Page 26 of Come Out & Prey

I hate my life.

By the timethe crew finishes my hair, waxing, makeup, nails—along with getting me into the outfit—it’s almost time for Todd and my friends to arrive.

I step in front of the full-length mirror, turning in place in my dangerously high heels. For the first time, I thank Hera that Lucille made me take a year of ballroom dancing as I’d break an ankle otherwise. I agree with the great Ginger Rogers—if I can dance backwards in heels, I can do anything. That’s notexactlythe quote, but it’s close enough and I’m feeling a little more confident than I was in the boutique.

Monsieur Grrowlvinchy’s dress clings to every curve, draping in the right places, and accentuating the curves Lucille hates so much. The added height of the shoes makes me look statue-esque, and the highlights in my hair make it shine like spun gold. Callisto, the peacock stylist, had her team pluck, tweeze, and highlight my face with a smoky chanteuse look from the days of ingenues and divas, so I look several years older than I am.

“You look beautiful, Delores,” Mattie says, her face soft. “All grown up.”

Biting my lower lip, I stare at myself again, finally rid of the effects of whatever the hell they dosed me with. All I want is for Todd to think I look beautiful and dance the night away together before we make love. If the universe could give me those few hours of happiness, I know I can survive whatever awaits me downstairs. “Thank you, Mattie.”

She opens the door, and I walk out, straightening my spine and swallowing hard. I just have to make it through my parents’ inspection until Todd and the others arrive with our limo to whisk me off like a princess in a fairytale. I can do this.

Before my foot even hits the top step, I hear Bruno bellowing in a scotch-filled snarl.

“Delores! Get down here so I can examine you before your date arrives. You willnotembarrass us in front of all the familiesandthe Apex staff tonight or so help me…”

He’s already tanked and in a mood. Excellent. That means…

“Did your father stutter, Delores Diamond Drew?”

Yep, Lucille’s in the bag, too. What a surprise. This is going to be ugly.

“I’m coming, Lucille,” I call, starting down the stairs carefully. Dancing in heels is one thing, stairs are quite another.

Matilda rushes ahead, clearly hoping to placate them before I get down the marble staircase. I hear growls and snarls, the idea of them treating her so poorly making my empty stomach turn. When I finally reach the bottom, I stride into the drawing room. I’m shocked to find them in their usual corners, but with Bruiser holding a black briefcase besides scowling at me.

“Well, if it isn’t the porky prima donna,” Lucille mutters into her martini. “Getting you to look acceptable took four times as long as I take.”

I steel my spine again, already prepared for her insults. I can’t let her make me cry and ruin this gorgeous look Callisto and her team created. “I apologize, Lucille. They did quite a lot of work to make me presentable. Thank you for your generous gift.”

She snorts, and my father walks over to Bruiser. He opens the case, revealing a starry sky full of sparkling jewelry pieces. I tilt my head, a confused look crossing my features.Why does he have Lucille’s jewels out of the vault?I thought he was retrieving my small sweet sixteen set. No wonder she’s saltier than a mermaid on a cracker.

“You will wear the pieces I select and if a single stone is damaged tonight, I will take the cost out of your hide,” Bruno snarls, morphing into a half-shifted crocodile.

Shrinking back a step, I shake my head. “Oh, Father, I couldn’t. That’s far too... uh, kind. Those are…”

He cuts me off before I can finish my protest, stalking over with a gorgeous sapphire necklace. “I didn’t ask, daughter. You will wear what I say and make certain any press photos of you at the dance include these pieces. I can’t have the other families thinking we skimped out on your prom simply because you’re such a disappointment.”

I’m frozen in place as he snaps it on my neck, roughly adjusting it to sit exactly as it should. I don’t want to be responsible for something of this value, and I’m certain Lucille will punish me simply for having it touch my worthless skin. But I murmur an appropriately grateful response, so he backs up and eyes me again. “Birdbrain, put the earrings on her. I can’t stand being that close to failure long enough to deal with it.”

My only ally in the room comes closer, attaching the matching earrings to my lobes gently, and I give her a terrified look that she reflects at me. Something about this stinks of a set-up, but neither of us will get me out of it.

The doorbell peels, and Bruiser grunts, snapping the case shut. Matilda scurries to the door, clearly hoping that it’s my escape route.

If everything goes well tonight, maybe it will be.

Extra Lessons For The Unlucky

I despise this music.

Actually, I despise everything about what is currently happening in my home. The Tower is supposed to be my sanctuary—yes, laugh at the gargoyle having a sanctuary in a tower, everyone does—but I have been at Apex Academy so long that I’ve gathered an otherwise unwanted motley crew of fellow outcasts.

Aubrey was first, as he and I are the eldest shifters at the school and have a natural affinity. It devastated him when his clan cast him out for his youthful indiscretion, but he somehow found his way to my Tower. I wished not to be bothered, as I was mired in my own misfortunes after hundreds of years of moping. However, his quiet despair touched something inside of me I thought was long deceased, and I eventually allowed him to find refuge in my mostly fireproof home until he learned the control he sorely lacked. The dragon’s anger has always fueled much of his inability to control his flames or to manage it more effectively.

Over the centuries, we fell into a companionable, if not grumpy, existence as friends and I learned to tolerate his eccentricities. After all, we are two of the rarest species of shifters—ones whose homes and families they ripped away with no warning—and it has always been unlikely that we would ever find another of our kind outside the kingdoms we no longer ruled.

But Aubrey’s heart is even softer than my own, and when the trio of Khan outcasts showed up at the academy several years ago, he insisted we give them a chance. I still don’t know what he sees in the clownish tiger twin—and the other keeps trying to play king—but the quiet artsy cheetah is amenable. Unfortunately, he is rarely without his adoptive brethren, and their inclusion in our friendship has caused more concessions on my part.

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