Page 26 of Prey It By Ear

That comforts him—as French often does and I know it—and he settles back in without further comment. His small bit of wakefulness doesn’t make our mate stir, and I breathe a slow, silent sigh of relief at that. Aubrey can be very difficult to get to go back to sleep once he’s half awake, and I don’t want to fight him back down. The guys are splitting the driving, but I’d prefer they take back some of the sleep we lost being up late as we figured out all the bullshit last night.

What about me? I’m running on adrenaline that won’t quit because the idea of people attacking from the sky again got into my head and this highway has shit for cover.

Hence my serious search for a new book to distract me; I don’t want to look at the internet to keep from some new fresh hell popping up. I’m too wired as it is and I won’t be able to keep it from my men. More bad shit will only make this drive more dangerous and the somewhat spacious SUV feel much smaller with their tempers on board.

Men are such ridiculous little flowers—it’s almost like they’re simply unable to process things without becoming hysterical.

Several hours later, I’ve finished a damn good book about a sassy woman with magic and the men who she discovers are her mates. I liked the premise, and the humor was top-notch, so by the time Aubrey and Rennie wake up for the changeover, I’m feeling satisfied. I wish I knew more about what I need to do to get ready for classes this year, but I agreed we wouldn’t even peek into the school shit until we arrive home. That’s likely to put me in a shitty mood, and I can’t mediate between the trapped men if I’m also angry as hell. It’s a fair decision, even though it makes me twitchy from my tail to my ears, not knowing what awaits me at l’Academie.

“You’re awfully tense, lunchable. Don’t start worrying about things now.”

I look down at the dragon as he rubs his eyes and stretches his limbs slowly. “I’m not. I mean, not really. I had a stray thought, but it’s not a big deal. You know how I like to get ahead of work in case things blow up, and right now, I can’t. That just makes me nervous.”

“Nothing will stop you from racing through your work, even being a day or two behind, ma petite. Doing your homework is always a priority—sometimes so much that we all get grumpy, non? It will not be any different this year, I promise.”

I blow a strand of hair out of my eyes and sigh. “You’re probably right, but my anxiety sometimes obsesses over things I can control versus things I can’t. Getting my work done so we can skulk around campus and search for secret shit or vampires falls in that category.”

Rennie grins fangily as his eyes flash at me. “I will enjoy hunting those disgusting monsters down. We saw many tales that justify that in my family’s archives.”

“Maybe,” I murmur as I frown. “Remember, there are many stories of why magicals have to be hunted down and killed in the pred libraries somewhere. I’m not ready to accept either side’s version of the events leading to the Treaty as reality until we have outside confirmation.”

My dragon sits up, putting his glasses on as he glares. “How in seven hells would we get that? Neither of the groups will simply give us evidence. They both believe they are the wronged parties.”

“I didn’t say either of them will be honest, nor did I say either is in the right. However, knowing how my mother works and the way all the other living Society assholes work, I’m left to wonder if the truth isn’t… less black and white.”

Felix harrumphs from the front. “Meaning what, princess?”

I shrug, uncertain why I feel like this is important yet. “All I’m saying is… perhaps the preds are the bad guys, but maybe the magicals are doing bad things because they don’t have the entire story either. I’m inclined to believe that Rennie’s family wouldn’t have that kind of history archived if it didn’t happen, but why? I mean, the really old books don’t act like there was actually a problem with magic and shifters co-existing.”

“Very true,” Chessie says on a yawn. “Everything I read—or I read with Ren’s help—seemed to show everyone had their own space, and it was bridged by the mythicals. Species like the gargoyles sort of connected the shifters and the magicals in a beneficial way. They weren’t forbidden to do shit like they were by the time that damn Treaty was imminent.”

Aubrey frowns, thinking about what my cheetah said for a moment. “It escalated rather quickly, yes.”

“That’s what I mean,” I reply stubbornly. “We need to find beings who watched from the sidelines, not ones who were caught up in it. That’s why the Captain and his crew went to the isles to meet that… otter guy.”

Fitz blinks. “You think the prey animals watched the other two sets of supes fight it out, hoping they wouldn’t get sucked in? Maybe they have books or evidence or some shit that will give us a less biased view of that time?”

“Yes.”

“What happens if it doesn’t?” Felix asks as he steers the car off the highway to find a place where we can all get out and stretch. “What do we do then?”

“Farley’s supposed to be looking through legal shit. He knows a lot of important people over here, despite his wholly American viewpoint on Europe. If he needs to visit some other capitals, he will. He may even send some of his badgers undercover into Asia.”

Narrowing his eyes, Aubrey looks at me. “How much extra shit did you ask our allies to do based on this ‘new’ theory? And when?”

I dip my chin, shrugging as I look up through my lashes. “I might have contacted them from the gargoyle archives. One of the younger guards let me use some sort of… scrying ball? I don’t know; it’s some sort of magic thingy that let me send messages. It was weird, and I didn’t mention it because magic is illegal and I’m already on their goddamn lists. None of you needed to be marked, too.”

Rennie slaps his forehead with his palm and groans. “C’est fou,⁠* ma petite! We are definitely on ‘kill lists’ for being with you, and that’s before we get to evil parents. Why hide that?”

The SUV stops at some sort of gas station—or whatever passes for it here—and I look at every one of my men seriously. “Magic is a big line, and while you might sweet talk your way off those lists because of your names, you cannot if you join me in using the forbidden shit. If something happens to me, I refuse to let you be executed for stuff I’m doing.”

Throwing open his door, Fitz pins me with an intense glare as he says, “Baby Girl, we decide stuff like that together or not at all. If I can get my shit together to be productive and useful, you can stop trying to throw yourself on swords that haven’t even materialized yet. No more of this shit—not this year, with all these people, in this place. Got it?”

Damn, that’s hot. Sir, yes, sir, Crazy Pants.

* Go back to sleep.

* That’s crazy