Page 28 of Prey It By Ear

I press my lips together for a moment, and then finally murmur, “This book is bothering our girl, but she won’t stop reading it. I thought if I read it while she’s sleeping, I might find the issue, and then help her resolve it. I mean, we have way too much shit going on to be mad about a shitty book, you know?”

His lips curve as he looks at me fondly. “I agree, my darling cheetah. Why do you look so vexed, then? You’re slick as hell when it comes to breaking down books, even the rock man says so. I can’t believe you’re struggling with some smutty romance, if you can do it with books in fucking Latin.”

My cheeks flush with his praise, but he can’t see it in the dark. “Well, yes. But this is just… I don’t know why it bothers me. It’s about wolves, which I know we all hate, but that’s not it. There’s just something pissing my cat off about what I’ve read so far. It’s not the juvenile style or lack of craft in the writing; it’s something else. You know? My cat doesn’t care about the stuff my brain does, so I figure it has to be more emotion-based.”

“Your brain is sexy as hell, babe, but you’re right. The kitties inside us don’t give a flying fuck about the writer’s… skill… or whatever.” Fitz yawns and tilts his head to look up at the device. “Turn it a little so I can read with you and slow it down. I’ll see if I can help you figure it out. I’m far less likely to be caught up in the brain work about how it’s written than you.”

Oh, that’s a great idea and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it.

Together, we read at a much more leisurely pace than I was, and the car keeps rolling over the road in a soothing motion. It takes a few more chapters before Fitz’s chest rumbles and I look over at him. It’s mean, the damn thing blows goats, but it’s not offensive as much as… just made-up horseshit clearly written by someone with no idea what they’re doing. I’d be surprised if half the shit Dolly reads with Fitz and Ren isn’t like that, but they usually just laugh about it. This seems to make my mate angry, and I’m afraid he’s going to wake our bunny.

“What?!” I hiss as I glare at him. “What set you off, Fitzy?”

His expression is icy as fuck as he looks at me, but his eyes are full of fiery, murderous intent. Something has awakened the psychopath in him, and that usually leads to severed body parts. He’s keeping it reined in enough to not cause a wreck, but I have no idea how long that’s going to last. His body shivers visibly and he sucks a breath in through his nose before he grits out, “I know why this bothers her, but we can’t tell her. Not until later, at least.”

“Why?” I ask with a confused frown. “Won’t it make her feel better?”

“No, and I won’t either,” Fitz replies as his eyes flash with his tiger behind them. “Not until I make that crusty-ass skank bleed from every orifice on her body and scream for the mercy of gods who do not care to help someone this evil.”

Oh, shit. I think I know what he figured out and someone is definitely going to die—long before we anticipated.

Riptide

Delores

Chessie was right about the nap, but the tension in the vehicle when I wake up is thick as pea soup.

I don’t know what happened; however, Fitz and Chess are determined to brush the topic off. Felix is still asleep, which he must desperately need, so I don’t get him involved. Aubrey and Rennie have switched places, so the gargoyle is driving the last leg of our trip as he and the grumpy librarian argue about some historical era that I sure as hell wasn’t alive during. Normally, I’d listen in, taking their personal experiences in like a sponge, but the odd vibe back here is distracting me.

“Fitzy, are you sure you don’t want me to help you relax?” I whisper it in his ear, hoping to get him to ignore whatever is pissing him off on his phone. “I can be very soothing.”

He pauses, turning to look at me with a soft grin and crazy eyes. “You definitely can, my delicious little bunny rabbit. However, that will also distract the drivers, and I’m working on something important. Also, that wasn’t nearly enough sleep given how little you’ve gotten during travel, right, Chessie?”

The cheetah rumbles a little against my back, squeezing me temptingly close. “Definitely, my love. I think she’ll be much happier when we get home and everything is full of activity, if she rests just a wee bit more.”

That raises my bullshit antenna—of course they want me to take care of myself, but never at the expense of fooling around.

“What are you working on?” I try to peek over his shoulder, but the wily tiger tilts his phone so the privacy screen keeps me from viewing. “Aw, come on, baby…”

Chuckling, Fitz turns to kiss me lightly and then murmurs, “You don’t want to spoil my surprise, do you? I promise you’ll enjoy it and it doesn’t break any of the rules we’ve all agreed to.”

Arching a brow at his addendum, I frown. “No, but when you have to qualify it like that, I wonder what fresh hell is coming after you’re done.”

Chess laughs as well, pressing a kiss to my neck. When I sigh softly, he smiles against my skin. “Angel, you know his greatest joy in life is expressing himself in the most insane ways possible. You encourage it, in fact. Why so suspicious now?”

“Because there’s a tsunami of shit coming when we arrive home in… less than an hour?” I pout a little as my brain rebels against being ‘back’ from vacation. If it were just schoolwork and the Pred Games, I’d be fine, but my life is not that simple.

Returning to l’Academie means I have to deal with shitty classmates, vampires, enormous conspiracy webs, schoolwork, pissy professors, and to top it all off… that skeevy vulture who won’t stop picking at me until I’m a corpse. I’ve enjoyed the respite from all that while we were gone, especially the bitchy counselor, and now it’s unavoidable. Very depressing, if you ask me, and I wrinkle my nose as I burrow in between my kitties at the thought.

“See?” Chess whispers in my ear. “Just thinking about what’s waiting for us is making you want to stab something. A little more snoozing would definitely help.”

I recognize that they’re tag-teaming me again, but the idea of my overloaded life is… well, overloading me. So I sigh and nod, letting my adorable cheetah cuddle me close as Fitz keeps fiddling with his phone. My eyes flutter closed as Chessie purrs again, and I push aside the worry about whatever mischief my tiger has planned. I trust him, and if he says it’s okay, I have to believe that until I know otherwise.

But if something explodes and I have to clean it up, his ass is mine—that’s a promise and a threat.

The sound of everyone talking and a huge bump wakes me again, forcing me to sit up and crawl over to the side window to look out. Fitz is with Felix on the bench seat, and my winged mates are gesturing out the front window. Squinting as I get my head clear, I realize we are finally back on campus.

Well, almost back. We’re entering the stupid fancy gates and heading for the space we’ve made our own.