Page 103 of Eat. Prey. Love.
“Farley will handle this just like he is the corpse cruncher,” Fitz assures me. “He’ll figure out how to get you out of those shitty sessions, too.”
“Right now, I’d settle for one day—just one—without someone trying to take a chunk out of me,” I say, throwing my hands up in exasperation. “It shouldn’t be too much to ask.”
“Luck doesn’t seem to be on our side with that,cherie,” Rennie snorts, sharing a look with the others that tells me they’re all too aware of our uphill battle.
We sink into the worn couches nestled in a secluded corner of the library, the tension easing from our shoulders as we fall into the familiar rhythm of camaraderie.
Peace is a fleeting illusion, unfortunately.
The ping of Chess’ phone cuts through the quiet, a harbinger of more chaos. Then another ping, and another, until it’s a symphony of electronic chirps. We exchange glances, each one heavy with unspoken dread.
“Shit,” Chess mutters, his face a mask of grim resignation as he scans the message. I lean over, catching sight of the words on the screen, and my stomach drops.
“Twenty preds are missing?” I echo, my voice barely above a whisper. “They didn’t go home, didn’t come back...”
“Looks like the Fae are back,” Felix says, his eyes darkening with anger.
“Damn it,” I hiss, feeling the weight of the news settle over us like a shroud. “We can’t catch a break.”
Aubrey shakes his head as he reads the full email, then looks at our family. “Farley will have to deal with Midori. We have bigger fish to fry.”
Anger floods my veins again and I stare into the distance, my mind racing as I think about what I’m going to do when I get my hands on these dickwaffles.
It’s going to make Fitz’s body part collection look sane—that I’m certain of.
This Is War
I crouch low,my muscles coiling beneath my skin—every fiber alive with the thrill of the hunt. Today’s prey isn’t one that requires my tiger’s strength or ferocity; no, I’m hunting with a different set of claws. The click-clack of keys under my fingers is as satisfying as the crunch of bones, especially knowing the chaos it wreaks in the digital world.
I’m about to fuck up some dicklickers’ worlds and it’s almost as good as an orgasm or killing—almost.
“Got ‘em,” I mutter, the grin on my face feral as Renard watches over my shoulder. The satisfaction of deleting Asani, Midori, and Rockland’s semester work from the system courses through me like adrenaline. No backups, no traces, just a void where all their efforts used to be. It’s a beautiful kind of destruction—silent but devastating.
“Parfait,” Renard murmurs, his own devious streak lighting up his eyes. “They’ll be redoing projects until next Christmas. This is a beautiful kind of chaos, my feline friend.”
“They’re about to have the fucking days they deserve,” I growl, the thought of them upsetting Dolly turning my blood hot with anger. No one, absolutely no one, gets away with harming our mate. If my twin wasn’t so level-headed, heads would roll—literally.
I’d love to display a mounted version of that dead body diner with her new rainbow rat’s nest above the fireplace in here; the very thought makes my tiger want to preen.
“What’s next on the agenda?” Renard asks, rubbing his hands together gleefully as we shift focus. “I am enjoying your spin on my usual mischief. I don’t get to have a partner when I make trouble most of the time.”
“Security profiles.” I chuckle darkly as I upload corrupted bio data, replacing the legitimate pictures and confirmation scans with fake info, then scrambling all of their access codes. “Imagine their fury when they’re locked out of everything from email to door locks. They’ll flip their lids when they can’t get back onto campus after leaving. It’s enough to force stupid moves and bad choices.”
“Technological poetry, Fitzgerald. I approve.”
I grin, winking at the gargoyle. “Now, we move to phase two of our plans. Are you ready for more physical-type shenanigans?”
He nods as I close my laptop and grab my phone. “Absolument,mon ami. I am eager to get even with the people who made our mate feel so attacked and betrayed.”
Together, we slip out the back door of the library, our steps silent as we head towards the tunnel leading to the staff dorms. No one is around, and when we come out, it’s a relief to see the area just as empty. At Cappie and Apex, we all paid a lot more attention to movements of the rest of the professors, but here we are treated with a distinct disdain that means we avoid interacting with most of them. Zhenga and the Captain’s crew are the only ones we actually speak with because we know we can trust them.
Here, too much is hidden under a veil of snobbery and French speaking fuckwits.
Renard glances around the village, frowning. “It’s weird they allowed us to come here and assigned so little student interaction,non?”
I snort, shaking my head. “Not at all. Whether they allowed it because of our girl and the forces conspiring to use her or because of our names, it’s been obvious since we arrived that they think we’re all mouth-breathers, Ren. You’re French and they don’t even interact with you, man.”
He pauses to consider my words, then sigh. “Oui. You nailed it perfectly, Fitzgerald. I have felt their smugness as well, but I thought it was because I have not been back to my homelands for a long time. I was wrong; they’re purposefully treating us like unwanted house guests.”