Page 54 of Prey It By Ear

“That’s a lot for the small house we saw,” Chester observes. “Are you sure?”

“It is what my research suggests,” I agree. “And I’m uncertain they are fully committed to a side, either. The books say their nature lends to duplicity, so they may be double agents for one faction or the other.”

Fitz’s grin sharpens again. “Should I plant the cameras, then? Maybe we’ll see them meet someone.”

I shake my head. “They won’t work—I think—on vampires. The mirrors inside the lens, mon ami. Besides, I want to get a look at them in person. It will help me figure out if what I’ve learned is correct or if it’s mistaken. That matters if they try to do anything against us, oui?”

Aubrey’s mouth twitches, amusement fighting with concern. “You’re going by yourself to spy on secret supernatural killers to check your theories?”

“I am seven hundred plus years old, Flames. I have not needed a babysitter in many centuries,” I say, with a shrug. “Plus, I promise not to engage should I find them. This is reconnaissance only.”

“Fine,” he grumbles as he rolls his eyes. “But stick to that plan to save my heart, hmm? Snack size gives me enough sudden bouts of rage and fear—you don’t need to add to it.”

It’s sweet when he admits he cares, even when he’s a grouch about it.

Chester flicks the towel at Fitz’s exposed thigh, just enough to make him yelp. “You need to get yourself together before it’s time for you to start your day, too.”

Fitz returns fire by smearing strawberry juice on the cheetah’s bare arm, and they spiral into a brief, silent wrestling match across the counter. I let it go on for a moment, then clear my throat to break up the scuffle.

“Anything else we should discuss?” I ask. “I want to head out before the light comes.”

Fitz, now perched on the counter, gives me a mock salute. “Nothing here, Frenchie. Just don’t become a snack. Baby Girl will be super pissed.”

Aubrey drains his mug, checks the time, and sighs. “I need to get in there before students pour in. They’ll be fucking up their goddamn passwords again within minutes of the normal classes start times.”

We disperse with a sense of practiced routine now that the kitchen is clean and we’ve agreed on our shared missions.

Chess heads for his room, giving me a lingering squeeze on the shoulder. “Fitz is right; be careful, Ren.”

I nod and then turn my attention to my accepted tasks. Fitz is retreating to his den, a faint trail of hummed polka music drifting behind him. “I will.”

The house is quiet again, but the sense of coiled readiness is still in the air, palpable as a coming storm. Sighing, I mentally trace the campus border in my mind. If I leave the annex and head north to the border by the salt lake, I can sneak along until I reach the eastern forest to search it. That will be my goal for today because it’s where we found the remnants of their presence last time, but I plan to check the trees in the southwest as well.

I will not give up and allow danger to find my family—not when it’s become the center of my world.

Bad to the Bone

Delores

I make it as far as the front doors of the Shirdal building before my left foot mutinies to remind me I’ve been up since five am, and pirouetting like an idiot for a teacher who thinks grace and masochism are synonyms since six. I limp down the marble steps, but force myself upright when I spot the elder Khan leaning against the cold rail just outside. Felix looks like a calendar ad for runners, if the target audience is women who enjoy predatory competence and the sweat that means he’s run ten miles before breakfast.

At times like this, I really have to admit how goddamn lucky I am to have found men who are kind, love me for who I am, and are so hot I still feel my breath catch when I see them.

He’s still in his running gear, black and clinging, with his hair up. His temples are wet, and the wrap on his wrist is as clearly damp as the grass on the lawn. He smells of heat and expensive soap with a bite of spice that is all predator pheromones. When he sees me, his grin spreads wide and his eyes dance as his nostrils flare.

My brain briefly loses the ability to parse words as I stare at that smile and try not to drool. For three solid seconds, I forget I’m supposed to be moving on to my next obligation as he wipes his face with the hem of his tank, exposing his abs. Much like I know how to distract my mates, they’re no slouches at doing it to me, and that was planned. It scrambles my higher functions and makes my chest feel like I might vibrate out of my skin. I try to play it cool, but I fail.

“Someone’s already showing off, and it’s not even nine am yet,” I say as I pull the gym bag higher on my shoulder. “Determined to keep my mind off the impending doom, hmm?”

Felix makes a face like he’s insulted I would ever question his motives. “Princess, I can’t imagine why you would think that. I’m sweaty from a nice, long run that made my muscles ache. Why else would I need to wipe my face off? We are in public, you know.”

Oh, that son of a bitch knows that doesn’t matter to any of them.

I snort. “I’ll remember that new rule the next time one of you wants to be frisky in a locker room, or the forest, or in the sky… And be sure to tell everyone that Felix said we can’t be naughty in public places.”

The tiger steps forward, intercepting me mid-wobble when my foot cramps, and grabs my bag off my arm without asking. “Let’s walk you to the admin building, while you threaten me with a good time. I love sparring with my brother, and you love when we’re all grumpy and taking potshots at one another. Besides, by your delicious scent, your bunny is about to jump out and start gnawing through the red tape you’ve imagined me putting up.”

Chuckling, I fall in step beside him as he offers his free arm, and work the cramp out by slowly making our way forward from the Shird. The quad is full of half-awake students, most of them walking around looking dazed on their first day back. Some are new, and they look terrified, which I remember feeling in my first year at Apex. Of course, everyone was threatening to kill and eat me, so my fear was different, but it seems like it was so long ago now. Honestly, stupid rich people cults and Fae attackers aside, I’m ready to be done with the whole academic experience. Pred schools have ruined the naïve belief that this would be a joyous journey of discovery that would change my life as I entered adulthood.