Page 124 of Let Us Prey

Castle

Aubrey

I was nothappy with Delores taking up residence in the privacy of our Tower at first, I’ll admit.

When Fitz called to bully Rennie into it, I made my frustration clear. He and I have shared our spaces for many years now and we’ve kept our secrets safe by only confiding in one another. That grew into something more well before the tigers arrived, but we chose not to elaborate on our relationship purposefully.

We have more similarities than differences, despite species, and are comfortable in our anonymity.

But my romance reading, poetry loving dreamer couldn’t stand for this girl to be unsafe. So we gave her the second lowest floor and strict rules to abide by—which she promptly broke.

Again, my hopeless empath caved, and we comforted her when she needed it.

Now we’re all entangled in her web, including me, and I have no idea how to handle it. Rennie is going on a date with her soon and I’m sure he’ll enchant her with his Byron and ‘ooh-la-la’ self. I, however, am in a similar boat as Felix because I have no idea what I’ll do when I’m expected to take my turn.

Fitz is… well, Fitz. He’s out of his mind, but in a lovable psycho way. Our quiet cheetah is sweet and supportive, indulging her artistic visions and letting her go wild with her friends in his classes.

What the fuck am I going to do with her outside of the camaraderie we share in my archives?

I respect her sharp mind and fierce heart, as well as her refusal to let the world keep her down. Perhaps I need to find something we can share that will appeal to that? Fuck, I don’t know. Rennie and I spent so much time together that our love sort of… happened. I didn’t have to court him; we just knew.

Growling under my breath, I stalk away from the library for the night. I’ve been buried in old tomes trying to research the poison, magic, Societies, and all manner of intrigue. Delores had practice for the talent show, so I allowed her to move her work study to another night this week. I doubt she realized I’d still be working regardless, but I didn’t want to make her feel bad by saying so.

I trudge up to the scanner on the door and enter my master code carefully. There’s far too much danger not to be overly cautious and I don’t want any intruders here with our girl asleep in her bed tonight.

Frowning, I look at the front staircase for a moment. Fitz learned about Dolly by stalking her and rifling through her shit—which she didn’t seem to mind. That blows my mind because dragons are extremely protective of their spaces and hoard, but she barely even scolds him for it.

Is it possible I could take a page out of his crazy book so I can plan our future date?

My feet decide for me, and before I know it, I’m striding up the stairs, until I hit the second floor. When I walk into the hallway, I notice her door is cracked. That’s not safe at all. What if someone sneaks in her room to hide and isn’t Fitz?

The thumping of my heart forces me forward quickly and I listen carefully as I approach the partially open door, hoping to catch the asshole who is in our girl’s room without permission.

But all I hear are soft sobs and sniffling.

What the hell? The lights are off; is someone hurting her?

I’ll rip their fucking arms off and beat them to death with them before I sear their bones.

Pulling the door open, I stomp in, looking around with my dragon’s eyes so I can see in the dark. I feel him spreading through my body, eager to break free and roast the person stupid enough to believe they can harm our mate.

Wait, what?

Shaking my head of that errant thought, I locate the source of the sounds I heard in the hallway. In the middle of the large mattress is Delores, curled around a pillow in the dark, crying as if her heart is breaking into pieces. She doesn’t even move and I know her instincts have warned her she’s not alone.

I lick my lips, unsure what to do. Fitz or Chess or Rennie would know—maybe I should call them? I have zero experience comforting a crying woman and though Dolly has over shared personal things with me before, I’m uncertain I’ll be able to do what the more emotional members of our little group would. Hell, I’m not even sure what they’d do, so I know I can’t emulate it.

A loud sniff distracts me and a tiny voice murmurs low enough that you’d have to be a supe to hear. “I just want to be alone.”

Fuck. Whatever it is, it’s bad.

The glow of a cell phone lights the room for a second, then fades. Delores growls low from her prone position, winging the damn thing in my direction. I catch it, frowning as I realize she didn’teven open her eyes to look at it before she hurled the wretched tech across the room.

Whatever is upsetting her is online.

Lucky for me, the screen isn’t locked, so I scroll through the notifications. There’s a flood of vicious garbage from the Apex message boards—nasty comments and horrible accusations going back to what seems to be the beginning of the year. A few of them reference the damage done to her dorm room, and I tuck those names away to consult with Fitz. But I doubt that is what’s making her sob in the dark, if it’s been going on the whole time.

No, this is something recent because she’s been stoically weathering this abuse from her peers without saying a word.

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