Page 11 of Eat. Prey. Love.
Aubrey holds his finger up, cutting in before my tiger can answer. “We should probably walk through your schedule and tour thebuildings. This place was definitely set up by artsy idiots who lacked common sense. It took us an inordinate amount of time to find the place we were supposed to be.”
“Chessie? Are you coming with us or staying?”
My cheetah puts down his roller, walking over with a rueful smile. “Give me just a sec to get cleaned up.”
Before I can answer, he speeds off and I blink. “Damn, he’s fast.”
“Only when he’s running,” Fitz crows as he comes up behind me and buries his face in my neck. “But that’s for later, Baby Girl. Kitty sandwiches aren’t appropriate when we have guests in the mansion.”
“For fuck’s sake, Fitz,” Aubrey growls as he rolls his eyes. “Could you at leastattemptto be normal?”
“Mmm mmm… nope.” The tiger makes a face at him and I giggle. “Afraid I am who I am, Red-Hot Reptile. Good thing our girl loves me in original mint condition.”
The dragon pinches the bridge of his nose, muttering about sanity and fireballs going places I know they definitely shouldn’t. I wriggle out of Fitz’s arms, moving to Aubrey with a soft look. “Hey, big guy. You know he’s just playing. And Rennie only wanted to get this place feeling less like a bottle of Pepto. Raina promised the mess will be gone when we get back. Don’t get all curmudgeonly.”
“Bite size, I’ve torched people for less than this shit,” he mutters.
Rennie nods. “That’s true.”
Save me from men with absolutely no training in emotional regulation.
“Well, that’s not what we’re doing today.” I grab his hand and lace our fingers together. “Today, we’re all adults and taking a nice walk around this weird place, then we’ll eat like normies in the cafeteria because our place is full of paint fumes. Got it?”
My gaze narrows as I look at each one of them and they all mumble assent. “Now let’s get out of their way before someone loses their bunny hugging privileges.”
They don’t have to know I’m full of shit on that count—I’d never give those up.
The Fix Is In
The tour plangrants me another small amount of reprieve from discussing what I scented on the way onto the campus. I know I need to share the secrets of my past, but the way gargoyles have always been raised is to protect the knowledge of our people and those we give protection to. Even after my world crumbled and I was exiled, I’ve never broken the oaths of my clutch. Telling my story and the mythos behind it will certainly edge that line, if not outright cross it. My gut churns when I think about; that’s why I’ve never even been able to share this tale with Flames.
Why I still feel such loyalty to those who cast me aside for a youthful mistake, Idon’t know.
“Rennie… Yoo-hoo…” Dolly’s hand waves in front of my face as she gestures at the door. “Chessie’s ready. It’s time for you guys to show me this crazy maze.”
I chuckle, pushing my morose thoughts away for a moment. “The outside isn’t labyrinthian, but the interior of the buildings is a challenge. That’s what made it difficult for Felix and I.”
“We should start with the Dupreé,” the tiger says as he steers our group around the base of the lovely tower connected to the library. “That’s where you can pick up your info, Princess. Unlike Cappie or Apex,Academieis definitely rooted in the past. Their shit is printed.”
Her eyes narrow as she looks at him suspiciously. “For everyone or just me again?”
“What do you mean ‘just for you again?” When did that happen?” My mate stops our progress towards the looming admin building as he faces our girl.
Dolly rolls her eyes and sighs heavily. “At Apex. They gave me all paper shit at first and I thought it was weird, but elite colleges can be that way, so I let it go. I didn’t find out until the hyenas chased me all over Honeywell that I’d been bamboozled. You can thank the clinic prey gals for setting me straight before I got cornered again.”
She never told us that.
“Ma petite, why didn’t you mention this before?” I ask softly. It angers me to think people were handicapping her from the minute she stepped on campus, but I’m also proud she got around it.
“Because all the stupid little shit the idiots there did day-to-day wasn’t as important as dead kids and secret ceremonies and staying alive.” She shrugs, giving me a stubborn look. “I handled most of it until we all got closer; I’m a big bunny.”
Aubrey raises her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles. “You are,lunchable, but we would have enjoyed teaching the perpetrator a lesson.”
“Word, Igneous Iguana. It would have been my pleasure to peel strips off their ass.” Fitz’s eyes darken with maniacal glee as he flexes claw tips on his fingers.
Felix rolls his eyes, but I can see the fury behind his mask of indifference. “They’re right, but we’re getting off track with the tour. Plus, it’s done and most of the people responsible have been killed, kidnapped, or reassigned with the shit that went down in the past year and half.”
“C’est vrai,?1” I agree. Looking up at the huge Dupreé building, I gesture at the size. “We need to get this show on the road or we’ll be wandering through the place far past dinner time,mes amies.”