Who Are You, Really?

I was so angry and tired that I completely ignored the demon assholes from my floor during Supernatural Law and sprinted out the door as quickly as I could to avoid them at the end. Dottie and I went back to our room, skipping dinner to shower in peace while they were all downstairs. My phone blew up when I also refused to leave my room to attend their stupid ass meeting, but I turned it off.

I belong to no one and certainly not these fucking pricks—I don’t give a shit who their families are.

My eyes open for a moment as I look up at Dottie as she sits on the top of the bookshelf, nibbling on her snacks. I grabbed her food and some hydration before I locked myself in my tiny room for the night. I’m too anxious to eat and I have so much to catch up on ensuring the Prince of Ballsacks will leave me alone. The kinkajou chitters and I sigh. “I know it’s not all of them, but right now, I’m so fucking exhausted. I can’t deal with any of them, even if they aren’t the ones being a shit.”

The look she gives me seems disapproving, and I fling my arm over my eyes as I groan. Now I’ve made my freaking pet mad, and she’s the only one in my corner. How the fuck is this worse than living with those meathead twins and their Stepford parents? I mean, it’s Hell, but foster care has always been worse than the concept of lakes of fire. Human high school is a gauntlet full of traps and pitfalls created to punish anyone who doesn’t hold the special secret to being popular. Living here should one hundred percent be easier than all of that.

And it would, if not for Jasper Eversore’s shitty attitude.

A loud knock sounds on my door, and I grab a pillow to scream into it. I told all of them how important boundaries are to me and I don’t want to see or speak to them.

Why can’t they accept that?

Dottie hops down from her perch, skittering over to look at the door expectantly. She thinks I should let the person in, but I still don’t want to move. My stiff, achy body is as comfortable as it can be in my brooding spot.

“Go. Away.” I call out in a firm, yet emotionless voice.

Another pounding knock rattles my door in its frame, and I grunt angrily. “Are you deficient? I said ‘go away,’ so get fucking lost.” The idiot at the door doesn’t answer and my temper finally sparks, forcing me to roll up to sitting and gingerly push to a standing position.

Let it never be said that my stubbornness will not outweigh my common sense; showing no fear of Jasper damn near crippled me.

I take a hot minute to shuffle to the door and when I yank it open, my jaw drops. The enormous frame of the Prince’s snarling enforcer is standing there rubbing the back of his neck like he’s unsure what the fuck he’s doing. His other large hand has a large shopping bag with delicious scents emanating from it and despite myself, I salivate a little. We’re both silent as we stare at one another in a battle of wills until he rolls his eyes to the ceiling, as if pleading for help. When his gaze returns to me, he makes an annoyed expression.

“I brought this. Eat it.” His growl comes out like an order and I immediately bristle, opening my mouth to shoot back where he can shove whatever it is. “I mean… Look. It’s fresh, Salem said you’d like it, and… you should eat. The running burned a lot of energy.”

My brows furrow as I study the typically ass-kissing shark demon. How did he know about that? I sure as fuck didn’t tell him in the Law class and I know Zavida didn’t get a chance, either. And why the hell is he here? I know for a fact that jackass Prince didn’t send him. He’s probably still stewing over my witnessing him behaving like someone with a modicum of emotional depth. So what’s going on here?

“Why?”

Slash presses his lips together and I get the impression I’m trying his patience, but I don’t care. He sets the bag of food at my feet, then crosses his arms over his chest. “You’re small—undernourished and undeveloped. That amount of training should be assigned to someone with the stamina and physicality to survive it without possibly damaging themself. Not refilling your energy and hydration is dangerous and irresponsible, especially for someone as frail as a human.”

I frown. “So eat because I’m weak?”

“For fuck’s sake…” The big demon shakes his head and his bulk flexes in a way that my body notices, despite the bone-deep ache in my frame. “Yes, but not how you said it. Eat because your body is a complex machine with extremely sensitive maintenance requirements in non or new supernaturals. You are here, and that means you will change at some point. It is not advisable to continue such poor self-care, as it will make your transition more difficult.”

“Eat because I’m a machine that needs fuel. Got it.”

This time, a low rumble comes out of the big man and his eyes flash with a deep blue light. His teeth seem to have sharpened and are gnashing as he breathes a slow breath out. “ No. Why must you insist on twisting my words, human?”

Tilting my head as I watch his face, I shrug. “Why can’t you decide if I’m human or not?”

“Fuck!” Slash says as he throws his hands up, then moves like lightning to cage me against the door. “You are purposefully irritating and we all rise to the bait every time. When we do, you get angry and spit like a cornered cat. I do not understand it, and I dislike it. This food ensures your health and you will eat it or so help me, I’ll feed it to you myself.”

