Page 17 of Quiet Burn

Prince: What the hell is going on? There are three of you who are supposed to be watching him.

Enforcer: Calm down.

Chef: I fell asleep. Something threw my internal time clock off yesterday. Wormwood was being a dick.

Designer: In other news, Kit Kat is happy to stick it to professors as viciously as he does with you, Jas.

KitKat: …

Prince: Who changed his name?

KitKat: I’m not stupid, Jasper. I know how tech works.

Thief: Good on you, Kit. Don’t let these idiots grind you down.

Hacker: Can we get back to what happened in class?

Prince: You’ll see him in a few minutes in Mythology. He needs to tell me.

KitKat: He’s right here, assholes. Look, the fucker was being mean to Salem and you said we stick up for the people in the caliphate, right?

Everything goes quiet, and I chuckle to myself. The kid has a way of knocking the knees out from under my best friend, and I enjoy it more than I can let on. I look up from my phone, checking to make sure that the irksome mage isn’t monitoring us anymore. Jasper willhaveto fix Kit’s detention now that he’s pointed out it was in defense of our brothers.

Prince: Who the fuck knew you were listening, shrimp?

Chef: The point is, he stood up and gave Wormwood hell for being a dick to me, then Slash joined him, and in the end, he muttered something creepy as fuck about his punishment.

Sparkle Skirt: What? No way.

Thief: Now we know how Kit Kat changed his name. X has been playing with the chat.

SparkleSkirt: Whatever, O. Tell us about the creepy punishment.

KitKat: Look, I’ll take my licks; I earned them.

Enforcer: Something about dungeon detention and needing clothes he doesn’t mind throwing away. I am not comfortable with this situation.

Prince: Fuck.

Enforcer: Yes.

KitKat: Is every teacher here a goddamn predator?

Thief: Probably.

Designer: Definitely.

Hacker: Depends on what kind of predator.

Sparkle Skirt: Unfortunately.

Enforcer: We’re not leaving him to that shit, J.

Prince: Fine. Get to your next class. I’ll handle this.

“I don’t want him doing me any favors,” Kit grumbles. “I meant it when I said I can handle myself.”

Anton snorts and shakes his head. “No one in this group or the chat is going to allow that shit, Kit Kat. You’re one of us, and an idiot like Wormwood isn’t going to traumatize you. When you can defend yourself, then we’ll talk.”

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