Page 21 of Prey It Ain't So

Poison has been an issue in the past, and it could have killed our mate if she wasn’t oddly immune.

“You don’t have magicora chemistry set, so I’m curious how you plan to figure out if something’s wrong.” My dry statement simply makes him grin more as he heads to his carry-on, pulling a small vial from it and wiggling it back and forth. “What the hell is that?”

“This is how I will figure it out. Watch closely, Flames.” He takes a tissue from the box on the dresser, putting it over the top of the now opened scotch and dumps a tiny bit of the alcohol on it. With much more flair than is necessary, he opens the vial and puts a few drops of the liquid on top, then re-caps it. “Our delectable Dolly made friends with the right ladies at Apex, and we were smart to allow them to follow. Argyle gave me quite a few of these to use to test our comestibles on the trip. Do not ask me how they work—that, I fear, is not my forte.”

I blink, then snort. “The nurses are all species who are resistant to poisons. I imagine this is some sort of concoction they crafted with…” I stop, my brow furrowing. “Well, I’m not a biochemist, either, but something in that realm.”

“Whatever it is, Argyle said it would not be one hundred percent effective, but could rule out the most common and dangerous things.” Rennie watches the tissue, focusing until the wet patch changes colors. “And this passed so far. She also instructed me to smell things, looking for a variety of scents that might suggest toxins.”

Chuckling, I watch him hover his nose over the open bottle. “Everyone knows that cyanide smells like almonds, my love.”

“Yes, but other things as well.” He puts the bottle down and holds up a finger. “Arsenic smells like garlic, while things that are acrid smell a bit like pears. It’s not fool-proof, of course, but she passed on enough examples that I can at least try.”

Now that he seems satisfied, my unusually cautious mate pours a draught into two glasses. His lips curl up as he brings me one, and I let him drop onto my lap. My hand runs over his eternally mussed hair as we sit and sip together. Finally, I say, “I didn’t know you consulted them. You’re not… You don’t usually… This is very thorough of you.”

“I cannot get the picture of the cats prone and our mate terrified out of my head.” Renard looks up for a moment, then sighs heavily. “We all must take precautions because losing even one would shatter her delicate heart into pieces,mon amour. I will not allow that to happen to someone I love again.”

That’s when I realize this trip is about more than seeing his relatives or even snooping for clues—it’s the key to healing our gargoyle’s broken heart.

We stayed curledup for a little longer before we took the bottle next door. As much as we tease my morose mate, he hasn’t been taking to the roof as much this past semester, but he also hasn’t been working out his various issues by talking them through. I didn’t realize he was traumatized as badly by the attack on the stadium as he was, and he needed quiet time to just babble his way through the dark thoughts. Stroking his hair and listening was the best thing I could do for Renard, and feeling the subconscious tension drain from his frame was extremely satisfying.

He was hiding this fear extremely well—covering it with boneless poses and witty quips—and I missed it.

“Welcome to Khan land, Winged Worryworts!”

I arch my brow at Fitz, and Rennie just chuckles. “Let us in, you psycho. We brought the scotch. Any idea why the eager bear left it, but not snack size’s soda with us?”

He grins crazily. “I told him if he didn’t quit looking at my mate, I’d use the corkscrew over there to uncork his eyeballs, then feed them to her while I fucked her senseless.”

“For fuck’s sake, Fitz,” Felix says tiredly from inside of the room. “Let them in and stop terrorizing the populace.”

Renard shrugs as the tiger moves to allow him to pass. “It was fairly elegant, Raj, though I agree that alienating the staff is not a good plan.”

“She doesn’t eat eyeballs,” I grumble as I follow my mate in and immediately regret the choice. “The Abel thing was an exception. Even when we hunt?—”

“Now, now, boys,” Dolly calls as she hops up from where she was sprawled on the bed. “No chow talk in places we can’t verify are clean.”

I blink, then roll my eyes to the corners of the ceiling where she’s not-so-subtly darting her gaze. “Right. Well, it’s accurate, anyway.”

The rainbow-haired bunny comes over to kiss us both on our cheeks, looking excited again now that I shut up. “I know you brought the drinks, but I’dreallylike to explore. You know, just see things, since this is one of the longer legs of the rail trip.”

“Of course we can wander around, Angel,” Chess says as he joins our tightly packed group in the small living area of the cabin. “We’ll avoid the human cars, I think, out of caution. But we should be able to peek at the others, right, Felix?”

Our self-proclaimed Queen won’t take ‘no’ for an answer,but it’s funny that Chess thinks the Raj is the one who decides.

“Princess, if we do that, you have to let us?—”

Dolly arches a brow at him, her smirk dark as she tilts her head. “I’m sorry,Sir, but I’m pretty certain the only things Ihaveto do are breathe and die.”

Coughing to hide my laughter, I look at the ground as the tiger sputters. Unfortunately for him, her recent submission inthe bedroom doesnotequal such outside of that realm. Her compliance so far today has been out of nervous energy and now that we’re here, she’s finding her groove again. I love that Dolly is so adaptable and resilient, but I also adore her sass and spunk that doesn’t letanyonestep on her neck after her past.

“Thediepart worries me,” Felix growls softly. “Too many assholes are trying to speed that part up and I’m almost getting paranoid about every damn being we don’t know and trust being within fifty feet of you.”

Renard clears his throat, raising his hand. “I get that, actually. I’ve been very… quiet about how distressed I’ve been after the attack at the Games. My little mental breakdown in our compartment earlier brought it to the surface and…Je comprends ta peur?1,Felix. I can't think of our mates and our family being in danger while we are helpless.”

“Oh, Rennie!” she says as she rushes over to wrap her arms around him and squeeze the gargoyle as tightly as she can. “I didn’t realize. I’m sorry.”

He shakes his head, running his palm over her head. “I did not know, either. Not really. It was a buried reaction, I think, and because I have been doing the broody belfry thing less, I missed it.”

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