Page 28 of Eat. Prey. Love.
He beams, making flirty eyes at me. “Anything for you, Chessie. Plus, I don’t want anyone seeing our girl in places they shouldn’t without losing their eyeballs.”
“Agreed,” the dragon snarls and the bunny in question hops off the counter to walk over and melt against him. “Snack size, that’s cheating.”
He doesn’t let her go, though. I grin to myself and make notes about the proposed app, then look up at Felix. “What else?”
“We need to find out about the stony man’s feeling as we drove in,” Fitz says. “He said something about treason and we didn’t push him on it.”
The gargoyle’s tail whips out immediately and whips back and forth like an angry cat. “We don’t need to find out what they are—Iknowwhat they are, just notwhythey are here. Or who is allowing them to stay in the area.”
Our girl pulls out of the dragon’s arms, heading over to the agitated emo boy and looks up at him. “Rennie. Don’t pout and be angry with us. It’s clear this triggers you and if we don’t know why, we can’t help.”
His voice is soft as he looks into her eyes. “Finding out the Fae are back is bad enough. But… I wasn’t ready to come to our new home and scent vampires. They were supposed to be wiped out. Totally gone and dusted.”
I’m sorry, what?
No one speaks for a moment and finally, the shock wears off so I can speak. “Vampires?”
“No way, rock man. They’re not real, dude.” Fitz crosses him arms over his chest and gives him a skeptical expression.
“Not true,” Aubrey says quietly. “Again, we are far older than you, and we did not recieve the biased education given to shifters after the Treaty.”
“Just fucking awesome,” Dolly mutters as she tip her head back and looks at the ceiling in supplication. “How the hell did I piss off some supposedly extinct or non-existent supernaturalthistime?”
Renard shakes his head. “I don’t know that they’re here for you, but theyaredangerous, unpredictable, and illegal to create or give refuge to.”
The Raj scratches his chin, looking thoughtful. “Perhaps they were never extinct, much like the Fae were never fully contained in Faerie. Maybe they, too, went underground until the right moment dropped in their laps.”
“Which means they’re likely in cahoots with the winged rebels,” Aubrey grumbles. “The two species make a very formidable team, especially if they’re true allies, not just… convenient ones.”
My angel stomps her foot looking at the ancient shifters with a pissed off expression. “Anything else you two want to share about things that go bump in the night and might pop up out of nowhere?”
They look at one another and shrug. Finally, Aubrey sighs as he shifts uncomfortably. “Since two beings we never expected to see again have appeared, I suppose it puts nearly anything on the table. There could be all manner of supernaturals thought to be gone that were hiding with the sparkly magic users. It’s too numerous to list.”
She lets out a shriek of fury, and I grin as her claws, ears, and tail pop free. “This is suchbullshit. How am I supposed to get an education or you know, fuck my goddamn boyfriends, when the entire cast ofSupernaturalis after me?”
“Baby Girl…” Fitz’s grin doesn’t make her any less pissy, but she lets him grab her and wrap his arms around her. “It doesn’t matter if we’re trapped in a fucked upScooby-Dooor even some fantasy show the Pouty Poet would love. We’ll help protect you and we’lldefinitelyfuck the shit out of you regardless.”
“Seconded,” the dragon rumbles as he shrugs. “I’m not afraid of creatures that can be killed with a pointy stick.”
Ren rolls his eyes at his mate, his tail flicking again. “Flames, youknowthat’s not how you kill them if you want them tostaydead.”
“Don’t be pedantic, Rennie,I?—”
“Gentleman.” Felix rises, giving us all a ‘I’m in charge’ look as as he runs his hand through his hair. “Squabbling and coddling doesn’t fix the underlying issue. This vampire bullshit isanotherthing on our plate until we know differently, so Princess is right to be frustrated. We have too many things on our theoretical boards and some of it needs to go.”
“Exactly,” Dolly says as she looks up from Fitz’s neck. “Lucille aced out Bruno, which helps, but now he’s been replaced by stupid bloodsuckers. I can’t win for losing.”
I hate to admit it, but she’s right.
I Don’t Trust Anyone Anymore
This isthe first morning of classes and I’m freaking out a little. I’ve got theAcademieuniform on exactly as pictured in the handbook and my hair is behaving, but the butterflies in my stomach as I finish putting on the dusting of makeup won’t quit.
I don’t have the twins’ cousin today, but I’m still worried since he was seen with other professors in Paris.
“You’re fine, Dolly,” I say as I stare in the mirror. “Last semester helped you get in touch with the bunny and you’re working on the blue shit. Most of the ex-idiots aren’t around, so now it’s just new bullshit. You can handle that.”
Myreflection is only mouthing back the words I’m saying, so I take a deep breath and center myself. It’s been hard to unlearn the shit Lucille drilled into me from a young age about my worthlessness. I have moments when I’m super confident and I feel like I can take on the entire world. Other times, I fall back into old habits and doubt myself, especially when I have to deal with new authority figures and possibly judgmental peers.