Page 10

Delores

For the love of everything holy, why are all the goddess-blessed male professors here so fucking hot?

I barely made it out of that library with my dignity intact, not helped by the fact I arrived flustered. After my nerve wracking audition, I had to quickly stop by Admissions and rearrange my schedule to accommodate switching my major last minute. They packed the office with impatient—and probably hungry—preds, and I thanked Cori and Rufus for coming with me at least ten times. I wouldn’t have felt safe without them, and despite Fitz’s constant barrage of flirty texts, he wasn’t nearby to help if someone cornered me while the owls were busy hooting and screeching about password resets.

The entire scene set my teeth on edge, and when my new friends dropped me off in front of the library, I felt eyes on me, like I was being watched, but I couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from. I knew it wasn’t my tiger stalker; Fitz told me he was busy humiliating freshman in basic coding classes then he was headed to the gym to ‘ destroy the bag’.

I may have to ask him to teach me to box because if I don’t learn some offensive shit, I won’t be able to defend myself when he’s not around. Here at Apex, I need to strike offensively or I’m done for. Preds don’t respect anyone who responds like prey, and even if I am one of them, I wasn’t lying when I told hunky dragon man I was raised not to let anyone scare me.

I’ll have to dust off the irritating lessons about commanding a room Lucille drilled into my head over the years. The giant midnight blue dragon who confronted me in the library seemed pleased I didn’t cower at his half-shifted form, but if he knew just how often Bruno came after me in a similar state, he’d know why. I mean, a Nile croc isn’t as frightening as an eight-foot tall fire breather, but the dragon wasn’t advancing with a raised fist. I’ll take a winged dominance display over an abusive drunk any day. The whole thing still made my heart feel like it was going to jump out of my chest and head for the hills, but I think that was for other reasons.

Like sexy dragon man reasons.

I approach the back doors of the Honeywell building, a dark mood falling over me as thoughts of my ex-friends flood my mind. The only place I’ve seen them so far is my Shifter Basics class with Professor Felix, but I know they’re lurking around like stupid... what did he call them? Mutts. His insult makes me giggle, and even if he raises my blood pressure, I’ll be forever in his debt for not letting them bully me on the first day.

Stopping for a moment, I take out my phone and pull up the picture I took of the campus map. They folded in it my Admissions packet, and again, I wonder how a school that gets so much money from tech giants has no interactive apps.

I see that the Charles Family Dining Hall is in the underground level of Honeywell, so I’ll have to risk stairwells or elevators to get to it. I chew my lip, trying to decide which one seems riskier when someone bumps into my shoulder from behind, knocking my phone to the ground.

What in the actual fuck?

I scramble to grab it, looking up in time to see the retreating blazer of a scrawny-looking asshole with blond hair. It could be one of a hundred different d-bags who attend this school, but the scent tells me it’s one of Todd’s hyena friends. The size is right for Chad, and that kind of casual violence against a female isn’t surprising, coming from him. Standing, I brush off my knees and look around, weighing how hungry I’ll be if I skip eating to avoid a possibly worse version of this situation inside.

Damnit. I’ll be starving. I have barely anything to eat in my room yet, and even if I did, I don’t have a clue what to do in that tiny kitchen. Our cooks at home wouldn’t allow me in there even on a good day, and Lucille certainly didn’t pass on any ‘motherly’ knowledge about meal preparation. She’s usually on a liquid diet anyway, so I doubt she would have cooked, even if she knew how. I’m going to have to hit YouTube for some cooking shows if this situation escalates.

Taking a deep breath, I search for the sass and bravery I summoned when I was clashing with Professor Felix and Professor... dragon man. Aubrey, I think the sheet said. Regardless, right now, I need it to get through this meal—hopefully with no scars.

It’s okay, Dolly, you can do this.

I find Fitz in my phone contacts, and make certain his number is on the screen before I head down the stairs to the cafeteria with my head held high.

I’ve got this. I am a Drew, after all.

After getting lost no less than three times in the underground maze they call the ‘student services’ floor, I finally find an enormous set of cherry wood doors set into the natural rock wall of the building. It has donor names on plaques on either side, which seems strange for a place that’s hidden this far from the view of outsiders.

I yank the door open, and my jaw nearly hits the floor. The moment I beheld the opulent room, I discarded my plan to make myself feel better by snickering about Purple’s hillbilly agri-giant family sponsoring the dining hall in the basement.

Mother of Zeus, this is... astounding.

They set the sprawling room so far back into the bedrock of the campus that it reaches the lake. Windows and vacuum pressure doors at the opposite end of the room allow water shifters to come and go as they please, or simply watch their classmates as they eat. Whoever decorated this room had a rich person’s idea of a mermaid’s grotto in mind—vibrant jewel tones, platinum leaf, with real gemstones and mother-of-pearl inlays. The food is being served by a contingent of the pirate raccoons I saw on my tour—I don’t see their Captain, but I assume this might be the less aggressive members of his crew.

