Page 79 of Quiet Burn

Zav rakes his hands through his messy red hair, nodding. “I know. But… it’s clear you don’t have a choice. So do what you have to and we will do what we can to mitigate it.”

The anger of my shifter flows through me as I tip my head up to the sky and gather myself. When I bring my gaze back to Zavvie, I wink, then growl, “Get back in line. We have shit to do!”

He knows I’m playing a role more often than not, so he won’t take my ire poorly.

I watch as he scurries back to the cluster of demons surrounding Kit, waiting for them to get settled before I stride across the front of our practice area. “We will start by warming up with your chosen weapon. The list of groups is on the board over there. I want you all in your groups within two minutes or you’ll be running laps with the weapon you picked. For some of you, that’s going to suck.”

A chorus of groans echoes through the air and I grin, feeling the vicious pleasure of my beast at their pain. It takes away from the gnawing irritation I feel about having to follow orders given by an idiot like Lucian or the fact that this exercise was designed to cause problems. The groups were assigned via the administration and it was clear they purposefully put demons who would naturally be in competition with one another together for their fights. It’s not just Kit who is in danger; no, my other brothers will be pitted against people they shouldn’t be.

“Get moving!” I bark as they all grumble at the assignment board. “I saidtwo minutes.None of you will survive the Games if you cannot follow simple instructions.”

There’s a flurry of movement as the forty plus demons scramble to get organized and I use that time to try to calm myself again. Everything about these Games is being done in a way that is twisted; it’s almost like they want to knock contestants out prior to the start. Obviously, my caliphate is in their sights, if that’s true, because we’re the most powerful demons in this fucking school.

Except for the shrimp—he makes us more vulnerable.

My gaze flicks to the group he’s in immediately, and the calm I’ve been trying to attain flies out the window. Of course the rumors made their way to one of Lucian’s goddamned spies, so he has both RoquefortandFuron in his group. Luckily, he also has Anton, which makes my anxiety a bit less. Anton and Xerxes seem less intimidating than much of our caliphate because they are built in a slender, lean frame because of their animals. However, their ties with magic are almost as strong as mine because they are descended from Lust and Pride. The demons in those lines are powerful with their ability to enchant and mesmerize, especially those from their court. The last demon inthat pod is some idiot from a lower house in Wrath, and though Ishouldknow him, I have no idea.

“This starting battle will be a three-minute free-for-all whereno magicshould be used to enhance your weapons. We are simply getting you ready to duel, though I’d discourage not giving it your best efforts. Everything in this class is evaluated and I will be watching to see if any of you are slacking.”

Clicking the button on my phone, I sound the call for them to begin. There’s a slight pause before the noise of metal and wood paired with grunts and snarls fills the air. All of the six person circles are engaged in the melee, and I have to walk around each of them to keep abreast of what’s going on. I wish I could half shift and fly; it would give me a better view of the crowd. Unfortunately, my dragon is far too edgy to let him have even an ounce more of control.

Hopefully, I can keep him from blasting someone when the real challenge begins.

“Aymon,back off! He’s out for this round!”

Rubbing my temples, I wait until the moron from Slash’s line finally backs up and lets the smaller fear demon get up. I’ve been holding off on the magically assisted portion of this class as long as possible, but I don’t have an option. It has to start soon or I’ll be in violation of the edict. The problem is that these assholes have been going at it like they’re trying to murder or maimpeople even without that enhancement, so I know I’ll have to call for infirmary transports when the assists begin.

Most of my brothers will do fine, but Kit and Zavvie will struggle.

“Okay, break,” I call out. “Time to hydrate and prepare your weapons for magical battle.”

Oriel and Salem both whip their heads around to glare at me, but I can’t do anything about this fucking bullshit. I didn’t choose it and I’m not in a position to defy Lucian’s direct,writtencommands at this moment. Being here as both a teacheranda caliphate leader is tenuous—if he believes I’m interfering with the flow of instruction, he can rightfully petition my father to remove me. That would be disastrous, and I have to dance along the wire very cautiously.

The clanging of weapons finally ends and I watch the various demons move to the sidelines to get whatever refreshment they bring for themselves. There’s water, of course, but some species need other things to regenerate their energy and I have to give them time to do so. Demons are sneaky dicks, but we have specific unspoken rules we follow when we’re not engaged in true combat. One of those is that each species must be respected for their particular needs—even if it’s gross.

Pit demons are not fun to watch, but they typically move out of sight for their bullshit.

My eyes dart to a group of Cubi huddled around something and I roll my eyes. They might be fun to watch when it’s not so public, but I’m in no mood for feeding porn today. Growling under my breath, I stomp over to my caliphate to see what they’re doing during this short respite from battle. I just want to knowwhat their plan is; it’s not like I’m concerned about anyone or anything.

“Anton, are you good, man?”

Salem tilts his head at the bird shifter, and he gets a smirk as he lifts his head from where he and X are huddled away from prying eyes. They’re obviously exchanging energy as their lines require, but I’m sure they’re feeding off the excess emotions in the air from that group I just walked away from. “We’re good, dude. What about you?”

The panda is sitting with Kit on a bench, passing a water bottle to him as they unwrap some of his special color-coded bars. “We’re doing pretty good. KK is a little beat-up, but nothing Dank worthy.”

“I’m okay. The stuff Salem gave me is helping, I think,” the shrimp says. He’s slouched down as he takes a bite of the snack, but I don’t see anything that looks like a bad injury from here.

That will change quickly, unfortunately.

“I hope you have a plan.” They all look at me, even Kit, and I cross my arms over my chest. “No one can know.”

Oriel rolls his eyes, scoffing at my statement. “Duh, Jas. We didn’t get summoned yesterday.”

“You could have prevented this ridiculous situation,” Salem says as he yawns. “You’re the professor, man.”

I close my eyes, counting to ten in my head before I answer. How does he not realize I had zero control over this bullshit? I’m doing my best to not make the shrimp crazy—most of the time. I haven’t been nearly as rough as I was before, so I’m keeping my word. Why would I purposefully allow this disastrous lessonplan if that’s the case? When I’m calm enough to answer him, my eyes burn with the fire of my dragon. “Do I look like someone who is pleased with this turn of events?”

Anton and X step closer, obviously finished with their power gathering. The avian shifter tilts his head, studying me for a moment. “You do not. I realize you may not be able to say more, but I feel confident in my assessment.”

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