Page 39 of Prey It By Ear

“Big guy’s right,” Rufus says as he grabs a beer from the fridge. “Worry is a misuse of imagination, and we need to imagine how we’re going to survive this semester with all the finagling those assholes did to our schedules. Did you see how many fucking sessions you have? One a goddamn day, Dollykins. I’m worried you’re going to lose your shit and eat her, for fuck’s sake.”

My brain takes a little voyage as I imagine that, and I can’t help the smile that spreads over my face, even though I know she’d have to taste terrible. I’m pretty sure Abel did, but my bunny brain doesn’t always let me access much from that night. Maybe it’s to protect me, or maybe it’s because it’s not my story, but I only get vague, blurry images when I search my memory.

“Ooh, I like that face! Baby Girl is plotting violence; I can tell!”

Fitz’s outburst brings me back to reality, and the two men standing nearby laugh as I shake the predator away. “I’m not plotting it as much as imagining it, baby. Ru-Ru brought up the once a day counseling sessions, and I sort of got lost in what might happen if I really break the cage inside.”

“It’s not an impossible situation,” Zhenga says from her spot next to my other friend. “If your animal goes completely white-out rage, you could snap the chain and do damage. We all have that struggle, but you’re so much younger than most of us that it’s a lot more probable.”

Gee, thanks, Coach.

“And none of us can go in with her because of conflicting events or rules,” Felix says with a frown. “There has to be a way to circumvent that. We can’t leave her alone with the bitch for an hour a day for an entire year; it’s too damn risky. That’s not a slam on your ability, by the way, Princess. Z’s just right about how much harder it is to control things when you’re only three years out from the first shift. Not to mention… the other stuff.”

Raina stands on her chair, waving a tiny paw as she tries to get attention. I clear my throat, pointing at her to get everyone to shut up. Once we’re all looking at her, the small raccoon asks, “Who has been allowed in the room so far?”

“No one who didn’t break in to steal her,” Fitz grumbles. “Trust me.”

“That’s not true,” I say as I think about it. “A couple Postmen have gained entry and remain after they were declared part of the legal team. Farley’s continued lawsuit and negotiations with whatever that stupid woman did that makes it an event that has to allow for representation.”

“Bingo was his name-o!” Rufus says as he sets his plate down and pulls out his phone. “Give me a day or so to discuss that with my Unc and we’ll see how fast we can get that handled.”

“You can’t bring them back,” I counter as he texts. “Farley says they have stuff to do. I’ll deal with it. If I have to bust out a door, I can do it.”

Rennie arches a brow at me. “You can if no one has given her anything to prevent it. I’d like the badger to explore his options, anyway. We need several options available to protect you, and I don’t really give a fuck if they’re in a gray area.”

That gets a chorus of agreement, and I sigh, hoping it will not cause a problem so big that the woman ups her campaign to humiliate me the minute she arrives on campus.

After all, even a B-villain can come up with something good once in a while.

The Pretender

Felix

The gathering petered out eventually—thank fuck—and we all plodded to bed without even cleaning up the kitchen.

The moment I awakened this morning, Chess was already hard at work there, tossing remnants of food that he didn’t trust and loading up the dishwasher. This flurry of activity means breakfast will not be anything decent, and though I understand why, I’m still grumpy as I make myself a bowl of cereal and set the coffeemaker to brew. The cheetah is an early riser and very efficient when he’s in this kind of mode, so most of the work was done when I came in. That doesn’t mean he isn’t giving me warning looks about creating yet another mess he’d have to deal with.

Chess has grown leaps and bounds in the past few years in setting boundaries, even with me.

“Damn, baby, you must have been up with the fucking roosters,” my twin says as he pads into the room, scratching his stomach lazily. “This place is almost spotless.”

Chess gives him a narrow-eyed glare as he blows a loose strand of hair out of his eyes. “I was and much like your brother, I’m going to warn you that I won’t be happy if you don’t clean up after yourself after you eat. I have to go to my ‘office’ today and see what kind of bullshit awaits me. I don’t even know if Rockland is back yet, but I have to deal with that shit, anyway.”

Fitz gives a low snarl of irritation, his lip curling up as he heads for the fridge to get his own stuff without a single complaint. “Hopefully, she’s not. I don’t want you alone with her until you have to be. I have no doubt that she’s even slimier and more inappropriate than she was last year, and I’m not supposed to handle her without my Baby Girl.”

“Who has a fucking boatload of shit to do that isn’t that,” Dolly says as she strides out of the hallway to our rooms dressed in casual sweats and a half-tee. “I have to go to the stadium to meet with Coach Z first about team stuff. Coco is going to be there, so she’ll walk with me to the admin building to pick up stupid l’Academie uniform bullshit. From there, Banjo and Bowser are taking those to be inspected and laundered, but they’ll drop me at the Arts building. Rufus is cleaning up his studio from last year, and he’ll come with me to check on mine.”

Squinting at her, I tilt my head. “Did you work this out last night, or have you been texting in the shower again? Because when I left the bedroom, you were barely awake and heading in there, but you seem to have everything settled now.”

Beaming as she comes over to kiss my cheek, my Princess bobs her brows at me playfully. “Wouldn’t you like to know? Just know that I have escorts for everywhere I’m going, and I won’t be left alone to be accosted by some jackass while you guys arrange your back to school professor shit.”

“The only reason we took positions at the school was to stay on campus with you, and now they have us loaded up like pack mules,” Aubrey mutters as he and Ren finally emerge. “I am not happy with the amount of ‘study’ periods they have scheduled in my pristine library. It will be more than an inconvenience, both in keeping our books and references unmolested and keeping students unfried for their gall.”

There’s the old Aubrey peeking out… I haven’t seen him bitch about his duties that bitterly since before Apex was blown up.

“You’ll survive, Flames.” Renard laughs as he passes, leaning in to get his kiss from our girl as he hops on a stool. “We will all live through this incredibly insane schedule, and not only that, but we’re going to expose the corruption. The Society may have thrived underground for a long time, but their crimes are slowly coming into the light.”

I arch a brow at the gargoyle. “Had some positive reinforcement this morning, I assume? It’s not like you to be such a cheerleader, especially before caffeine.”