Page 108 of Let Us Prey

Smiling to myself, I walk into the room to find Rennie hopping around as he wiggles into his version of our ‘team uniform’. The basic elements match, but his sweatshirt is black, where mine is a bright emerald. His tail is whipping back and forth, and I give him a knowing smirk. He refuses to confirm the talisman he wears allows his clothing to shift with him, but I’m neither naïve, nor stupid. Gargoyles have some sort of relationship with magic, and whatever it is must be forbidden to talk about.

But he is in a talkative mood…

“Look at the outfit I got for Dolly,” he says once he gets situated, and I pinch the bridge of my nose.

For fuck’s sake…

Rennie yanks a baby pink snowsuit with a fur-trimmed hood out of the bag, and I bark a laugh. I’m not sure what exactly flipped his switch with Dolly, but this form-fitting outfit makes it very clearwhere his brain is. My lips curve when I consider how our curvy rabbit will look in it—it’s an adorable visual, and I curse under my breath when I realize I don’t have a squishy in my jacket pocket.

Dropping Delores’ suit on the wide nest in the middle of his bedroom, he winks and reaches into a drawer, tossing me a sparkly unicorn. “I take it you like it, huh?”

I narrow my eyes at him, huffing, but I accept the stupidly cute toy and I shrug. “I’m sure it will look good on her.”

“Uh-huh,” he replies with a smug smirk. “I’m sure it will.”

“Fuck, Rennie, let’s go downstairs before they drag Dolly up to the top floor and ruin the Yule surprise the Captain’s working on.”

His eyes widen, and he grabs the other bags. “Yes! We have to keep them from seeing it before it’s ready. C’mon!”

Chuckling to myself, I follow my friend, closing the door behind us. I hope to hell that Dolly and the others are ready for manic Rennie.

It’s going to be a very interesting day.

Crazy Train

Renard

I don’t understandwhy they’re all so damn grumpy.

Well, except for Fitz. He’s easily as excited as me because he’s bouncing on his toes as the lovely Dolly comes out of the Tower. Everyone changed into their snow clothes and it worked exactly how I predicted—extremely obvious how much they all appreciate my choice of attire for our bunny.

I’ve decided I’m #TeamFitzandChess on this topic. Both of them seem absolutely certain this love quadrilateral will work and since Chess is never this adamant about anything, I believe it’s prudent to listen.

That’s also why I lobbied to get him the next ‘date’ with her. It’s time for those three to seal the deal and it will never happen if Chess doesn’t have ‘alone time’ with her. Someone as inexperienced asma petitewon’t feel comfortable with him and Fitz until our shy cheetah quits hiding from her.

My penchant for organized chaos will help everyone get on board or else.

This outing is definitely part of my plan—my friends seriously need playtime. While I had a decent childhood until I gotexiled, they cast Flames out young and the Khans never got to be kids. I highly doubt Dolly was, either. A good, old-fashioned snowball fight is both fun and light, but competitive enough to interest all the alphas in the group.

I know; I’m a genius.

“What are we doing, Rennie?” The rabbit in question looks over at me with wide eyes and I feel that undeniable pull again.

Bending down, I scoop up a handful of snow and fashion it into a lumpy ball. “We’re going to play in the snow,ma petite. There’s enough to have a friendly snowball fight and we have an even amount of people.”

Fitz lets out a whoop of joy. “I fucking love it, Pouty Poet. I pick Chessie ‘cause he’s fast as hell.”

“That means I’m the other captain,” Felix growls as he gives his brother a dark smile. “And I pick Aubrey. Flying projectiles and all.”

Shit. Now it’s become a Twin Terror competition and the odds of someone getting their ass handed to them are exponentially higher.

“We pick Renard,” Chess pipes up. “No fair having two fliers.”

Dolly’s eyes narrow as she looks at each of us with obvious irritation. “I’m on Team Felix by default and don’t think I’ll forget being picked last, assholes.”

Oh, that’s much worse.

Felix watches her stomp over to us, murmuring something to her as she joins them. Her answering grin is vicious and yet again, I see the Drew in our girl as she turns back to rake her gaze over each one of my team members. It’s cold, calculating, and absolutely the stare of a predator sizing up its prey.

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