Trapped

T he free period between Demonic Computer Languages and our first Quiz Team meeting is perfect for the project Jasper wants me to complete. I still feel like he’s taking this Kit thing too seriously, but I don’t want to push him. It took years for Jas to admit how he felt and even longer for him to be comfortable with everyone knowing.

It had nothing to do with my being male and everything to do with his fear that his father will target anyone he cares about.

He’s still skittish about presenting a united front—especially with me. Slash has been his second since they were born, but I’m a recent addition to the closest confidants of the Prince. I hate being tested with this issue because I have such a strong feeling that Jasper is overreacting. Kit got put with the wrong people and now our leader is going to make him suffer for it.

Fucking Lucian. That asshole is up to something— that my prince is correct about. The headmaster has been trying to get in with the seven royal families for centuries, though I doubt it’s for cache. He’s far too cunning for that, so I know he’s got plans for Kit. Untangling all those threads is what Jas wants me to focus on, and I’m perfectly happy to comply.

I just don’t want to give him a bunch of ammunition to destroy Kit while I do it.

Scrubbing my hands over my face, I sigh and then look at the multiple screens running programs on my system.

I have a scraper harvesting information from the internet on the human level hoping to piece together more about Kit. In another window, code flashes across the black background as my sniffer searches for vulnerabilities in the royal archives’ system. That one will be hard—my father and uncles set it up and we’re the best. I’ve got another pen test running on the human foster care records from Kit’s state. I need to see where he’s been and where he came from. My final monitor shows Kit still sitting in class with Salem and Oriel via the HPS data I installed on his laptop. He’s not using it at the moment, but the signal is still strong.

Being the tech guy can be exhausting, especially since most of my caliphate aren’t hugely tech oriented. Anton, X, and Salem mostly use it for school and socials. Slash is practically allergic to his phone and the Prince mostly hands down edicts with his. Only Oriel is good with this shit and I’m not sure exactly how good because he’s so tight-lipped about his skills.

Having a professionally trained thief in your family is a pain in the ass.

I don’t envy Kit having to concentrate on class while trying to keep Salem awake. It’s hard as fuck and he’s stubbornly resistant to people’s efforts. Not to mention, Oriel’s silence is enough to drive you wild. The poor kid is trapped between them while hoping to learn things he’s not remotely prepared for. Shaking my head, I whirl my chair around to scoot over to my gaming system. The programs are doing their things, so I can go back to my group and quest away.

No one will know…

“Cover their right flank!” I growl into the mic, maneuvering into place for an AOE attack so our tanks can penetrate the horde. My usual companions aren’t online, but I was jonesing for a little release after classes today. The Discord chatter in my headphones distracts me for a moment—I’m not sure why humans feel the need to fill our channel with irrelevant noise when we’re in the middle of a raid.

A hand on my shoulder almost makes me scream in surprise and I whip my chair around to look at the intruder with wide eyes. Jasper looks down at me with an arched brow, his expression full of reproach. “Is this what you call ‘on the case,’ Red?”

Uh-oh. He only calls me that when we’re alone.

“Yes?” I reply as I pull the headphones off and click the button to log myself out. I’ll have to explain to the group later, but it’s not the first time I’ve had to jet quickly. The humans think I’m a trauma doctor who’s on call and now they don’t question my disappearances. “I mean… the code is running for everything I promised, Jas.”

“Mmm,” he murmurs, his hand cupping my jaw as he bends towards me. “And you think that freed you up to play around instead of focusing on my tasks?”

I lick my lips, looking into his dark eyes that flicker with a hint of his dragon. Jasper is hot as fuck as a humanoid, hotter as a demon, and fucking nuclear when he’s multi-shifted. The shit he can do with his tail is enough to convert a saint. “Well, I… I thought it was okay to take a break while it… ran…”

The Prince smirks as he brushes his lips over mine. “I doubt that’s true. You know better.”

All resistance in me melts at his touch, and I groan as my dick hardens. “You’re right, my prince. I was bad. I should be punished.”

That makes him grin wickedly. “Oh, you will be. But for now, I want you to give me a quick run down before you go to the Quiz Team. I told X to take our new member to the Drama Club with him, so I’ll be able to go over what you found before dinner.”

Swallowing hard, I nod. “Yes, Sir.”

Jasper pulls back, giving me room to slide my chair over to the various codes I have running on my other system. My fingers fly over the keys as I attach files and paste links into the email I’m sending him. I’m not worried that I haven’t gone through any of it yet; Jasper wants all the raw data so he can make his own conclusions. Then he’ll speak to the caliphate and we’ll either be in concert or there will be a huge fight until we can come to a compromise.

“Good job, Red. That’s a lot of information. Doesn’t get your ass out of the fire, but perhaps it will earn you a reward as well.”

My body shudders as he wraps his hand around my neck from behind, his fingers dancing over my pulse lightly. His praise makes every cell in my body sing with happiness—I’m an absolute slut for it and he knows it. “Jas, I have to get to the practice in ten minutes. You don’t want me… unpresentable, right?”

