Page 69 of In Prey We Trust

His lips curl up and he shrugs. “Here and there. Keep in mind that when I arrived, this land was only populated by native cultures of humans and shifters that fled the old countries after the many wars. It was a millennium before the human explorers came to these shores and another three centuries before they created the Capital. By then, the shifter wars and the split with the magic community had divided the supernatural community. I came to this area before them and stayed until Apex was founded.”

“And until I arrived, he was a miserable, solitary wretch who lived in his giant horde-filled lair and commuted to school,” Rennie says with a grin. “It took forever to lure him into moving into my lair.”

My head spins as the two of them share more in five minutes than they’ve given me in over a year. “Holy shit. You guys are old. Like forget robbing the cradle, your crusty old pervs.” My eyes dance as they both look horrified, and I pop the door open to hop out. “Catch me if you can, grumpy old men!”

Taking off, I run towards the King Neptune fountain, taking in the architecture and the portico busts on the outside of the building. Humans don’t know the serpents and nymphs are real things, but I enjoy imagining the Captain and his crew wrestling krakens or gigantic serpents, regardless. My men are calling for me as I walk around the rim, so I turn to wait for them to join me. Aubrey huffs as he comes close, yanking me into his arms.

“You, bite size, are far too sassy for your own good. Spending so much time with those whipped tigers is rubbing off on you.” He grins as Rennie comes up behind me, caging me in between them.

I snort, leaning back into my gargoyle as I wink at him. “Oh, I’m rubbing something. Be nice to me or it won’t be you.” His eyes widen and Rennie sniggers when I reach around to smack the dragon on the ass. “Now, mush, old man! We have maps and books and hours of research to do.”

“I already regret telling you any of that,” he mutters as he lets go. “You’re as much a brat as him.”

“But you love me exactly as I am, big guy,” Renard says as he holds his arm out for me. “Let’s go.”

The question is… does he love me, too?

Two hours later, I’m slumped over the table, my eyes already bleary from studying tiny, spidery handwriting in books so old they damn near fall apart if people look at them. Aubrey was the only one allowed to fetch anything from the super secret ‘shifter antiquity vault,’ so Rennie and I began by pulling out tons of maps to compare with the ones we have pictures of.

Nothing matched up, but we checked all the Capital’s secret infrastructure and anything we could find on Apex. The only point of intersection was the map we’d already sussed out as being the tunnels under my old school. Everything else didn’t fit a damn thing we tried, including the Library itself, the Smithsonian, and a bunch of other famous landmarks in town. I’m miffed we don’t get to go steal the Declaration of Independence like in the movies, but alas, breaking into any of the human monuments was also ruled out.

“What the fuck is this shit?” I mutter. “This book is like a bazillion years old and it doesn’t mention the ‘Society.’ The maps Aubrey has probably predated the fucking caveshifters and they don’t show the stuff we’re looking for. Are the ancestors fucking with us? That has to be it, right?”

Rennie gives me a rueful chuckle as he pushes his hair out of his eyes. “I fear we’re searching through archives that may have been sanitized after the Treaty. The Council and the heads of state probably shuffled all the good shit to hidden lairs.”

I blink. “That’s it!”

They both look at me with tired eyes. “Apex is sought after for donations as tax shelters and by estates, right?”

Aubrey nods. “Yes. And everything has to be authenticated and verified to reside in its most guarded archives.”

“That’s why we found mentions of the Society in the new books! Everything the Council wanted to keep secret about the Treaty and magic was in books that most likely got distributed among wealthy, loyal families. No one is ever in danger of finding it unless some heir donates it.” I grin as both of their eyes light up when they get what I mean.

“Sparkly pixie nuts, lunchable. You did it!” I smirk as Aubrey takes his glasses off and cleans them furiously. “The books you and Fitz read were part of a large submission from multiple overseas families. Someone with a lot of clout in their family tree wanted to get rid of dusty old books, but didn’t know what they had.”

“Uh-huh. And to be honest, you don’t read them all, ScalySpice.” He grins at my attempt at a ‘Fitzname,’ and I shrug. “So who knows how many more books like that you have down there?”

Rennie and Aubrey look at one another, their expressions dark before they turn back to me. Finally, Rennie speaks. “You realize that means we have to go back to Apex? It’s guarded and blocked off while they deal with the mess the hooded dicks left, so we’d have to break in.”

Beaming brightly, I shrug. “Fitz has been teaching me to be sneaky. Besides, we don’t have to go in the hard way. Won’t Raina and the others know how to enter from the prey tunnels that lead to the outside where their housing was?”

Aubrey smacks his forehead and groans. “I can hear him humming Mission Impossible now. Bast, save me.”

My brows furrow, and I tilt my head at Rennie, who still looks troubled. Usually, he loves mischief and giving the finger to the Council by breaking into Apex undetected is up his alley. “Why so serious, Frenchie?”

He boops me on the nose and sighs. “No more superhero movies. To answer your question, I’m worried about this plan. The Captain’s crew and their friends told us prey animals weren’t having much trouble with the aftermath there, but the way it affects preds has stopped construction many times. When we retrieved the things Aubrey and I needed, we were run down for days afterward. The magic there is dangerous and still wrecking havoc.”

I close my book, coughing as some dust flies, then scoot my chair over to him. “You know more about magic than the rest of us; I can tell. Why won’t you talk about it with us? We need to know more than internet rumors about different users and powers.”

Shaking his head, Renard pulls away, looking at his hands. “I can’t, ma petite. I’ve never been able to discuss the things that happened when I was younger, not even with Flames. There’s still too much pain and regret. We will have to work with what we have until we can’t.”

“By the wings of valkyries, Rennie, calm down,” Aubrey hisses. “I can see him flashing over your skin and if any of the humans see it, we’re fucking toast.”

Renard looks startled, and I turn bright pink when he looks at me questioningly. “I-I’m used to him. I don’t notice when you rock out anymore.”

His grin is gentle, and he takes my hand to squeeze it. “I won’t complain about that, cherie.”

“Yes, yes, we’re all adorable and that’s great, but lock it down.” Aubrey rolls his eyes and picks up his stack of archive materials. “I’m taking this back, so we’re welcome to visit again rather than getting us blacklisted. If you two can keep it together for the few minutes until I return, it’d be super.”

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