Thinking about his statement, I nod slowly. “If we half-shift—or full, whatever you choose—we can use any available powers to search for something that doesn’t fit. That would make it easier to narrow the field.”
Kaspar snorts, arching a brow. “I’m not shifting even a little. There’s not enough room, and dragons aren’t fond of revealing their strengths unless it’s necessary. However, I can use my sense of smell to follow trails, should we need it.”
“Yeah, I’ll do better with my panda sniffer than anything else unless we find someone sleeping. My demon powers are geared towards the slumberland, and my bear isn’t exactly a slinky predator.”
His admission makes Damon laugh, and soon, we’re all chuckling. The younger Gemini clears his throat as he looks around. “I know the building—or I think I do—but if I unleash the demon stuff, everything will go to shit on a shingle. Chaos is difficult to rein in once it’s loose, and I doubt that will be useful.”
“My powers might be helpful if we encounter people, though enticing them with the Cubi pheromones is a gambit. Luckily for us, I can cast and use magic outside of those powers as well. Some of my species can, especially those with higher power levels, and paired with the siren we might make this happen.”
I nod, glancing around the atrium we’re in with a heavy sigh. “Okay, we need to break this up into manageable pieces. Those of you who know the layout should decide whether webegin on the underground floors, the top floor, or some other configuration.”
Anton, Salem, and Damon look at one another for a moment before they all say, “Underground.”
“How adorable,” Kaspar mutters as he gestures to the elevator. “You can tell uswhyon the way down—one at a time, or I’ll clang your heads together.”
I said he’strying, didn’t I?
By the timewe reach the bottom level of the underground, I’m glad that State U isn’t built using magical demon whatever. The amount of demons that probably fill this fucking place when classes are in session is frightening, and I wouldhatehaving to navigate that kind of crowd all day every day. Plus, the demons insist no one uses the stairs for anything other than emergencies, and I’m not the biggest fan of crunching into their elevators as we have been. All of it feels weirdly claustrophobic, and that’s never been an issue I’ve had.
Maybe it’s because there aren’t any water features or obvious places for me to reconnect with my aquatic side? That could be it.
“What do the aquatic folks down here do?” I ask as Anton fiddles with the sigils he’s drawing on a wall. “I’m used to a bit more… water stuff… than I’ve seen since we arrived.”
Salem blinks and tilts his head. “Slash uses that Hellspring for his needs, and I have no idea where the other water-basedassholes go here. We don’t really associate with anyone not in our caliphate for a bunch of reasons—the biggest being that they’re all hoping to de-throne us at every turn.”
I flinch, wrinkling my nose as I look at him. “You guys really only hang out with each other if you’re not in classes? That sounds worse than being home with my folks’ gang.”
Kaspar looks at me shrewdly. “Sure about that, guppy? I’ve met your parents, and I don’t think being limited to people you consider family versus dealing with those assholes is equivalent. Even your siblings are shit.”
“Tracer isn’t so bad… as long as he’s away from the rest of them…” I finish lamely. “Okay, I suppose you’re right. I’d prefer my family to a bunch of bloodthirsty shitheads hoping to kneecap me if they get the chance.”
“Trust me, music man… Demons who go here are rich, stuck-up, and have almost never been told ‘no’ throughout their entire teen and kid years. Some of them are millimeters from being sent to Bamford U instead; hell, if they weren’t rich as sin, theywouldbe.” Salem shrugs and walks over to look at Anton’s work. “Nice hex work, Annie.”
My gaze shifts to Damon to confirm what the panda said. He nods at me, shrugging as he grins. “Yeah, he’s right. Ang and I struggled a lot with not fitting in because we live on the surface; most of the dumbasses we graduated with barely even spoke to us. That’s why we didn’t mind coming home and dealing with the shit rather than staying here. Demons that live up there arenotconsidered high in the social caste system at Discordia.”
Anton turns, looking at me and the hacker. “The bullshit most of the students here tout as gospel in public isn’t even followed inprivate. They like to shout dumb shit in the arena or in class, but you’ll find them doing the exact opposite behind closed doors. I pay no attention to them at all; why would I?”
I feel that has to do with him and the pretty demon being together, and it makes me angry. How is it that there are always bigots in every fucking realm?
“What do you need me to do?” I ask, pushing my irritation aside so we can continue moving toward our goal. “I’ll help when you tell me what I should do.”
The avian demon steps back from his work, dusting his hands off. He looks like he’s going to freak out a bit, but the panda digs in his pocket and hands Anton a wipe. Once he’s cleaned up, he looks at Damon and me with a much calmer expression. “I know his magic is chaos-based, but the infusion will help us reachmoreareas quickly.”
I nod. “Okay. But how do we… infuse that? I’m not familiar with demon rituals.”
The younger Gemini grabs my hand. “We need to join hands, facing the sigils, and allow our magic to project at the marks. That will activate his hex, and it will then spread through the walls of the floors. I doubt we can power more than a few at a time, but we can re-draw every couple of levels.”
“Should I be… chanting or picturing something…?” I say in an uncertain tone.
Siren songs are so much easier than most of this shit, but I’m sure going to try.
“For you, it might be easiest to project the desire to locate hidden secrets or objects as you hum,” Anton replies. He pushes hisglasses up, watching me flinch at the suggestion. “Your dragon can cover his ears, and Salem will as well. Those of us in the line will be immune to the power of the song.”
“Are you sure?” Damon says skeptically. “I’ve never heard of anyone but mates being immune to siren songs.”
Nodding, the rainbow-haired demon comes closer, taking his hand to complete the chain. “Demons are not affected bymanythings while working magic. Perhaps your magic professors were not as good as ours, Gemini?”
“Or you’re part of a royal caliphate and they teach you different shit than they do everyone else.”
