Page 38 of Eat. Prey. Love.
As if by magic, the chorus of dings fills the room as people’s devices get the notification. It’s a good trick, but again, amateur-hour. He spent plenty of time futzing with his shit to make that moment happen as planned. I’m not impressed, even if he is smirking like he’s won the lottery. Groups of girls twitter amongst themselves as everyone opens the document, but I don’t pay them any mind. So far, it’s three for three on the hot teacher scale with Khans; it’s not like it’s a big surprise.
“Professor Khan, can I just say how excited I am to study the Magic Accords? Ridding the world of that scum was thebestthing the Council ever did.”
Oh, no. How did I miss that?
My old nemesis, Gold, is sitting on the other side of the classroom in a shadowy corner. I didn’t have to see her witchy face once during the break, and I was hoping with the intense arts focus here I’d be able to avoid her and Pink. Silver got shipped toZhuan xing U&M, so she’s off my plate, but these two are back to make my life miserable.
Asani smiles broadly, clicking his remote to reveal the syllabus on the screen as well. “I, too, look forward to that discussion, Miss…?”
“Erikson… Heather Erikson.” She sits up straighter and despite her lack of groupies, I see the girl who tried to have me eaten shining through. “Our parents areverywell acquainted, I believe.”
“Indeed. The Khans use Erikson tech exclusively on Bloodstone Isle. It helps keep our more… feisty students in line without fail.”
She grins wickedly and I have to suppress a shudder. I can only imagine what hellish shit the Eriksons have invented to punish reformatory students on an isle run by fucking psychos assholeswith no oversight. The wolf’s expression turns vicious for a second, then melts into a more normal one as she continues, “I’m certain you’ll be myfavoriteprofessor in this ridiculous school. At least your subject isuseful.”
Gross. I hope this guy moves on or I’m going to heave all over his dumb tiki floor—guaranteed.
Verdis Quo
“I don’t like it.”
My mate snorts as he lazes on top of a bookshelf, his tail flicking back and forth. “Shocker,mon ami.”
Whipping around to glare at him, I blow a smoke ring. The dragon is unsettled because our girl is in a classroom with the twins’ shitty cousin—alone. He wants me to stomp over and force my way in like I did that time with the Nordic aquatic shifter, but I know I can’t do that. We’ve barely arrived, for one, and our connections in this land aren’t as strong as at home. Plus, Dolly needsto pave her own way and letting her stand up for herself from the beginning of our tenure here is a solid plan.
Doesn’t mean I’m not fighting the lizard tooth-and-nail to keep from flipping a table.
“You know ourpetit lapincan handle herself.” Rennie sits up, his expression far away for a moment before he continues. “You may write me down in history/With your bitter, twisted lies,/You may trod me in the very dirt/But still, like dust, I’ll rise.?1”
Lips quirking, I give him an amused look. “Maya Angelou?”
He shrugs, leaning on one hand as he continues lounging on my library furniture in a way I wouldn’t allow anyone else to even dream of. “Mais oui.Not a comparable situation, but the sentiment is universal. Those held down are capable of casting off the bindings of their past, despite the opposition.”
“Youwouldbe the one to practically sing ‘One More Day’ in support of Dolly.” I turn back to my Smackbook, too tickled by my reference to let him ruin it for me. “It’s the ooh-la-la in you, my love.”
“Wearean hour from Paris, Lord Draconis. It’s entirely appropriate.”
The ding of an email catches my attention before I can get annoyed with his refusal to let me have a good brood. Frowning, I scan the contents, tilting my head. “Ren, get down from there and come over here.”
In a blink, he’s rolled off the high case, flipping to the floor with the Giselle of a cat. Gargoyles are the oddest creatures—half lithe cat and half enormous rock monsters depending on which form they’re in—and I’ll never get used to it, even after centuries of time together. “What’s the problem, Flames? You went from growly dragon to scowly librarian fast enough to give me whiplash.”
“My contact from the Smithsonian has been looking over the pictures of all the artifacts and chambers from the schools I sent him. If you remember, I told you all that academics are as single-minded as that world-ending robot you made me watch. Aloysius just emailed about the connection to the prey exhibits Dolly’s raccoon friend suggested we examine.”
Grabbing a chair, my mate drags it over to look at the lengthy email from my walrus colleague. His brows furrow as he scrolls through it, his eyes scanning it quickly enough to make me grin. Renard’s love of books is similar to mine and he speed reads like no one else I’ve ever met, even me. “He seems to believe that the storiespriorto the Treaty that exiled the magic users paint a more integrated society for prey and preds in many parts of the world. They had control of the government and some industries, as well as representation with humans.”
I sigh, thinking about it for a moment. He and I are the only ones here old enough to remember the times before the Treaty, but unfortunately, we’re both unreliable witnesses. I was exiled young and came to this land only to hole up in my hordes and rarely venture out. When Apex opened, I came here and stayed until our gorgeous bunny’s enemies blew it up. Ren grew up in Paris and then the mountains, but his kind are some of the most secretive, solitary shifter groups known to the world. His memories are probably faulty as well.
“Who are we going to get to talk to us about the time before? Everyone with families old enough to have personal records that might have avoided the cover-up is up to their neck in Council shit.” The gargoyle leans back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the table. “And there’s so much shit from those vaults, much of which is entirely useless for this purpose…”
He’s right; we’ve found some incriminating stuff, but a lot of it won’t help us with the Fae problem.
“True. Getting dirt on the Council to remove them from power isgreat, but until we can guarantee snack size’s safety, it’s not worth the paper it’s scribbled on.”
Ren crosses his arms over his chest, his face a mask of frustration. Something is brewing in his head that bothers him, so I wait for him to work through it. Hopefully, it’s not going to send him into another brooding jag like the damn vampire thing did. After a few minutes, he finally sighs heavily.
“We’ll need to put word out to the mythicals groups, and we have to find out what mythical is working or residing here. Whatever they are, they don’t advertise their presence. You know as well as I do that every one of the schools have one or two exiles from the rare species.”
“Damn it,” I grunt. Now I know why he’s so pouty—putting word out through the underground grapevine to dragon clashes, gargoyle clutches, griffin aeries, and all the other reclusive groups could go wrong in so many ways. “You know doing this might draw… the wrong eyes, right?”