Page 45 of In Prey We Trust

“I don’t recall any gargoyle tales that are that well known,” Aubrey says as he frowns. “Are you sure…”

Renard smirks as he turns to us. “He was human, so I did not tell it as a gargoyle and his true love. The thief wrote it with different characters and that’s all I will say about it for now since it is not the point. I am only trying to caution our bunny rabbit that every word she says may end up in a new romance novel that goes viral.”

I groan, thunking my head back against the chair. “Could we hit pause on collecting new enemies for a bit? I’m at fucking capacity for planning people’s deaths for a while. Look at our fucking board; it’s full of assholes trying to screw us over.”

“Er, sorry.” I look over to find Chess diligently making notes about the shitty vulture woman on the board in his precise script. “I thought I should…”

“No, no.” Felix waves his hand. “You were right to add her. And Renard is right about giving the bitch details. Unfortunately, it means someone is going to have to read her drivel to see if we should be worried.”

“Not it!”

Everyone shouts at once and my twin sighs. “Fine. Fist, Fang, Claw, Bite.”

Dolly beams as she sits up. “Oh, I’m very good at this. Rufus taught me.”

“Best two out of three?” Renard asks as he clears the plates. “We’ll go after we finish cleaning up.”

“Agreed,” we chorus.

I’ll kill that little gangster shit if I end up having to read this nonsense.

Bad Feeling

Delores

The next morning comes way too early. Rennie ended up being the loser in our little tournament and I think it almost made up for him scaring the hell out of Fitz and I. Once I grabbed the power shake Chess had ready and my stuff for Shifter Basics, I booked out of there before the sniping got too intense. I feel bad for my poor gargoyle, but I think out of anyone, he’ll be the least upset by whatever the fuck he finds, so it was a good outcome.

Besides, all I can focus on right now is heading for Felix’s class.

He was long gone by the time I got up, which means he was up before dawn. That doesn’t surprise me a bit, but it worries me a little about what the hell he has in store for us. The email to our class this morning said we’d be in the practice arena for the Games, so he’s not planning a repeat of the dreaded whiteboard shit from last year. I have no idea what he’s doing instead, but knowing my grumpy Raj, it will be grueling.

“Good morning, Miss Dolly.”

The sound of a cheerful voice gets my attention and I realize this must be quokka triplet number three, Kirby. His smile is even brighter and I can tell he’s the joker of the group by his playful tone. I smile and let him catch up as we make our way to the airlock. “You’re Kirby, right? I’ve met Bowser and Banjo, but I haven’t met your armadillo or skunk friends. Is the skunk related to Argyle in the infirmary?”

Kirby nods enthusiastically. “Indeed! They are cousins, and yes, Percy is as prickly as his relative. As you mentioned, our last member is Holliday, and he’s in charge of weaponry at Apex, so that’s where he is here as well. You may see them for trips in the evening, as they start even earlier than this for their positions.”

By Poseidon’s seashell jockstrap, that’s early as fuck.

I swipe my card at the entrance, looking at Kirby curiously. “I can see the laundry being open that early, but why the armory?”

He shrugs and gives me the broad quokka grin again. “No idea. It’s always been that way, though, Miss. I suppose those who work there expect it. Sometimes, you find them entirely staffed by nocturnal creatures, which makes it easier. Holliday is an oddball that way; he prefers night to day.”

We stroll over to the secondary lock, swiping again and entering the tunnel that heads to what I heard people refer to as ‘Arena Island.’ Looking around as I walk down the underwater pathway, I take the suggestion Fitz made about looking for security in my surroundings. Besides teasing Rennie mercilessly with Aubrey, he also declared himself in charge of teaching me stealth.

According to my crazy tiger, he thinks we’ll have to sneak onto Apex’s campus at some point and there could be other less than scrupulous activities involved in getting answers about our enemies. Fitz swore Felix agreed and so here I am, checking for hidden cameras in the tunnel as I walk to class.

If you told me this would be my life last year, I would have laughed in your face.

The airlock to the field stairs beeps as I wave my card again and I arch a brow as Kirby follows me. His brothers seemed uncomfortable entering pred spaces, but he trots along like it’s no big deal as we cross the grass separating the main stadium and the practice field.

“Why are you walking me through the pred area when your brothers didn’t want to enter them?” I ask curiously.

Kirby shrugs. “Raina and The Captain said our gracious gargoyle’s orders were to accompany you until we knew you were safe with allies. You are not safe until you have been deposited at your class and I see it with my own eyes.”

My nose wrinkles. “You guys take Rennie pretty seriously.”

“He is the protector of the prey staff, Miss Dolly. Before his arrival, it was terrible to be one of us. Our families have worked at Apex for many, many generations and the stories prior to him are bleak. We are very grateful for his protection.”

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