Page 106 of Let Us Prey

“Yes, madam,” she mumbles as she walks over to do my bidding. Her expression is crestfallen and I have to hide the smile on my face at her pathetic loyalty to my daughter.

“Don’t get your wings in a twist, Matilda. I’m only looking out for Delores. She’s not meant to succeed in our world, but she’s been raised to be a part of it. Bruno and I have to ensure she finds a husband, so she won’t be on her own.”

She looks suspicious, and I don’t blame her—I’m not one for compassion. However, I force my face into a mask of concern that eventually wears the hawk down. She nods and murmurs, “Miss Delores needs solid allies on her side, madam. As always, you are correct.”

I almost snort; it takes monumental control not to. What my daughter needs is to be sold off to Augustus Khan, so I can make a profit off of her. Otherwise, our investment in her life has been a waste of capital.

We’ll consider that Plan C.

“Of course I am, Matilda. Now leave me alone while I finish my maintenance routine. Your presence makes my eyes ache.”

She curtsies, and I roll my eyes as I watch her leave. I wonder if I should allow her a relationship with Delores again, if only to have another way to gather intel. After all, what kind of leader would I be if I didn’t use all the tools at my disposal?

And they arealltools.

Laughing at my joke, I sip my drink as I continue to scheme, having no intention of snoozing soon.

Sleep is for the weak.

Snowman

Aubrey

When I awoketo find the campus covered in snow, I sourly stomped to the sitting room with my coffee. My kind is more suited to hot weather, and winter chills make the Tower drafty. It occurred to me during my correspondence with several sister-school archivists in various climates that the cold might be just as difficult on Delores. Our girl isn’t an Arctic hare, and from what I’ve seen of her fur, it won’t be enough to keep her warm while she’s here during the break.

Plus, it’d be harder to get her naked if she’s…

Nope. That line of thought is off-limits for the moment.

It took a bit to rouse Rennie—he’s not a morning person in the slightest—but once he was coherent, he agreed, and was more than happy to fly into town with me to purchase a myriad of space heaters for the frequently used spaces in the Tower.

He also insisted on purchasing an extra desk with materials for homework, about twenty cases of Dr. Pepper, and other household junk I’ve always talked him out of before. This time his excuse was it will make Dolly feel welcome, so Isimply watched indulgently. It was good to see him throwing things into a cart like a kid in a candy store, and the smile on his face made it impossible to grump about spending a fortune on silly, decorative bullshit.

That bunny has us all wrapped around her little finger, and I doubt she has the slightest clue.

Since her mother called to confirm she was staying at Apex for Yule, our girl has seemed a tad…pensive.

I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, because she’s hidden it well, but there’s something bothering her she doesn’t seem to want to talk about. I tried using her truth game, but all I got out of her was that those bitchy ex-friends of hers had dosed her with pred-stasy one night last spring, and she’s planning some brand of revenge with her new friends for the talent show in the spring.

“Flames, what else can we have delivered to the Tower? We’ve never really celebrated the holidays together before, and I want to make sure Dolly feels at home,” Renard says as he thoughtfully looks around the vast store.

I snort, arching a brow at him. “I’m fairly certain anything we do will make her happy, especially if it doesn’t resemble her parental home, Rennie. But I don’t disagree—she deserves to have a pleasant holiday.”

He wanders over to a nervous-looking tapir shifter, talking to him animatedly for a moment before returning. “I have plans.”

Uh-oh. I’ve somehow activated mother hen Rennie.

“You realize Dolly can’t… move in… anywhere, right? At least, not at the moment,” I say carefully, remembering the last time he had ‘plans’ was when he upgraded his nest to fit me. I know he enjoyed having her snooze with us, but I doubt we’re ready to go public to our entire group.

The gargoyle looks at me as if I’ve lost my marbles, scoffing. “Of course not. That is far too presumptuous. We’re going to look at winter gear while that gentleman’s staff makes arrangements fordecorations to be delivered to the Tower, along with every pillow, blanket, and cushion they have in stock. Now, quit frowning and let’s go!”

Vengeful Ra, the Tower is going to resemble a magazine spread from Martha Stewart Living.

“Whatever you think, Rennie, but… take a breath, okay? We don’t want to crowd her; she’s just getting used to having all of us… around.” I give him a fond smile as he rolls his eyes and speeds off towards the clothing section. I can’t even imagine what the hell he has up his sleeve to look so unusuallynot-emo, but whatever it is, I’m in.

Two hours later,we land on the balcony to find the Captain barking orders at both his crew and several unfortunate delivery men. I give Rennie a pointed look and he shrugs, grinning broadly as he walks over to the raccoon pirates to chat.

It’s really fucking hard to be grumpy when he’s acting like this. Hmmph.

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