Page 18 of In Prey We Trust

I’m about to shoot my mouth off at the leader despite my battered body when TigerFitz limps over. He’s got a gash above his left eye that’s bled all over him and I can tell by the way he’s walking he’ll need to heal when he gets home. General BlankFace snaps its fingers and disappears in a puff of black smoke, leaving me to look around at the scorched field tiredly.

“There’s no way this is what those other spoiled kids encountered,” I groan. “They must have popped in, grabbed their target, and skedaddled.”

The Captain trudges over, his hat missing, and his sword covered in colorful glittery blood. “Aye. Ye were a special case, lass. Those scallywags were strong. Good thing our most gracious gargoyle provided me mate with special artillery.”

“Fuck, yes,” I reply with a gigantic sigh. “Taser bolts are pretty damn cool. Where’d he get that shit?”

“Liberated from the Apex armory during re-building,” Raina chirps. “After we gathered everything needed from the Tower, Monsieur Renard had all the prey who he protects to search the grounds and tunnels for anything useful. We found so many wonderful things that it took four trips to move.”

Well, I’ll be damned.

“Good job, Raina.” Looking down at TigerFitz, I smile as much as I can. “Come on, baby. You gotta shift so you can ride the rest of the way home. We don’t have a trailer for your bike and you know we have to get back before someone sends out the fucking Sibbies to look for us.”

The tiger rolls his eyes at me, but then quickly shifts to my slightly less vicious boyfriend. “Gonna be a bitch nursing this shit for four more hours. Healing would go faster as the tiger, but you’re right, Baby Girl.” His eyes roam over me for a second and he squints. “Are you okay? Looks mostly superficial. Good thing I took that leader fuck. Don’t mess with the black ropes; they hurt like hell.”

My expression is haunted for a second and I shake my head. “Not the purple, either. Trust me.”

“You can tell me later.” Fitz reaches out and despite both of us wincing as he tugs our bodies together, he kisses me firmly. “For now, we need to blow this joint like a sailor on shore leave.”

“Gross,” I mutter as I pull back. “But you’re right. We don’t want to be here if they regroup or law enforcement arrives.”

“To the fleet!” The Captain says as he grabs Raina’s hand.

Into the wild blue yonder we go.

1 Impossible one, we have come to bring you home.

2 Return home, my followers. Leave the rabbit for now.

Family

Fitz

“Of fucking course we handled it. Give me a break, bro. Well, yeah, we’re a bit banged up; we were in a ten on four free-for-all!”

My brother has been shouting in my ear—with the help of the others—for the better part of an hour. Baby Girl isn’t on this call and thank fuck for that because she’d be pissed. Her form wasn’t perfect, but from what I could tell while I was wailing on the lead fucker, she held her own. The ferocity our girl is claiming as her own is sexy as hell, and I will not stand in her way for a moment. My fellow boy band members need to hop on board and let her show them how brave and capable she is.

“Look, Felix… she took down three of the shitstains on her. I didn’t see any of the light show, but I was focused on the main one. No, I don’t know if they’re men or women. If I could tell, I would know, wouldn’t I? Odin’s dry socket, bro, let us get home before you interrogate me.”

He drones on for another moment or two before I let out a sigh of frustration. I know he can’t stand being out of control and this shit happening while he was so far away is making him crazy. Truth is, I need to be focused on my surroundings, not his nitpicking. For all we know, another squadron of hooded fruitcakes will appear on the road to Capital Prep and I have to be ready.

“Bro, I’m hanging up. I have to be sharp in case we get hit again. Save the blistering lecture for when we’re safely in the Weenie Nest.”

That said, I click my headset off and go back to watching the road. Baby Girl is decompressing by singing along with her radio and the gargoyle’s prey minions are on the other side. The pirate nods at me over the hood of her car, letting me know he’s monitoring things, too. Their skill was surprising, but honestly? I don’t have the foggiest fucking clue how prey shifters raise their cubs. Maybe having to worry about hungry dicks like me forces them to train their young to be fighters from the get-go?

I wonder if old granite balls knows? He probably does.

I blink, realizing there’s something we need to consider in this new place. Renard’s crew will be there, but our girl needs to get the prey shifters at this new place on her side, too. These pirate bandits can help with that and I’ll have to ask Sriracha Shorts if the medical chicks are coming, too. If so, that’s another way to increase my baby girl’s profile on campus. The more shifters we get to support her, the more likely she’ll have allies to help her navigate a new place full of enemies—new and old.

Grinning to myself, I push the accelerator harder. I want to get back to the stupid school as fast as possible. Even Felix’s inevitable lecture is worth sharing this idea with everyone.

Fitz Khan—fighter, lover, and super genius—is on the job.

By the time we pull into the wide, tree-lined drive of Capital Preparatory Academy, I’m ready to rock ’n roll. Ideas have been fluttering through my brain like butterflies the entire drive and I’m eager to share them. Baby Girl is going to be so proud of me for getting all my random threads in order so everyone can understand the connections like she does. My excitement only grows as we take the twists and turns until we hit the back road to cross over the river and enter the small back lot behind the fancy library.

I almost forgot she hasn’t seen this set-up yet.

When we park, the raccoons hop out and get to work on unloading her stuff immediately. I know my girl hates having staff do everything for her, so I don’t protest when she grabs some of her stuff despite her injuries. In fact, I join her in carrying a few bags because I’m respectful like that. Her smile is my reward, which is more than enough to compensate for the pain.

---