Page 131 of Let Us Prey

“Okay, okay,ma petite. The secret hides in this...” he says, pulling the glimmering talisman out of his shirt before pointing at the new necklace he gave me. “And that.”

My hand comes up to the choker, touching the locket in confusion. “It’s… magic?”

“Of a kind. But don’t tell Flames. I’ve never given him one because I enjoy his tantrums when he rips his clothes far too much.”

I grin, thinking about how angry the dragon gets when he half-shifts without warning. I can see the appeal—pissy Aubrey is pretty hot. “Okay, but can we get out of here? I think I’d like to continue the rest of our outing… somewhere less public.”

“Going to put the rabbit back in the cage before we go back to the dance floor?” he asks, holding his hand out.

My lips curve. “Mmm… after I take care of something.”

We navigate our way back to the club floor and I tug his hand over to the bar. Rennie gives me a suspicious look, but I shoot him a grin back and bat my lashes. When we’re standing in front of the snooty flamingo again, her eyes widen as she takes in my ears, and she looks over at the gargoyle, who shrugs.

“Thanks for keeping our drinks cold,” I say, picking both up and tossing them back, one after the other. The alcohol burns like a motherfucker, but I look the bird in the eye as if I do it all the time—telling her I’m not a bunny to be messed with. “Catch ya later, Lucinda.”

With that, I pull my snickering boyfriend through the crowd, shaking my cottontail in victory as we find a spot in the crowd to get our groove on.

I’m going to call tonight’s outing ‘Kinks and Bad Bitch Unlocked’, that’s for damn sure.

Scoob

Chess

Since our familychat about the multitude of issues facing my angel, I’ve been in overdrive. I found a rolling board for the main living area in the Tower and I’ve been here every chance I get, laying out the mysteries we’re trying to solve. I was ecstatic to create a huge transparent vellum cling for the back of the clear board, so there’s a timeline at the top and a map of the school underneath. There are dates and times of the incidents so far ranging from the prom disaster to the most recent disappearances. Locations for all the problems, including the bullying shit, are marked with magnets holding a list of names of those involved.

This looks totally fucking professional and I’m super jazzed about finishing up the last part. I have space for columns listing unanswered questions, theories, and tasks for each of us. Right now, Aubrey and Renard are focused on the bullshit fake paper, so Felix is nosing around the staff. Most of them are terrified of him, so he can ask about all the dangers without worrying whether they’ll respond. Fitz is helping Delores with more self-defense training and I’m supposed to create more clings of the mysterious pictures.

For once, I feel like a genuine part of the team because I can help. My skills and meticulous eye for detail are perfect for creating our workspace. No one threw me a bone; they want me to contribute. It makes my heart sing with happiness.

Of course, some of that is being able to connect with our angel physically. We haven’t had Fitz join us yet, but the time is coming soon and my cheetah is practically vibrating with excitement. Being with the two people I cherish most, together, is almost a dream come true.

And Fitz and Dolly are equally eager.

I know because I’ve caught the hungry look in my tiger’s eyes and the shy glances from the bunny. Neither of them has said anything to me, but I can smell them. We’re very close and it makes me a little giddy. Maybe I should start another chat with the three of us so we can play? I bet Fitz would love that shit, and I know our girl would enjoy the naughtiness of it.

After all, what kind of future mate would I be if I didn’t take care of the people I love?

Blinking, I put my hand over my mouth when that thought pops into my head. It’s not as if I’m in danger of spilling the beans—no one but me has this period free. Fuck knows, Fitz and I have said those words plenty of times before, but I don’t think he’s said them to her and I know I haven’t. But as I think about it, I know with all my heart that it’s true, just as I knew when I fell for my consort. My angel is part of our forever now, and I can’t wait to share her with the tiger I adore.

I let out a deep breath, thinking about how wonderful our night was New Year’s Eve, and how supportive the rest of the guys were the next day. They ribbed me a little, which was expected, but no one made me feel silly for being so happy. When I mentioned the way she marked me, we all looked at one another for a moment before agreeing the class with Zhenga was totally necessary.

My face heats as I continue using the markers to list clues on the board. Having to attend her class in person to learn about the fables fated mate shit was embarrassing as hell. Even Fitz was hyper as hell afterward, so we all had a long talk about what happened to us with our bunny rabbit. Felix looked pained—I don’t think he ever considered having a proper girlfriend again, much less a mate sent by the Fates. The two ancients exchanged a lot of ‘eyebrow talk’, which I’m familiar with enough to know it surprised them, too.

Something has been going on with those two since before my angel arrived and now it’s spread to her, as well. I don’t know what they’re hiding or why they took her into their confidence, but even before Ren’s date, I could see her gravitating towards them. Not just separately, either—together.

I ponder that for a moment, frowning as I try to imagine the two of them together like Felix and me, but it simply doesn’t compute. My thought train must be on the wrong track—whatever they’re hiding isn’t a relationship. I have no fucking clue what it could be, but that doesn’t seem likely when I try to spin it in my head.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, startling me out of my musings. Pulling it out of my pocket, I see a message from the gargoyle of the hour, asking me to meet him at the spot where we found the dead weasel. I have no idea why he’d want to meet there, though I guess we never went into that prey tunnel to check it out. Maybe doing a little Scooby-Doo will help us shake loose some connections between the poison, the dead kid, and the disappearances?

It definitely can’t hurt to check it out.

Texting him back to say I’m on my way, I set all my shit aside and take off down the Tower steps. I’d do anything to keep our girl safe and if part of that is crawling through creepy, bug filled prey tunnels, I can take it.

I mean, Dolly uses them all the time, so they can’t be that bad,right?

Right?

Wrong.

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