Page 84 of Let Us Prey

“You don’t have the authority to decide that!”

“Doesn’t the Council accept appeals?”

“What does Bruno think? Shouldn’thebe the one to make this decision?”

Oh, shit.

Delores’ mother doesn’t bat a lash before leaping off the stage, shifting mid-jump as she lands on the unfortunate dickwad in the second row, who thought to open his mouth about her husband. Before he can even respond, fangs rip his throat out, blood spraying to coat the screaming shifters on either side of him. Lucille shifts back to her mostly human form as she calmly turns to the crowd, a delicate finger wiping blood from the corner of her mouth. “We don’t talk about Bruno.”

I look away from her nakedness, feeling a shiver of disgust roll up my spine at the unnecessary display. I couldn’t care less about the killing—it’s the dictatorial dominance that makes me want to hurl.

This crazy bitch is definitely worse than our snack-sized girl is letting on, and I’m going to make certain Rennie, Felix, and the others know the full story. Growing up with two sociopaths as parents is no picnic, and it explains a hell of a lot about why Dolly seems to constantly struggle with self-confidence. Even if we can protect her at school, now I’m worried about what will happen when she goes home for breaks.

Perhaps she can stay here… with us.

Deciding I’ve seen enough, I rise, nodding at Henny as I make my way to the exit in the back. She knows I’ll take care of alerting a clean-up crew. I don’t know where those carrion-eaters are right now, but I’ll email maintenance once I get back to the library. Dolly’s in the archives finishing up a few tasks before the weekend, and I suddenly feel compelled to check up on her. Something about her mother and father being oncampus with that sneaky looking bodyguard is putting my teeth on edge.

Squeezing the bunny mochi in my pocket, I grit my teeth and stomp out of the Admin building towards the library like a dragon on a mission.

Perhaps I am.

“Why didn’tyou tell us your mother is a raging psycho?” I demand after I pound the panel to gain entrance to the archive room. I’ve worked myself into an infuriated froth on my journey from the Honeywell Admissions building, and it takes every ounce of self-control I have not to completely lose my shit at the girl hunched over in my workspace.

Dolly looks up, her blue eyes wide with concern. There’s a slight tremble to her hands as she carefully puts down the tweezers she’s holding a piece of parchment in, and she ducks her head for a moment. “I don’t like to talk about my family,” she mumbles.

Stomping over, I position a finger under her chin, forcing her to look up at me, searching for the truth in her eyes. What I find isn’t dishonesty; it’s shame. Whatever her parents have done or continue to do behind closed doors is painful enough that she doesn’t trustanyoneto know about it. The adorable spark of defiance and wit I’ve grown accustomed to has dimmed, because she doesn’t even fight me as I yank her out of the chair to her feet.

“Why, Dolly? Tell me why you won’t discuss something that obviously hurts you.” I press her, even though she’s squirming in place. This is important—if this girl has any hope of assimilating into our pack, we can’t have secrets.

Ironic coming from me, I know. I have plenty of my own secrets, but they don’t put any of us in danger.

“Because they fucking disowned me!” she shouts, finally looking up with a fiery glare. “They sent me here to survive on my own—to die—by order of the Council, because I’m not a predator. I’m a genetic fluke… afailure!”

I blink, watching her face screw up and before I can stop myself, I burst out laughing. Her expression goes from teary to murderous in a blink, and she lets a hand fly, punching me in the jaw. That only makes me laugh harder—I mean, fist vs. dragon—and despite the loud racing of her heart, she lets out a screech that would rival a goddamned pterodactyl.

“Why are you laughing at me?!”

It takes a moment to get my mirth under control, and when I do, I push her back into the wall with a smug grin. Pinning both her hands above her head with one of mine, I shrug, unable to keep from smirking down at the enraged bunny shifter. “Because, lunchable, you seemed to think any of us would give a chicken-fried gazelle you were exiled. Newsflash:allof us got exiled from our families for being fuck-ups.”

She sucks in a shaky breath, sniffling a little, and I almost let go, but I sense she needs someone else in control right now. Dolly has been a mess since we found out about the parents’ meeting, and working here in the archives was her idea. I assumed the thought of having to face her mother was distasteful enough to make her volunteer to do work study on a Friday night, ensuring no one could find her down here if they were looking. Of course, I’d never turn down her help, and she seemed determined to continue searching for clues about the mysterious maps.

I didn’t realize she was doing it out of fear.

“How would I know that?” she shoots back, equaling me in fire. “Fitz and Chess hinted at the reason they left Bloodstone, but everyone else hasn’t deemed me worthy of their story yet!” I smileas she fights against my hold, throwing my own words from our first meeting back at me.

Very clever, little dessert.

Snorting a smoke ring, I pause for a moment as the dragon lumbers inside, stretching and pushing against my skin. He likes her—who the fuck in their right mind wouldn’t—and this proximity is making it difficult to focus on the conversation. Dolly seems to notice my quandary, and she softens a bit as she waits for me to answer.

“Touché. I’m used to everyone knowing my sordid tale of rejection from the throne of my clash. I promise I will elaborate at the proper time. But, for now, do you have questions, bite size?”

Her body bucks against mine rebelliously, trying my tenuous hold on my control. “Yeah, are you going to kiss me or what?”

That does it—the fire in my belly ignites, and my dragon takes the fucking wheel before I can blink. Our lips crash together in a blur of movement, and my body curls around hers as she tries again to wiggle her arms free.

It won’t be that easy, bunny rabbit. I’ve been thinking about doing this since the moment you first sassed my dragon in the library.

Gently nipping her bottom lip, I growl low as my hand tightens on her wrists. Dolly gives me an adorably shy grin, almost making me give in as she pushes up on her tiptoes, presumably to kiss me again. The slide of her body against mine distracts the hell out of me, and I have to count to ten in Sumerian to hold back from delivering a harder bite. I know this girl is inexperienced—since Fitz won’t shut up about it—and…

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