Page 13 of Eat. Prey. Love.
“Duh,” Fitz says as he gives us all a look like his twin is the crazy one. “No one touches our girl but us,leastof all, our cockfacedfather. Now, tell me, Baby Girl… which place are we going first? I’m tired of standing here like bait while shit pisses us off.”
“We’re in this damn place. Let’s find out where the dead bird walking has her office so we know, then we’ll go to Alexandré. Shirdal will be last, then we head back here for food.”
Chess nods, jerking his head towards the bank of elevators. “The guide should be over there. I need to know where her stupid office is, too, so I second my Angel’s plan.”
“Coming, Felix?” I call as we turn to walk away.
The gold in his eyes flashes and he nods, but I know he’s more beast than man at the moment.
“Chess, if she asks you one intrusive question this year, I want to know immediately.” Felix looks at our girl, pausing before he adds, “And you need to record things. I’m sure Farley will agree. Nothing about your schedule is a coincidence—you have one of our cousins, a Council in-law, and several Council relative exiles as professors. Someone made sure you also didn’t have classes with us. The fix is in, Princess, and we need to be on our toes from second one.”
Now who’s keeping secrets? Felix Khan knows something he’s not saying and I want to know what it is.
The Set Up
Theguys wereright about this building; it’s not intuitively designed at all. Beautiful, maybe, but finding Rockland’s office in the winding maze isn’t easy, even with the map. None of us are pleased to find that it’s on an underground floor, tucked in a corner where no one can hear you scream.
Ominous at best and frighteningly specific at worst.
“We might be overreacting,” Chess says tentatively. “This might be the space they had or since she’s a carrion-eater, the admin may have internal bias, so they stuck her in a hole. That’s definitelypossible.”
I frown, looking at the door and hallway leading to it. I’m not looking forward to navigating this on my own; it reminds me of the places I ran through when the Heathers set those dingoes on me, but there’s no escaping into the nurses’ office. “I’m not coming here without someone escorting me. You won’t have to coax me.”
Felix gives me a smile that promises rewards. “Good girl, Princess. I think we’re all in agreement about that assessment.”
“Fuck that, I’ll sit outside the door on the floor. This shit is dangerous,” Fitz says as he glares at the dim lights and heavy décor. “It might look fancy, but it’s like the haunted house level in a MMORPG.”
“Did you pin the location,ma petite?” Renard asks. When I nod, he takes my elbow. “Then let’s get the hell out of here. Flames and I are less than excited about being trapped in such an enclosed space, especially when it’s under ground.”
“Speak for yourself,” Aubrey rumbles. “Ilikecaves and hideaways. But this gives my dragon a weird feeling. He’s not sure why, but he doesn’t trust this space.”
They don’t have to ask me again. Rennie and I head down the hall to the elevator, waiting for the others before we all pack in. It’s old timey, but big enough to fit—barely. Creaking and squeaking noises make my anxiety spike as we ascend and I wonder how often they do maintenance on it. I’d hate to get trapped here, especially if someone is after me. My eyes rove around the cramped interior, then up to the exposed shaft and I’m surprised to find myself calculating an escape route without meaning to.
Apparently, my bunny is none too fond of this fucking building, either.
In comparison,the Alexandré is laid out like a more typical campus building. It has an interior map on the wall, lettingknow where the floors and sections are in bold fonts. Normal humanities classes are on the top floor, the arts classes are on the floor below, business below that, math and science next, and on the ground floor, there’s a plethora of lecture halls. The underground levels are all labs for various classes from languages to sciences. It feelsmuchsafer than the Dupreé Compound and I breathe a sigh of relief.
I’m a bad ass bunny, but I’m not stupid.
When people truly want to hurt you, they’ll find a way, whether it’s straightforward or by subterfuge. Someone could pop in and use magic or simply catch me off-guard and spray me in the face with fucked up drug; just because I can defend myself doesn’t mean I can’t be incapacitated. Swallowing hard, I shake off the bad thoughts as I find the exact locations for my Shifter and Theater History classes. The former is in the middle of a hallway—not a fan of that—and the other is near a fire staircase. I can get away from there if I need to, but the first one requires a lot of focus to make sure I don’t get pincer’d.
“Baby Girl, your brow is so furrowed you look like you’re going to get a crease,” Fitz murmurs as he comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. His chin rests on my shoulder as he continues, “Why so glum, chum?”
“I don’t like being in the middle. It’s strategically shitty and I’ll have to make certain I’m paying attention every time I come in or out. Plus, it’s your damn cousin’s class. Think that’s a coincidence?”
The low snarl behind us tells me Felixdoes notthink so. His tone is dark as he asks, “Do you want us to attempt to pull you from it?”
“No,” I reply as I lean my cheek against his twin’s. “That will only signal weakness to himandyour father. They need to realize I’m not afraid of them. Sending spies to fuck with me will only result in finding out they’re this much closer to being kicked out of that hellhole when we get to that portion of our new list.”
Aubrey grins at me, looking pleased as hell. “Exactly, bite size. We don’t back down—ever. It will send the message to everyone coming for you that we’re serious.”
Fitz snorts. “I’malwaysserious about carnage and anyone who thinks differently is delulu as fuck.”
“Yes, we know you’re crazy, love,” Chess chuckles. “But let’s save the rage for later? I’m getting hungry and we need to see these rooms, then the French version of the Shird.”
His logic is flawless, so we get in the more modern elevator to go to the top floor. The bank has three cars and is on the end of the building closer to Dupreé. When we exit, I note the bulletin boards advertising various paid research projects, side hustles, and events coming up this spring. The public juries flyer makes my eyes widen—the arts classes don’t have exams here. They must have year long projects that get presented at the end of the year for your final grade.
Motherfucker, I’m five months behind and so are my friends.