Page 27 of Eat. Prey. Love. (Apex Academy Capers #5)
I can’t keep my hands from trembling as Raina and the Captain walk me to what I know will be the worst hour of my first week at l’Academie. The guys wanted to accompany me, but even Coco and Rufus agreed that it would be a bad plan to show up with backup. I have to do this myself to show this vile woman I won’t be cowed by her abuse, nor will I hide behind anyone’s skirts to protect myself.
The raccoons look at me sympathetically as we trudge up the steps of the Alexandré building. Raina has been chirping cheery updates about my prey friends, their new duties, and the nicer lodgings they’ve been given here. I’m listening, but I think they both know how distracted my mind is. It’s easy to know you could take someone in a physical fight—and I’d wipe the fucking floor with Rockland given the chance—but it’s another to survive a mental and emotional beating once a week for a semester.
I should know; I grew up with Lucille for a mother.
Destruction of self-worth and hope is a long game that narcissists like my mother and this witch play well—it leaves damage that is difficult to heal, even with time. I was doing well despite Lucille and the Heathers’ effort until Carina came along. Now I find myself struggling at the oddest moments, even though my brain knows the garbage she spewed isn’t true. But I refuse to let her win, so I fight it with every fiber of my being and find joy in every one of my successes so she won’t have the control over me she desperately craves.
“Dolly, are you okay?” Raina asks and I blink, looking down at her big, concerned eyes.
Sighing as the Captain opens the door to the building, I nod. “Mostly? I’m just fighting the bad stuff racing through my head and heart so I can show her who she’s messing with. It’s harder than you’d think.”
The Captain squints at me with one eye as we walk past. “Listen up, lassie. I’m the last one to be blowin’ smoke up yer arse, but… me matey is always right. This wench innit worth yer worries, nor the time o’ day compared to ye. Walk the plank with yer head high and yer sword out.”
I have to swallow a giggle; his pirate speak always makes me laugh, but the raccoon is deadly serious right now. Laughing would only take away from the very sweet message he’s trying to convey. So I nod, give him a salute, and then smile at Raina. “I’ll be okay to go down in the elevator alone. Fitz has the cameras… I don’t even have to wonder about that.”
“Are you sure?” she asks, wringing her hands together. “I would be very upset should harm come to you because we shirked our assigned duties.”
“I’m sure.” I wink at the Captain and he nods, taking his mate’s arm. “Now go do your chores so you have time with your boys before the night shift. Give them my love?”
“Always, Dolly. Be careful and do not hesitate to call for us if you need!”
I wait for them to exit, and close my eyes briefly, drawing in a calming breath before I head for the elevator. When I get in, I punch the number for Rockland’s floor, and blow a kiss at the camera on the ceiling. I wasn’t kidding; I have zero doubt Fitzy is watching me ascend in this steel cage from somewhere close enough to get here within moments of trouble.
He’s dependably crazy like that, though it makes me feel protected and cherished.
When the doors open, I take another breath and let it out slowly, then I square my shoulders and head down the hallway with a confident stride. All I have to do is keep my armor up, my Lucille face on, and give this woman zero to work with. I can and will do this because she is not my fucking supervisor, nor is she the arbiter of my worth. She doesn’t even have the amount of malice in her whole body that my mother has in her dew claw on one foot. This will be a breeze.
“Miss Drew?”
The sound scares the holy hell out of me, but I clamp my lips together in a scowl to keep from shrieking. No weakness , I remind myself as I force my eyes to focus on the person who appeared out of nowhere. Once I do, I can’t help but gape—there’s simply no other option. Standing just inside the blind corner by Rockland’s office is a honey badger so massive he makes Goliath and Monstro look tiny.
No way this dude isn’t some kind of freakish science experiment .
“Uh… that’s me…” I say as my eyes rove over the bulky guy that damn nears fills the width of the hallway and almost touches the ceiling. “Not to be rude, but who the hell are you?”
His laugh is a deep base, soothing like James Earl Jones, and his smile is reassuring as he slowly reaches into the front pocket of his impeccably tailored suit to hand me a card.
It says ‘Skelly McCoy, Licensed, Bonded, I’ll do the recording. Thanks for helping, Farley.”
“Anytime, darlin’. I’m headed back to sleep after a very late night in Paris, but you take care. Tell Skelly his ass is mine if a single hair on your fluffy tail is harmed while in his charge.”
The badger is rolling his eyes, so he obviously heard that. “Go back to bed, Boss. She’s under control.”
I click the end call button, nodding at his pocket as I wait for him to turn on the recorder again. He does and I clear my throat before saying, “I, Delores Diamond Drew, give permission for these sessions to be recorded exclusively for legal purposes pertaining to my case against Carina Rockland by McCoy & Associates. Any other use of this material must be separately consented to in writing by me and no one else.”
His grin gets wider. “Look at you, smarty pants. Very nice.”
