Page 59 of Prey It By Ear

He grins, snarky and unrepentant. “I’m looking into the teachers for this year, but my algorithms have found nothing new yet on the repeat ones like her. It’s weird, because a lot of the preds forced to teach have pretty well-known scandals that got them exiled. Obviously, everyone in our family, and Zhenga… plus Henny. Man, I hope she’s okay at Cappie. The woman isn’t really a friend, but she’s not entirely bad, either. Anyway, the ones here seem to have murkier pasts. It’s weird.”

Of course they do… whoever hid this shit learned their lesson after I was at Cappie and Apex.

“Keep on it, I guess. I don’t have your cousin until Friday, but at least I know he’s dangerous,” I sigh as we open the doors to go in. “And anyone I had last semester, I know how to handle unless they’ve been enticed to change up their shit. The new people make my ass twitch.”

“Damn! I gotta get on that,” Fitz replies as we head inside. His eyes dance merrily as he clucks his tongue. “Only our family is allowed to make your luscious booty do anything, Baby Girl. The others will back me up on that without a doubt.”

I give him a fond, yet frustrated expression as we walk through the lobby to the stairs. “That is not what I meant, and you know it, buster. We don’t have time for flirty stuff; I’ll be late to this class and the woman will torture me with her damn B-flat again to be contrary.”

Guiding me with one hand, Fitz leads me down to the lowest level while walking backwards and holding my hand. By the time we get to the bottom, my feet still ache, but my crazy tiger has cracked jokes and made me smile enough that my spirits are lifted. He walks me to the door marked ‘Piano One’ in a hallway full of doors with instruments and numbers listed for the various practice areas.

“Ready to play your heart out?” he says as he brushes my hair off my forehead. “I’m sure Emo Boy will love hearing whatever you are practicing later. Chessie told me there are like fifty boxes being checked by the Captain personally, and one of them might be the fancy keyboard you’re gonna use to practice in the annex versus leaving.”

I grimace, remembering how nice it was to have the beautiful piano next door at Cappie and even the nice ones in the Shird I could use instead of electronic shit if I didn’t have a flotilla of assholes stalking me. “Yeah, he will, even if he complains about how much better the real thing sounds.”

“Ah, Dolly, my mate… You forget the Frenchman is never more happy than when he can complain about some snooty-ass thing he has up his ass. That will only make it sweeter for him.” Fitz winks and I giggle at the accuracy.

Leaning in, I kiss him lightly, ruffling his curly, wild mane of hair. “You’re right. Rennie and Aubrey adore when they get to pull the grumpy, old, rich fart card. It will be perfect. Now, shoo, because I have to go in and pray that I’m not subjected to an hour of whale songs.”

“If only, Baby Girl,”

As he leaves, I turn and open the door, resigning myself to my fate as I head inside.

Just another lovely trial to endure in the never-ending torture of Delores Drew—luckily, I’m used to it.

When the class ends, Banjo is already waiting for me outside the door. He leans against the wall in his new uniform, smiling happily like the quokka he is.

“Hello, Queen Dolly,” he says, giving me a salute. “Are you ready for your next class? How is your day going? Has everything been calm?”

I blink, adjusting the gym bag on my shoulder as he rapid-fires questions. “Hi, Banjo. I guess you’re stuck taking me to Theater History, huh?”

Nodding, the little prey animal follows me as I walk toward the stairs. “I am next on the rotation, yes. Your class is in the Shird with Bisonette, I’m told. I’ll get you there and make sure you are inside, but remember that if you use the app Prince Fitz made for His Honor Mr. Farley, someone will be at your side tout suite.”

Arching a brow, I look at him. “Is Rennie teaching you guys French again?”

“Oui!” The quokka leads me up the last few stairs and into the lobby. “But the Glorious Gargoyle says it is because Percy is continuing to teach your family sign language. He says it is a fair trade for such things, and the Captain does not want to argue with him. Oh, dear.”

“Don’t worry, Banjo; I won’t rat you out for admitting the Captain believes you owe him because he’s kept you guys protected.” My lips quirk as we walk out of the building onto the quad again. “But that’s because I’m really psyched to learn from Percy, and he’s working on my French, too, which means we can all practice both on the walks sometimes.”

The quokka blinks, and then claps in excitement. “What a good idea! Raina will love it. She was thrilled to help with your flashcards when we all stayed at Capital Prep. It was quite educational in terms of what preds are being taught that is…”

“Utter bullshit?” I finish for him, and he ducks his head as he walks down the steps onto the grass. “Yeah, I know. At least this will be fun to work on together rather than annoying, huh?”

Banjo falls in step with me as we navigate the crowds of students filling the green. This will calm down after a week or two—the freshmen will figure out their schedules and things will relax some. But on the first day, every college I’ve been to so far has been nightmarish because it’s so packed with people who are in various edgy moods as they move around. He finally nods, his face as serious as his kind can look.

“Yes, it will be less upsetting. Not that we were upset by helping you, of course. But knowing the… very altered version of things preds are being taught is hard. My family group is living pretty well on the school campuses, especially because of yours. But there are so many prey subjugated with no recourse, Queen Dolly. It is very sad.”

Frowning, I murmur, “I’m sorry, Banjo. I hate that reality.”

“It is what has been for so long that most have given up.” The quokka goes quiet for a moment as we approach the Shird. “I apologize for being a downer when you need to focus on your class. The rumors say Madame Bisonette is quite difficult and very moody.”

Snorting, I shrug. “The nasty bird woman is just one in a long line of avians who piss me off, Banjo. She’s mean to everyone, not just me, so I figure it’s the price I pay to get through my diploma reqs, you know? And you never have to say sorry for telling the truth; I enjoy talking with all the crew.”

His face lights up again, and Banjo opens the door so we can enter. “You are a shining star, Queen Dolly. Don’t let anyone steal that sparkle or blacken your kind heart. It would be a travesty.”

Now I’m kinda misty and I have to sit through Bisonette’s ranty teaching style.

Shit.