Page 19 of Eat. Prey. Love. (Apex Academy Capers #5)

Coach Z really put us through the paces at the practice today. By the time we finished, I was soaked in sweat and cursing under my breath. We spent most of the time working on endurance and cardio—something that I’ll have to keep in mind since it follows my Tap Practicum two days a week. Professor O’ Shea is energetic as fuck and he kept the steam rolling through the entire two hour block with very small breaks for water.

I feel like a limp noodle and I’m not in such bad shape that I should be panting .

“Alright, gather up!” Zhenga yells. She’s eying the competitors who are much worse off than me with thinly veiled disgust. “You people, with very few exceptions, are the most poorly trained team I’ve ever worked with. The previous trainers should be drawn and quartered—it’s no wonder the school withdrew before the finals last year.”

“Bitch,” a girl in the back mutters and my head whips around. The girl is doubled over, her hands on her thighs as she struggles to stay upright. I don’t know what her major is here, but she’s got a long road to hoe if she wants to stay out of the hospital.

The lioness smirks, waiting for any other commentary before she continues. “You’re right; I am a bitch. But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong. I grew up in these games from being part of the Leonidas family as a child to competing in secondary school to competing in the male professional Games as an adult. None of you would survive my childhood coaching, much less the actual players in school. You’re going to get hurt, but worse, you’ll embarrass your families. We all know that’s a much worse sin than ending up on crutches.”

There’s a lot of mumbled whispers and I wonder why the hell these people are even here if they don’t want to be the best. It wouldn’t have flown at Apex—not even for something as small as a newspaper position and Cappie was just as bad. L’Academie ’s focus is so heavily on the arts that it seems like the students are completely indifferent to everything else in the world.

Would have been nice, but I wouldn’t trade all the bad shit at Apex for my guys or my friends.

“Coach, what do we need to do before Wednesday?” I ask, hoping to cut this pity party off so I can trudge home and die in my own bed.

Zhenga grins toothily. “For those of you lacking, I’d suggest running the campus perimeter in the morning and once again at night for the next week. I have eyes everywhere, so I’ll know who is taking me seriously.”

This time, I join the groans. My schedule is packed and I already run with Felix in the morning, but I’ll have to choose someone else for the evenings. I can’t deal with his sporty pep twice in a day, that much I’m absolutely certain about. The circuit of the campus takes about thirty minutes at a good clip, I think, and I’m dreading the time he’s going to make me set our alarm for.

“Now get your shit together and go carbo load. You need it, but don’t skimp on the protein,” she says as she turns her back to us.

I grab my bag quickly, hurrying to catch up to the woman I’m trying to make a decent relationship with. “You could have eased them into this, you know,” I mumble.

“Dolly, you and I both know these shifters are going to get smashed in their first matches if they don’t get their shit together. They don’t have secret weapons like you.”

My face flushes and I shrug. “Maybe not, but no one has ever taken the time to actually train them. This place is clearly only interested in the arts and I have no idea how you even have enough students for a team.”

“Never underestimate the desire to be good at something , rather than nothing ,” Z chuckles as she stops mid-way to the locker rooms. “Why are you following me? Don’t you have five men who are probably wearing a hole in your carpet?”

I snort, shaking my head. “Pretty sure Fitz is hanging about somewhere. I can feel him.”

Her eyes widen and she grips my arm. “Holy shit, you did it. You really mated with the crazy motherfucker.”

“Shhhhh!” I chastise as I look around to see if anyone is close by. “ We can’t have that getting back to the wrong ears yet. But… yes.”

Her smile is rueful as she studies me. “You will with Felix, too. And the rest.”

“Duh.” I roll my eyes. That’s the dumbest statement I’ve heard all day and my classes have been full of weird shit. “But when we’re ready. Fitzy and I were.”

“Makes sense. He was obsessed with you first.” Coach runs her hand over her hair, looking around with a wistful sigh. “Congrats, though. But I doubt that’s why you’re haunting me, Drew, so spit it out.”

“My best friend Cori… you know, the polar bear?” I lick my lips, feeling nervous despite the fact that I don’t think she’ll say no. “She’s having a hard time. And she’s a fucking amazing designer who could probably integrate this into her end of year project, but um… I think she should design the uniforms.”

There’s a long pause and I meet her gaze, hoping my expression conveys how much this means to me. “She’s a Bouvier, right?”

I nod. “Not happily connected, but yes.”

“Hmmm.” Z says as she scratches her chin. “That could work. An exiled Leonidas, running a re-vamped team with the exiled Drew heir, and the exiled Bouvier designing. It’s like a ‘fuck you’ tour, huh?”

“It sure as fuck is.” My smile is getting bigger and I almost remind her that having her design the boys uniforms since they’re coached by the exiled Khans is a good plan, too. I need to make sure Cori can handle that before I dump thirty people on her.

“And the twins are exiled, too,” Zhenga says. Her eyes dance as she grabs my hand. “You realize with this I can bug the dance idiots to put together cheerleaders. A full-on performance at half times… it would need a choreographer, a designer for effects… This is my way in. ”

“Way in to what?” I frown as she gets more excited, worrying that perhaps I’ve started something bigger than I intended. “What are you scheming about?”

