Revenge

I don’t know if I’ve ever sat for two hours with my mouth hanging open before, but my Deconstructing Human History class had me looking like a wide mouthed bass. Students around me snickered constantly, and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Seriously, though, I just landed in the giant pile of dog shit; what did everyone expect?

Absolutely nothing in history is what humans think it is.

Most of the wars have to do with factions of supernaturals—especially rogue ones—and demons definitely influenced them to take up arms. Deities exist and they played their parts as well, which is another smack in the face. Both sides are neither good nor evil, only playing their parts in the wheel of Fate like they are intended. Images of three old crones who weave the threads in their various forms are also burned into my retinas, and let me tell you, I’m having a bit of shell shock.

If I thought my world was rocked when I arrived here or in the Intro class, this is so much worse.

Interestingly, demons play by a more distinct set of rules than the mainstream supernaturals. They have treaties with this mysterious Society group, as do the deities, mythicals, and the Fae. But they don’t have to play by all of their rules. I don’t have any powers which, according to Professor Alabaster, means I’m something the other groups called ‘unemerged.’ If I were anything but a demon, Fae, or deity, this world would get hidden from me until my gifts show up. Some of them never have gifts show up because they’re mixed species, so they never know. That concept is utterly wild and the resources they exert to track those people are immense.

Luckily, even if I’m a ‘hybrid’ demon, the royals of Hell want their brethren trained and educated. Hybrid is the word supes prefer over mixed race and it makes me think of stupid boxy trucks made by megalomaniacs. But no one asked me and honestly, I don’t have the spoons left to debate it. I’m two classes into my first day, and reality has tilted so far that I feel like I’m slipping off the edge of the planet.

“Do you think I’m a demon, Dottie? I have to be if that stupid letter system found me, right?” I whisper to my kinkajou as we walk towards the building where the cafeteria is located. She chitters, grabbing my thumb and hugging it as we walk. It makes me feel a little better, but that’s only because I’m struggling to let go of the very human idea that demons equal bad guys.

Like I said, my head is jam-packed with things I have to re-frame and deal with—that’s one.

Loosening my tie a bit more, I take a deep breath as the panic tries to take over. It’s a lot harder to do with my binder on, but I’m training myself to breathe correctly. I read this article about actresses who have to train in corsets for movies and shows. They have to wear them as often as possible when they start because it restricts their breath in unnatural ways. Especially if they have to sing in a musical, the actress might wear one for months during rehearsals to get used to it. This is kind of like that, so I focus on calming my mounting anxiety while not hyperventilating.

“Headed to the cafe?”

I damn near scream when a voice behind me catches me off-guard. “Holy shit ,” I gasp, putting my hand on my chest as my heart hammers. Being scared out of my mind is not a good thing when I’m already fighting an attack and bound around my chest.

Oriel comes up next to me, his brow creased in what might be concern. It also might be confusion, though, because he’s hard to read. “Settle down, Kit Kat. It’s just me.”

Using the name Kat makes the color drain from my face and the attack ramps up, making me white knuckle my messenger bag. Shit, shit, shit… does he know? I have to find out, but the words are sticking in my dry mouth. Finally, I force out a huff and squeak, “Kit Kat?”

Great. That was not a dude's way of answering. Way to go, Kat.

“It suits you, man. You seem soft on the outside, but you get crunchy when you break off a piece.”

I blink, digesting that statement for a moment before I smile. It’s actually kind of nice. “Oh. Well, yeah. I had to learn to stand up for myself in the system.”

“Why?”

My head whips around and I see Zavida joining us, his eyes curious behind his glasses. “Because the human foster system is like The Most Dangerous Game for predators and abusers. Kids fall through the cracks and those people are good at catching them when no one is looking.”

Oriel tilts his head in a bird-like fashion, studying me. “Did you fall through the cracks?”

“No,” I say as Dottie scampers up to my shoulder. “But bad shit happens there even when you don’t fall into the cracks. That’s all you’ve earned of my story, by the way, so stow any more intrusive questions.”

“See?” Oriel grins a bit, looking much different from his emo persona when his face lights up. “Crispy as hell. I like it.”

I shrug and squint at the gigantic building ahead. It’s swarming with students and that makes me want to crawl in a hole. “Speaking of questions, what the hell are you two doing? Is His Royal Dickface making you stalk me to lunch, too?”

Zavida tries to look chagrined, but Oriel shrugs. “Of course he is. But that’s not entirely it—whenever we have overlapping lunch or dinner we eat as a caliphate. Dinner is in the dorm sometimes because Salem cooks, but sometimes it’s in the hall. Lunch is almost always here, so people can see us.”

“We have to make sure our table is always representing us,” the smaller demon says as we approach the steps. “So make sure you behave so we don’t have to calm the Prince down later.”

“ We ,” Oriel snorts as he shakes his head. “That’s rich, Zav. Everyone knows you’re the Jasper-whisperer.”

Oh.. Oh…. Zavida and…

I swallow hard as that image fills my brain and I realize it’s hot as fuck. Sucking in a slow breath, I work to calm the heat that travels over me as the little movie plays in my mind. This place is affecting me—I need to get some food in me. Maybe that protein bar wasn’t enough? Oriel said something about energy.

“Hello? Hell to Kit? Hey, man,” Zavida says as I come back to reality. He’s waving his hand in front of me and I flush bright red. “Where’d you go?”

