Page 50 of Prey It By Ear

I’m not ready, but I want it done.

The guys who weren’t with me need to know just how deranged the woman in the admin office was, even with Chessie present. I take a breath, and I start at the beginning. That’s the hair, because somehow, that’s how I knew she was going to go nuclear.

“It’s like she found my nightmares and then recreated them on purpose,” I say. “She bleached it—like, not ‘gently highlighting your summer’ kind of bleach, but strip-mine-the-earth levels of bleach. It was glowing, man. And then, because that wasn’t enough, she rainbowed it like she dumped a pack of highlighters in a toilet and used it as a dye mask. That doesn’t sound bad, but in a place like this? It’s going to draw attention, and it’s going to ignite some very shitty behavior.”

Fitz snorts, unable to help himself, but the look on his face says he is ready to shave the woman’s head via ninja strike if I ask. Chess rubs my back in tiny circles, his hand never leaving my skin as he nods in agreement. I know they’re all trying to understand, but no matter how much they want to, men can’t grasp the way women work to destroy each other in ways that aren’t claws and fisticuffs.

Rockland has ensured that every immature jackass snot in this place—staff or student—has ammunition to target me with before the first day. It’s a coordinated attack, and an insult rolled into one.

“She was even dressed like me in uniform,” I add, staring at my hands so I don’t have to see the disgust on anyone’s face. “But it wasn’t… It looked like one of those costume store uniforms, but made for someone who gets off on seeing girls who look like they’re in the eighth grade. Everything about it was so over the top, like she’s not even bothering to hide the fact that she’s obsessed.”

Felix mutters, “The bitch is sick as hell and cracked in the head.” His voice is a string of piano wire, pulled tight and sharp as he continues. “I don’t know if this is more dangerous, or if it will finally show the admin here that they need to remove her.”

I shrug my shoulders in response. “She spotted us, and you could see every tiny, pretend bit of professionalism she fakes just… fall off. The door was yanked so hard that it almost broke. Then she started screaming at me that I ruined her life. Not like, ‘I hate you’ but that I am personally destroying her. She called me a thief, a slut, a freak show, and she said she was going to get me thrown out of school.”

None of which is new, but it was loud and very unprompted by an incident this time, which is important.

“She called you a slut?” Aubrey says, and his voice is thick with disbelief and fury. “How is this woman not unemployed? You have fated mates; she knows that. Who exactly is she thinking you’re sleeping with besides us?”

“Not the point, Flames,” Rennie says softly as he gives me a worried frown. “She’s not right in the head, so reality isn’t what she’s working from.”

“Yeah,” I say, feeling the blood drain from my cheeks. “She said—exact words—‘little slut’. It was as if she was proud to say it, and then she got right up in my face. The woman spat at me, missed my face, and then said I was making her the laughingstock of the university.”

“Did she touch you?” Felix asks, and it’s the way he asks it that makes me want to turn and hug him. He’s pissed as fuck and keeping his cool so I don’t get even more upset than I already am.

“Not really. She poked, but Chessie blocked it. Like I said, the spit hit my arm, but that’s all.”

The silence is so intense I think the entire room might fracture under it as Fitz grips my legs hard.

“I’m sorry… what did you just say?” Fitz asks, very, very quietly. “Say it again, Baby Girl.”

Uh-oh.

“She tried to poke me, but Chessie blocked it, and her spit only hit my sleeve,” I repeat carefully. “The actual hero is my knight for stepping in between us and having a handkerchief to wipe that shit off. He really showed his spots, baby.”

Fitz stands up so fast he almost knocks over the coffee table, pacing in circles as he runs his hands through his hair. “I’ll gut her. I’ll hang her from the fucking admin building. I’ll⁠—”

“Sit down,” Felix says, but his own voice is rough and guttural. “You know we can’t do that yet. Tell us the rest, Princess. We need it all, so we can work through it.”

I nod, swallowing against the thickness in my throat. “After that, she told me she was going to make sure I never play another match. She said she would have me banned from every school, from every Pred Games, and that everyone would see me as a talentless thief.”

“That woman is gone so far off the rails that she can’t come back,” Renard says, not moving an inch, but his hands are fists on his thighs and the stone on his arms is pushing through his skin.

“I’ve seen a lot of crazy shit at these schools, but this is above and beyond. She’s fixated on our mate, and it’s going to get worse,” Chess adds as he looks at the Raj. “I know we can’t kill her just yet, but we can’t let her be alone with Dolly. She’s dangerously unhinged.”

Taking a deep breath, I look at them, each face a map of fury and protectiveness. “I’m worried I’ll lose control of the magic like with Abel if she keeps doing this,” I say in a voice so small it doesn’t sound like me. “I know she wants to push me until I break and do something they can expel me for. The real problem is that I have powers I am teaching myself to use and control, and I don’t have anyone else around who knows how to help. When my rabbit gets angry, the magic is following, and it’s… I’m doing my best, is all, but I might fail if she’s like this every day.”

“She will not touch you again,” Fitz says, pacing like a caged animal. “If she even comes close⁠—”

“Let’s be clear,” Felix interrupts, his gaze flinty and cold. “She physically attacked you, tried to provoke you, and is openly threatening your future here. Is that right?”

Chess nods. “It will not stop; she’s on a crusade now. You saw how she was last year, but this is truly mental illness. She won’t care if she gets fired or disciplined.”

Aubrey’s eyes change in the light, his dragon close to the surface. “Is there any way to document this? Any witnesses?”

“Maybe security footage?” I suggest and then wrinkle my nose. “But probably not—she’s good at making sure she looks professional to anyone else.”

“We’ll check, but we won’t depend on it, especially if you’re worried about revealing magic,” Felix says. “Right now, our priority has to be helping you keep that under wraps when it can’t be blamed on the Fae. If she goes after you again, I want witnesses so we have a file big enough to bury her.”