Page 2 of Come Out & Prey

Bloodstone is a death sentence—pure and simple.

“Y-yes, Father. I understand,” I croak out. As if the pressure of touring my new school isn’t enough, now I worry the Dean will relay something to my parents that gets me shipped off to Death Island.

“Bruno, darling, if you scare her, she’ll frown. That causes wrinkles. Delores, chin up and smile for us.”

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I flash my mother my brightest smile. Her blood-red lips curve, and her leopard fangs burst free as she all but purrs. “I will not have you sullying the family name, Delores. It’s bad enough that your education gave you ideas about your value beyond breeding stock. You will take the seat on the Council when it is time, but the husband we select will control the business—as nature intended. Do you hear me?”

My eyes narrow briefly, and for what is possibly the millionth time this week alone, I nod at my mother to appease her temper. “Yes, Lucille.”

“Excellent!” The leopard fades as she claps her hands. “Matilda!”

The tiny woman steps up, her eyes wide behind her glasses. She’s a pred, but being the smaller size of hawk shifters puts her in the servant class. I believe she genuinely lives in fear of one or both of my parents deciding to eat her. “Yes, madam?”

“Fetch Bruiser. He will accompany Delores to the academy for her tour. Tell him to take the Escalade—it won’t do for her to arrive in a tiny car—it will draw attention to her extra weight. We must make an impression.”

Matilda nods, and I feel the fear radiating from her, and I don’t blame her. Bruiser is one of my parents’ bodyguards and our frequent chauffeur. He’s a Komodo dragon shifter and the house staff are terrified of him. It’s hard not to be, given that he prefers to play with his food, then eat it after it’s dead. The kitchen crew believes he ‘handled’ the gardener, who looked too long at my mother when I was ten. He disappeared without a trace.

Once Matilda scurries away, I watch my parents drink and bicker about their plans for the day. Bruno is going golfing with a congressman, and Lucille is going to the spa. We all know that both outings will include stops at the homes of their current pieces of ass for a quickie, but no one talks about it. The appearance of the loving couple has to be maintained, although neither of them has slept in the same room since I was a baby.

They don’t give a damn about fidelity; I learned that at an early age. Children often discover things they shouldn’t becauseadults discount their ability to understand the conversations happening around them.

I stopped keeping track of who they’re boning long ago, because I’d need an assistant to keep the affairs straight.

While my parents’ marriage is a sham, I remind myself that my boyfriend, Todd, isn’t like them. Yes, his parents only own half the live entertainment industry, but my father allows me to see Todd. The other parents will force the Heathers to accept an arranged betrothal, and I’m grateful I’m lucky enough to have found the perfect match on my own as my high school sweetheart.

“Delores, Bruiser is ready to escort you to Apex. He’s pulling the car around now,” the hawk shifter says softly.

Snapping out of my reverie, I smile at the trembling woman. Bruiser must have scared the living hell out of her. For no other reason than it amused him, I’m sure. He’s as much a brute as his name implies, and I don’t look forward to riding alone to the academy with him.

Something about that shifter gives me the creeps…

Shake It Off

I spentthe bulk of the drive to Apex Academy texting with Todd and the Heathers, while Bruiser muttered angrily to himself as he drove. He doesn’t want to be here as much as me, so that makes us even.

Despite the common ground today, I don’t trust him. Bruno gives him far too much responsibility for being what amounts to a beefcake, and I suspect my parents tasked him with spying on me. Not that a six foot five, muscled brute in an Armani suit could be unobtrusive, but my father isn’t stupid. He probably knows I’m on to Bruiser and figures there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

My guess is Bruiser knows and enjoys all of them intimately.

I hop out of the car as soon as it stops in front of the massive Gothic style admissions building. I’m eager to ditch my shadow, find my friends, and commiserate about our ridiculous parents. If I’m honest, I complain more than the four Heathers, Todd, or his bros, but I have the worst of the bunch. At least the Heathers’ parents aren’t boffing every secretary, pool guy, and tennis proin town. The boys couldn't care less what their mothers say, and their fathers are molding them like gilded trophies. I’m the only one considered a ‘disappointment’ to their family name, and the bad influence of the group.

It’s unfair I’m taking all the heat when weallagreed not to lose our virginity to force our beasts into early emergence.

“DD!”

The high-pitched shout comes from the far side of the steps, and I squint, trying to determine which Heather it is. They’re all coiffed and surgically enhanced to look like quadruplets, so I can’t delineate them by appearance alone. I’m left with precious few options after that because the Heathers dress exactly alike, save one detail.

Every. Single. Day.

“I’m coming, Heather!” I call, waving as I try to work out which girl I’m addressing.

Ah! Now I see it—this is Heather Charles. She’s got that stupid fairy tattoo on the inside of her wrist.Oooh, if Heather Erickson sees it, she’ll rip her a new one.None of the Heathers are supposed to have anything that distinguishes them except the one accessory chosen that day. Today’s clue is ponytail ribbons—they all have their color added to their carbon copy hairstyles.

Sometimes, it’s easier to call them Heather Purple, Heather Gold, Heather Pink, and Heather Silver.

“It’s abouttime,” Heather Erickson snipes as she adjusts her gold ribbon, although it’s perfect. “We’ve been waiting forever. You know people wait for us, not the other way around, DD.”

It takes everything inside of me to control my irritation. She knows my parents won’t allow me to get a driver’s license because they feel driving is ‘beneath those of our stature’. Since I’m unable to escort myself, I’m at the whims of my drunken asshole parents for every event. I can’t control how long Lucille and Bruno make me stand at attention so that they can remind me how little they care whether I’m happy.

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