Page 30 of Eat. Prey. Love.
Pushing at his shoulder playfully, I snort. “Itbetter not be me ‘cause I have neither the timenorthe cleanliness to allow that shit. I’m a sweaty mess from dance class.”
He shrugs as he reads the note to Chessie, then opens the fridge. “As if I’d give a shit. But no, I have to get back before some lazy ass professor sends another full class of freshman to create all their log-ins and emails.”
Frowning as I take another big bite of the stupid greens and chicken concoction, I wave my fork at him. “That’s dumb. Why the fuck didn’t the idiots do that before they got here?”
He gives me a wry look, then taps his nose as he pulls out a meaty charcuterie with his name on a note as well. “The oft asked and utterly unanswerable question, lunchable. I like to believe it’s the entitlement of the students coming to private universities. They believe everything will be done for them and I have no interest in propagating that thought, even if it would make my life easier to have Betsy do it for the little shits.”
I grin as he sits on the other side of me, tearing into the snack like he hasn’t eaten in weeks. “You know, you’re very well mannered most of the time, but when you’re hungry, you’re a straight up savage.”
The dragon pauses his inhaling of the food to smirk at me. “I thought you didn’t have time for that.”
Swatting his arm as I flush, I stuff more of my vegetable-legume torture into my mouth before I say something that causes me to be late for class. He chuckles into his food, smugness wafting from his form like a perfume. We eat in silence for a few moments, then my librarian nudges me with his shoulder.
“Are your classes going well so far? Rennie is quite concerned about the professors, especially because of the…” Aubrey makes a face, using his fingers as fangs and I giggle.
“I haven’t seen any vampires or even anyone as emo as him, so we’re probably safe on that front.” I sigh and tilt my head,thinking about what I’ve done so far with a more critical bent. “I don’t know what side, if any, Bissonette is on. She’s a holy terror, but that may simply be species stuff.”
“Mmm. Good to know. We can have Fitz dig some more on her. Go on,” he says as he bites into a big sausage.
Resisting the urge to snigger, I continue. “Alexandré is under suspicion because of Council ties. She was tough, but not overtly biased. It could be an act; it could be nothing. Fabreauxdoes notlike me, but she seems to dislike everyone who is a transfer or not French. Hard to tell there.”
Aubrey rumbles, his expression pleased as he leans in and squeezes me to his side. “A fair assessment, snack size. You’re getting better at analyzing motives before you assign a designation.”
“Uh-huh. What you really mean is ‘that was very mature for your age, Dolly.’ I’m not dim, buddy.”
Laughing as he wipes his mouth with his free hand, my dragon nods. “I see your tongue is sharp today as well.” I give him a wry expression and he shrugs. “Of course I meant you’re maturing. It’s not something to feel bad about. We all grow and change, and with that, maturity makes us see things differently than we did in the past. You are healing from a traumatic childhood and growing up so it’s like a one-two punch.”
“Whatever, old man,” I snark as he looks aghast. “Just kiss me before I have to head out into the ugly world of intrigue and people who want me dead. I need that armor to keep me sane.”
And I do, because I have no idea what I’m coming up against until Pred Games practice.
Adagio in G Minor
While beingin one of my many homelands is quite pleasant, I’m struggling not to take to the skies to hunt down the bloodsuckers lurking somewhere on the campus. They are not students—the Council would never allow it—that doesn’t change the fact that anyone old enough to remember their kind has to know they are here. When I was a child, they were prevalent as no one restricted their access to the humans and their numbers grew exponentially in some areas of the world. Vampires kept to themselves other than feeding and their businesses—all geared toward the darker aspects of thepsyche.
Supes may run sex clubs, gambling halls, and have their own mercenary groups, but it used to be the shadows where the fanged assholes thrived.
I’m not opposed to any of those things on principle; they all have their uses. But vampires see everyone as a potential meal, a recruit, or a target. They have a black and white view of the world and the powers to back up their claims. Since they disappeared with the Fae, information about them has disappeared from curriculum and family teachings. That means every student and staff member here is in danger with no knowledge of how to protect themselves.
“Such short-sighted morons in our leadership,” I sigh as I rifle through the texts in the oldest part of my mate’s library. “Hiding the past as if it will never come back to haunt them.”
“Who are you talking to?”
My frown turns to a smile as the grumpy dragon returns from his lunch break. Jinx is following him and when he gets closer, I scent our girl on him. “Who wereyoutalking to is the better question,mon amour.”
He gives me a rakish grin, running his hand through the shaggy locks he seems to be growing out like everyone else. I’ve never seen my dragon with hair this unkempt in our many years together, but it looks good. “Snack size dropped in for lunch just as I went up to forage for a bite. She gave me a run-down of her professors so far.”
“Mmm,” I reply as I flick through another folder full of documents. “Was it as bad as we feared?”
The heat of his body hits me as he joins me at the table. Aubrey runs warm because of his fire, so we all adapt to the lower temperatures needed to keep every room from being an oven. It’s not a trial since many shifters run hot anyway, but he’s on another level. Turning to face him, I wait for the information patiently as he compiles it in his mind.
“She said most of them ranged from downright rude to standoff-ish. There were two more sessions left on her day, but the last one is with Zhenga. They’ve patched up their differences since the sex ed bullshit, so that should be fine.” The dragon frowns, grabbing my hand to pause my progress. “What’s that map? Something about it looks different than the one we have.”
I roll my eyes at him. “Other than the fact that it’s like a hundred years old?”
“Yes, smart mouth,” he replies as he squeezes my wrist. “Topography… I caught it out of the corner of my eye as you were flipping through. I’m not sure, but pull the damn thing out and let’s look.”
Despite needing glasses when he’s not in dragon form, Aubrey’s eye for detail is immaculate—when he gives a shit.