Page 21 of Let Us Prey

“How am I supposed to follow you?” she shouts, putting her hands on her hips in indignation.

“Don’t be a simpleton. Jump,” I answer as I go back to checking my email. “You are a rabbit, are you not?”

“I… I... well, yes!”

Shrugging at her sputtering, I toss a few emails from Fitz in the trash. He’s still demanding answers for loopholes in the Khan decree, but it’s simply not high onmylist of priorities. “Rabbits can jump. Get over here so we can get to work.”

A frustrated screech echoes through the cavern, and I chuckle as I walk away, leaving her to ponder her predicament. The security installed in the outer lobby of my archives is infinitely more advanced than the elevator, but I have to protect the documents and books down here from thieves and grubby hands alike. I lean in, using the Erickson-branded biometrics to gain access, and step back as the airlock whooshes open.

She’s going to be shit out of luck once I’m inside, although I will probably need to add her face to the approved visitors list, which currently only includes me and Renard. I stop to listen for a moment and when I don’t hear the click of school issued heels, I sigh. Well, at least she’ll learnsomethingthis evening, even if it’s how to confront her own fear. I step into the small lobby and gather the gloves, tweezers, and various implements I’ll need to handle the texts I’m examining tonight.

The family from Europe submitted five books for admission to the collection this month and claimed them to be written around the time Apex and Bloodstone were founded. I don’t know yet if they’re originals or excellent forgeries, so I’ll have toread through them carefully in order to catch physical or lexical tells that would give away provenance.

I could explain this to a certain student aide if she’d pull up her big bunny panties and get over here.

Cursing under my breath, I try to avoid thinking about panties and focus on the first book. It’s a history of the Council, and the texture of the pages gives away the discrepancy with the copyright date. I set it aside, marking it as a forgery on my forms. The next book has severe water damage, and it cannot be in contact with the other collection items. Another mark on the sheet, and I pick up the third book. Maybe it’s better the scaredy rabbit isn’t here because this batch may be a total dud.

A History of the Honorable Academy of Apex Predatorshas the feel of a centuries old book, so I place it on the table carefully. The spine is fragile and the pages are faded in a manner consistent with the purported age. I’m about to start the first chapter when a loud crash against the outer doors startles me and I drop the tweezers.

“What in the name of Anubis are you doing?” I roar.

A snort follows another bang. “We have already established that your dragon bellow doesn’t scare me! If I’m supposed to learn something before the time is up, let me the hell in, you jerk!”

Well, I’ll be damned.

I stand, walking over to the internal keypad and punching in the code to get the doors to slide open. “I suppose you’ve earned entry… it took you a while.”

Delores stomps in, her uniform slightly askew from her efforts. “You were testing me on purpose; don’t even try to deny it. But don’t worry—I made the leap without a scratch and snooped around your stupid cave before coming here.”

“Miss Drew, your curiosity will get you in trouble if you are not cautious. Dragons do not take kindly to uninvited guests in their lair.”

Her lips curve. “That would apply only if that sad little bedroom that smells like detergent was actually your lair.”

I blink. No one has ever caught on before that I have a false lair set up like a red herring. How does this fucking girl get into the heads of shifters far older and wiser than her so easily? “I thought you knew little about dragons.”

“I don’t. I just guessed. It’s super obvious you spend like zero time there, big guy. Few dudes have rooms that smell that clean.” She bats her lashes, giving me a smirk. “So unless you want to reveal where you actually sleep, let’s talk about dusty old books.”

The fire in my belly sparks for a moment and I close my eyes, counting backwards from a hundred in Greek until I have it under control. “Fine. But stay away from my room—any room—and stop poking around, bite size. Deal?” I hold my breath, wondering if this is the moment of truth or truce.

“Deal.”

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Felix

This isthe worst first week of classes I’ve had since we arrived at this cursed school.

Unlike previous years, Fitz isn’t spending his time dedicated to nailing the new staff or older transfer preds like his dick is going to fall off if he stops. No, instead, he’s trailing along behind the blonde bombshell like a puppy, screwing Chess into the ground loudly enough to wake the dead, or babblingincessantlyabout his new obsession. My twin hasneverbeen this into anyone besides his consort, and it’s blowing my fucking mind. His entire demeanor has changed and I don’t know how to deal with it.

“...so I brought all the shit upstairs to the second floor and set up the little kitchenette in the outer suite, but she admitted—without sounding like an uppity bitch—that she doesn’t have acluehow to cook anything that isn’t microwaved! I’m going to look into some kind of meal service because she’s adamant about not going to the dining hall and I can’t seem to get it out of her why… something had to have happened…”

Rubbing my face, I let out a long, suffering sigh. My brother is the most loyal, stubborn individual I’d ever met until we moved here.The loyal part is still true, but he’s definitely eclipsed in the stubborn department by the two fools who haunt the Tower we love to relax in. Yet he somehow convinced them to house his newest hyper fixation on one of theirmanyunused floors and was in and out of the place with more frequency than ever. Even Chess is squirrely when we visit the top floor now, as if he wants to investigate the place Fitz feels perfectly at home in, but isn’t sure what to do or say.

Delores Drew is severely fucking the dynamics of my ambush and our friend group—but I don’t have a clue what to do about it.

Her presence on the campus has started a cascading wave of bullshit that affectseverythingin my world, and it’s making my tiger extremely restless. Students seem to be divided between not wanting to be near her, wanting to harm her, or wanting to side with the group of bullies who target her. Whispers amongst the staff are angry that she’s here or determined to punish her to please the Council. Even my own nemeses in the professor pool are making snide comments and looking at me sideways because Fitz doesn’t give a single fuck who hears him ramble on about her.

That concerns me because Fitz and I made a lot of enemies when we first arrived, but being Khans, we had to establish dominance over the lesser preds. I may be an exiled royal, but allowing the rest of these assholes to defy me wouldn’t go over well at home. All three members of my family had to enter the ring week after week to show the fools who sat at the top of the pile at Apex, otherwise my father might have sent the Shadow Ambush to take us out. His pride wouldn’t allow foranyof his sons to seem weak, even the ones he’s disowned.

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