Page 69 of Let Us Prey

Grumbling under my breath, I hop onto the statue, throwing a leg over it like I’m riding a giant bird that should have been the transport to Mordor in that long ass shit Renard made us watch.

The blond elf was a smokeshow, though, and so was the chick, so I guess all those hours weren’t totally wasted.

I lean back on my hands, propping myself until the bell rings. My smartwatch says it’s close and I only have to be patient a little longer. Not my strong suit, but the more of my baby girl I get, the more willing I am to do out of the ordinary shit to keep her happy and safe. She’s more addictive than the catnip pred-stasy I love so much and I’m helpless to her pull.

The doors finally swing open and I see her come out with her two odd friends in tow. They give her weird looks where it seems likethey’re talking with only their eyebrows and I frown. Is there some fucking eyebrow language I need to learn to be hip? Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me? I’m definitely putting Chessie on that shit so I can learn.

“What the… Fitz!” she says in a loud, harsh whisper. “What are you doing riding the Shirdal eagle?”

Grinning, I lift one hand and wave it, rolling my hips like I’m riding a bucking bronco as I smirk. “Yeehaw, baby girl.”

The punk rock badger puts his hand to his chest like he’s going to faint and the colorful bear giggles like a madwoman as my girl scrambles up to tug on my sleeve. “Get down! You’ll get us all in trouble if any professor besides Chess sees you.”

“Highly doubtful,” I reply as I bare my canines. “There’s not a snake, whale, platypus, or bird who would dare attempt to challenge me. You’re rolling with the big guns, baby girl.”

She gives me a look full of exasperation and puts her hands on hips. It makes her breasts fill that button down, so I stop clowning to stare at that sight instead. After all, where Felix is an ass man, I’m a tit lover, so I can’t resist. That makes her gaze narrow more, and she reaches up, yanking on my arm.

“Come on, you perv. Dismount and tell me why you’re here before I end up in detention all night.”

That simply won’t do—I have plans, so many plans…

I hop down as instructed and sweep her off her feet, spinning us in a circle as I talk. “His Royal Crab Ass wants me to give you self-defense lessons starting tonight. He thinks he’s punishing me, but he’s wrong. You’re hot as fuck when you get bloodthirsty, baby girl.”

The bear clears her throat, doing another round of eyebrow gymnastics, then grabs the gaping punk next to her. “Well, we need to get to the cafeteria before the line gets too long. Have fun, Dolly!”

“But, but…” her friend sputters as he watches me pull my girl close.

“Now, Rufus!”

Once they leave, my girl gives me a sheepish smile. “Sorry. They’re the first friends I’ve ever had who really wanted to know what’s going on with me, and I guess I let them go on a bit.”

I shake my head. “Don’t apologize. I’ve seen who your old ‘friends’ were, Dolly. These seem to be infinitely better, especially since they have Chessie’s approval. You need to have normal shit in your life sometimes.”

Holy shit, I actually mean that. Bast wept, I want her to have fun with people who aren’t me!

That’s some fucking growth, right there. Chess will be proud of me—I deserve two blowjobs for that shit.

She smiles broadly, grabbing my hand and I’m surprised to find I don’t mind a bit. “Thanks, Fitz. That’s really sweet of you.”

Blinking, I formulate how to respond. Women don’t call me sweet and I don’t know how to take it. Words fail me, so I tug her out the door and down the steps to the green outside. She pops a pair of adorable sunglasses on and I pause for a second. “Wait. I should text Chess and let him know Felix gave me a mission. Otherwise, he’ll hold dinner and he hates when we’re late without calling.”

“Ooh! What’s he making?”

Her expression is curious and hungry, so I make a note to have her over for dinner soon. Chess is a fucking amazeballs cook and Felix will just have to take the stick out of his ass long enough to sit across the table from her without flipping out.

“Some Asian beef thing. He experiments a lot because he’s addicted to cooking shows. Ask him about the Great British Bake Off at your own risk,” I reply with a chuckle. “It’s sort of ourthing to get the others to watch human shit without being dicks. I find their lifestyle amusingly simple and everything they have to do to live without animal instincts fascinates Chess. The others act like we’re making them eat bugs.”

“I have to see that,” Delores murmurs, her eyes dancing. “I bet Aubrey is the worst. He gets so angry when things aren’t researched properly. The romance section in the library makes him lose it on the daily.”

I boop her nose after I shoot the text off, winking playfully. “You’d be right. Freya help us if there’s any fucking dragons in the show or movie—he rants for days on end.”

“Speaking of the sourpuss, I need to stop and leave him the files I put together on these old books he has me verifying. This one seems way older than the others and it has all these really familiar drawings I can’t place. It’s like I’ve seen these places and symbols, but I can’t access the memory.”

“Now you’re speaking my language, baby girl. Error 404, right?” I arch a brow as we head towards the library. It’s on the way to the gym anyway, plus I’ll get to fuck with the spicy lizard, so I’m totally game. “Maybe it’s something from when you were a kid?”

She snorts. “I doubt it. Lucille and Bruno weren’t around much when I was a kid, only Mattie. They were too busy with the Council and their flavors of the week to show me anything.”

As I expected, I hate her parents more every time she talks about them.

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