Page 8 of Eat. Prey. Love. (Apex Academy Capers #5)
The tour plan grants me another small amount of reprieve from discussing what I scented on the way onto the campus. I know I need to share the secrets of my past, but the way gargoyles have always been raised is to protect the knowledge of our people and those we give protection to. Even after my world crumbled and I was exiled, I’ve never broken the oaths of my clutch. Telling my story and the mythos behind it will certainly edge that line, if not outright cross it. My gut churns when I think about; that’s why I’ve never even been able to share this tale with Flames.
Why I still feel such loyalty to those who cast me aside for a youthful mistake, I don’t know.
“Rennie… Yoo-hoo…” Dolly’s hand waves in front of my face as she gestures at the door. “Chessie’s ready. It’s time for you guys to show me this crazy maze.”
I chuckle, pushing my morose thoughts away for a moment. “The outside isn’t labyrinthian, but the interior of the buildings is a challenge. That’s what made it difficult for Felix and I.”
“We should start with the Dupreé,” the tiger says as he steers our group around the base of the lovely tower connected to the library. “That’s where you can pick up your info, Princess. Unlike Cappie or Apex, Academie is definitely rooted in the past. Their shit is printed.”
Her eyes narrow as she looks at him suspiciously. “For everyone or just me again?”
“What do you mean ‘just for you again?” When did that happen?” My mate stops our progress towards the looming admin building as he faces our girl.
Dolly rolls her eyes and sighs heavily. “At Apex. They gave me all paper shit at first and I thought it was weird, but elite colleges can be that way, so I let it go. I didn’t find out until the hyenas chased me all over Honeywell that I’d been bamboozled. You can thank the clinic prey gals for setting me straight before I got cornered again.”
She never told us that.
“ Ma petite , why didn’t you mention this before?” I ask softly. It angers me to think people were handicapping her from the minute she stepped on campus, but I’m also proud she got around it.
“Because all the stupid little shit the idiots there did day-to-day wasn’t as important as dead kids and secret ceremonies and staying alive.” She shrugs, giving me a stubborn look. “I handled most of it until we all got closer; I’m a big bunny.”
Aubrey raises her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles. “You are, lunchable, but we would have enjoyed teaching the perpetrator a lesson.”
“Word, Igneous Iguana. It would have been my pleasure to peel strips off their ass.” Fitz’s eyes darken with maniacal glee as he flexes claw tips on his fingers.
Felix rolls his eyes, but I can see the fury behind his mask of indifference. “They’re right, but we’re getting off track with the tour. Plus, it’s done and most of the people responsible have been killed, kidnapped, or reassigned with the shit that went down in the past year and half.”
“ C’est vrai ,? 1 ” I agree. Looking up at the huge Dupreé building, I gesture at the size. “We need to get this show on the road or we’ll be wandering through the place far past dinner time, mes amies .”
“Thank hell.” Dolly tugs on the dragon’s hand, pulling him forward as she strides towards the front steps. “I hate talking about my stupid na?ve first few months at Apex and how ridiculous people are. I refuse to let that shit live rent-free in my head.”
“Good on you, Angel,” Chess says as we climb the old stone staircase. “That’s healthy—no thanks to that nasty body snatcher and her sessions.”
The Raj steps to the front of the group, opening the door for us. “We’ll deal with her once she arrives and not a second before. Farley is coming with the blustery badger and the bear, so we can discuss our least favorite carrion nibbler then.”
“Do you think she’s gotten me slated for her stupid sessions again ?” Dolly says with a groan. “There’s no way I’m going to have time to do the clue hunting, catch up to this place, spend time with you guys and my friends, revamp the team, and deal with her shit. That’s a burnout waiting to happen. My eyes hurt just thinking about it.”
I scratch my chin, considering her question for a moment. “She might if she knows about Bruno. The violent death of your father certainly gives her leverage, petite lapin . Getting her to back off will be a hard sell if she brings that into the conversation.”
“Again, I suggest we kill the cunt,” Fitz growls. “Two birds, one very satisfying torture session. I’ll even let the rest of you help.”
My mate pinches the bridge of his nose. “As much as I want to, Fitzgerald, we’ve discussed ad nauseum why we can’t yet. That woman cannot be fully dealt with until we track down every damn sentence or recipient of that book in progress so she can’t humiliate people from the grave.”
Dolly wrinkles her nose, looking thoughtful as we walk into the grandiose atrium. “Maybe I should just get over that? I’ve already been the target of a social media smear and right now, I’m kind of riding on good PR from the Yule Ball Battle. If we kill her and someone releases what she’s got, it’ll only look silly. Right?”
“Depends on what she says and how your mother reacts,” Chess reminds her. We walk down the long marble hallway to the double doors to the office—the one easily locatable room in the damn building—together as he continues. “If Lucille spins it poorly, you could end up being an even bigger pariah. It might make people come after you if she’s done a good enough job spreading her filth everywhere.”
