Page 36 of Come Out & Prey

That thought disturbs the hell out of me, so I go back to focusing on the weeping blond on the altar. I step closer and she rears back so quickly she almost falls off the stone. Her reaction puzzles me; I wasn’t being threatening at all. Why would she be acting like I’m going to hurt her unless…

My eyes narrow as I tilt my head and scent the air. The jasmine from the tree fills my nostrils first, but then I catch it. A slight tang of blood and the scent of…

Holy feathered eagle balls. It can’t be.

This Council heir must smell like prey because of all the scurrying animals in the ballroom. There’s no way one of them is hiding a kid set to inherit their throne who isn’t at the very top of our food chain. The scandal would rock the foundations hard enough that even I’d hear about it.

Besides, I know I couldn’t smell her animal when I saw her in the gym, and that means she was a virgin. Though with blood in the air now… perhaps that’s changed. Is that why she’s acting like I’m going to rip her throat out?

Motherfucker, I’ll kill…

I take a deep breath and shake my head to clear it. Calm down, Fitz, you’re going to scare her more. If one of those idiot boys hurt her, she’s not going to trust a male simply because he’s a professor. We had some weird seminar about this last year and though I slept through most of it, I vaguely remember how they described victim behavior.

“Hey. Listen,” I try saying again. “I won’t make you go anywhere you don’t want to. But I feel you’re not okay, and I can’t just leave you like this.”

“The puking is because Todd and his idiot friends spiked the punch,” she spits out. Her face changes when she says the name like it’s distasteful, which sets off alarm bells in my head. She swipes at the tears, then wipes her nose on her tattered dress with a huff.

I don’t know what the hell they spiked my party favors with, but suddenly, I want nothing more than to hold this girl in my arms and tell her everything will be okay.

That’s ridiculous, of course, because it’s almost never true.

“Is Todd why you’re so upset?” I observe her face because her response is going to sentence that asswipe to a painful death if it’s affirmative.

Her eyes widen and more tears spill out as she lifts her hand to cover the whimper that comes out of her mouth. “He… We… I’m…”

Fury flares in my soul and my fangs drop as I snarl, “Did he force you? Did that motherfucker rape you, baby girl?”

She shrinks away, obviously terrified of my response, and I have a stern conversation with my tiger until he pulls the pointies back. Once I do, she’s able to meet my gaze again. I give her a sheepish look, rubbing the back of my neck as I search for the right words.

It’s not like she knows I saw the bruises and smelled sex on her.

“I won’t hurt you; I promise. But I need you to tell me what happened because it’s very hard to control a tiger when it’s angry.”

Her lips curve a little, but I consider it a win. Her voice is barely a whisper when she replies, “I know you won’t hurt me.And… he didn’t… rape me. Todd was supposed to be my fiancé but… now… Things didn’t go as planned and I’m sure that’s off because my whole life has been a lie.”

Shifting from foot to foot, I argue with myself for a moment before I gesture to the other side of the flat stone. “Can I sit?”

The girl chews her bottom lip for a moment and I have to talk the other monster down before I do something stupid as hell. By the time she nods, I’m pretty sure I won’t embarrass myself when I sit that close, so I join her. I say nothing at first because I’m not sure how much I want to share, but I want her to feel better.

“I can relate to life not turning out how you expected. You may not realize it, but no matter what they spin to the students, most of the professors here are not here by choice. Something in our lives happened, and we got sent here as punishment.”

“Really?” she looks up at me wide eyed and I have to swallow a groan.

“Really. When new professors get here, they take a while to adjust because most of us are fucking furious that we’re stuck here teaching rich brats. Even if we’re former rich brats ourselves.” I smirk a little and she ducks her head, so that I don’t see her trying not to laugh.

“Why do you stay? You’re adults, right?”

Oh, to be young and this naïve again.

“We are, but that doesn’t mean our choices aren’t limited. They would kill some of us if we left, but all the exiles have nowhere else to go where they can be around their people. And maybe some of them are punishing themselves for getting sent here.”

Felix is one of those. I suggested we make a break for it after the first year, but he refused. My stubborn twin doesn’t even like me doing research to overturn my father’s decision. He spends most of his time denying himself everything possible in penance: touch, his hair, friends, sex… you name it.

But it’s not in a Khan’s nature to submit and I won’t unless he directly orders me to—which I know Felix realizes.

“What if you could go back but everyone is going to treat you like shit over something you had no control over? Would you do it?”

“That’s a very specific hypothetical, baby girl.” I smile crookedly and shrug. “I guess it would depend on if I thought I was strong enough to look them in the eye and say ‘get fucked’. If I knew I could do it, I would make sure they knew they can’t break me.”

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