“Nowhere. Just lead the way inside. I think I’m hungry or something,” I mutter as I look away. Dottie pulls a lock of my hair and I can tell she knows I’m struggling.

Who knew attractive, rich demons were my fucking Kryptonite?

“Do you even know what you have on your plate?” Zavida squints at me, his soft eyes watching me as I dig into the plateful of delicious smelling food I piled high.

“Nope,” I say between bites. “Don’t care, either. The little card things were in some fucking language I don’t know, and I was too hungry to bother with seeing if this phone you gave me could translate it.”

Oriel’s laugh makes Dottie sit up and glare at him, looking like she wants to go over and shake her tiny fist in his face. “Don’t worry, little furry. I’m not judging; I find it hysterical that someone else eats like Slash. He’s a fucking trash compacter.”

Ha. Shark, garbage compactor, Jaws…

Looking at the guys, I realize they have no idea why I almost snorted food into my sinuses. “Um, there’s an old movie called Jaws about this killer shark. There’s a couple of them, really, but they were made in the 70s and special effects were pretty basic. So, like the huge ass great white in the movie was made from a trash compactor and people didn’t know.”

Zav’s eyes light up and he immediately whips out his phone. He’s checking my facts, but it’s true and it’s funny. “I’ll be damned. He’s right. That is kind of funny, Kit.”

I give him an eye roll as I wolf down some kind of sugary pastry thing, then wipe my mouth. “Of course I’m right. I’m not an idiot, despite what your asshat prince thinks. Just because I’m new to this world doesn’t mean I wasn’t smart enough to get a scholarship here, jackass.”

The nerdy hacker has the grace to turn pink and Oriel laughs again. I enjoy seeing it because I feel like he doesn’t do it much. Being the one who makes him crack a smile is satisfying. After fumbling a bit, Zavida finally clears his throat and looks at me again.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that. Sometimes, I don’t have a good filter.”

Oriel huffs another laugh and nods. “He’s telling the truth, Kit Kat. Zav doesn’t have the best social graces when he’s not focused on it.”

“He doesn’t need a good filter. He’s fine exactly how he is,” a deep, rumbling voice says as a tray slams down in the seat to my right.

My lips curve as I see Jasper seethe at my position at the head of the table. I sat here specifically hoping that fucker would show, and he did. “Something wrong, Your Highness?”

If he could shoot fire from his mouth indoors, I’d be burned toast right now. His eyes are dancing with flames as he glares. “You know what’s wrong. And stop making Zav feel bad.”

“Uh, reality check, Prince Chud. I didn’t make Zav feel bad; he made me feel stupid. But he apologized, and I accepted—it’s what non-shitheads do.”

My answer doesn’t help the rage building in him at my rebellion. I can tell because he’s gripping his silverware like he’s contemplating driving the fork into my eye socket. His teeth grind and he cracks his neck, looking frustrated as hell.

I have news for him—me, too, buddy.

“Fine. Everyone report, then.”

Arching a brow, I go back to cleaning my plate. I don’t work for this motherfucker, and he is not my goddamn supervisor. This is my lunch and I’ve already been imposed upon enough to entertain Zavida and Oriel.

“ Curses and EsTech were fine. Nothing I can’t handle,” the dark-haired boy says with a shrug. “I could probably teach EsTech . It’ll be a GPA boost.”

Jasper nods sharply, turning to the ginger across from him. “And you?”

Zavida grins, and I think I see a hint of what his animal might be. I’ve only figured out Slash and Jasper so far, but they gave me enough physical hints. Zav’s animal is intelligent, small, and crafty. “ Curses was fine. Not my forte, but O and X can help me. Complex Algo will be useful to us, and Turing will allow me to focus on my work because I’m so far ahead.”

Dottie scampers up my arm, tugging on my hair, and I pick up a piece of fruit. My eyes dart to Oriel before I give it to her, and he shrugs.

Guess we’ll find out; I just hope if she barfs, it’s on Prince Ass-sore.

“What about you, Camponella? Report.” Jasper digs into his food as he waits for me to answer. I would never have thought a dragon would cut every damn thing into perfect squares, but he’s doing it before each bite.

When his glare doesn’t let up, I sigh heavily. “Intro was like being put in a goddamn reality show where you’re the only one who doesn’t know it’s not real. And History was even worse. People snickered at me the whole time, even when I answered questions well, despite having no fucking clue about any of this before two days ago .”

“We seem to have different definitions of ‘don’t make the caliphate look stupid,’ Kit Camponella,” he growls as he dabs a napkin on his lips. “You’re going to embarrass the shit out of us by the end of the day.”

“Look, asshole. It’s not my fault I didn’t grow up in Hell with rich parents and perfect lives. I’ll catch up, so don’t worry about your precious reputation.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I push back in my chair, needing space from his judgment.

This shit sucks and I don’t even get to make friends who aren’t dicks because I’m stuck with all of them .

“You’d better or there will be consequences.”

Dottie chitters again, bolting across the table before I can stop her. My eyes widen as she climbs right up the Prince’s arm to get in his face and when he turns to brush her off, my kinkajou shocks the shit out of everyone at the table.

She promptly shoves the grape-like fruit I gave her right in his nostril, then prances away before he grabs her.

I guess that’s one way to end a conversation with the Prince of Hell—I just don’t know what it’s going to cost us.