Page 67 of Eat. Prey. Love.
Rockland’s face turns white as a ghost, and a feeling of triumph zings through me. Whatever was hidden, she doesn’t want anyone to know.
This is her Achilles’ heel, and I cannotwaitto hear what the fuck she’s been hiding.
“You, Carina Rockland, are not the success you want this poor girl and everyone in your sphere to believe.” Skelly gives her a sharp, fangy grin and she swallows hard. “No, you’re the disappointment of your family, and that’s why you’re languishing at the schools rather than being lauded with praise publicly.”
“That’s a lie!”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “No, it’s not. Your older sister is smarter, more accomplished, and your parents have always doted on her because of it—even as a child. The jealousy your mother engendered by making sure you knew you were second choice and would never measure up made you strive to be noticed, to be recognized, to be loved. But it never happened, no matter what school you attended or degrees and awards you received.”
I wince, knowing what that feels like, but also realizing I’ve never used my trauma as an excuse to abuse others.
“I don’t care what she thinks. She’s a self-centered old bat,”Rockland says, but her voice has a tremor that belies her words. “This session isn’t about my mother, anyways. It’s about your narcissistic, little bitch client.”
“Ah, the real Carina comes out. Yes, our investigators found ample evidence in your past of how you reeled in friends, using them for whatever you could squeeze out of them, and then discarded them while trashing them by every method and in every place you could.” Skelly smirks and shakes his head, picking up a book from her trophy shelf. “Like this book, where you cheaped out on your artist, stole their concept, and used it yourself to launch your first series. As usual, after a small amount of praise, you started leeching off others to get material for the next few books in the series, but pointed the finger publicly at anyone you thought was ‘copying’ your ideas.”
Holy shit. Farley’s outdone himself.
Before Rockland can retort, Skelly tosses the book and picks up another. “And this one, where you did almost none of the workand tried to blackmail the true writer into paying you extortion money. It’s out of print now, but you continue to defame that poor shifter years later.”
One by one, the badger goes through a litany of awful and unethical behavior, tossing the volumes on the ground until there are none left. I had no idea this chick was so prolifically awful to everyone she meets, but the facts the huge badger is spewing are obviously being hidden by some very careful PR campaigning. It’s years of pervasive abuse and shady shit swept under the rug that would certainly destroy her careers if it becomes public knowledge.
“You can’t proveanyof this,” she hisses.
“Au contraire, corpse licker. I can prove much of it and we’ve been compiling all the evidence very slowly to make our case. You’ll give us what we need if we wait, and when you do, I’ll be in the front row to witness you getting exactly what you deserve.”
Rockland squawks, then shakes her head. “You’ll never undo the damage I’ve done to her reputation. She will never be welcomed or invited at the tables of important people. My efforts won’t be in vain.”
I snort, shrugging a little. “I’m not aware of those ‘tables,’ and if they aren’t big enough for me to know about them, I don’t fucking care. Anyone who would exclude me based onyourword is a fool I don’t need to meet.”
My giant bodyguard grins even wider. “Exactly. Plus, once we figure out who they are and what they’ve admitted—they’ll simply join you in the penalty box. Problem solved.”
Rising to my feet, I grab my bag and blow out a deep breath. “The loyalty you believe you have won’t extend past being legally liable, I don’t think. So be prepared to be ass out on that long branch by yourself.”
And that’s all I have to say about that.
Won’t Say I’m in Love
The incident yesterdayput a pall over the plans for the evening, though luckily, it happenedbeforeour plans for Valentine’s Day. Whilema petitealternated between furious and outraged, she was able to vent that frustration playing Smash Preds with Fitz and Chess. She might be as dangerous to controllers as my mate—hers almost died several times during the marathon of fighting challenges in our living room.
Fitz, of course, reveled in her bloodthirsty competitiveness, and I saw the same kinship in Felix’s expression. They were raised to identify targets, then systematically destroy the enemy when they grow tired of playing with their food. Flames and I hunt forsustenance and occasionally revenge, but not for sport. Watching our girl ping pong between the hurt, angry Dolly and the developing predator was interesting for everyone.
But it did not take away the desire to shred that disgusting flesh picker to ribbons while she screamed in agony.
Rockland is a gnat—an insignificant blip on our radar that stubbornly refuses to go away when there are bigger problems we should be focusing on. I believe she is being backed by Society members to keep our family from looking more closely into the sins of their past, but I cannot deny the effectiveness of her campaign of terror. She has corneredma petite lapinby forcing her to attend the ‘counseling sessions,’ then using that time to wield what little power she has to provoke Dolly. If we could get someone to approve ditching the damn things, perhaps this would be easier to manage.
Unfortunately, that does not seem to be possible, so I am focused this morning on erasing that irritating event from her mind. Chester is working on gathering the food and supplies for dinner while I am mapping our space. The others have expressed jealousy over this kink and I thinkma petitewill be so distracted by her role that she will lose all thought of those who have tried to harm her this week. Aubrey and Felix are focused on other supplies, and Fitz was assigned to keep his eyes on her at Pred Games practice and then occupy her afterward so we can get ready for tonight.
Hopefully, he can keep his eyes on the prize and his mouth shut or he’ll ruin the surprise.
Banking off the side of the mountains, I turn back towards the woods on the east side of the campus. The wind is light, but I’m able to glide over the treetops, peering down into the area the others said was fairly unoccupied. Since I didn’t explore this section myself, I’m hoping anything unusual will spike my radar or at the very least, make my amulet pulse with the vibration of magical presence.
“This isn’t the time of year for their shenanigans,” I mutter as I think about our most dangerous foes—the Fae. “They will get more active as we head toward the spring equinox. Likely they are staying out of the spotlight after the lunar new year until it is time for renewal. Their powers will be greater then.”
That would explain why we didn’t hear about missing students between Yule and our trip tol’Academie, and it would also explain the lull in activity since. My knowledge of their cycles is based on old contact, so I’m not sure how closely the Fair folks will be following ancient traditions now. Being trapped outside of the Veil and in hiding for centuries may have forced them to behave in new ways to avoid being caught.
“The people we knew—Iknew—were not this bitter or vengeful. Living the punishment their species was handed has made them petty and vindictive. I only remember beauty and moonlight tinged with rosy-hued glasses, I suppose.”
I still haven’t told the story of how I was exiled and I’m trying to work myself up to that admission slowly.