Come Together

B reakfast the next morning is unusually quiet.

Jasper is in a mood , which is normally preceded by calls or visits with his father. This time, I think it is about our new floormate.

Kit and his adorable familiar behaved last night—in fact, I think he studied harder than anyone. He reads at a ridiculous speed; I know because I monitored him as he worked. It’s unusual for Xerxes to land on the same side as O and Salem on any topic, but he’s vehemently in favor of the new guy becoming one of us.

My lover, much like me, prefers to placate from the middle ground, not take a side.

That means I have to figure out why the guy is causing a divide in our group without even trying. Kit’s past is still eluding Zavida—another anomaly—and he’s so closed off that it’s hard to suss out what his game is. Though, to be fair, he might not have any nefarious notions at all. It’s obvious he genuinely doesn’t know shit about the world he belongs to. I highly doubt Lucian or the King would pluck a semi-human spy from Earth who truly has no idea what the fuck he’s doing.

I’m left with no solid conclusions, just vibes. Vibes are X’s thing, not mine. The vague feeling of helplessness pricks my very core —I am an avatar of pride, after all. Out of anyone, I should be able to use my superior intelligence and social skills to coax this kid to talk. I can’t seem to make myself do what I normally do to ‘encourage’ people to spill their innermost machinations, though.

This entire situation is fucking weird, and I don’t like it.

My irritation ruffles the bird inside of me, making my shifter side prance and fluff impatiently. I’m sure my eyes are flashing with the rainbow of my tail—a sure sign I’ll need to fly it off at some point. The silence is unbearable as I look at my friends eating their food and basically ignoring one another. We only come here to set the expectation and being up this early won’t be required in a few weeks, but our obvious discord isn’t doing us any favors.

“Curses and Hexes is going to be a bitch ,” I comment casually. Kit looks up at me curiously as his little bear thing nibbles on fruit. “Elias Wormwood is a stuffy, prissy little shit who uses the professor’s title to abuse students.”

Slash grunts around a mouthful of meat. “I’d like to see him try me.”

“You know he will,” Salem says with an enormous yawn. “He thinks battle magic guys are ‘wasting his precious time’ because they don’t care about anything but offensive spells.” He reaches over and scratches the tiny animal’s head, earning him a chittery sound and a smile from Kit.

That damn panda is never this chummy with people.

Xerxes leans forward, looking past me to where the new guy is sitting with a serious expression. “Be very careful, Kitten. Elias won’t care that your magic hasn’t emerged yet. He’s a fucking sadist and he’ll let dickheads fuck with you on purpose. Trust me.”

Kit lets out the most human sounding growl I’ve ever heard, stabbing his Cantu berry toast with his fork. That gets a guffaw out of the crow shifter on one side and a chuckle from the lazy chef on the other. “Just fucking peachy. Another professor who wants to see me fileted for their amusement.”

“Perhaps you should head back home, then, if you can’t take it?” Jasper finally acknowledges the rest of us rather than stewing in whatever bullshit he’s been lost in. “You’re not getting inducted with a piss poor attitude like that.”

A palm slaps on the table as Kit pushes out of his seat, glaring at our leader. “I didn’t ask to be part of your stupid boy band. You guys think I need to and X made good points, so I agreed. Don’t hang that shit over my head like a punishment; it won’t work.”

If I didn’t know better, I’d think his kinkajou was shaking a tiny fist at the grumpy dragon.

“Excellent point,” Xerxes says as he looks at the more hostile end of the table. “It’s unfair to act as though we’re going to yank this away every time Kit doesn’t react the way you expect.”

All eyes land on me, and I feel the bird flutter with pleasure inside of me. He likes when we’re important; the warring sides making us the swing vote does just that. I press my lips together, pretending to contemplate the situation. Of course, I know Jasper’s full of dragon dung; he will not let some uninducted rando live on our floor all year. This is him flexing his muscles at the guy to regain control; unfortunately for him, Kit Camponella seems to be made of sterner stuff than that.

“I think it’s tawdry to threaten someone with shit you’re not willing to back up,” I say as I look at each of them. “That shit is beneath us.”

Slash glares at me like he wants to rip my head off of my shoulders, but I could give a fuck. He never pries himself out of Jasper’s ass long enough to see when the Prince is being ridiculous. Zav used to, but that’s taken a hard left since they started fucking. It leaves X and I as the eternal arbiters of the previously uncommon disagreements. Now that Kit is here, it’s plain to see that unless he’s inducted, the balance is going to hinge on us continually.

I enjoy being important, but not that important; it feels like work.

“Thanks, I guess,” Kit mutters as he gathers his shit and stands. The familiar scrambles up his arm to his shoulder, giving the other end of the table a glare. “I’m going to head to class.”

Salem nearly knocks his chair over as he stands up, and I observe. He’s really into befriending his roommate. Normally, he stumbles around like a half-drunk frat guy unless he’s in a kitchen. “I’m coming with, Kit Kat. We’ve got this one together.”

“Maybe don’t crowd me this time?” Kit says, but there’s no bite to it. “I can’t take notes and poke you awake all the time. Suck it up, man.”

It only takes me a second to grab my stuff and stand as well. “Me, too. We all have this session together.”

“Slash.”

The one word from Jasper gets the big guy to rise, but he gives us all a pissy look. “Fine. Since I’m in the class, I will escort you.”

“Gee, thanks, dude,” Salem snarks as he rolls his eyes and slings an arm over Kit’s shoulder. Somehow, he misses the kinkajou, but the animal runs up his muscled arm to sit between the two of them. “What a kind and not at all forced offer.”

Kit snorts, and even I have trouble keeping my expression straight.

Semi-conscious Salem is pretty amusing.