Stopping at the doors, our girl leans into them and bonks her head on the wood. “Why me? I didn’t do anything to this chick. She’s just butt hurt that I declined her offer of friendship and guidance because I figured out she’s fruitier than a nut cake. Surely I can’t be the first person that’s noticed her self-centered, lazy ass appropriation of others’ lives or work in her books? I can’t be the only one who got creeped out by her wanting to leech off of them?”
“You’re fucking brilliant, Baby Girl!” Fitz yanks her away from the door and puts his hands on her cheeks as he looks at her. “We need more victims of her bad behavior. They have to be out there; you’re right. I’ll start searching, but we can tell the lawyer when he gets here, too. ”
The plan washes over me and I smack my forehead. “ Merde . We should have thought of that by now. Instead of pushing her away and issuing threats, we needed to find more evidence of her destroying others for her own gain. Showing the world who she really is will make it impossible for her to refute your claim.”
I’d do anything to keep the light that just went on in our bunny’s eyes there forever.
“ Watch out, Rockland. We’re coming for you,” she says with a bright smile.
Hell yes we are.
Once Dolly got her big welcome box, she pulled the most relevant things out—her schedule, the map, and the booklet with her assigned areas. As a triple threat sophomore, she has lockers in all the sections where she’ll need them for class, access to private studios to practice, and a room in the Theater dorm. Her nose wrinkles at that, but she downright glares when she notes that there are two notes in the folder that are solely for transfers. The first is a typical welcome letter blathering about the college, but the second is a list of forms and releases she will have to fill out.
“This place needs a fucking tech upgrade in the worst way,” she mutters as she looks at Fitz. “Everything I have to do is on paper. I’ll die before I finish all this stupid shit.”
He chuckles. “They have me focused on the Pred team and the comp sci program, Baby Girl. No one asked me to bring them out of the Dark Ages. Sorry.”
“Damn,” she grumbles. “Let’s track down these classes, then we can head for the dining hall before I get hangry.”
She hands me her schedule and I squint at it. They have her stuffed to the gills and this is going to be very difficult. “They have you packed from eight am to five pm almost every day—mostly in Alexandré and Shirdal. Looks like the witch only snuck in one session, but my guess is she’ll push for more.”
Felix growls low, taking the schedule from me. “You’re in all artsy classes, Princess. None of us have you as a student save the grumpy dragon for your work study period. I don’t like it.”
“Did you see it?” she asks me, her eyes still on the tiger as he looks over the document. “I’m waiting for him to?—”
“ What the ass reaming fuck?! ” The Raj throws the paper at his brother as he roars. His tiger shimmers over him in fury and I blow out a slow breath.
I did see it, but I was hoping we could avoid the topic until later—fat chance of that.
“Holy shit! This dude is our fuckwit cousin ,” Fitz says as he grips the schedule in his fist. “He’s a goddamn creeper .”
“That explains the seven hundred pound problem we’re about to have,” Chess mutters. “Felix hates all of his male relatives. They’re far too much like Taka— which was intended.”
Aubrey blows two large smoke rings as his jaw locks. “You mean we got rid of the stupid MacLachlan girl and the Politics professor only to be saddled with yet another of your dad’s shitty spies? It’s like fucking Whack-A-Mole with that dick.”
“I wish someone would whack his dick,” Fitz mutters. We all stare at him and he waves his hand dismissively. “In the not fun way, of course.”
Our girl giggles, shaking her head as she threads her arms through his. “I was not volunteering as tribute for that assignment. No fucking way.”
Felix snarls from where he’s still working to get his cat under control. “Never. Never .”
“Duh,” Fitz says as he gives us all a look like his twin is the crazy one. “No one touches our girl but us, least of all, our cockfaced father. Now, tell me, Baby Girl… which place are we going first? I’m tired of standing here like bait while shit pisses us off.”
“We’re in this damn place. Let’s find out where the dead bird walking has her office so we know, then we’ll go to Alexandré. Shirdal will be last, then we head back here for food.”
Chess nods, jerking his head towards the bank of elevators. “The guide should be over there. I need to know where her stupid office is, too, so I second my Angel’s plan.”
“Coming, Felix?” I call as we turn to walk away.
The gold in his eyes flashes and he nods, but I know he’s more beast than man at the moment.
“Chess, if she asks you one intrusive question this year, I want to know immediately.” Felix looks at our girl, pausing before he adds, “And you need to record things. I’m sure Farley will agree. Nothing about your schedule is a coincidence—you have one of our cousins, a Council in-law, and several Council relative exiles as professors. Someone made sure you also didn’t have classes with us. The fix is in, Princess, and we need to be on our toes from second one.”
Now who’s keeping secrets? Felix Khan knows something he’s not saying and I want to know what it is.