“Thatwas the lame-ass bracelet you always wore in middle and high school? The one you’d find and lose over and over? Man, you could have justtoldus,” Archie snorts. “Reb gave you shit about it all the time and you never once threw it in his face that it wasn’t your choice.”
“I don’t like feeling weak, either, Glaser,” the elder twin says as we step out into the massive field. “Plus, Luca didn’t want anyone knowing I had that problem, so he fucking wove a geas into it. It’s not even legal down here, but no one monitors him up there.”
I frown, tilting my head. “I’m pretty sure it’s not there, either, Ang. Those things are for royalty and leaders only. At least, that’s what we learned as Guardians. The top honchos on the Council can do it, but even they have to petition way up in the Society rafters.”
“Luca doesn’t give a fuck and it’s much more obvious now,” Damon says mildly. “Do you feel the weirdness here, bro?”
Angelo arches a brow and joins us near the sideline mid-way across the field. He closes his eyes, and I watch his demon tail escape as he focuses on the energy Damon asked about. “Something really fucking weird happened here, but I’m not sure what. It’s like… it’s been scrubbed by a lot of different methods. Several types of magic, actual cleaners, and something else have been used to cover something up at best. I can’t get a reading on what, though.”
Damon nods as he scans the surrounding area. “It’s fainter in other places, but I think an incident definitely was masked in this place. I don’t know if it was a bad thing or just an accident, but people with a lot of skill made sure most demons wouldn’t be able to pick up on it.”
I let go of his hand, turning to face them both. “Why can you two sense it?”
The twins look uncomfortable for a moment, and they shrug as they say, “Summoning lines.”
As if that explains it.
“For those who don’t have in-depth knowledge of demon lore?” Archie says as he bounces on his toes. “Don’t mind me, I’m keeping screaming Javier from giving us away.”
Angelo chuckles at the lion’s antics then sighs. “Luca and Lola both have lineage back to courts, just notclosely adjacent. Our summoning linked us to that, and Damon likely believes that connection means our royal friends were here doingsomethingthey had to cover up.”
“Oh, damn,” I murmur. “I hope Kit is okay. The others, too, I guess, but that kid seems like good people.”
“Always picking up strays, aren’t you, Sparkles?” Damon says with a fond smile. “I’m sure we would have heard if there was a tragedy. Right, Ang?”
The elder twin nods. “I agree. The Gemini mafia isn’t aligned with the throne, we’ve learned, but D and I agreed to work with the prince. He and his band of broskis are aiming to help people down here as much as we want to help people up there—I think.”
“Hopefully,” Archie murmurs. “We’ve seen bitches turn recently, and I’m not quite ready to accept anyone at face value right now.”
I frown, moving to stand by my soft-hearted kitty, looking up into his blue eyes. “You don’t have to be hard, Archie. Even whenbetrayal is common, and we’re always suspicious, it’s okay to be the one whose… less icy.”
“I know, Wheels, but how can I do that when everything is a trap?” He shakes his head, his expression a little sad. “I can still be kind, but I have to be less open until things aren’t so… sketchy. Look at Javi! I’m carrying him in a fucking baby sling. Shit happens when we aren’t on guard. I don’t want to be the one who accidentally gets you killed, babe.”
Poor, loveable, kind Archie… we’ve all pulled him into the cruelty of reality and he’s struggling to adjust.
“You won’t,” I push up on my toes and kiss his lips lightly. “We will all protect each other, and we will find Rebel. That is my promise to you guysandmyself.”
“They’ve added more boxes.” Angelo’s words make me turn to look where he’s jerking his chin at the air way above the field. “They don’t normally surround the entire place. This is for visiting elite—everything from royalty to fuck knows who based on Lucian’s new buddies. Our parents will attend some of the Games in those; I’d bet anyone Darkstar wants to hide will be in the ones that are opaquely shielded glass.”
“Not good,” Damon adds. “That means he could very well plan to have visitors who influence the outcomes. If the Court boxes cannot see who is in all of those things, their security won’t be able to set accurate protocols for them. We have to tell the caliphate.”
Archie scratches his head. “I’m not sure I get who we’re rooting for. The King and his lackeys are bad, but so are the goons working with your dad and that headmaster dude. If we tell theprince’s gang and they tell the royal security, it saves the bad folks and if they don’t tell, it helps the bad folks.”
“That’s the crux of this shit converging between the realms. The bigger assholes can’t get what they want, and we may have to keep lesser ones in place to prevent it,” Angelo replies. “Choosing the lesser evil in this circumstance will allow Prince Jasper and his caliphate time to deal with their parents in their own way.”
“You think they aren’t ready to take on the King.” My words are a statement because I can sense it in Angelo’s tone and posture. “And trying to do both things when they aren’t even ready for the smaller threat is a fool’s errand.”
“Yes.” Angelo gives me a half smile as he turns to look at all of us. “For now, the status quo in Hell has to be maintained as best they can. I believe those demons will eventually be able to take over, but like D and I, they don’t have their plan in place yet. There was a look in the Prince’s eyes that told me he has one and these last minute shenanigans are fucking with it.”
“Then we’ll do whatever we can to work with them as long as they stay on board with us,” I say firmly. “Let’s go explore somewhere else. Maybe we’ll run into our new friends along the way.”
After all, that is definitely part ofmyplan while we’re here—the kid needs someone who isn’t trying to fuck her.
Two
KIT/KAT
It’s been a week since the accidental ‘outing’ on the arena field.
