Page 151 of Let Us Prey

Wicked Ones

Chess

Shiftingfrom foot to foot in excitement, I wait for my angel to answer the door. I’ve stumbled on something amazing and I can’t wait to show her what I found.

To think, I wasn’t sure about the transparent boards until Ren pointed out how versatile they were. Ducking my head, I smile as I think about how close our little family has gotten. Being an orphan wasn’t easy, despite how well Felix and Fitz treated me, and having the support of all our friends is making me feel warm and accepted. Even Aubrey is getting a little less gruff, and I hope he’ll trust me to come into his archives next.

With permission, unlike my mischievous consort.

My lips curl when I think about Aubrey’s rampage after he found out Fitz rubbed his fucking nuts everywhere in the clean room. My angel paid her own price for her mistake by filing thousands of password change forms. The run he made Fitz take around campus to avoid being fried was damned funny and well deserved. Everyone but him knows better than to fuck with thedragon’s lair.

Where is she?!

I pull my phone out, shooting a quick text to the guys to see who Dolly is with. She’s not answering the door to her room, and I know she has free time right now. I want to show her a clue that I hope will lead us to some of the damn artifacts we need, but she’s not around.

Now I’m worried.

My phone buzzes and I sigh in relief when Fitz tells me she’s in the shower, according to her phone tracking. I’d be upset with him for violating her privacy, but she honestly loves that he does it. I don’t get it, but then, I’ve lived with Fitz for my entire life. I definitely don’t need him obsessing enough to install GPS or, god forbid, cameras.

Oh, shit. Does he have cameras in there?

I panic a little when I realize I can’t put it past him, so I test the door to see if it’s open. “Angel, it’s me… I’m coming in!”

All I hear is music coming from the bathroom when I walk in, so I take my keys out of my pocket. Turning on the little penlight I bought after our trip into the tunnels, I flick it around to see if I catch the glint of a camera lens. I stroll around the room, checking various things for a hidden webcam until I come to a shelf that makes me blink.

What the actual fuck is this?

Amongst the shelf full of stuffed toys and pop culture figurines are three jars with… body parts suspended in them. Squinting as I move closer, I see one has three fingers that look male—if the fingernails are a tell. The next has an earring adorned ear that’s clearly female, and the last has a furry claw that I can’t figure out. The jars aren't labeled, but I have a good idea where this shit is coming from.

“Oh! Chessie!”

I whirl around to see my angel pad in, wrapped in a bright pink towel and adorably on the nose bunny slippers. Her hair is in a matching towel, wrapped in that weird turban style all women seem to be born knowing how to achieve. “Good afternoon, Angel. Have a nice relaxing steam?”

Her cheeks flush and I feel she did more than wash her hair, but I let it go. Dolly walks over to the dresser, pulling out lingerie and clothes as she winks at me. “Were you looking at my trophies?”

“Trophies?” I sputter.

Her lips curve as she heads for the bed, dropping the towel to give me a view of her soft, round ass. She bends to put on her underwear and I groan, adjusting myself carefully. “Yeah. Fitzy gives them to me. The fingers belong to dickwaffle Todd because he touched me without permission this summer.”

My eyes widen. “He didn’t…?”

“No, no. Fitzy was there, and he saved me, but as the big kitty.” Dolly hooks her bra and spins it around—another miraculous woman's trick—then shrugs. “Nothing happened, I promise.”

I frown for a moment. “And the ear?”

“That one I’m not sure about. He just said people need to learn to listen to both sides and put it on the shelf.” Her grin widens as she tugs on her jeans. “The claw is from that fuckhead professor. Fitz says putting your meddling fingers where they don’t belong is a lesson he won’t forget.”

Suddenly, I know where the ear came from. My consort is quietly avenging every wrong that’s been done to our girl since she arrived. She’ll be lucky if she doesn’t get a hyena dick in a jar over the piss thing. I watch her pull her shirt on, looking for signs that she’s uncomfortable with this, but she’s all smiles.

By Odin’s sparkly eyepatch, Fitz has someone just as ruthless and crazy as he is to love him.

This is why she doesn’t give a shit that he stalks her; he’s her protector and savior.

I get it now.

Walking over to her, I lift her hand, kissing her knuckles gently. I’m something completely different to her than Fitz is or than I am to him. We’re complimentary pieces and when you add Felix, Aubrey, and Renard, it’s a fearsome quint of shifters.

“I need to show you what I found, Angel.” I grin broadly at her, tugging her to the door. “First, we need to go upstairs to the nest room. Then we’ll go to the next place.”

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