Page 31 of Come Out & Prey

I am not fooled by my inability to see that heckler—the baritone in the voice is one of a grown ass shifter, not a child. My fellow teacher is near the back corner, and I now suspect he’s encouraging these little assholes to interrupt. Whatever he was looking forward to tonight isn’t happening fast enough for his liking—so he’s bored and intent on stirring up his own entertainment. To make matters worse, he’s got to be tripping fucking goat balls by now, and Fitz is ADHD enoughwithoutchemical assistance, so this is a train wreck waiting to happen.

Did I mention I’m going to reduce the tigers to cinders?

Clearing my throat, I continue, pretending his shenanigans aren’t phasing me. “Apex is known for having some of the most skilled predators in the world on staff. We have alphas, betas, princes, princesses, and more roaming our halls as both students and professors. We will expose you to various subjects and fields of interest depending on what career you intend to pursue, and in your upper-classmen years, we will grant you permission to be an exchange student or intern with elite pred schools and institutions across the globe.”

“Interns can suck my balls!”

My eyes close for a moment, and I try to get control of my temper. Fitz riling up the entitled morons in the back isn’t helping, and I’m determined not to embarrass Henny or anyone else tonight. I take a sip of the water on the podium, hoping the cool liquid will quench my fire. Before I can open my mouth again to speak, a loud retching sound rings out in the middle of the crowd on the dance floor.

It’s followed by another, and another, and another…

The room erupts into chaos as shrieks, puking noises, and the stench of vomit fill the air. Girls scream about saving their designer dresses as they scramble away from the students, who seem to aim for a Guinness World Record as their projectile bile shoots across the floor. Boys push each other trying to get away from the smell, sliding on the barf covering the floor and knocking over girls in heels. People crawl towards the tables, moaning and continuing to throw up as they go.

My eyes widen as I search the room for other adults to help. There’s one lone girl sitting at a table, a frown marring herFibonacci-perfect features as she watches the throng of students collapse into a vomitus wasteland. She doesn't look sick at all, and I can’t help but wonder why that is. Her surprise is genuine, and I’m about to call out to her so she doesn’t get sucked into the mess on the dance floor when a tiger roar distracts me.

Fitz catches my eyes, jerking his head at the doors and flapping his arms to show I should fly over the mess to meet him. Fucking great. He wants me to ruin myonetux to get the nurses for these rich fools. Son of a bitch, I don’t know what I did to Ra this week, but he’s clearly pissed.

I couldn’t have had worse luck if I tried.

I strip the suit coat off to save it, letting my wings extend and shred the back of the perfectly tailored shirt underneath. Draping my coat over my arm, I rise slowly, hovering long enough in my half-shifted form to judge the ceiling height before I fly over the disgusting pit on the dance floor. When I land next to him, Fitz bobs his brows, his eyes glassy as he points at the gorgeous girl I noticed before.

“Pretty sure she saw my cock last week.”

Pretty… what?For the love of Bastet, Fitzgerald Khan is not the brightest crayon in the box. Clearly, there are more important things going on than the pussy he apparently came to ogle. “Fitz, is that why you called me over here?”

“Fuck yeah, bro! She’s got thighs you could smother yourself in. Chess and I…”

“Fitz!” I shout, my temper breaking free of its tethers. “There is a more pressing issue than your dick wagging at some underage pred. We have to get Bettina, Argyle, and Clarice right now.We don’t know why these kids are sick, but imagine what will happen to us if any of theseheirs die!”

Fitz’s face goes white, and I know I’ve gotten through to him. The research he’s asked me to do may never result in anything, but if we’re the chaperones who let the Council heirs die, it won’t matter that Felix is the rightful Khan leader. We’d be lucky if our deaths were quick. “Fucking shit, man! Where the hell is the prey staff housing again? They don’t tell all of us you know—it causes staffing issues.”

I roll my eyes. Of course, Henny can’t tell most of the staff where they house hedgehogs, mongooses, pangolins, skunks, opossums, and the like—it would be a death sentence. This location is probably only shared with a sliver of the professors—trusted ones like Renard and I. “Forget that. I’ll go get them, since they have venom resistance.Yougo to the infirmary and get their supplies. Tell that idiot driving the golf cart to fetch the nurses and to floor it or we’re all going to get murdered.”

He salutes me, shifting mid-air as he leaps, his clothes landing in a shredded heap on the ground.

Goddamnit. I fucking hate cats sometimes.Rich, idiotic, wasteful little shits drive me insane, and the Khan brothers were born and bred in the biggest pack of those fuckers.

I turn back to the ballroom, ripping off a piece of my ruined shirt to cover my face and muffle the stench. Moans, groans, and crying fill the air as I walk across the back of the room towards the buffet to examine the contents. My sense of smell isn’t as good as Fitz’s, but some poisons I should be able to scent on my own.

Just then, I see a flash of blonde, followed by a companion ducking out the sliding glass door that leads to the small patio area facing the lake. I don’t know if I blame the girl for getting away from the rancid stench in here, but I find myself oddly sad that I won’t get to speak to her. I was hoping to ask her what shedidn’tdo tonight to determine why she’s one of the few who aren’t losing the contents of their stomachs on our parquet. If that led to more interesting conversation after, it would only be a delight.

But she’s gone, spirited away into the moonlight like a fairy.

Fitz will be pissed, too. He seems to know her—if his dick comment was true—and she might even be the reason he accepted his fate so easily tonight. As if everything else going on at Apex isn’t weird enough, Fitz might have a crush on an incoming student.

Oh, I’m going to get some mileage out of this for sure.

Can’t Fight The Moonlight

Leavingthe chaos of the prom disaster, Todd tugs on my hand as we exit the ballroom through the back door, leading me across the quaint little patio and onto the grass. The moon is shining brightly above, and the only noise is that of the nocturnal creatures around us. I look up at the stars, a small smile curving my lips. Tonight hasn’t been all sunshine and roses, but as we stroll through the open space behind Shirdal, I feel a flicker of hope forming in my chest.

I know where we are thanks to my exploration at the open house, and my brows furrow briefly as my boyfriend continues to pull me away from the building and the lake nearby. We’re headed toward the Shifter Training Area where I saw the primal fight last week. My cheeks flush as I remember the sculpted form of the tiger. I realized he must be related to the other professor I saw from the courtyard, because they are almost identical. Twins, maybe, and that thought has my skin heating even more. I saw a video once when the Heathers hacked the Wi-Fi at my house so we could check out Preyhub and?—

“DD!”

A pair of fingers snap in my face and I blink, realizing I was fantasizing about the professors again. “Oh, sorry, baby. I guess I zoned out a little.”

“We’re here, babe,” Todd replies, gesturing toward the wide, circular stone arena I peeped at last week. It’s huge, and secluded, but the tang of blood that hangs over it speaks to the fights that regularly occur here. “Isn’t this perfect?”

---