Page 3 of Failed State

Huck is very aware that our nemesis is a total homophobe, so he’s happily pushing his buttons. It distracts the entire contingent from Sydney’s scans, and that’s his plan. She always sneaks things in—more than me—and neither of us want her to get sent to the Bad Place for a week. Females come back a lot more haunted than most males. It’s fucking disgusting, and I refuse to allow her to be subjected to it.

“You wound me, Wicker. I thought we were becomingfriends.”

I swear to Odin, that demon is absolutely insane. Since he feeds on fear, he doesn’t feel it himself, and that leads to interesting behavior. Most people would call it unhinged and maybe it is. But he’s loyal as fuck, even if Syd pretends to hate him.

She definitely doesn’t; my shifter senses can tell.

“Huck, for fuck’s sake,” Syd growls as she crosses to the entrance. Her scans are done and we can stop screwing around. “Stop being an idiot and get inside.”

Pausing to pick up my bag, I give a very subtle chin jerk to the poor witch locked up by Wicker’s line and join my friends to head inside for another day of being told we’re the cause of the entire world’s ills.

None of us use the old rusty lockers that line the wall. Some kids do, but it’s foolish. The guards can search us at any time, but the admin can rifle your locker without you even knowing. It’s the perfect way to frame someone you don’t like. Syd, Huck, and I simply carry our shit everywhere, then head home. We’re more suspicious than the younger supes or the ones who weren’t caught in the earliest sweeps.

Watching people die in the early court system had a chilling effect on our ability to trust anything we can’t see with our own eyes.

“I will never understand why they make us attend a college level program. None of us willeverbe allowed out of the sectors, so a higher education is a waste of time,” Sydney says as we walk down the hall.

“Maybe it’s for appearances?” I offer. Truthfully, I don’t know why, either, except it means they have all the younger supes under their thumbs for four more years. Rebellion is the watchword of the young, and perhaps they believe they’ll keep future generations under control by continued indoctrination.

Huck snorts. “Nada, little buddy. Since the blockades went up, the rest of the world could give a fuck less about the supes on this land mass. Taterman doesn’t need to pander to their wishes.”

Sydney whirls around giving us both a dirty look. “Did you fucking check for a Confession Enforcement indicator before you said hisname?”

The demon has the grace to look chagrined as he shakes his head. “Sorry, filly. It’s hard to remember, though I know it shouldn’t be. We’re four years out and this shit still gets me.”

“We didn’t grow up in a world like this one,” I murmur softly. “By the time this came along, we’d formed normal habits. It’s not weird that you’re still adjusting, Huck. Hell, we all are. Look how hard the lockdown supes fight against their situation.”

Syd frowns as she shrugs. “I don’t know why they do it. No one is coming to save us; that much is clear. And we’re unable to save ourselves now, so the Unveiling sentenced us to this life until we die. There’s no point in getting murdered.”

Her father’s death still haunts her and I wish I could help… but no one can.

Death gives no quarter, even to those who deserve it.

Our first class wasHistory of Supernatural Interference 100and how the asshole giving the lecture kept a straight face, I don’t know. Most supe groups—be it packs or covens or clashes or whatever—still used oral history to keep our existence secret while preserving our history before the Unveiling. Humans rely on governments and the internet and schools to teach doctored versions of theirs. The disconnect is why they’refailing to convince the young supes in sectors of the evils that supernaturals have done over the centuries.

Leaders in the supe sectors make sure we are not vilified before everyone who knows how it was before dies.

“How in the fuck can they stand up there and straight-up lie to people old enough to remember shit?” Sydney grumbles. “I know for a goddamn fact that supernaturals didn’t cause the fucking Gulf War fighting with djinn.”

“Djinn are a funny lot. They’ll go to war, but not unless they have to.” Huck chomps on the toothpick he’s been chewing since the beginning of class. “If it were true, that shitgibbon would never have been able to win. They’d owe all the American supes wishes. Dangerous game, but amazing spoils.”

“You’ve never met a djinn,” I scoff as we walk up the stairs to ourHuman Literary Masterpiecesclass. “Demons lie like they breathe.”

Huck rolls his eyes as we get to the door, holding it open for us. “I sure as hell have. She was as beautiful as can be, like a fever dream of spices and dark nights in the desert. But she had her Marker and wishes were not an option.”

Ah, he met her in the holding area before he was shipped here.

“I’ve never met a supe that exotic,” Syd says wistfully. “My dad kept us pretty under the radar so we wouldn’t get found out. We lived in a small town and there weren’t many supes at all, aside from witches and a few common shifters.”

“You’re not missing anything.” Shrugging, I follow her into the lecture hall and plop down in the seat on her left side. “We lived in Kansas, so lots of open space and that means bigger shifters and mythicals sometimes made their homes nearby. Most of them were dicks because they were powerful and rich—especially the vampires.”

“Fanged fuckers aren’t big,” Huck says with a sneer. “And they’re not uncommon. They’re just traitors to us all.”

Here we go…

“Huck, they were smarter than the rest of us,” Sydney mutters. “If I had a Wayback Machine and could tell the other species to mimic the fangers, I would.”

“Good afternoon, students!”

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