Page 123 of In Prey We Trust

And I’ve been trying to ignore you, but here we are.

“I’m sorry, Lucille. It took some time to heal from my injuries and afterward, the school was in a panic over the kids who didn’t make it back.” My friends give me a look, but I think it’s time to bait my mother about this shit. She doesn’t know they’re here, and I want to find out exactly what she and her cronies are saying about the hundreds of disappearances.

“Piffle, Delores. There are missing students at every school. The moron at Capital Prep should have been handling it. Why would it affect your ability to return my phone call and texts? Don’t lie to me or I’ll…”

I pinch the bridge of my nose and grit my teeth as I finish her sentence. “Yes, you’ll send Bruiser to teach me my place. I understand, Lucille.”

“Exactly.” Her smug confidence bleeds through even with one simple word, and Rufus’ eyes flash in anger.

Holding up my hand to keep him from butting in, I consider how to use the information she let slip. None of us knew the other academies had missing kids, which means the number is far higher than estimated. Whatever the hoods are using the shifters for, it’s on a global scale. That they’ve kept it quiet is astounding. I bite my bottom lip, unsure if I should push more, until Lucille interrupts my thoughts.

“Since I’ve rendered you speechless, you should know why I’ve been trying to reach you. You have duties to fulfill in the upcoming days that I expect to be honored to the letter. If you do not, your suffering will be far worse than ever before and I’ll make sure it extends to all the ragamuffins you’re associating with.”

Irritation at her threats gets the best of me and I mutter, “Of course, it wasn’t to make sure they did not permanently injure me or to congratulate me on my nearly impossible victory.”

Her laugh is full of malice. “Obviously not, my chunky little brawler. You didn’t embarrass me for once, but that buys you very little leeway.”

I want to put my thumbs in her eyes and push.

“What do I need to do, Lucille?”

“That’s better,” she practically purrs into the receiver. “The Council has kept all students and staff at the academies during the holidays to prevent any further mishaps. You cannot repeat this as we have not informed the public yet. Barrington’s people are working on the press release as we speak.”

“But…”

“I didn’t ask for your input, Delores! Shut up and listen to me. In lieu of holiday celebrations at home, each academy will hold a Yule Eve masked ball. Parents and age-appropriate siblings will get invited to attend, which means your father and I will be at Capital Prep to show the world our schools are safe.”

My friends both cover their mouths before curses slip out and I flop onto my back, staring at the ceiling blankly. I wouldn’t have the slightest issue staying at Cappie instead of heading home to the empty mansion, but having Bruno and Lucille here showing me off like a pony? Fucking kill me now. I’d rather swim through a pool of acid naked. I can’t even fathom how horrible that’s going to be, especially if I have to meet the parents of all these snooty celebrity kids.

“A ball?” I choke out. “It seems unsafe to… gather… such important people in one place.”

Damn, that was pretty good, Dolly.

Lucille sniffs, and I can almost hear her rolling her eyes at me. “Delores, the Council is never without guards and security measures. We’ve already flooded the campus with protection. Surely you’re not dim enough to have missed the Khan guards?”

“N-No, I didn’t miss them. I thought it was because of the deaths.”

“Ha. Not hardly, you little fool. We’re slowly building up the precautions for this event.” The line muffles for a moment and when she comes back, her voice is even sharper. “Figure something out to wear and you’d better look like the heir to the Drew seat, even if you’re not. I will not tolerate being made a fool at the biggest event of the year.”

“Yes, Lucille,” I murmur as I continue looking at the colorful patterns on the walls. “I understand.”

“You’d better.”

She hangs up, and I let out a long, heavy breath. Talking to my mother is always difficult, but allowing my friend to hear her and see how I have to behave is worse. I feel angry and numb, but I can’t process it because I’m still reeling from all the information we just learned.

Did she tell me on purpose to test me or is she really rattled enough to have dropped a secret?

“Your mother is a see-you-next-Tuesday,” Cori finally says. “And she’s definitely up to something. With all the shit going on, why the hell would they risk putting all the leaders in one place?”

“Not just here, but at all the functioning schools,” Rufus points out. “I hate to say it, but I think those old fuckers are setting a trap for the hoods using the kids as bait.”

I swipe my hands over my face, letting out a brief shriek of frustration before I respond. “Unfortunately, I agree with you, Ru-Ru. I think the assholes who run everything are offering sacrifices to catch the bad guys. And fuck knows none of them will get harmed, so we’re all cannon fodder.”

“Who’s cannon fodder?” I look over to see Felix prowling into my room, the others hot on his tail. He must have heard my shriek from the living room.

“We are,” I say dejectedly as I point to everyone. “All of us. Lucille just dropped a few bombs on us.”

“Then we’ll handle it like we handle everything else—together,” Aubrey says as he stomps over to liberate Jinx from Rufus’ hold. “Whatever they are cooking up can’t be that complex.”

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