“Perhaps you could tell us the fundamental difference between a curse and hex, Mr. Camponella.”

Kit’s eyes widen as the sharply dressed mage-demon hybrid glares at him intently. His mounting anxiety is palpable as he fiddles with a ring on his thumb that spins around as he strokes it. “Um… I…”

Slash makes a sound that I assume is satisfaction and irritation from the other side of Salem. The shark shifter’s unnecessary dislike of our new member stems solely from Jasper, and it’s grating on my nerves. I know he can think for himself, but he’s not right now. He and the Prince pride themselves on differing from their asshole dads, but they’re acting exactly how their parents would.

It’s a goddamn shame.

“Find your tongue, Mr. Camponella, or you’ll find yourself in a much worse situation.”

Glaring at Wormwood, I remember why mage hybrids have been relegated to my family’s territories. They’re a stuffy lot whose greatest downfall is their own ego; it comes from their more humanoid appearances and ties to human supes. Ridiculous if you ask me, but for some demons, the more or less you look like humans defines your place in Hell. The King could give a fuck less, but he indulges both sides, so they spend all their time fighting each other rather than the ruling class.

That’s a trick demons taught humans a long time ago and they’ve no more wised up than our own people.

“Professor, I… I don’t… know.” Kit says in a low voice. He’s looking at his hands and I can’t decide if he’s angry or upset.

Salem, however, looks more awake than ever. Flexing his bulk a bit, I note his tail slipping out from under his seat to wrap around Kit’s ankle as he gives the smug-looking dick at the front of the hall a filthy look. “Must feel good to pick on someone who can’t fight back, huh?”

“Salem…” Slash hisses under his breath.

I roll my eyes because he’d do and say much worse if someone was this combative with any of us, particularly the Prince. “Let him talk, man. How often does Sleepytime speak up?”

“Don’t… it’s okay,” Kit says softly. “I’m used to this shit.”

That hits a button inside of me. Whatever the fuck he’s gone through top side is bad enough that he’ll fight Jasper like a wet cat, but he won’t stand up to someone in authority when they humiliate him in public. I press my lips together, unsure what I’m going to do now. I despise bullies in positions of power; it’s why I willingly became part of the caliphate. We’re working to take our corrupt, shithead parents out so we can make things better for our territories. Sure, Jasper’s got issues, but it’s nothing like his fucking parents.

Wormwood is a scum sucking bottom feeder for treating a student this way—especially one he has to know the background of.

“Bullshit, Kit Kat. This asshole is purposefully calling you out, despite knowing you’re new to this world.” Salem crosses his arms over his chest, looking much bigger as he sits up at attention for once.

“Mr. Stryker, I don’t believe I requested your input.” Wormwood gives him a stern look, but the panda demon is unswayed. “Mind your words before you lose marks for the day.”

Salem sure as hell doesn’t need to lose points in any class that isn’t about food. My decision becomes much simpler when the professor turns his ire to my unusually verbose friend.

Closing my eyes for a moment, I let the bird spread out, pushing its way to the surface and through my skin in a half-shift. Gasps echo off the walls of the room—it’s typical for those who have never seen me transform to behave like this. Ignoring them, I smile as a soft, feathery blue fluff that matches my hair covers my frame. My tail goes from the typical demon to a cascade of peacock feathers that mirror my eyes and the tips of my hair, while my features sculpt themselves into an even sharper beauty. When it’s done, I look at the mage-demon with my head cocked to the side.

“Your pride is outweighing your brain, Professor,” I say. “Perhaps you should reconsider this course of action.”

Unlike Jasper, I don’t need to make myself enormous and threaten to breathe fire to make my point.

“Ah, the heir apparent,” Elias sneers as he gives me a look full of disdain. It’s clear he’s one of the extremist magic hybrids who covet a more human appearance by his lack of awe at my glory. “I’m afraid your little display doesn’t impress me. This is none of your concern.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” I reply. “You should remember that we are all students, here to learn, and your mandate is to teach us, not humiliate us.”

The asshole snorts at me as if I’ve said the dumbest thing he’s ever heard, and I make a note to personally end his career once this year is over. Taking steps now will make a lot of waves and unless he becomes dangerous, we’ll survive his bullshit for a year. That’s nothing in terms of time in Hell and I’m more likely to garner my mother’s support for exiling this fucker if I’ve shown restraint.

“You may be the next ruler of the House of Pride, but you’re not my master yet—maybe ever.” His eyes convey a suspicious smugness that I don’t like as he looks at our group. “None of you hold the power you imagine. Now be quiet or I’ll?—”

I don’t have time to be shocked at his insolence before Slash stands up. He’s much bigger than Salem and his sharp teeth and razor sharp dorsal make people gasp again. If demons coo and admire my beauty and X’s allure, they cower in fear at the sight of the Prince’s enormous second-in-command before he even shows his genuine power.

“No one speaks to the Prince’s caliphate in this manner, Wormwood. Your treasonous implications aside, I would advise you back the fuck off all our members.”

Wormwood scoffs. “The powerless human isn’t one of yours, Scrum. You’re out of line.”

The silence is so thick you could cut it with a knife as his statement hangs in the air. I sense Kit shrinking further into his seat as we wait for the huge shark shifter to reply. Finally, he shifts into an even more combative stance and barks a laugh. “Shows how little you know, Wormwood.”

“Excuse me?”

My lips curve when I realize what Slash just did. He’s a demon of few words, but if you know how to translate them, it doesn’t matter. And he just claimed Kit as part of our caliphate without actually saying it out loud. “You heard him, Elias. Kit Camponella is ours and anyone who comes for him will be handled accordingly by our Prince’s decree.”

Jasper’s going to shit a gold brick, but for the first time today, I feel pretty fucking good.