Page 3 of Come Out & Prey

“Apologies. My parents did the whole ‘stand and be counted’ BS again, and I thought Lucille was going to drone on forever. As usual, Bruno milked every second of flexing his uber tiny dick powers before he sent me running along with his pet psycho.” I hitch my thumb over my shoulder, showing the bulky Komodo hovering about a hundred feet back. I don’t have to look to know he’s there; I canfeelhis menacing sneer in my bones.

Sniffing, Gold shrugs and turns on her heel. “Figure it out next time, DD, or we’ll leave you behind. Managing the egg and sperm donors is part of being a Council heir. If you can’t hack it, they’ll eat you alive.”

I blink, tilting my head at her for a moment. The Heathers have always been bitchy, but something in Gold’s attitude today smacks of unearned entitlement. I have no fuckingcluewhat flew up her ass and laid eggs, but her lemon sucking bullshit is going to piss me off today. I’ve had enough of people acting like they own me, and she’s pushing that button hard. “Where are we going first, guys?”

A change of subject should distract them—they’re not too bright.

Baring her teeth, Gold gives me a knowing look. I guess she caught my lack of groveling. “We are meeting up with Todd,Chaz, Brett, and Brad on the quad. They assigned us a tour guide, but we’re going to ditch them as soon as possible.”

“Yeah!” Heather Charles pipes up as she tightens her silver bow. “E says we’re going to find some hot college preds to invite us to a better afterparty for prom night.”

My eyes narrow. College parties are typically ‘emerged animals only’. No one wants to be the older student who makes a younger pred’s animal emerge and risk the animal imprinting on them during a one-night stand. It fucking happens, and I’ve seen girls at our school absolutely lose the plot when the guy or girl who busted their fang cherry ditches them. It’s like a baby duck without a mama—they wander around aimlessly.

They get very desperate, and it’s fucking sad what trauma they put themselves through to chase that feeling. I have zero interest in drinking, screwing, and fucking up my life worse than it already is at a college party.

Besides, I have plans of my own, and they don’t involve keg stands.

“You don’t look excited,” Heather Barrington interjects. Her tiny eyes glitter behind the colored frames of her oh-so-fashionable oversized frames that coordinate perfectly with her pink ribbon. “Don’t you want to find the best prospects here before we walk through the doors? Who you know is everything at Apex. We plan to be at the top of the food chain, and anyone who gets in our way…”

All four Heathers smirk in a way that makes my blood run cold.

I’ve seen what those four can do to someone they consider ‘beneath them’ at Shifter Secondary. I didn’t take part in the festivities, but I did nothing to stop them, either. My parentswould have gone crazy if they’d gotten wind of me showing ‘weakness’, and that would have been the end of my bit of freedom.

It doesn’t make me a good person, I know, but I didn’t have a choice.

I’m especially glad I kept my big mouth shut now that Bruno is comfortably slinging death threats around.

“I don’t want Lucille and Bruno to flip their switches if we get busted at a college party, that’s all. You know how they are.”

Heather Hopewell nods, studying me as the purple ribbon in her hair flutters in the breeze. “That’s fair. Their edicts have always limited you.”

That sounds sweet, right?

It’s not. That’s her backhanded way of saying I’m too cowardly to stand up to my parents. None of the Heathers are nice, and all of them are self-serving. I don’t normally get this much ire aimed at me, though, and I’m curious why this morning they’re all set on treating me like shit.

Did someone marry another Jonas Brother or something?

Forcing a smile, I tilt my head. “Shall we go inside and figure out what crusty old bat they’re going to assign us for the tour, ladies?”

Gold sniffs, giving me a once over before turning on her heel. A snap of her fingers has the rest of them scurrying to follow, and I sigh in relief. If the boys are inside, their presence will distract the Heathers, and I can lean on Todd. He’s always there to soothe me when my parents or the Heathers get me ruffled.

That’s whymyprom night plans involve a hotel room, champagne, and an overdue surprise for the best boyfriend in the entire world.

* * *

“If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you past our award-winning library.” The poor tour guide rambles on, although barely anyone is listening. “The Draconis Memorial Library has a collection of texts that are only rivaled by the Apex National Library in the capital. Donors and alumni from around the world apply to the waiting list to have their documents, family records, and tomes inspected for authenticity prior to our historian accepting them as part of collections. We have a state-of-the-art preservation room, and a climate controlled vault in the catacombs to help protect the eldest of our valuable acquisitions…”

“There hasn’t been a worthy Draconis since that incident,” Gold snarks. “Why do they keep the name?”

“Probably because the heirs throw so much money at the school, they can’t turn them away. It’s unfortunate that a shitty family like that gets to be part of the awesomeness of Apex,” Todd laughs. His high-pitched giggle sometimes makes me cringe, and his boys, Chaz, Brett, and Brad, join in immediately.

It’s creepy how alike they are sometimes.

“Maybe the school figures that one person’s mistake doesn’t define an entire family?” I suggest, frowning at the joy they’re taking in dragging people we don’t even know. Everyone knows the Draconis family keeps to themselves since the ‘incident’, and no one really knows what kind of people their clan has now.

“Oh, sure! Someloserdestroys valuable artifacts and stuff like a million years ago, and you want to throw them a pity party. Typical,” Gold mutters, looking at the other girls. “DD and her bleeding heart.”

Pink gives me a predatory grin. “That’s what will get you one day, DD. Never help anyone. We’re predators, and we eat the weak until we’re at the top. That’s the way of our world.”

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