Page 100 of Quiet Burn

“X is correct,” Slash says firmly. “More knowledge can only help.”

Clasping my hands together, I consider their words. I never trust people with all the information; if you don’t have anything held back, it puts you at risk. You have to have things just for you that no one can take away. My trauma screams in my head, trying desperately to convince me that I shouldn’t share this with the two of them. I fight with myself internally, warring between wanting people to lean on for once and fear needing them at the same time.

Sweet baby Cerberus, I’m a goddamn mess.

“If you don’t want?—”

I shake my head at X, pushing all my fears down into my feet so I can speak. “No, I want to. It’s just really hard to fight the voices.”

“I would eat them if I could.”

Blinking for a second as my brain halts in place, I burst out laughing at Slash’s statement. Suddenly, the conflict in my head seems silly; after all, someone who would consume my internal voices if they could wouldn’t willingly hurt me.

Xerxes chuckles as I work through that thought process. “Leave it to the big guy to put it as simply as possible.”

“Don’t be mean,” I chide them as I get control of my mirth. “It was simple, but extremely clarifying, and that’s all it needed to be.”

My answer is a big, toothy grin from the shark shifter. He gets that his words struck a chord inside of me and he’s giving me time to reconcile it. X is supportive, too, but in a very different way than the huge enforcer. Their opposing styles are surprisingly complementary, much like the dark cleverness of Oriel and the happy ease of Salem.

Taking a deep breath as we cross the quad, I look at them and say softly, “I’m pretty sure I stopped time in the cafeteria the other day. I mean, I think I did. Is that weird?”

The looks they give are not encouraging, and my chest tightens.

I guess that’s not a good sign at all.

Secret Agent Man

Oriel

I’m supposed to be in Mythology, but I’m skipping out. That’s not usual for me in a class that basic, and I don’t give a flying fuck if Darkstar has a problem with it. He can write me up if he wants or hell, even send bullshit to my parents. I’ll handle that just like I’ve been handling another problem quietly, because that’s what I do.

Lurking in the shadows and stealing things is what crows do best, and I’m one of the best thieves in Hell.

“Now to leave this in Wormwood’s office and scare the living shit out of that moron,” I murmur as I skate through the shadows, moving through the building carefully so any demons in my line don’t notice me.

Luckily, too much shit has happened since the classroom threat for Kit to realize that the dhampir hasn’t mentioned his punishment since that fateful morning. Every day, I think it’ll come up as we eat breakfast or meet for studying, but it doesn’t. I’m glad for that because I don’t want him to be anxious and worried, but I also know he’ll get prickly as hell about people handling things for him. His push-pull with allowing us to helphim is adorable to me, but I know Kit Kat would demand to take the punishment he practically asked for with his words.

Salem was suspicious of how the magical asshole worded his edict and frankly, I’m not willing to risk yet another goddamn demon trying to do something sketchy to our friend. Besides, it wasn’t hard to find the pain points for the hybrid demon; Wormwood isn’t very bright and he’s definitely not smart about how he manages his private vices.

That’s how I was able to take this concern off our plates and I’ll continue to do so until it no longer works.

Pausing at the end of the hall, I watch carefully, then slip along the edges until I reach the Curses professor’s door. It only takes a few seconds to pick the rudimentary lock and I grin as I shut the heavy door behind me. My eyes dart around his space, checking for added security since my last visit. I don’t see any cameras or tiny eyes watching me; that means I’ll have to check for magical precautions. The dhampir isn’t even in the same realm of power as me, so if he has attempted to prevent me from leaving my new message, it won’t work. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy being amused by his fumbling tries, though.

A tiny spot of energy vibrates from the far corner of the ceiling and I snort. “Seriously, dude? A camera cloaking spell? Lame as hell for a fucking demon professor in Hell. I can’t believe he resorted to human tech thinking it would defeat me.”

Shifting to the crow form, I leave my clothes behind as I fly up to the corner where the magic is emanating. Tilting my head, I study it for a moment before flapping my wings to blow it away from the device with very little effort. Another light breeze from my wings has the components of the security device disassembling and hitting the carpeted floor within moments. Icaw in victory, then swoop down to shift back to my humanoid form.

“Zav is going to have a field day playing with this before I bring it back,” I murmur with a smirk. I’d prefer not to involve anyone else in my subterfuge, but the techie kitsune will have this thing re-programmed and working for us before the end of the day once I ask. He’ll tell Jasper,of course, but I was only keeping this to myself so it didn’t get back to KK. Zav might actually have the stones to keep the Prickly Prince quiet, especially if we make sure he understands the stakes.

Being sent toanythingreferred to as ‘dungeon detention’ is not something we want for our brothers.

I tap into my other senses, including the deep greed that runs through my family lines. It’s what makes us top tier thieves as it applies to almost anything tangible or intangible, including information. Thirsting for knowledge drives me to examine the file cabinet first, easily picking the ridiculous lock before I flip through the files until I hit what I’m looking for—Kit.

Since he’s new to Hell, the file is as thin as I expected, though the gossipy notes about his relationships and speculation on his demon type shed some light on the dhampir’s motives. He’s obviously keeping close tabs on our little enigma and it’s more than what a professor should give a shit about. Demons are nosy by nature as they love to use flaws and weak points as weapons, but this feels like it’s more than that. I don’t know if it’s by Lucian’s decree or if someone else is pulling the strings; however, knowing he’s got someone pressing him for intel is useful.

I hum to myself quietly as I shuffle through the files on the rest of my caliphate, curious enough to wonder what the douchebaghas to say about us. There’s a lot of garbage from our previous schools,—reports, grades, demerits, etc—and again, a lot of notes that are filled with rumors and intrigue. My eyes narrow as it details incidents that have happened since we arrived that are not part of disciplinary action; he’s got rats in the student body filling him in on events across the campus.

Jasper will be livid; I can’t wait to share that with him eventually—thinking about it makes me giddy.

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