even shift and… I really think Kit is hiding an injury.”

I know he is, but I don’t want to say that and set Jasper off again.

His eyes narrow and he studies me for a moment, obviously warring with himself. He wants to have the doctor look at me first because he’s worried, but he also knows I wouldn’t say that lightly. Finally, he growls, turning to the room where Dr. D is gathering supplies. “I’m bringing in the other injured demons. You can triage them all at once.”

Dr. D glides out of the storeroom, nodding. “As you wish, Your Highness. If their injuries are less severe than Xerxes, I will see them now.”

“I’m pretty sure they are,” I say softly. “Mine isn’t all that bad, either. Just some toxins that you need to drain.”

Jasper gives me a suspicious look, then heads over to the door and barks, “Get the rest of them in here. I want everyone patched up and back to their rooms to rest. We’ll file the report with my father’s staff once we’re back to our floor.”

I let out a relieved breath as he comes back over and the others slowly make their way inside. Oriel guides Salem to the next table and for the first time since the battle, he shifts. The panda looks a bit ragged, which isn’t surprising since he went full rage mode on a shit ton of opponents while Kit worked to protect X. Honestly, I thought it would be worse, but being in his animal form likely helped him heal faster. He flops back on the table and O rushes to pull a sheet over his lower half before Slash walks in with Kit in his arms.

It’s pretty endearing how solicitous that cantankerous crow is of the new guy; I see why he was able to worm his way in first.

“Where are Anton and X?” Kit says hoarsely as the biggest dude in our caliphate cradles him close until they reach the next table. Slash puts him down gently, and again, I marvel at how much the new guy has changed my brothers in a short time. “Is X okay?”

Dr. D heads for Kit’s table immediately, and I get the distinct impression he’s probably frowning under that mask. “Master Kit, you are injured and disguising it. Are you able to override your magic’s instinct to cloak that weakness?”

That gets a low, dark growl out of my lover, and he stomps over to the table to join them. His voice is deceptively calm as he grits out, “You said you were not hurt. Slash confirmed it.”

“I did not.” Everyone turns to look at the enormous shark shifter as he crosses his arms over chest. Jasper snarls, but hissecond-in-command doesn’t flinch. “I said not to accuse me of mistreating him, not that he was unharmed.”

Pretty clever answer, if you ask me, because the Prince knows his general isn’t lying.

“Since when do you parse the spirit and letter of my questions, Slash?”

A hand waves in the air as Kit vies for their attention. “Excuse me, testosterone emitters? This is why I said I wasn’t injured. I mean, I don’t know why it’s… hidden… but I lied because the others are worse. I didn’t want someone to make me jump the fucking line. I’m smaller, but I’m not stupid. And no one has answeredmyquestion, by the way.”

“I’m doing better, KK.”

The croak draws all of us to look at the curtain drawn along the back wall and I realize the doc has Xerxes behind it. They must really be fucked up if Dr. D is keeping them separate. Kit frowns, scooting like he’s going to leap off of the table and Slash steps in front of him with a firm head shake.

“No.”

“Move. I’m going to go see them.”

“No.”

The admittedly smaller guy pokes the biggest one in the chest with a scowl. “You’re not my keeper. I’m getting up and you’d better not try to stop me.”

Slash doesn’t move and within seconds, Jasper is standing next to him, looming over Kit with a matching stern expression. “As the Prince, I forbid it.”

The snort that follows that statement is full of derision. “As the actual person in control of their body, you can go straight to…here, Jasper Eversore. I’ll get up if I want to and the two of you can glare at me until your faces get stuck that way for all I care. I want to see myfriendwho is hurt.”

“KK…” X’s voice is soft and everyone shuts up as they speak. “Don’t fight them. I’m still re-energizing from the energy I burned up. The doc said it’s better to be cut off by this curtain thing so I don’t lose what I’m building back up. You can see me once I’m tip-top again; you know how I hate for people to see me as less than fab, anyway.”

I don’t know when all of my brothers got so damn sneaky and conscientious, but I’m going to have to take some lessons from them.

The room is quiet for a moment until the stubborn guy finally gives in. “Okay, fine. But only because you asked me, not because these clowns think they’re my keepers.”

Anton pokes his head out from behind the curtain, his eyes dark as he studies the dark haired guy. “Thank you for worrying about them—about everyone—but you must let the doctor see what is wrong with you. If Dr. D is correct, you need to unravel the protection as you did the other. You can do this, Kit.”

His words seem to make Kit feel better, but much like in the arena, I don’t think he even knows how he’s doing it, much less how to stop it. He scoots back, lying down on the table again and closing his eyes. His lips move as he mutters something inaudible to himself, and I tilt my head. I think he’s trying to reason with his magic—something it took me years to learn. Nothing happens at first, but after a few minutes of coaxing, awarm glow emanates from his form that turns to an inky black halo where the wound must be.

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