“Dolly, I’m trying to help you and those malcontents. We need a way to get the staff to see me as one of them, not one of you. With this idea, I can appeal to their egos. They’ll jump at the chance to be on the world stage with the league, especially if I hint it could get them a meeting with my asshole father.”

Ohhhh. She wants to set a trap.

“Felix wants you to help keep an eye on his cousin, doesn’t he?” I guess. Her smirk is answer enough, and I sigh. “He’s really worried about this dude. Is he overreacting?”

Zhenga lets go of me, jerking her head toward the locker room. “Walk with me again. I don’t want anyone overhearing.”

Nodding, I walk alongside her, dying to know what she’s so worried about. “Okay, spill.”

“I can’t spill all of it. It’s not my story to tell and he never told me directly. This is all gossip, mind you. But…” Coach Z pauses for a moment before finishing, “…rumor has it that Asani was part of his exile. When the prey girl he loved chose the Raj’s deal, Asani was who she was given to. No one’s heard from her since.”

I can’t mask the look of horror on my face. “He killed her? I mean, I know that place is vicious and I know they’re all terrible. But he took her just to off her? Why the fuck even bother?”

“I don’t know, Dolly. This may not be the actual sequence of events, either. There was a lot of gossip when the Raj sent those boys packing to Apex. Felix and I were never close enough, nor was he sober enough, to ever discuss it.”

My chest aches when I think of how betrayed he must have felt—by damn near everyone around him—and how sad he must have been when they got to Apex. Felix feels things just a strongly as his twin, but he’s so much more reserved. I can’ t help but wonder if part of that comes from this awful piece of his past.

“Thank you for being honest with me. I won’t push him about it, but I hope he shares with me someday. I get why he’s having such an episode about Asani now, too.”

And I do… he’s terrified that Asani will hurt me.

“You know, I didn’t think anyone could wrangle that group of grumpy ass misanthropes. I pretended I could deal to win Felix over, but deep down, I knew. I’m glad they have you; they’re actually happy now.” Her lips quirk as she adds, “But no less grumpy.”

I chuckle, winking as we walk up to the door. “I don’t think anything can fix that. They’re determined to make the world think they’re all going to tear them to pieces if they so much as speak to any of them. It’s frustrating as hell.”

“Go home, Dolly. I’ll get cleaned up here and make a visit to the theater dorm to talk to your friend. I want to get this shit moving quickly.”

“See you Wednesday, Coach.” Saluting the lioness, I turn on my heel only to run into the girl who was damn near dying on the field. She’s glaring at me like I offended her ancestors and I blink slowly.

“What were you discussing with her?” the girl demands as she puts her hands on her hips.

Uh, who the fuck are you to interrogate me?

I don’t say that, though, because it’s my first day and I’d like to have less enemies than I had at my previous two universities. “Nothing. Just team stuff.”

“If you think you’re going to use the fact that she was your coach before to get the captain spot, think again.”

Squinting at her in confusion, I hold my hands up. “Whoa. We didn’t have captains at Cappie. You guys have a captain? ”

“ Mon Dieu, tu es plus stupide que tu en as l’air. ? 1 ”

Her face is a mask of disgust and I’m almost too shocked to answer. Unfortunately, mean girl antics are something I’m far too used to. “Look… whoever you are. We didn’t have that position at my old school because we compete individually and honestly, I think it’s stupid. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“You don’t know who I am?” she practically screeches.

Hera, take the wheel because I am too tired for this shit.

“Nope,” I say with a pop of sass. “No idea.”

Straightening to her full height, the girl suddenly loses all appearance of being tired and wiped out. Her smile is wicked as she tilts her head and bats her lashes. “My name is Fellicia O’ Leary.”

I wrinkle my nose, giving her a blank stare. Even if I knew who the fuck that was, I’d never give her the satisfaction. She said it like she was announcing the Queen of England. “And?”

Her voice is a rough whisper when she stalks closer to me, pointing a semi-clawed finger in my direction. “Listen, you waste of space. My father talks, so I know who you are. Since those losers you date killed my exiled brother at the school you destroyed, I’m aware you have protection. But I won’t let you take this from me—I specifically had my shit wiped so I could come here to be the fucking star .”

I tilt my head back, looking up at the sky for help, but as usual, no one strikes down the target of my rage with lightning. It’s all such bullshit. When I look back at the wolf, my expression is bored as hell. “Look, Felina, I’m not here to take your spotlight. I’ll compete because I like it and I’m good at it. If you win, you win. But I could give a shit less who your family is, especially the guy my boyfriend beheaded for threatening to rape me after he killed me. So do us both a favor and fuck all the way off .”

She snorts. “Gregor was weak after they exiled him. I’m stronger, especially now that I’m next in line. And it’s Fellicia . ”

Just fucking fabulous.

“Fine. You do you, boo. I’m going home to eat and catch up on the ungodly amount of work I have to do since I came here mid-semester. We’re done here.”

Before she can spit another insult, I reach inside, asking my bunny to help my speed off. Winking, I take off at a much faster speed than I showed on the track, headed for the library and the safety of my family.

Fitz is going to lose his mind.