Page 94 of Quiet Burn

“Take them to the main room. We will be able to care for them better if everyone is in the same place.”

“What? No!”

Slash turns, allowing the kid to look at me in exasperation as he exclaims. “Jasper, come on. I need… space. Having everyone in our room will not give me that.”

“He’s not wrong,” Zavvie murmurs under his breath. But he knowswhyI’m ordering this, too.

If I can see them all, I can convince my dragon they are all okay.

“Don’t be ridiculous. We reconfigured that room to give everyone appropriate space, and Annie can work a little of his charm to make those who need the most rest comfortable.” I cross my arms over my chest, glaring at the shrimp. “Plus, we can keep guard over the injured in one centralized location.”

The shark shifters snorts, muttering, “Thatcouldbe the reason.”

“Itisthe reason, Scrum,” I shoot back as I jerk my head at the doc. “Move him down the hall to the room where Oriel and Salem went. We’re hunkering down until everyone is healed.”

“Kill me now. Just kill me,” Kit groans as he hides behind his hulking ride to the room. “I cannot survive a room full of you douches twenty-four hours a day for who the fuck knows how long.”

“Some people would die for the privilege,” I retort as I shoulder my way through. “Hell, they’d pay us to kill them if it got them in our room before they kicked it.”

A loud sniff comes from my second’s arms as the shrimp says, “I could care less about your desperate conquests, Jasper Eversore. The sun even shines on a dog’s ass some days, you know?”

The rusty cough followed by a hacking wheeze signals the plague-masked doctor having a good laugh at my expense and I try not to let them all see me fume. Kit is funny, but he’s terrible for keeping my brothers and the staff in line. His constant pot shots would get him killed with other demons and caliphates, yet I allow each one with little more than a sharp response and occasionally, a good verbal jab.

It’squite baffling to me, even though I recognize that my verbal sparring is meaner than a punch at times.

“Jas,you wouldn’t be thrilled with a bunch of people invading your room and taking up all the oxygen.”

Scratching my chin, I look at Anton curiously. “Prior to moving our meeting area, you all invaded my space constantly.”

“But youallowedit and in fact, encouraged it for good ‘order’ or whatever the hell you told yourself to make it less obvious that you dislike being alone.” The peacock shifter gives me a knowing look, then a shrug. “Kit Kat struggles with boundary issues and lack of private spaces and neglect from foster homes. Having everyone there for an extended time period will stress him out. If you insist on it, then at least stop being a jackass for a bit.”

“You love to stick the knife in and twist, don’t you Aldaric?” His grin is unrepentant and I’m about to give him a piece of my mind when the soft voice of the fallen cobra shifter prevents it.

“Don’t be a jerk to him, Jasper. He protected me and Zav when his powers got out of control. Not from him, but from the juiced up opponents no one was ready for. We owe him and Salem a lot—more than you know.”

Frowning as I process that statement, I lean down to look at X. “You’re certain that is true? It’s not an exaggeration to keep me from being angry about his lack of control?”

Anton snorts as we head into the living area of the shrimp’s dorm. “Uh, no, he’s sure, and so am I. I doubt you’ll find anyone here who blames the kid for not knowing how to manage whatever that was. None of us even know what the hell he did; how could he know how to use it properly?”

Sighing as they hover Xerxes until he’s on the couch, I nod for Dr. D to take his leave. His service has been excellent and I’d tell my father, but then I’d have to recount things I’d prefer to keepout of his purview for the moment. Besides, I’m not sure the ancient demon gives a shit what my father thinks of him; in fact, I think he much prefers being here as our physician to being at court.

I should find out why that is and what he meant by his earlier jab when I have time.

For now, I have a roomful of caliphate to wrangle into telling me what happened on that field and how we’re going to prevent it from occurring again outside of the Games.

The last thing we need is to be surprised when our lives are on the line—again.

Nervous

Kit/Kat

Slash deposited me on the bed carefully, then ignored my protests as he rifled through my drawers to grab my last pair of sweats. I was relieved to note he didnotgo through my underwear drawer, so I haven’t been prematurely outed to another person, but it also means I’m going commando unless I want to call for help or struggle to move on my own.

Fuck, fuck, fuckitty, fuck.

I’d try getting Dottie to help—that is, if I’m right about her understanding what the hell I say—but she’s out with the others. My ears prick as vaguely intelligible phrases occasionally make it through the thick door, but none of it is enough toreallyhear what they’re saying. Sighing deeply, I give in, knowing the size of this shirt is big enough to hide my meager assets without the binder. I wonder briefly what Dank did with the stuff that was battle worn and realize that even my one and only binder is now gone. That isnotgood for day-to-day and I’m going to have to speak with X about how I address that issue quietly. They’ll know a way to fix it; I’m sure.

Frowning harder as I start tallying the shit I will need to deal with sooner rather than later, I curse under my breath again at Jasper’s decree. If it was just Xerxes staying here, I could wait until Salem crashes from the bear’s needs and chat in relative safety. But havingallof those douchenozzles here is going to severely cramp my ability to have a private convo with the one person who knows my damn secret.

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