“I’ve got a maniac stealing my life story for profit, a bunch of mean girls who attack me online for funsies, and a reputation previously smeared by my own mother. I had to brush up on my knowledge just to survive the onslaught.” Grabbing the knob, I warn him before we go in. “If you’ve got a temper, keep it frosty. She lives to rage bait and accuse others of what she’s been doing to me.”
“Oh, please let her try.” The fangy grin he gives me is shiver-worthy, and I let him have his plotting as we head inside.
Chessie isn’t working this morning—something I’m certain the corpse nibbler planned. She was hoping to corner me alone, as she has in the past, so there are no witnesses to her abusive and downright unethical behavior. Unfortunately for her, my lawyer is cunning and brash, with zero fucks to give when defending me. It must run in the family because he reminds me a lot of Rufus.
“Good morning, Delores. Come in and we’ll start—” The spindly woman dressed in a silly looking Gothic-style dress blinks as she glares down her nose at my escort. “Excuse me, sir, but this is a private therapy session and you are not permitted to join Miss Drew.”
Giving her a smarmy grin, Skelly reaches for another one of his cards, handing it over. “Good morning, ma’am. As a fully contracted Legal Consultant for the McCoy & Associates team, I have both my client’s permission and a directive from my employer to observe this appointment. You’ll find if you contact your own attorney, the Headmaster, or any other source that I’m legally required entry based on those requests.”
Sniffing, Rockland looks from him to me, probably weighing the cost of arguing the point in the limited time she’s been granted with me. “Fine. But you will remain silent as an observer should be.”
I roll my eyes, following her and she does the awkward sashay to the office that I assume was meant to be sassy and sexy, but ends up looking like a knock-kneed stork swaying from foot to foot. This is going to be a painful hour, for sure.
The moment the door closes, Rockland looks up from her new desk, her hands adjusting the ridiculous decor on it for a second in a silent effort to command the power in the room. I stare back at her without a word, like Felix and Lucille have both taught me, waiting until she breaks. When she finally does, I notice a toothy smile from my bulky badger friend as he sits crammed into a stupidly small chair.
“Miss Drew, it seems you find yourself shunted to yet another institution under a cloud of scandal. I can’t imagine why Capital Prep would not welcome you back, though I suspect the property damage, scandalous sexual escapades, and anti-social personality disorder are likely part of that decision.”
Excuse, the fuck out of me?!
Before I can answer, Skelly holds his hand up for me to stop. “Miss Rockland, I’m afraid I must intervene on behalf of my client. This kind of rant is not only inaccurate, but unprofessional, slanderous, and legally actionable in terms of your ability to remain in your field. Perhaps you’d like to apologize and reconsider your words?”
“I said you could observe silently !” she screeches as she jumps to her feet. ” You will not interrupt my required sessions with your outrageous arrogance, Mr. McCoy. I am in charge in this room, and I am the one who decides what is and is not appropriate for this delinquent. She has made her own bed with her trashy behavior and is no longer welcome at the tables of the discerning elite. ”
Skelly stands, flexing his massive bulk as he gives her a slow, hungry look. His head tilts, studying her like all preds do their prey before he replies, “Carina Rockland, you are being officially warned. My client, Delores Diamond Drew, will no longer allow you to spew your petty jealousies and unfounded hatred for her in private or public arenas. Farley L. McCoy, Esquire, and his associates have served you with papers to that effect, but you seem incapable of respecting not only personal, but professional and legal boundaries. If you do not cease your abuse, libel, and slander in person and online, you will be sued to the fullest extent of civil law and when that’s done, we will pursue criminal cyberbullying and harassment charges in every country your poor judgment has been unleashed in. Do you understand?”
Holy fuck. This guy is terrifying. He looks like he’s going to fucking devour her whole.
“You work for a shady strip mall lawyer that defends druggies. I’m not afraid of his thugs.”
I wait for him to attack, but Skelly merely laughs at the hysterical woman. His voice is full of amusement as he shakes his head. “Apparently, you’re not only too lazy to come up with your own ideas, but you’re also too lazy to do research on the PredNet. The Boss didn’t attend your slanted shifter schools in preparation for leading the legal department of our multi-species, international corporation, you idiot. He attended a human undergraduate school in a Southern Ivy league school, then reputable law schools in both the human and the shifter realm before he took over the practice his branch of our family runs. He was one of the youngest people ever in both worlds to present and win a case in front of the human Supreme Court and the Council Adjudicators of Merit.”
“Well fuck,” I mutter. I didn’t know that, either.
“People often underestimate him because of his good ol’ boy charm and the product our family distributes—legally, of course.” Skelly smirks at me then turns to Rockland again. “But if we were also in charge of a secret drug cartel, not a pharmaceutical company on the up-and-up… what kind of fucking moron would come at our lawyer full blast and expect to survive with limbs intact? Just food for thought.”
I’m too shocked by the blatant threat to even respond, so I just stare at the rat’s nest on Rockland’s head as thoughts go whirling through my mind.
“Miss Delores, let’s go. I will walk you to your next class. I believe Ms. Rockland has some serious thinking to do.”
I’ll just fucking bet she does, Skelly. Five goddamn stars to you, man.