Page 101 of Prey It By Ear

Fitz gives me a hard look, then nods his understanding. “That’s what Z’s been hiding and why Cococabana was more scarce. I guess she told Baby Girl last night because we were pressuring our leonine friend for info?”

I nod. “I’m less worried about the Bouviers for now. We know what kind of pull and power the Leonidas pride has in many areas. Zhenga is in more danger than ever because they don’t see her as a pure heir breeder they can eventually reclaim.”

Aubrey groans and looks at the ceiling as if pleading with a deity. “This old world shit is so fucking tiresome after two thousand years. None of it has ever worked, nor has it made any line stronger. The only thing that did was stealing everything from the magicals and sealing them in another realm. Why must even the newer generations keep spewing that bullshit?”

“Fuck if I know,” Fitz says as he hops on a big wooden table. “Felix and I are fucking perfect specimens of tigers, born of a tigress in the line, and our father still kept going with his other mistresses. You realize most of our cousins are… well, you know.”

The snort that leaves the dragon sounds like it actually hurts. “You’re saying they’re probably half-siblings as well? No surprise there—felines and canines are the worst about inbreeding, Fitz. No one expects anything different, especially not mythicals.”

I blink as a scowl comes over my face. “Shut it, you giant handbag. Dragons aren’t much better about how they choose mates in clashes. This is not about cross-species shit, anyway. It’s about Z. I want leverage. If they’re squeezing her, I want to squeeze back. I need something so solid that if the Council gets involved, we can use it to back them off.”

Aubrey gives me a dirty look, his eyes narrowed at my insult. “If you go after Midori, you’d better have a backup plan. That woman has more power than the headmasters of Apex or Cappie did. Maybe because this is Europe, maybe because of something else, but it’s true.”

Shrugging, I reply, “She’s overdue for a lesson in consequences.”

There’s a silence while I look out the little window into the garden and actually see Renard methodically watering a bed of late-season herbs this time. My brother holds up his hand, and I raise a brow, waiting for him to speak.

“I need to grab my laptop, bro. Don’t freak out.”

In under two minutes, Fitz has come back, clacked away at the keys, and is looking at us with a smirk. He turns his screen, highlighting a folder. “Midori has a standing breakfast appointment with a local council rep. The same guy who used to run Games scheduling at Apex—remember him? I think he was a Faust. It’s been moved three times in the last week, each time at a different location, always at the last minute.” He drags a second window over the first and shows us emails. “She’s also been trading encrypted messages with a Paris IP address, but I don’t have the name yet.”

Aubrey unfolds his arms, interest piqued. “That’s something you can get a physical address for, though, right? Farley can send his big goons to visit.”

“Probably,” Fitz says. He glances at me, all the fire back in his eyes. “If you want to add them to my list, it won’t be much trouble. I have algorithms and automated things handling a lot of the mild to worrisome inconveniences that I’m using to throw people off.”

I take all this in, keeping my reactions measured. The anger is still there, but now it’s a clean burn ready to be pointed where it matters. “Good. Do that and we’ll set a time to do a bit of sneaking around this weekend, Fitz. I want to go old school again and see what we can find—but not on Sterling. That’s being handled by the crew, so we’re not attached to it. We don’t know what he is, and that means we have to keep our distance.”

Fitz grins, but he’s already typing again, this time with the ferocity of someone who lives for this kind of problem.

Aubrey looks at me, and for once there’s something like respect in his eyes. “You’re getting very good at running things, Felix. I would never have pegged this progress when you first arrived. Perhaps you will be a decent royal… someday.”

I flip him off, rolling my eyes. “Get fucked, Draconis.”

Laughing, he shrugs as he looks at his computer. “I did this morning. Perhaps you should try it rather than running in circles, hmm?”

Always with the last word, that one.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Delores

I step out of voice class and into the hallway’s antiseptic chill, my vocal cords raw from an hour of drills that make strep throat sound like a beach vacation. My dance bag is heavier than it should be, and the strap is trying to cut my shoulder in half. I’m still feeling the tail end of emotionally reconnecting with my bestie, and for the next one hundred and eighty minutes, I have to outmaneuver the twin’s dickhead cousin without getting in trouble.

It’s yet another class I’m not looking forward to, and it’s the longest one of all.

Surprisingly, Aubrey is waiting in the corridor, leaning against the wall with a frown that says he’d rather be anywhere but amongst the student body, but will endure it for my sake. He’s not wearing his usual outfit today; instead, he’s dressed in black slacks and a turtleneck that manages to look both nerdy and a little too sexy for this hallway. His hair is getting a bit wild as he grows it out, which I enjoy because it’s got a tiny bit of wave that makes him look even more scholarly somehow.

“Is that your turtleneck or are you taking a page from Fitzy by borrowing from our poetic mate?” I ask teasingly.

The shirt definitely looks as if it might have come from Rennie’s closet, though Aubrey has to be stretching it big time if so. The gargoyle is much more lithe than the dragon in humanoid form even if his onyx one is big as hell. Aubrey gives me a small smirk, adjusting his glasses as he offers his arm to me.

“You sound a little hoarse, snack size. That teacher isn’t pushing you to do harmful things to your pipes, is she?”

I note that he’s skillfully avoiding my question, but I guess public chatting about our rapidly blending wardrobe pieces might make him feel too exposed. “We worked hard, but it wasn’t anything that will give me nodes. I do need to be cautious for the rest of the day, though. That’s why I’m staying quieter than usual.”

Our pace is even as he walks with me to the elevator and growls at the others waiting for it so they don’t join us. I give the dragon a knowing expression, and he shrugs.

“I’m a tenured professor and two thousand years old, lunchable. I don’t give a single fuck if they think I’m rude. The only people whose opinions I value reside in our annex.” He stabs the button with his finger, and I chuckle at his grumpy declaration.