Page 90 of In Prey We Trust

Keep Your Head Up

Delores

“So Renard believes the Charles family made their fortunes off stealing Fae plants and cross-breeding them to make better produce and stuff?” Cori takes a bite out of a big licorice whip, propping her face in her hands. “How would they even get that if fair folk have been exterminated or whatever?”

I shrug, leaning back so I can stretch my lower back. We’ve been studying for exams since after my piano lesson and everything is cramping. “No one has a clue. You heard him saying even a Fae hiding in this part of the veil would give that up to shifters—even for a hefty sum. But they have a lot of different types and research that he and Aubrey have been sifting through since we came home on Saturday. Chess has Fitz burrowing through the dark web to see if anyone has said anything about the Fae, artifacts, plants, magic—like so many keywords, he had to hack into the government servers to keep it running. Felix is worried it will draw attention, but Fitz swears he’s covered his tracks.”

“Dollypop, it doesn’t make sense,” Rufus complains as he stares at his book.

Arching a brow, I snort. “Diplomacy? No shit. They fill their curriculum with lies at my level; it can’t be any better at yours. And no one is going to negotiate anything if they start in a pit of false assumptions.”

He throws his highlighter at me, laughing when I duck. “I meant the whole ‘magic/shifter war’ thing. They have conditioned preds to hate and fear magic. They wouldn’t be mad if we were smiting them. Why the big secret? The Council here—or anywhere else—would look like heroes for fighting off an invasion.”

I consider that for a moment, snatching one of Cori’s treats and chomping on it. “Maybe they’re afraid the balance has tipped and they won’t win.”

Cori blinks. “Oh!”

“Did you finally think of the answer to that essay question?” I tease.

“No, dummy. I know why—maybe.” Cori grabs my Shifter History book and starts flipping through it. When she makes a ‘eureka’ noise, I look at her pointedly until she spins it to face me, putting her finger on a paragraph. “This. The Treaty was forced because all shifters won the war, D.”

“Holy cartwheeling Kali,” I mutter. “You got it, Coco. Back then, it wasn’t like now. The prey shifters fought and armed and supplied the war. But the atmosphere is so bad now that the Councils are afraid the prey will take up the resistance. They think they’ll lose.”

Rufus scoffs, shaking his head. “I don’t think so. I mean, it’s possible a few sects or clans or whatever might join the magical misfits, but not all. Why would they all take that risk?”

“Freedom,” I shrug. “The prey friends I have here and at Luc’s have good lives and are treated well. That’s probably an anomaly, Ru-Ru. Think about how some kids here or at Apex talk about prey—even when they found out their friend was a prey animal. You can’t tell me the asshole Charles has good working conditions on their farms or that the Ericksons don’t run tech factories with shit that would probably make our blood run cold. “

“Totally,” Cori says, her curls bouncing as she agrees. “I’ve seen exposés on that kind of stuff. Also, remember that Dolly told us a lot of her summer friends are terrified of being out at night because preds do whatever they want without being disciplined. The promise of not living in fear is an excellent motivator.”

“So you’re telling me we have two groups of bitch bullies chasing Dolly because she exists, but also two groups of uber-powerful people making war for the entire shifter world who seem very interested in her being in the middle, too? Like… did you take a ruby out of a temple as a child, girl?” Rufus looks frustrated as he works out the details. “That’s not even mentioning her shitty mom, the thieving counselor, and whatever is behind door number six that we haven’t found yet.”

Flopping on my back, I cover my face with my hands again. “I know; I know. It’s insane how people keep making me part of their master plan. I don’t know why everyone is so damn obsessed with destroying me. I promise I’m not trying to attract it!”

Cori sighs and joins me, then Rufus follows. As they flank me on the floor, I feel a little of the anxiety drain from my body. It’s hard to live when you have this many people watching you and even harder when you know that number keeps growing. “Can we talk about something else for just a little bit? Please?”

“Of course we can, Dollybear. Tell us about—”

“No, Rufus,” Cori says with an eye roll. “Not sexy talk right now. How about… what the hell are we going to do for Halloween? It’s two weeks from today and we don’t have a spare second to do what we did last year. No one is getting anything homemade.”

“What does it matter? We’re not going into town on Samhain night for sure. The guys would flip their shit about safety.”

Rufus gives me a cagey grin. “We don’t have to. There’s a huge ass party in the cemetery on the other side of the fence. I heard about it from the girls in my Diplomacy class.”

“Ugh, those witches,” Cori grumbles. “I hate when you cozy up to them.”

“It’s for gossip, dahling Coco. You know I have to keep my ear to the ground so we can help head off bullshit,” Rufus chides. “I don’t like them one bit, but you know how wired in foxes are.”

“But the guys’ townhouse is on that side… not a cemetery,” I interject.

“On the other side, silly rabbit!” I roll my eyes and the badger laughs. “Everyone is invited, so I’m sure your overprotective bodyguard men can escort you. The triplets are meeting me there, but they won’t tell me what they’re coming as. It’s very annoying.”

I see the look on Cori’s face darken, so I grab her hand. “Maybe you could arrange everyone’s costume? Like order them? You have measurements from last year and we can all be a group—you, Rufus, me, and the guys. Your choice—I’ll square it with them. Okay?”

The polar bear’s face lights up and she squeals, pulling me into a koala bear hug. “Ooooooooh, I can’t wait! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Dolly!”

Rufus hisses as her squeal echoes in the room. “Yikes, Coco. You are far too screamy for this room. We are not cheerleaders; no one needs to yell like that when not in uniform. Ouch.”

I sock him in the arm. “Don’t harsh her buzz, buddy. I enjoy seeing my friend this happy. If you quit being a sourpuss, you can help her.”

---