Page 42 of Let Us Prey

Ouch. She’s going for blood and we all know where that attitude came from.

The acolytes around the whiner whisper, and she rolls her eyes, finally stomping to the center of the ring with Barbie. Losing face must be more important than fear because she drops into a basic fighting stance with a small growl of annoyance. I watch as her challenger stands loosely, eyeing her from head to toe.

“Ground rules are no shifting, no eye damage, no permanent disfigurement, no crippling?—”

I don’t get to finish because the adorable girl my brother loves bum rushes her bully with a speed I didn’t know she had. When her attack knocks the girl off balance, she counters with an uppercut and a swift punch in the kidneys that doubles thebleached bimbo over. Screams of fury and pain fill the air and the crowd goes wild as Z and I scramble to get out of the way.

The rage in the air makes my tiger pace and I feel Zhenga’s lion ripple over her as well. We have to watch this closely because if we’re not careful, it’s going to force a shift of every pred in the training area.

Bloodlust always does.

A leg sweeps out, catching the canine as she’s stumbling around trying to catch her breath, and the dipshit in gold hits the ground with a solid thud. Barbie leaps forward with a snarl of anger, pinning her down with her thighs as she rains punches on the prone Heather over and over. I almost step in, afraid she might kill the bitch, but suddenly, she yanks the blond ponytail hard enough to make her opponent scream. Exposing her neck as if going for the final blow, Barbie looks up at me with a dark satisfaction before turning back to her foe.

“You pretended to be my friend. You used my loyalty to keep me quiet about all the evil shit you said and did. You lied to me about everything to keep me compliant. And when I wasn’t useful anymore, when you’d drained every ounce of narcissistic supply you needed, you threw me to dogs to make yourself look better.”

That draws gasps from the other students and even Z looks a little sympathetic.

I, however, am having trouble keeping my dick from bursting through my goddamned pants so I can fuck the shit out of this little warrior.

“Listen up, E. Your reign of terror is over. You can come after me as much as you want; you may even knock me down a time or two. But… Every. Single. Time. I will get up and hit you back exponentially harder than you hit me. If you keep pushing me, I’ll be the one standing over your corpse in the end. Do you understand me, you two-faced moron? I. Will. End. You.”

Holy fucking Odin on a tricycle.

Z leans in and whispers in my ear softly enough that no one else will hear it. “I don’t blame you, Raj. Even I want to fuck the shit out of her now.”

My head whips around and I look at the lioness in panic as she laughs. “I…”

“Put a stop to this before the dumb whore mouths off or your girl is going to kill her,” Zhenga says drily. “Arguing with me won’t make it less true, though it explains a lot.”

Swallowing hard, I adjust myself surreptitiously and stomp into the center, tapping Barbie on the shoulder. “That’s enough. Clearly, we have a winner. Class is dismissed and I advise all of you to work on your shit, lest I make you fight the boxing bunny here next time!”

It takes another tap to get Barbie to come back to reality, and she finally rises, letting go of the bimbette on the ground. She doesn’t look at me as she walks to the stands, avoiding the other students while she grabs her things. Before she leaves, she tosses one triumphant look at me. Her lips curve in a smirk as she jogs to the edge of the ring. She’s obviously heading to the main campus and I should talk to her before she goes.

“Professor!” The gold bowed Heather is screeching as her friends try to help her up unsuccessfully. “You’ll be hearing from my parents and my attorneys. You let her purposely injure me and?—”

Sighing, I stalk back to her and get right in her rapidly bruising face. “Your parents signed paperwork stating attending Apex, particularly Shifter Basics, could cause a serious injury, up to and including death. You do what you want, Scrappy Dipshit, but I promise you won’t win the favor you think you will. Hell, if it were my father, he’d have me killed for losing. What about yours?”

That said, I grin and turn to Zhenga. “Shall we join the rest of the staff for drinks in the lounge? I feel like being one of the bourbon lunch people.”

“As you wish, Raj,” she says. This time it’s without her usual innuendo, and I give her a grateful look. “I know when I’m fighting a losing battle, Felix. Don’t act surprised.”

Well, isn’t that wonderful—Zhenga’s become a shipper.

Poison

Aubrey

The Tower isempty when I step into the outer sanctum.

It’s unusual, to be sure, but the others have later classes or duties to attend to today that leave me with a rare opportunity to escape to the relative quiet of our meeting place. This is preferable to remaining in my library, where students and staff alike could bother me while I’m reviewing the information I received today.

I’ve begged Henny to close the library earlier, and more often—given that students rarely stay in my lair long—but she refuses. ‘The library is a place for all to find knowledge and comfort’ is her favorite way of saying she would rather they are undermysurveillance, than hanging out where the likelihood of shenanigans is higher.

Plus, I’m the least likely person to tell her to fuck off when she insists I man the building like a sentry. My sense of honor and duty prevent me from calling her on her bullshit—dragons are bound to their calling, and the books are mine.

Taking advantage of that species-specific trait is not ethical, but nothing at Apex is ever ethical, so why should this be any different?

I dropinto my handcrafted ‘throne’ in the sitting room, sinking into the comfort of one of the few things I’ve spent a great deal of money on.

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