Page 81 of Let Us Prey

Oh, shit.

Dead Man’s Party

Delores

“Fitz!”I lay my hand on his other arm as he shakes the shivering weasel like he’s trying to make the loot drop. It’s hard to take him seriously in the short vinyl dress, but if anyone can look like they’re going to murder someone while wearing four-inch Leopartins, it’s definitely Fitz Khan. “Put him down,” I hiss. “Everyone is watching!”

His growl makes my thighs clench as he grinds out, “What the fuck do I care? He had his hands on you.”

Rufus is damned near ecstatic as he walks over with our drinks, with a wincing Cori close behind. Neither of them gets too close to my furious…boyfriend?Fuck, I still don’t know and now isn’t the time. We’re all going to get tossed out of this party if I don’t calm Fitz down quickly, and I have no idea how Lucille would react to that. She seemed pleased to learn I’ve been seen with one of the Khan brothers, but since she’s also a total psycho, I have no idea how pissed she’ll be if I get suspended.

“Fitz!” I hiss, tugging on his arm again. “If we get kicked out, I might get suspended, and then I’ll get in trouble with my parents!”

His head whips around, and the amber in his eyes fades. He drops the weasel in an unceremonious heap, holding his hands out for me with a sheepish grin. “Sorry, Baby Girl. What can I say? I can’t control the tiger around you.”

Squirming in place, I take his hands and let him tuck me into his side possessively. My irritation disappears like mist when he growls in my ear playfully and I giggle. “You can’t just attack people at a party!”

Rufus walks over and gives me an eye roll as he hands me my Dr. Pepper. “Oh, that’ll show him, Dollypop. Crack that whip.”

The big cat side-eyes my besties for a moment, then shrugs dismissively. “No one asked you, little gangster.” I glare at him and he mutters, “Thanks for keeping my girl company until we arrived.”

“Your girl, huh?” Cori says, her eyes full of reproach. “That’sherdecision, Professor, and I don’t think anyone has asked her yet.”

My face turns bright red and I sputter into my cup, turning my glare on my meddling friends. Fitz looks confused, and I have no idea what I’m going to do about it. I sure as fuck don’t know how to bring this shit up without getting triggered. The last time I tried committing to someone, they chased me down and tried to eat me—and not in a good way.

What in the hell am I supposed to say to lock down Fitzgerald Khan, playboy extraordinaire?

“C’mon, Baby Girl. I heard about this awesome game people are playing, away from the noise. That’s really why I came over.” Fitz gives me a less-than-subtle grin, and I snort at his lack of finesse.

The idiot from history slunk away while we were having our ‘protective BFF vs. protective maybe-boyfriend’, standoff. I nod at Fitz, assuming the warning the smaller pred gave me was all he needed to say. “All right. I can go see thisgamefor a few minutes, I guess, but then I have to come back and hang with my friends.”

“Go have fun with your temperamental suitor, girl. Coco and I are on the prowl for ourselves. I smell drunk athletes and have a hankering for beefsteak,” Rufus says, waving his hand with a wink. Cori laughs and takes his arm, her grin enough confirmation that they’ll be fine without me.

“I’m all yours, Fitz,” I say, feeling better than I have in a while. His eyes dance mischievously and he drags me off the dance floor, toward whatever naughty surprise awaits.

“It should be right this way.”

I nod as he leads me into the forest surrounding the training ring, smiling secretively to myself. The way Cori cut my dress allows my fluffy bunny tail to poke out, but the petticoats and dress hide it a little in the folds. It’s almost invisible in the darkness outside of the training ring, so none of the guys have noticed it yet. Luckily, Fitz has his arm around my shoulders, so my secret is still safe.

I’m kind of excited to see what they think.

It only took me an hour to even get it to pop out enough to peek out of the slit Cori created in the dress. Both of my friends were stoked that I managed a partial shift, and Rufus started taking bets on which one of the guys was going to lose their shit when they saw it. I don’t know why he thinks it will be such a big deal, but he’s dead certain it’s going to get me flipped over a goddamn table—possibly byallof my guys.

I will not lie; as exciting as it is, the idea of all of them is intimidating. I don’t know if I’m ready forsexwith more than one person at a time. I’m struggling to keep asshat Todd’s memory out of my head when Fitz touches me.

Regardless, I’m really fucking proud that I pulled off a partial shift.

At the very least, I’d better get some praise.

My cheeks heat when I think of Felix’s last message to me on Predbook. ‘You did well, princess’ wouldn’t be that big of a deal to most people, but to me, it’s more than I usually get. From the grumpy taskmaster, it makes my skin tingle, and I can’t wait for him to see my shifting accomplishment. He’s been encouraging in class, in an intensely overbearing way, and I bet he’s going to be impressed.

“We’re almost there,” Fitz whispers in my ear and for a moment, I feel embarrassed that I was thinking about his brother while he’s sort of cuddling me. Is that a party foul or something? That’s not the right word, but hell if I know how to date five guys who are decades older than me.

There you go, grouping them all as ‘yours’ again, Dolly.

“What is this place?” I ask the tiger, deciding to get out of my head as I look around the thick foliage of the surrounding forest appraisingly. I’ve never ventured this far into the woods of Apex before, although I know there are some prey escape routes that run through this area.

“It’s not like the enchanted wizard forest in the movies, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Aubrey rumbles from behind us, surprising me with his appearance. I can’t even look at the dragon in that flashing unicorn headband without giggling, so I don’t answer.

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