Page 34 of Prey It By Ear

“It was,” I say distractedly as I type on the computer without looking. “Sometimes my bro has those, hard as it is to admit. And we all have edgy tempers right now.”

Baby Girl is methodically working to sign that to the crew member when Raina laughs softly. “You’re kind, Miss Dolly, but you know Holliday is an expert lip-reader.”

“Well, yeah, but I want to get better. I feel like we all need to accommodate one another as best we can, and that includes making room for all kinds of diversity. Holliday is family now, and I’ll be damned if every one of us will not make an effort.”

That gets a bright smile from the small prey animal, followed by his entire family, one by one. The Captain nods at my girl, pointing a small finger at her as he says, “The Queen be kind-hearted and fair, which is why she is the mate of our most gracious gargoyle.”

“That reputation is also why we could speak with the Seanchaidh about the gift they sent us and other stuff,” Percy says as his striped tail flicks back and forth. “It is spreading that a child of the Evil Council is a friend to us and her family can be trusted.”

I blink, impressed yet again. “Fuck, Baby Girl. You’re like a folk tale now.”

She turns bright red as she reaches over to swat my foot. “Stop it, all of you. I can’t… Lucille didn’t raise me to take praise very well, and I have to concentrate. What is a Seanchaidh, anyway?”

Raina laughs as she butchers the word, but honestly, who wouldn’t? Once she’s back under control, the raccoon replies, “It’s an elder wise man, storyteller, and oral history keeper. It’s… an inherited position handed down generation after generation. This one is quite old, and perhaps that made him hopeful something will change in his lifetime.”

“We’re going to try,” Renard grumbles as he shifts in his chair. “The war that will precede such a monumental move in our culture will not be easy to win, though, mes amis. Preds will die, as will prey, and perhaps humans caught in the crossfire. But we didn’t start it—the Fae and magicals have—and now the rest of this world is caught between them and the Society. This is how all wars are, unfortunately. My centuries of experience have never contradicted the fact that power-hungry wealthy people fight for more of the same, and those below them suffer for it in their battles.”

“Gross,” Dolly says as she shakes her head. “My goal is to ensure only the bad people pay, but I know that might not be possible. I’ll have to work harder to protect everyone I care about and the innocent bystanders, I guess.”

I’m not usually one to think about how young she is, but that definitely makes all of us guys exchange looks as she and her friends nod in agreement.

“You have to be prepared to lose soldiers, Queen Dolly. It’s the way of the world.” The Captain is more blunt than the rest of us would have been, but he’s on point. She can’t assume she’s going to save everyone if we’re making huge decisions at some point.

My girl frowns, looking pensive, so I click the buttons and quickly make the badger appear on the screen. Farley will distract her from that thought while we have guests, and I know she’d rather be upset about possible casualties later when we’re alone. As predicted, her face lights up when she sees the cranky lawyer tapping the screen impatiently.

“Goliath, when the hell are… oh! There you are. I was getting impatient. Things to do, people to decimate, all that shit.”

“Nice to see you again, Farley,” Dolly says, and Coco chimes in as well. “Why did you have to stay? Coco and Rufus came back with Coach Z… who hasn’t arrived yet, and I don’t know why.”

The hillbilly badger straightens his suit and clears his throat before he says, “She’s probably doing a security sweep of the arena and locker rooms. My men requested she do some very specific things to help us make certain they are not unsafe—at least, when unoccupied. I made some contacts here that have particular skills, and your lovely lioness was given the task of carrying out the necessary steps. She’ll be along soon, I’m sure.”

That’s weird, and I’m going to get it out of Z if it means pinning her to the ground in a dominance battle.

Cori comes to the rescue, though, bobbing her curly head as she adds, “It’s something to do with magic from some trusted source. That’s all any of us, even Zhenga, are allowed to know, right, Counselor?”

Farley smiles like a proud papa as he nods at the bear. “That’s right, sugar belle. Dolly, your friends were absolutely perfect as helpers in Paris, by the way. They had a lot to do of their own, but they all ran around with the Postmen gathering information and valuable things when possible. Right down to the boyfriends, in fact. Excellent choices for the trip, and I thanked them appropriately.”

“That’s where the clothes came from,” Ren mutters, and I chuckle. The badger just told us how all the materials for Cococabana’s creations were paid for, and I’m not gonna say a word about it. Seems fair to pay the kids if they were running about like messengers and it furthered our cause.

All’s well and all that shit.

“That doesn’t answer why you stayed,” Felix points out, and I whip back to the conversation happening around me. “Why did you and the goons have to remain in Paris?”

“Good question, rightful Raj!” Farley looks pleased as he slides his thumbs into his outrageously patterned suspenders. “I planted myself here in order to get deeper into the publishing mess. There are satellite offices in the city, and many friendly politicians. I’m hoping to make inroads in blackballing that scurrilous carrion feeder in so many markets and houses that she’s cast into the Stone Age. Being in the city facilitates that goal, plus it allows my men to snoop around in terms of the Society’s contacts here.”

“Well, okay. If you think it will keep her from being a lying fuckwad, then I’m all for it.” Dolly crosses her arms over her chest, and her friends pat her knees in unison. “I don’t get why some shady-ass motherfuckers have a cult following who don’t look at things critically, but much of the world makes little sense right now. There’s too much… ass-sucking going on.”

I raise a finger and open my mouth, but Aubrey shuts me down before I can say a word. “Shut it, Fitz. She means the random people who glom onto things without doing any research or seeing it objectively before they dedicate their lives to fakes and liars. She does not mean your salad getting tossed, for fuck’s sake.”

Baby Girl blinks, her face turning red again as everyone, including the badger on the screen, laughs uproariously.

I might not have gotten to say it, but the Spicy Skink did, and it made the mood lighter regardless—that’s a win-win for Fitzy.

The Adults Are Talking

Delores

“We have to talk about a lot more things besides why my unc isn’t here, guys,” Rufus says as he runs his hand through his spiky hair. “And since we’re all tired from traveling, we should get it over with. There’s not much time to adjust before everything swings into gear here.”