Page 36 of Prey It By Ear

Rufus snorts, shaking his head. “Dollypop, you have a much more forgiving nature than the rest of us. If people pissed all over my room, ordered a crowd to eat me, and continued their reign of terror across multiple schools for years? I just wouldn’t be able to let that shit go. Revenge would be essential to my healing.”

“I took fingers from that one shit, but he disappeared before I could enact my coup de grace⁠*,” Fitz mutters bitterly. “His puny dick was going in a fancy ass jar eventually, but the fucking Fae got to him first. Still salty about that shit.”

Giving Fitz a grossed out look, I ask, “Did you really think I was going to display his dick on my shelf? I’m angry enough that it was… that I… I couldn’t do that, even if it made my bunny drool in violent delight, Fitzy.”

“It wasn’t for your shelf, Baby Girl; it was for mine.” His fangy grin sends a shiver down my spine and I think about exactly what Fitz Khan has in his souvenir trophy case.

I don’t go into his room often because the guys always come to mine when we’re sleeping or being naughty or snuggling. Arching a brow at Felix, I note his smirk of agreement, and it makes my stomach flutter in response. Apparently, they share a gruesome display that I haven’t checked out, and now I’m very interested in what the fuck is in it.

“Can we dial back the horny pred a little? Fuck, I just got here, and it smells like there’s going to be an orgy!” Everyone turns, looking at the lioness as she finally joins us. Winking at me playfully, Coach Z leaps over the couch and takes the seat on Coco’s other side with feline grace. “Well, are you all going to stare like hooked trout or say hello?”

Felix rolls his eyes at the woman, and Fitz just snorts. Aubrey and Rennie manage grunts or waves, but I beam. Whether they want to be shitheads or not, I know Zhenga has proved herself, especially here at l’Academie, and I don’t need to hold her past desperate behavior against her.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” I say as I look around. “All of you, honestly. This is a lot of support for someone who grew up with only one ally in their household, who practically fell apart at the feathers when someone yelled. That was a lot in the Drew household, so Mattie was more effective as a weapon against me than as a protector.”

“We need to look into how we’re getting your friend out of there,” Farley muses. “She’s the big question mark when it comes to people who can hurt you outside of this room. The Captain assures me your medical friends will be taken care of by the prey, and Monsieur Growlvinchy and his folks have resources to stay safe. But the hawk is too exposed, and I haven’t figured out what we’re going to do about it yet.”

Renard looks appalled as the badger says ‘Monsieur,’ as if it’s pronounced ‘mon-soo-er,’ and I have to stifle my laugh. Once he’s properly expressed his disgust at the butchering of his language, my gargoyle finally says, “Maybe you can figure out how to get a fake passport in Paris? If we draw Lucille to France, she’ll bring her assistant with her, and new documents would help us smuggle her away if we plan well enough.”

Zhenga waves her hand, smiling wickedly. “I am certain your mother will have to attend one of the bigger Games this year. Our schedule is packed, and with the backing Coco over there picked up from my family regarding her PG sports attire line, she’s going to draw a crowd. We could use that to get your nanny out and maybe the prey folks know how we can hide her until your mother is gone.”

I may be grateful to her for being on my side, but now I owe her an enormous debt—Zhenga may save the life of the only real friend I had before Apex, and I have no idea how I’m going to repay that.

* a final, decisive strike

Die Walkure

Chess

“We need more prep for the extraction, but I think that’s a good start,” Felix says as he strokes his chin thoughtfully. “Chess, make sure you add that to the future board so we can re-visit it.”

Nodding, I continue making notes in my book. I’ll add all of this to the boards later once I’ve got it all organized and summarized. Otherwise, our shit will be absolute chaos because of the stupid amount of threats and plots we’re juggling at the moment. “Got it. What’s next?”

Raina waves her small paw as she waits for acknowledgement, and when Dolly points at her, the raccoon beams. “Elder Coire examined our photos of the scroll with his trusted advisors. I hadn’t met a puffin before, and it was fascinating. The small village they live in is closed off from humans and concealed very well from predators—all by choice. It’s considered a refuge for anyone fleeing the Councils and such.”

That’s not surprising; I’d wager magicals have similar hidden towns as well.

“What did he say, Raina?” Ren asks as he sits up to listen. “Traveling that distance for prey like your family isn’t easy, so I assume it must have been important, non?”

“Aye, your most gracious gargoyle, ‘twas!” The Captain gives our friend a pleased grin, and the rest of his crew nod or murmur their agreement. “The birdy and his smarty-pants group said that there’s some words not belonging to Fae on the paper. That be why it didn’t all translate right.”

I frown, tilting my head as I glance at Aubrey. “Is that true? I haven’t gone through all of it yet, so I didn’t know.”

The dragon growls grumpily, shifting in his chair as he glares. “Yes, it’s true. Renard and I came to the same conclusion as we consulted with the gargoyle historians and library archivists on our trip. There is some text within the scroll that is attributed to other species of magicals, and that we could not decipher. It does not mean we will not be capable of it, but it will take more time.”

“He’s emailing some other folks he can trust to help identify the language and possibly find resources,” Ren says lazily. “Don’t worry; Flames is like a dog with a bone when knowledge is eluding him. We’ll have our answers soon enough.”

Dolly’s brow furrows as she says, “But those parts could be important to understanding it, and missing sections might cause us to make a mistake. Right?”

“Perhaps, but it’s a calculated risk, Princess.” Felix turns to the two ancients, nodding his approval. “Tell them what we found while working with the gargoyle clan. Then Raina and the crew can let us know if their elder disagrees or has something to add.”

Aubrey pulls out his phone and then adjusts his glasses as everyone, even the flamboyant badgers wait for him to speak. Dragons have that presence naturally, and it’s uncommon for anyone to disrespect them when they’re about to impart information.

Well, except that night at Dolly’s prom, according to Fitzy, and he was a flaming ball of rage when he got home—never disrespect a dragon if you want to remain uncooked.

In the first dawn, the works of both realms moved beside one another in a quiet accord. Power flowed from beyond the Veil, shaping those who bore it in ways the earthbound could not claim, yet life pressed onward as it always had. The two did not stand apart. They crossed and mingled, and in that mingling were changed. Time and nature took their due. What had once been separate was drawn together, remade into forms that were neither one nor the other. Thus were the old imbalances lessened, for the walkers of the Veil no longer stood alone in their strength when new branches rose within the living world.

Animalia and magicalia grew bound together, not by choice but by the slow hand of becoming. Flesh met force unseen, and from their union came new kinds, each born in its hour. Some bore the Veil’s mark more deeply; some stood between; some held fast to the first design of the world. Yet all found place upon the same earth, and there they endured—until the world brought forth another change, one not yet named, which would in time be called human.