Page 8 of Fatality on the Field

“Regardless, you should embrace it. Not all of my brothers have the emotional intelligence to really get where we’re headed without a nudge, and I suppose some of yours are the same. They need you to give them a swift kick like you have until they get it. Trust me.”

I watch the prince and his enforcer get in the elevator with Kaspar, and then grin at the demon. “I guess you’re the one who does it most often, then?”

“Mmm, maybe I figured it out second. Salem was first, I think. But the big guy and X followed, and it sort of spread slowly across the ranks. Zav is caught between two truths and his own trauma, so he’s doing the best he can to fix the mess he made. Sort of like your prof, huh?”

“A lot, I’d say.” I look at Archie. “Your missing guy was just caught on the human construct, right?”

The lion rolls his eyes. “He’d love it if everyone believed that, but I spent all those years crushing on Rogue, as did the others, and he pretended not to. But at every single turn, the dude stalked her like someone who was auditioning for a serial killer role. He didn’t give a fuck about the bullshit stepbrother shit; he was just scared and afraid to hurt her like the rest of us.”

Oriel tilts his head as he studies us. “Humans really fucked you guys up, huh? Even in shifter groups or families, you’re all so… close to that mindset. I didn’t realize how much until KK popped into our lives like a pissed chihuahua, obviously, because we don’t go up there. But it’s like… stupidly complex to exist on the surface, huh?”

“Hiding what you are half the time and celebrating it the other? Yeah, it’s weird. Plus, all the media is focused on their mythos and shit, so parents have to fight that when they teach their kids how dumb stuff is. It’s an odd combination of things to grow up having to parse from a young age.” I sigh as the bell dings and the doors to the elevator open.

“Can’t be weirder than growing up knowing your parents brought you into being to be heirs, but they don’t want you to rule, but they also might kill you,” Archie muses. “Your lives are very complicated, too. I wouldn’t want that kind of pressure.”

“The secret to surviving it is… not to care,” the crow demon replies as we cram into the small box. “Once our caliphate formed, we stopped caring what or why with the court and royals. We bonded together and decided to be loyal only to one another, so the goalposts changed. Sure, we had to do some shit to make the summoners back the fuck off, but that was the cost of business. You know?”

“But you’re definitely aiming to… do what you said before?” I ask curiously.

Oriel winks at me. “Definitely. We weren’t planning it so soon, but all this discovery and expansion of the problem has made acceleration necessary. It will be sooner for certain. But for now, we have bigger fish to fry—which sounds insane given who and what I meant, I know.”

“Not really,” I say with a knowing look.

The royals of Hell are small potatoes compared to some inter-realm conspiracy to fuck up all the current leaders and let villains take over.

five

MORGANA

My new friend is very good with animals, even the ones that are baby shifters enraged by things they can’t possibly understand.

Kat kicked into gear the second Rogue’s phoenix let out the blast, sprinting over to her familiar and the bird with a determined look. Her men all seemed concerned, but they didn’t move to help. Everyone else took their cues from the demons, staying put as the smallest person in the room knelt down to chat with the pissy animals. It took a few minutes of scolding and a little cajoling, but eventually, Kat got the bird to settle into a blanket nest and her kinkajou to join him.

She’s very good at soothing, and I suppose that’s why her incredibly volatile men act as if they’ve been trained to know when they should intervene and when they should not.

“Nice job,” I say as she joins us in the kitchen area once more. “You definitely have a gift, Kat.”

Her face flushes, and she shrugs. “Dottie listens to me—most of the time, and I think Javi-bird was just reacting to support her frustration. I don’t know for sure, obviously, but based on what Rogue has said, I think he’s just that kind of person. It makes sense that he would be on his shift, too.”

“I didn’t mean to cause a ruckus,” Iggy says, his expression rueful as he looks around the kitchen. “Truly, I was only trying to help.”

I believe him this time, especially because everyone else looks very amused, including Kat’s demons.

“You weren’t being mean, dude,” Salem says as he cocks his head to the side. “Dottie’s very protective of KK on account of the way some people acted when she first arrived. I think working with Arces has allowed her to access more of our newbie’s powers, and that makes her rage a bit unpredictable.”

The kinkajou makes sounds I think are agreement from her perch, and the other demons laugh. I’ve never had pets, nor have I ever been drawn to what might be a familiar, so I can only assume this is common. Looking at the panda, I ask, “Some of you visited that person, right? That’s not the doctor, but the Keeper person, isn’t it?”

“Sure did,” Iggy says as he takes a bowl from Slade and starts mixing without pausing. “He was very intriguing, if I’m honest. I’d like to get his contact info for a colleague of mine with regard to Hell-based animals, but I also wouldn’t mind having him guest lecture in some of my classes, too. Familiars are more common on the surface, and understanding the difference here and there would fascinate magic students.”

“Plus, you want to pick his brain, right?” Li grins as he turns to look at the professor knowingly. “I’ve never met a teacher who didn’t want to add more knowledge to their toolkit.”

Nodding, the mage gives me a hopeful look. “Maybe Morgana and Kat can work that out when we’re not all so… involved in earth-shattering crap?”

“Maybe so,” Kat says before I can answer. “If you’re still behaving when she asks.”

I cover my mouth, turning away from the others as I snicker. None of the residents of Hell are very tactful when it comes to expressing their opinions, and as my friend gets more confident, I fear that will bite her men in the ass more than once. When I’m done laughing, I open my mouth to respond, but the door to the dorm opens to reveal Rogue and her twins, freshly cleaned and looking ready to eat.

“You guys are still waiting for the others? Tsk,” Rogue says as she heads straight for the counter. “Let us take over for the prof and the pretty singer boy. They can go shower next, hmm?”