Swallowing hard as he presses against me, I feel the tremble of fear that he’ll discover my secret. I’m not worried at all about the aggressive way he came at me, or even the controlling bullshit he’s spewing… only that he’ll find out what I am and they’ll send me back. So I look up at the angry shifter demon through my lashes and, for the first time in a long time, I agree willingly.

“Okay.”

He blinks. “Okay what? Am I feeding you, tiny human?”

I snort, then shake my head. “No. I will eat it.”

“Good. See you at breakfast.”

Slash pushes away, turning on his heel and heading out of my dorm without another word. Dottie pokes her head out of the doorway, chittering as I pick up the bag full of tasty smells. I lick my lips as I stare at the space where the last demon I’d ever have expected to show up—outside of the Prince himself—just stalked off.

What the hell got into him?

The next morning, I skipped out of the ‘required’ breakfast and headed straight to Intro to Demons I have to take notes.”

“You’d learn so much more if you loosened up, though, Kit,” she purrs as she comes within an inch of me and places her hand on my arm. The way she bit the ‘t’ off in my name makes my jaw tighten and I narrow my eyes as I work out how to get her away from me before I do something stupid like stab her in the goddamn thigh.

Dottie scrambles up to my shoulder, shaking a tiny fist at her as she perches by my head. I smile a little, knowing that she’d try to scratch the woman’s eyes out if I let her. “I think my anxiety prevents ‘loosening up,’ but I will keep that in mind. Is that all?”

“Oh, dear,” she gasps, tightening her grip on my arm as her eyes widen. “You poor thing. Maybe I can convince the Headmaster to allow me some one-on-one time with you. Private tutoring always helps the new students in my class.”

I’ll just bet it does.

She presses closer, looking down at me with her gorgeous face and perfect hair angled to accentuate every feature. “I know I could help you release some of that tension… just keep looking into my eyes…”

Shit, shit, shit… now I get it.

I try to yank my arm away, understanding what the professor is attempting to do in a flash of horror. Her nails dig in hard and Dottie makes a loud, screechy sound as she holds on with her back legs. My limbs lock up when I realize I can’t break free despite my self-defense classes because my body is frozen in place. This must be magic and that makes my throat swell in panic, causing my breaths to come out in soft pants.

“That’s it, little one… You’ll feel so good if you just give in….”

“L-l-l-l-lettttt gooooo of meeeeee,” I slur as the fear gets a hold of my brain for the second time in two days.

Sweet Lucifer, I was a fool to think I’d be able to defend myself in this place, even with a weapon.

Professor Lillabet smiles sweetly, but I can see the hunger and malice in her gaze. “Don’t worry; I’ll be gentle. It’s your first time, right?”

No, no, no, no….

“Kit, you’re going to be late for Deconstructing History and Jasper will… What. Is. Going. On. Here?! ”

My head swivels and I look at Oriel with a frantic expression. The look he gives me conveys his fury, but also concern. The lead weight on my chest lifts a little more as he bounds down the stairs in a blur of black magic tinged with the scent of lavender, geranium, and patchouli. A black feather floats by my face, catching my focus until it hits the ground. In fact, I’m so entranced that I barely feel the hard grip release my arm and a warm pair of arms envelop me as I shake.

“Shhh. She’s gone,” he says in a low tone. “I took care of it. And the caliphate will make sure it doesn’t happen again. That slutty predator won’t get her dirty hands on you again. Come back.”

I must have checked out for a few minutes while he did…. whatever he did. That means Oriel is seeing me in the absolute most vulnerable state he possibly could and yet… I feel safe. It takes a few moments for my breath to regulate and my heart to stop thumping so hard it makes my ribs ache. Once I’m calmer, I lift my head and look up at the beautiful, dark demon boy. He arches a brow, smiling a little when he realizes I’m fully present.

“There he is. Damn, I was worried for a second. You were so gone that your eyes glazed like you were in a coma.”

Ducking my chin, I pull back and shrug. “It’s one of the symptoms. I… uh, I can’t control it if the trigger gets flipped really hard. Her freezing me with magic was… not good for me.”

“Freezing you with magic without a secondary chaperone is against school policy.” Oriel flips his hair out of his eyes, looking annoyed. “Jasper will have her fucking job for this.”

I snort. “He’ll get her a raise, I’m sure.”

Oriel shakes his head. “If he hadn’t upset you yesterday, you would have come to the meeting and we all would have shown when your panic hit the bond. This is partially his fault, and I’ll be damned if he doesn’t need to make up for it.”

Turning to grab my bag and let Dottie climb back to my shoulder, I swallow hard.

Pretty words, but I’m not sure they’ll mean anything when they’re flung at the Prince of Dickness.