Page 45 of Prey It Ain't So

Felix practically purrs his praise after he drops a kiss on the top of my head. “Very nice, Princess. Strong and confident—that’s what you show them tonight. I know you like to use the guise of your mother when it gets tough, but maybe… add this Dolly into it, too?”

“Fuck yeah,” Fitz agrees from his perch. “Show them the badass bunny, not just the fake sociopath leopard. The bunny is hot as fuck, but she’s much smarter than that old bag.”

Lucille would slit his throat without blinking a false lash for that.

“I appreciate it, baby, but… make sure you don’t say anything like that in public, hmm? We don’t need it to get reported by her spies and draw my mother’s attention. We’re trying to stayunder the radar, remember?” I wink at him, letting him know that I appreciate his sentiment, too.

~Our escorts have arrived. ~

I hear Aubrey in my head and Rennie nods at me to let me know he did as well. “We should go downstairs, guys. I think we’re being summoned to the royal grub hall or whatever.”

Felix nods, running his hand over his lengthening locks one more time before he strides out of the bathroom. I give Chessie and Fitz a stern finger wag, warning them to hurry up, and follow in the tiger’s footsteps to descend the loft stairs. When I get to the bottom, I see Ren sitting next to Aubrey on the stools, two glasses of dark liquid nearby.

“I thought it was time to go?” My brow furrows and the gargoyle gestures for me to come closer. Once I’m there, he hands me one of the glasses. “Alcohol isneverthe answer to less anger and violence, Rennie.”

“It’s a tradition for the parties going to a negotiation to drink this. I remembered the bottle from my childhood, and now that we are reexamining everything from then, I wondered if there was something in it. You know, since the adults always had drinks before they left to obtain contracts with other groups.”

Oh, that’s pretty brilliant of him.

“I agreed that we should partake. He has not been wrong about the customs from his youth being intrinsically entwined with the gargoyles’ power.” Aubrey picks up the glass, holding it up to the light and looking at it carefully. “Do you have the test mixture the nurses gave you so we can check the liquor?”

I blink, the question making me realize I hadn’t tucked a vial away on my person for this dinner. “No! I mean,yes, I do. But I didn’t put any on me for tonight, which is a very rookie mistake. Thank you for reminding me, big guy.”

The dragon tilts his head as if waiting for something and I lean in to kiss his cheek. “That’s better, snack size. Now, scamper off and get that shit so we can make sure this isn’t poisoned before our hosts come barging in.”

“On it!” I reply as I give him a salute then scramble up the opposite stairs to the bedroom nest area.

One thing is for certain, tonight is going to change shit whether this stuff works or not—I can feel it deep in my gut.

I Hate Myself For Loving You

Renard

There weregargoyles peeping out of their nests the entire route to the chief residence. I could feel their eyes on me as we walked with Vasile and Matei down the road. I haven’t been around so much asoneof my kind in centuries; now, I’m being assaulted by the sensation of over a hundred in close proximity. It’s very odd, yet somehow soothing? I know simply being in their presence doesn’t guarantee the feeling of ‘home’ that my inner being’s instincts want to claim. Thisismy clutch, but they haven’t claimed me as one of theirs since long before most of my new family’s ancestors were born.

I don’t know how to parse the dissonance and it’s making him very unsettled.

“Are you okay, Rennie?”

My rainbow-haired mate is often the most sensitive to changes in mood, and this is no exception. Now that we suspect she has Fae origin, it makes even more sense than attributing it to being a child of abuse. They are certainly very attuned to the surrounding people to prevent ire, but Dolly has seemed to notice more than I would have expected. Felix also believed itwas the prey animal, and that may also be true. Her unique blood line makes her a triple threat, in my opinion, and she has no idea how incredibly useful that skill will be once she’s able to consciously harness it.

“Yes…”

“But?” she presses stubbornly.

I can’t lie to her, but we must be very cautious about what we say. “It has been lifetimes since I was here. That… brings up a lot of memories and emotions.”

Her nod says more than words would have, and I wonder if that’s how she felt walking into her home for summer break over the past two years. It had to be like facing a firing squad you thought you’d outrun, and she had no choice. Cursing mentally, I make a mental note to discuss that with the others at some point. Our mate is never going back to that fucking place again, other than to retrieve belongings if she chooses. Ripping open wounds to serve her mother’s ego stops now.

“Now you feel determined and angry,” she murmurs. “You’re awfully volatile. This is more like Fitz’s boomerangs than your steadiness.”

Yep, one hundred percent the combo of her heritage and perhaps the mate bond—another note for later.

“Nothing to do with this moment,ma petite. I promise.” I give her a small smile and she returns it as Aubrey strides closer to us.

“What are you whispering about? The peeping Toms?” He looks amused as his eyes dart to the surrounding houses for a brief second then back to us. “You are indeed famous, my love.”

“Infamous, more like,” I grumble. “I don’t know how many of them were alive or part of our clutch when I was exiled. It is not uncommon for my kind to move about when they are grown, especially if they are not from the line of succession.”

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