Page 12 of Prey It By Ear

“Nope. Nada. Nein,” I say before he can make a suggestive comment. “I actually have to use the bathroom, and no, I don’t need help, you weirdo.”

Fitz pouts, making a face at me. “Not into golden showers, and you know it.”

I huff a fond sigh as I head for the bathroom, trying not to laugh at his antics. “Yes, well, I’m infinitely grateful for that since I, too, am uninterested in those kinks. Now give me a minute to do this without being impatient.”

Hearing him flop on the bed, I scoot into the bathroom and take care of my pressing needs. Once I’m done, I wash up and then pick up my brush to give my hair a little fluff. I’m not really worried about how I look as much as it's a habit. Lucille drilled this sort of thing into me from the time I could walk, and I’m still struggling with breaking from some of those routines. I haven’t weighed myself since Coach Z last did for the fateful match at l’Academie, and that makes me quite proud of myself. Her obsession with my weight has been one of the more difficult things to slough off, and getting myself to stay away from scales has been one of my secret struggles.

I’m not upset about how I look, nor have I ever been, but having a mother with serious body dysmorphia has trained me in ways I didn’t realize until my first few months at Apex.

“Baby Girl, are you okay in there?”

My eyes widen and I put my palms on the sink as I look in the mirror, murmuring to myself silently. Once I’m good, I blow out a slow breath, spritz myself with body spray, and then exit the room to face him. “I’m great, Fitzy. I just wanted to run a brush through my hair and freshen up a little. See?”

Fitz leans forward, sniffing the wrist I hold out and groaning happily. “You always smell delicious, but I really like this homemade stuff. Did Frenchie McEyeliner get the recipe to make it at home? I hope so.”

“Yes, Renard got the instructions to make it with flowers from his garden. His mom was really excited to find out that he loves botany as much as she does, wasn’t she?” The wistfulness in my voice gets his attention, and the tiger rolls to his feet, pulling me into his arms.

“Delores Drew, your mom being shitty is not a reflection on you, and you know it.” His expression is stern as he looks at me, and I feel silly. Of course, he’s right, but it’s hard not to feel slighted when Rennie’s parents turned out to be much better than we all thought they were.

I press my forehead to his, murmuring, “I know. And no one else’s parents are secretly good guys, so it’s not like this will come up again. It’s just… we all wish we could make our parents proud, even when we know that it’s not possible because of who they are. Becoming an adult with the ability to see that more clearly hasn’t changed it, just made it easier to get over when it pinches.”

“You will always have us, Baby Girl. Even if most of us have fucked-up families, the pouty poet will share his if we all make it through this fucking war. He loves you, and his parents thought you were fucking fabulous. Hard not to, and if they hadn’t, I would have slaughtered the entire fucking village, but still…”

My laugh tinkles in the quiet room, and I put my hands on his face as I smile softly. “Fitzgerald Ulysses Castor Khan! You are out of your goddamn mind, and I couldn’t love you more if I tried.”

He grins so widely that it looks like his face is going to break before he whoops loudly. Backing away from me, he dances around the room as he sings, “She loves me, Baby Girl loves me, even though I’m crazy, she fucking loves me.”

Laughter bubbles up again as he prances around the room, shaking his perfect ass and doing the most ridiculous moves I’ve ever seen in my life. I don’t know if he realizes it, but this is exactly what I needed. Worrying about Rennie and Chessie triggered my insecurities, and by the time I came out here, all the tiny things I mostly moved past were needling me just under my skin. I was spiraling for no reason, and now I’m giggling so hard that it’s making me a little dizzy.

“Careful now,” he says as he shimmies his way back to me with merriment in his eyes. “Don’t want you to get lightheaded and pass out. My bro would kick my ass if you conked your pretty head on something before I could catch you.”

“As if I could fall without you being there faster than the damn speed of light,” I say as he takes my hands and spins me around like we’re ballroom dancing. “I don’t believe it for a second.”

“Good, because I’d break the sound barrier and even then, I’d have to outrun Chessie. He’s fast as fuck, you know.” His pissy frown is adorable, and I bury my face in his neck as I hug him tightly.

Aw, look at that—even Fitzy gets a little insecure sometimes; maybe I’m more normal than I thought?

Perfect

Fitz

I love the absolute faith my baby girl has in me.

It’s helped me move beyond the druggy haze I was in when she first arrived at Apex for that tour and become a functioning member of my ragtag family. She did similar things in different ways for all of us, but the way she embraced my crazy and helped me manage all my quirks is nothing short of astounding. Everything and everyone is better because of her, and I don’t give a rat’s ass how many more enemies or problems we have. I’d fight the entire fucking Pred League bare-handed if it meant she was safe at home, so the assholes hunting her can get all the way fucked.

“Fitzy, we should head back to the table so they don’t think something happened,” she says as she swings her feet from the edge of the bed. “I don’t want Felix and Aubrey to have to worry about me when Chessie and Rennie are working.”

Giving her a fond smile, I tilt my head. “Do you think they believe for a second that I wouldn’t tear this fucking train to the bolts if someone tried to breathe in your direction?”

Her giggle makes my heart flutter, and I walk closer so I can inhale her sweet scent. “I think everyone knows that, Fitz. But that doesn’t mean some sneaky fucker with magic or something might not attack when we don’t expect it. That’s our world now, you know?”

Tugging her up by her hands, I pull her tight to my frame as I look into big blue eyes. “It is, but there is nothing you need to worry about when it comes to how far I’d go. And that goes double for the others—the Cranky Caiman would shift so fast it would destroy this tin can before people even blinked. And he’d have you across the globe before the rest of us could even figure out what the hell happened.”

“That… sounds like a plan that has been discussed,” she says with narrowed eyes. “Is it a plan that has been discussed without my being involved?”

I shrug as she glares at me, giving her my most charming smile. “Probably. We have a lot of plans regarding getting you the fuck away from people attacking you until we regroup. If we didn’t have those, it would be unforgivable, and you’d be right to kick our asses into the next century. You’re our mate, Baby Girl.”

Her annoyed huff is cute, but I don’t say that as she gathers her thoughts. When she speaks, her tone is firm. “I get why you have to do that, and also why the others want to have those in place. But I am not backing down from a fight to help people ever, even though I might be in danger. The one thing Lucille always drilled into me was that this world is ‘pred eat pred’ and no one is ever truly safe. It’s not news to me, and I refuse to become a pampered princess simply because my mates are rich, royal dudes. Got it?”