He chuckles darkly, scratching one extended claw over my pulse lightly. “True. I’m fine with sharing unless it’s outside of our family. Oddly, no one takes me up on it. I wonder why…”

“Because you’re a scary, possessive motherfucker that we don’t trust?” Oriel scares both of us, making Jasper snarl at the doorway. “I mean, I’m just guessing.”

“Oriel, you’ve been warned to stop using your skills to eavesdrop or frighten the rest of us.” The Prince gives him a narrow-eyed glare, but doesn’t stop stroking my neck.

The crow hybrid laughs, shrugging as he approaches. “And you know I don’t always follow your high-handed edicts, Eversore. I won’t have an option when you’re king, but I do now, and I am exercising my right to free sneak.”

I don’t know why O always has to taunt Jas until he loses his shit, but it never fails.

“Guys, don’t fight. At least keep the peace until dinner. I’m sure we’ll have a grand argument when Kit gets grilled,” I whisper. “Save the vitriol for then, please?”

“Oh, fine, Zav. I’ll stop poking the bear for a bit.” Oriel grins and jerks his head at the screens. “I want access to that, too. I’m going to read through it while I watch Kit and Xerxes flounder about on the stage.”

Jasper lets go of me, turning to square off with him. “Why? What is with you and this kid, Oriel?”

“I don’t like snap judgments, Your Highness . You know how people treat me and I refuse to be part of doing it to someone else. I’m fine with bullying a bunch of rich dickholes in our way, but I just don’t have a good feeling about doing it to Kit.” He steps closer, getting in Jas’ face and tilting his head. “Are you scared I’ll convince the others your vendetta is an overreaction to Lucian being involved?”

My eyes ping back and forth between them, watching our unusually aggressive friend stand up to the prince. Oriel has always rebelled, but this… this is not his M.O. He creeps around and pulls secret pranks when he’s feeling ignored, but he doesn’t go toe-to-toe with the big guys. If someone else told me they’d seen this, I wouldn’t have believed them. But I’m here, witnessing it in real time, and it’s fucking surreal.

“Don’t say my name like that, asshole. None of us asked for our family lineage, and you know it.” Jasper’s body is taut as they stand inches apart, glaring angrily at one another.

The emo thief snorts and pushes his hair off of his face. “No, but you’re the one who uses it to exert your influence over everyone else.”

“Of course, I do. I’m the leader of this caliphate, you dipshit.” Jasper huffs in irritation, giving me hope he will not lose his temper and set my room on fire. “I’m only trying to protect all of you.”

Oriel’s lip curl up a little and he scratches his chin. “Dude, you know you can do that without torturing the new kid until we know he deserves it, right? He doesn’t even have his magic yet. Kit might not bow and scrape for you, but I’ve watched him trying to do what little he’s been told without you realizing it.”

Wait, what?

“Hold on,” I cut in as I stand up. “What do you mean by that, O?”

He rolls his eyes and waves his hand. “Kit spent most of his first day doing the best he could in his classes, downloading an asston of shit to catch up, and despite giving you shit, doing exactly as told at every turn.”

I blink, then my eyes light up. Oh, this will be fun. “He’s a brat.”

Both of them whip their heads towards me and I shrug. It doesn’t matter whether they agree or that Kit hasn’t said a fucking word about preferences. Once Oriel put this in the right frame for me, I know exactly what’s happening.

Of course, no one in this room but me is going to admit that I’m right, but at least I’ll get them thinking.

“Kit enjoys pissing you off, riling you up, and walking off with the upper hand. Maybe an alpha brat and granted, I have no idea which way he swings, but… I’m sure.” Pushing my glasses up, I grin at them knowingly. “And both of you like it.”

Jasper growls, his hand shooting out to grab my arm. “Watch it, Red.”

“Oh, please,” Oriel huffs.

Their crappy denial makes me laugh and I shake my head as the humor in this situation washes over me. I’m curious about the poor kid. Jasper and Oriel have some sort of attraction, and Salem probably does, too. If he can enchant Anton, X, and Slash, he’d have a full fucking set. I’d bet my last loot drop that Kit has absolutely no clue about any of this.

This is rich.

“Why the hell are you laughing?” Jasper grumbles as he lets go. “What’s going on with everyone today?”

I shrug and give him a smug smile. “I’m enjoying the irony of the situation and being the first one to see shit for once. It’s pretty satisfying, TBH. I know why O is always gloating about it.”

“Fuck off, Zav,” O says as he backs away from the Prince. “Just download that shit and send it to me. I want to be prepared for this stupid discussion.”

My gaze flicks to Jasper, and he nods, so I go back to my computers, forwarding the same info I sent Jas to Oriel. “Done.”

“Good,” the crow shifter says when his phone pings. “Now you two can go back to whatever while I sift through this and monitor Kit and X.”

“Why do you need to do that?” I ask curiously.

He snorts. “You’ve met X, right?”

Oh, that’s why.