Page 114 of Prey It By Ear

My face is starting to hurt from smiling so hard. “What if he traces it?”

“He can’t. I set the logging to run on a one-hour cloud delay, so even if he wipes the device, it’s already baked in. The IP logs to an old Apex node we didn’t shut down, not us.” Fitz grins, basking in the glow of his flawless op. “I did a final tour, snapped low-light stills to prove my work, and then relocked everything. I even realigned the sad little deadbolt. It was a masterpiece, honestly.”

I put my face in my hands and try to compose myself, but all I can see is Asani in a towel, getting rocketed off the bidet by a randomized water cannon. “You are going to make me spend my Rockland session snickering because I’ll be picturing this the whole time.”

He leans back, looking satisfied. “My work here is done, then. Oh! Chessie says we’re having hibachi tonight, so you’ll be super excited when you finish classes.”

I take another thirty seconds to stop laughing, and I see Fitz is pleased as punch with himself. It doesn’t last, though, because as we head towards the Dupree, he wrinkles his nose as if he’s going to give me bad news.

“You’ll want to check your own email, by the way. There’s already an Asani class update. He’s being an uber-dick about the project grading rubric, so tomorrow might be miserable. Maybe we can get Rennie to make a cake with Chess? That might help.”

The thought of the tiger professor mashing his keyboard in a rage because his device is haunted while he’s sending stupid emails almost redeems that revelation. “It’s gonna suck, yeah. I don’t think they’ll show tonight.”

Fitz walks with me quietly for a moment, his stride longer and a little bit bouncier than usual. “If you want me to run interference, I can fake a medical emergency two minutes into your appointment. I’ll even throw in actual tears and roll on the floor for maximum effect. Then maybe you can have an hour to work on the now solo thing for the class tomorrow.”

“Tempting, but no. If I don’t go in there every time, she wins. I want her to see me upright and unbreakable every damn day until it annoys her so much that she cancels.” I try not to sound too serious, but it’s important to me for Rockland to know she can’t break me.

“You are that,” he says. “Even if you don’t feel it some days.”

I bump him with my elbow. “I’m only upright because you guys have my back. If I had to do this alone, I’d have gone feral by now.”

He smiles. “We’ll let you have all the glory, but if you need backup, text me and I’ll show up in nothing but tiger teeth and claws, Baby Girl.”

“That is a very pleasing mental image. I will absolutely use it as a threat,” I say as we hit the steps outside Dupree. He opens the door for me and I walk inside, looking around carefully.

The admin wing is quieter than the quad. Once we ride to my floor, the only person around is Raina, standing perfectly at parade rest outside Rockland’s door. She’s in a pressed uniform and looks more like a security detail than the head of the kitchen crew, but the slight smudge of glitter eyeliner and the faint aroma of vanilla latte give her away. The crossbow propped against the wall beside her is a threat, not an accessory, and I smile at her as we approach.

She gives a two-fingered salute and winks at me as we approach. “All clear here, Dolly. She’s waiting inside, I’m sure.”

“Thanks, Raina. I appreciate it.” I stop and take a breath, feeling the chill settle through my warm-up shirt. Fitz hands over my bag, then leans in for a temple kiss.

“Remember that she doesn’t matter and neither do her crazy opinions,” he whispers. “Also, text us if you and Raina need help.”

I nod, grinning, before I turn to face the office door. “Wish me luck.”

“You don’t need it,” he says over his shoulder, already skipping back down the hall.

As I reach for the door handle, the raccoon murmurs, “This will be fine. Don’t worry.”

“It won’t, but I’m getting used to that,” I say without hesitation. “You’re here to be a witness if I need it, and I can get through this. Only a million more times to go.”

The door swings open and I step through, my chin high and my secrets locked down tight. Fitz’s sabotage is a shield, but my ace in the hole is the memory of what he’s done to Asani and knowing that her version was probably much worse.

No matter what she throws at me today, I’m already three moves ahead.

The walk out of the admin building feels like leaving a dentist appointment with all your teeth still attached. You got lucky, and everything you did to prepare was not in vain.

Raina is beside me, crossbow slung casually over one shoulder. She doesn’t comment on the session, which is good. Some days, you don’t want to unpack the emotional suitcase on the front steps, and this is one of those days for sure.

We take the long path around the main green, past the wet benches and the flocks of regular birds pecking at the morning bugs. My sneakers squelch on the moss, but I let Raina lead, which means a slightly unpredictable pace. I don’t mind; it’s nice to have company, especially since she doesn’t crowd me or push for conversation.

I check my phone before we’re too far out. There’s a text of encouragement from Chessie and a homemade meme from Fitz captioned ‘Sitting Tiger, Laughing Dragon’ that has Aubrey dying laughing in front of a computer screen that seems to show Asani getting drenched. Nothing from Barrington or Erickson, though, not even a passive-aggressive ‘K’ in response to my email. Twenty-six hours to the deadline and I’m not even sure they’re still alive.

Just fucking fabulous.

By the time we cross to the Shird side of campus, my mood has gone brittle again. I thumb the power button and kill the screen. It doesn’t matter, but the silence makes me feel like I’m the only one who cares if we bomb the assignment.

“Still nothing from the Heathers?” Raina finally asks.