Page 14 of Quiet Burn

I guess we’re all a bunch of neurotic nits when it comes to our family being in danger.

Time Warp

Kit/Kat

Aloudcrackechoes through the room and it startles everyone into silence—even Jasper. He doesn’t flinch, of course, but his scowl deepens as our Headmaster cuts his icy gaze around the room. Dottie scrambles close to me and I cuddle her while we all wait for the pompous dickbag to speak.

“Good evening elite students of Discordia,” Lucian begins. His voice booms without a microphone and I arch a brow at Oriel, who grins and mimics waving a wand. “Tonight you will receive materials outlining the changes we will implement throughout the week to support your caliphates in their quest to conquer the upcoming challenges. It is your responsibility, caliphate leaders, to ensure your team members review this thoroughly and prepare themselves.”

I frown when I realize that he’s called a gathering of maybe a hundred or so people who are already the richest, most powerful demons in school to give them a cheat sheet. “What a fucking douche canoe,” I mutter under my breath.

X snickers next to me, then slips their hand over to squeeze mine. “Nice.”

Keeping my eyes on the psycho at the podium, I wink. Jasper gives both of us a reproachful look, then aims his displeasure at Salem. I forgot to pay attention when the dramatic villain entrance happened and the panda dozed off within the short span of time. I elbow him in the ribs, waiting until his eyes open. “Stay awake, man. Between the pouty prince and this prima donna, you’ll get your ass beat somehow if you’re caught.”

He gives me a sleepy grin as he shrugs. “Arrogance bores the hell out of me and itismy low energy time. Not my fault, Kit Kat.”

“I know, but I don’t want you to end up scrubbing toilets or stuck in some weird prison.” I tilt my head, realizing I have no idea what kind of punishment Lucian would hand out. “There aren’t torture rooms here, right?”

“Later,” Oriel hisses. “You’re going to get us all bitched at guys.” The crow shifter glares and I make a motion like I’m zipping my lips, tuning back into the long-winded speech about the long tradition of the Caliphate Games.

Leaning down, I grab my tablet out of my bag and pull out the stylus so I can take notes. The thoughts racing around my head are hard to pin down, and I know I’ll want to come back to this. Zav grins at me slightly as I start scribbling my random questions and concerns on the app. His shy efforts are slowly chipping away at the ice wall I built up when he was so cowardly. I’m surprised to find I want to repair that bridge and find the funny gamer I saw on the first day.

The speech drones on and I realize Headmaster Darkstar is extremely full of himself. Some people just like to hear themselves talk, but there’s something more sinister in this speech. He’s mentioned the ‘glorious outcome’ twice now, and I know the guys told me the current royals of Hell waged war afterthey won. It’s not a big leap to think he has plans for the end of the Games, but who the fuck is he going to use to accomplish them?

Ifhe’d shut up, I could try to figure out who his pawns are.

I blink when Lucian stops speaking suddenly. The room seems to freeze in place around me and panic rises in my throat. I don’t know what the hell is happening, but when I look at the guys, they’re also stuck. Sucking in a deep breath, I let it out slowly as I try to get my heart rate under control. Obviously, I can move, but everyone else, including Dottie, is as still as a gorgon gallery. A soft chuckle escapes me when I realize I wouldn’t have used that simile a week ago, so I’m definitely assimilating to this damn school.

“Okay, Kit,” I whisper. “You have no idea why the fucking shit everything is paused, but you wanted time and you’ve got it. The only way to keep from having a full blown panic episode is to distract yourself. So who is Darkstar looking at? What teams are in his pocket?”

Pushing to my feet, I cradle Dottie in my arms while I run my gaze over the pre-formed caliphates. If I’m correct in my assumptions, there are about forty or so, ranging from four to six team members. No one is sitting in a group as big as ours, and I wonder if the only reason we’re getting away with it is because of who Jasper is. That would paint the target on the Prince bigger since he has more back-up. But then, when the guys formed their boy band as kids, no one expected these games to ever happen again—at least, that’s what I assume.

Will they let the smaller teams pull in more members?

I put that on my list of questions to talk to the guys about later. Zav needs to add the entire process behind forming caliphates and the history of these damn challenges to those cards. I can’t be an effective team member if I’m both a knowledge and a behavior liability. Not having magic is bad enough; adding ignorance and lack of control to it means I’ll be their weak spot. I don’t like that idea one bit.

Shaking my head to clear those intrusive thoughts, I go back to studying the people in theTricliniumbefore whatever magic bullshit this is wears off. There’s a group in the back that has my new nemesis, Roquefort, in it, and I’d bet my favorite fidget ring he’s one of Lucian’s lackeys. That might be wishful thinking because it would make me feel better about the guys raining fire on him now that I’m ‘theirs’, even if it’s pretend.

A weird vibe makes me shiver and I turn, looking at the table behind me near the left wall. The demons sitting there seem intense as fuck, and their expressions are determined. I’m not good at identifying demon types by sight or scent yet, so I don’t know what they are. What I do know is they’re not all the same, and they exude a vibe that makes my skin crawl.

Whoever they are, they’re going on my suspect list.

I pin-point a few more options, then drop back to my seat to make a brief sketch of the room with all my question marks notated. My pulse slows as I look at it, feeling a lot better about who the competition is and how we’re going to identify Lucian’s puppets. That was all I needed; a little time to gather my thoughts so I can move forward.

Just like that, the room unfreezes like nothing happened and my jaw drops.

Did I do that?

“Didyou guys notice anything weird about that speech?”

My eyes widen as I turn to look at X. They pluck a bit of their salad off their plate, holding it up for me to try, and I lean in, taking the bite automatically. I was hoping they’d expound so I’m not worried I dreamt the whole ‘time skip’. The dressing they put on this is delightful—light, tangy, and sweet—so I raise my hand to give them a thumbs up while I chew.

“Good on you, Kit Kat. The nightshade greens are death for humans, but for us demons, they’re magical enhancers. You should definitely eat more of them,” Salem says as he watches me with a proud smile. “I can’t believe you’re so willing to just try shit without knowing what it is.”

I shrug. “What else am I going to do…. starve? I think not.”

Jasper snorts, looking up from his now clean plate of unidentifiable Hell fare. “To answer your question, X, I agree. It was weird as fuck and there’s… something… about it bothering me. I feel like I missed something.”

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