Page 91 of In Prey We Trust

His lips curve, and he looks positively feral. “Oh, now you’re talking.”

Cori finally lets go of me, her eyes big as she looks at me. “How are you going to talk those guys into a costume party when we have no idea who really killed Kinsley and those Apex kids, especially with hooded freaks appearing everywhere?”

“I don’t know. Sex, maybe?” My eyes dance as I shrug. “It seems to work most of the time.”

“Aw, Coco, our little girl is growing up! She realized men will do anything if you touch the trouser snake.”

“Shut up, Rufus!” Cori and I smack him at the same time, and he howls in indignation.

He rolls away, pretending to nurse his arms, and I chuckle. “You are such a big baby.”

“I am not. Just for that, I won’t tell you what Farley found out.” The badger sticks his tongue out at me and I glare.

“Tell me or I’m going to beat you up.” I grab a pillow, holding it up threateningly.

“Whooooooooa. I’ve imagined this scene a million times, but never once was the gangster in my dream. No fair, Baby Girl.” Cori giggles as Fitz swaggers in with a tray full of snacks, grinning like the tiger who ate a canary. “Chessie thought you might be hungry since you’ve been in for hours, but he’s gonna lose it when he finds out he missed you getting ready to pillow fight.”

“Oh my god, Fitzy, there’s so much cheese on this tray,” I groan happily. “I’m going to give him a present, I fucking swear.”

“Did she just ignore me for… cheese?” he asks Cori and Rufus.

I did and I’m not apologizing—cheesy goodness is a food orgasm and I won’t stand for any backtalk.

“Think so, Psycho,” Rufus says as he swipes some nachos. “Your job is done here. Take your mental snapshot to keep you company and tootle-loo.”

“Rufus, be nice!” Cori sighs and turns back to my tiger. “Thank you for bringing this, Professor. We’re obviously pretty hangry.”

“No sweat, Coco-cabana.” He turns to Rufus and glares. “You’re on my list, jackass.” Before I can say anything, he comes over and lifts me off the ground, swinging me into the air so I’m looking down at him. “And you, Baby Girl, remember that being bratty makes Felix horny. Also, I think the winged weenies like it, but probably because you let them chase you. Or so I heard.”

My face turns bright red as I hear Rufus choke and Cori dissolve into giggles again. Fitz winks at me and I wrinkle my nose. He did that on purpose and he knows they’ll grill me like I’m a murder suspect now. “Fitz Khan, I’ll get you back. Just you wait.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it, Baby Girl,” he says as he lowers me to the ground and swats my ass. “Now go eat and study. These fucking exams are cutting into my naked time and it makes me snarly.”

That makes two of us, Fitzy.

Here For You

Aubrey

He’s brooding again, and it makes me crazy. Since we brought back the files from the Charles vault, Renard has been poring over them, making notes until he can’t see straight, then going to his bell tower to stare at that stupid orchid. In hundreds of years, he’s never explained to me why it doesn’t die, but I guess I’ve got a bloody clue now. I don’t know the story behind it, either, but it seems like he’s trying to figure out how to deal with this. At least, I hope he is, otherwise it’s going to get ugly.

Sighing, I look at the historical records of family trees Fitz’s team found in the Hopewell room. It traces families back far enough that I can tell when their clans came to this country from the rest of the world. I assume the ones with the longest lineage are all Council members and perhaps even part of this ‘Society’ we can’t find more information about. Looking at my list, I rub my templates and groan. It’s so many families and most of them have enormous trees worth of ancestors to research. I may have to get Fitz to run some computer doohickey to help weed out the unimportant ones.

Shifter Councils

Possible Members & Society Members

Hopewell

Erickson

Drew

Barrington

Maclachlan

Leonidas

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