One
ROGUE
When we step through the portal, I frown and whirl on Angelo. “What the fuck is this?!”
The landscape surrounding us is definitely an old, Gothic-style university not hugely different from the ones on the surface, but there’s Yule decorations everywhere. Okay, maybe not like Christmas above, but there’s very clearly wreaths, quartz and other crystal hanging decorations in various places, moon and pentagram items made of some weird tree bark, plus imagery of Krampus everywhere. The materials and depictions are all different, but I wouldn’t have expected this in the fucking slightest when we walked through the entrance in Bay City.
“Oh, shit,” Damon says as he gives me a sheepish grin. “We forget to mention the time jump from there to here. It’s not always predictable, but I guess we’re a few months ahead.”
I blink at him then shake my head. “No wonder you guys were able to finish school years in the summers.”
Angelo nods. “The differential is not constant. To be honest, no one’s ever explained how or why to me—not even in school. Hell simply seems to move to the beat of its own heart. I assume the other realms are similar.”
Wrinkling my nose, I shrug. “I suppose Faerie does, but I don’t remember.”
“This is weird, man. They’re celebrating Yule and Krampusnacht?” Archie says as he looks around. “Wanna clue us in, guys?”
Damon chuckles. “There’slotsof crossover due to the magic most demons have. They celebrate both as if we’re a mixed religion family, though the royals publicly acknowledge our goaty friend. However, I’d be surprised if offerings to both aren’t present in non-public areas of the palace. It’s oddly okay, yet not okay to do so.”
Peering at Archie as I absorb that information, I ask, “Is Javi okay in that thing?”
“Golden, babe,” he says with a wink. “Never fear, well-trained baby wrangler over here.”
I shudder a bit, but give him a grateful smile. “Thank fuck because I am justnotbuilt for that shit.”
“That’s fine with us,” Angelo rumbles as he walks over and puts his hands on my shoulders. “And it’s fine if you change your mind, too. Progeny is an area where I believeeveryonein our family will cede to your desires, Princess.”
“Not your parents, though,” I mutter. “I know it’s gonna be a fucking problem with everyone but Graciella and Odhran. Theydidn’t give a fuck about me and won’t even notice if I don’t procreate.”
“This feels a bit heavy for standing in the middle of foreign territory?” Damon says as he looks around. “It’s probably exam time and that’s why the campus is quiet, even during the day.”
Arching a brow, I smile in relief. “As if you would have ever left the inside of the library during a time like that, little D.”
His smile is shy and he shrugs. “That’s why I was in the top one percent and Ang scraped by at ten percent.”
“Shut it, know-it-all.” The elder twin lets go of me to glare at his brother and I take the opening to wink at Archie. The Gemini are less annoying thanmosttwins I’ve met, but they do fall into the patterns at times.
“Okay, so if the demons are all tucked up in their books, what should we do?” my leonine mate asks to disrupt the staring contest between the twins.
Damon breaks first, looking around and then frowning. “Well, we should do our best to avoid Lucian, of course. But maybe we could go check out the arena. It should be getting close to the beginning of the Games and I think seeing what they’ve done to it may be useful.”
I have no idea why that would matter, but since I’m unsure of our surroundings, he can choose.
“Alright, let’s go, boys,” I say with a firm nod. “Time to investigate the sportsball field… or whatever.”
Angelo groans, but he takes my arm and we set off as a group. “D, we may need to be ready for a transformation if demons are in there.”
Oh, that’s just wonderful—I’ll be fighting my other half even more by the time that ends. Just what I needed.
When we arriveat the ridiculously large outdoor arena, I can’t help but wonder how fucking many demons this place holds. It’s definitely bigger than any stadium possible at home because they’ve used magic to extend it so far into the sky that I have to lean my head back. The twins don’t seem surprised at all, and Archie just cuts his gaze to me briefly and mouths ‘holy fuck’ as we walk through the tunnel to the field.
I guess when you live in a realm where magic and powers don’t have to be hidden, anything is possible.
“How weird was it to live here during school and not have to hide who you really are?” I ask Damon.
He shrugs, pushing up his glasses before reaching down to take my hand. “Both comforting and not for us, I think. We were sousedto hiding our demons and such. Since people here do not hide powers—well, most of them, anyway—we had to adjust to having magic as an everyday solution to problems. The harder part was switching back when we came home from the terms.”
“Luca and Lola were adamant about blending and representing when we were in the view of people connected to the other supes up there.” Angelo sighs and runs his hand through his hair. “I struggled more than D because I was the large and in charge one so he was left alone by assholes. When we came to the surface again, Luca often put a limiter cuff on me for the first few weeks after we returned.”