I guess I won’t be eating shitty walking tacos or frozen pizza in this joint.

Neither Cori’s shock of unicorn hair nor Rufus’s skunk-like coif are to be found, so I look for a table against a wall where I can easily see the entire room. There are too many unknowns in here and since the only exit—outside of the ones requiring gills—is the door I entered through, I have to make certain I have a snowball’s chance in Hades of escaping if something happens. Warily watching the students in their various colored jackets, I keep close to the wall as I head for a table near the door and drop my bag on a chair. It’s hard to concentrate with all the people milling around, so when a friendly raccoon approaches with a menu, it barely registers.

“Miss? Miss? Would you like something to drink?”

Blinking, I look down at the sharply dressed shifter in surprise. The sheer variety of chi-chi foods on the menu widens my eyes further. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. Yes, I’d like a diet vanilla Dr. Pepper if you have it. Is this how dinner is every day..." I pause, looking for a name tag, “... Raina?”

It’s the raccoon’s turn to widen her eyes, and she titters into her hand before looking around as if expecting someone to yell at her. “Yes, miss. The academy serves full course meals, three times a day during the week and has buffets on the weekend for those who remain on campus.”

I sigh. No surprise there, but it seems like a wasteful way to spend their money when students are likely to order in, especially on the weekend. Hopefully, they don’t chuck the leftover food in the trash rather than donate it or something. “Well, Raina, I have had nothing since this morning, and am so hungry I could eat a dump truck full of food. What do you recommend?”

“Oh! I’ve never been asked that before, miss, especially not by a student of your… standing. Most of the ladies order salads or fruit, and they barely finish it at that.”

“I see. Well, I’m not like the other ladies here in a lot of ways. I’d love for you to call me Dolly, and I really want to know what you think I should order,” I say, smiling at her nervous but friendly chatter.

“Oh, dear, Oh, my. Call you… Dolly? Are you certain, miss? We’re not supposed to be familiar, except with the Professor in the Tower. I don’t want?—”

“Raina, please call me Dolly. I give you my express permission. Now, before I die of hunger, what should I get to eat?” I ponder the information about a professor in a tower and realize it must be the enormous gargoyle I saw defend the raccoons during my tour. He seemed otherworldly and frightening as fuck, but if the small prey like Raina like him, he must be a good person.

I wonder what he teaches?

Her delighted gasp brings me out of my head and I wait for her to look at the menu closely. “It’s not on here tonight, but I know the macaques who run the kitchen. I will ask them to make my favorite for you. It’s not as fancy as the items on the menu, but I think you will enjoy it, miss… Dolly.”

“Okay. I trust your experience, Raina. Thank you for helping me,” I murmur, watching her smile in that weirdly mischievous raccoon way before she scampers off.

“Well, well, well. Look who was stupid enough to show her skanky mug in my cafeteria,” the voice says loudly enough that every speck of sound gets sucked out of the room instantaneously. Hoots follow the declaration, then howls, and growls that echo off the walls as I look up at the face of my former friend.

“I don’t think your family donating money to have this place built means you own it,” I reply flatly, my fingers hovering over the call button on my phone under the table.

“But it does, little rabbit. We declare this cafeteria a ‘Loser-Free’ zone, so gather your crap and move on,” she snarls, her tiny piranha teeth showing as she loses control of her animal.

Typical. The Heathers had ‘zones’ at Shifter Secondary as well; they even had Pink’s parents launch an amended map in the school app to show where certain lower classes of pred shouldn’t go unless they had class. I never kicked anyone out of an area or stole a table, but I know the Heathers and Todd and the boys frequently sent people packing. Now that I’m on the receiving end, I can see just how arbitrary this brand of bullshit is.

All I want to do is eat in peace, you know?

“Girls, I think DD didn’t learn her lesson well enough after prom. Somehow, she got the idea that she still belongs with a higher class of animal than she does,” Gold grins toothily.

“We should show her what happens when the food gets uppity,” Pink chimes in, holding her phone up to record.

I have to fight off an eye roll. They’re dangerous—simply because they’re predators and I’m not—but their 90s bullying schtick is tired. Not one of them has an original insult, and even though my heart is thumping with the possibility of more preds joining their attacks, I will not let them see how their antics affect me.

“C’mon, DD. Show us that fluffy little tail so we can start the chase,” Gold taunts, flipping her hair.

Silver leans in, whispering to Purple for a moment before she skips to her table and comes back with a large plate of steaming spaghetti and meatballs. My gaze narrows as I work out her obvious plan, and I push the button on the phone, leaving the line open as I covertly slip my arm through my bag. Pink straightens her ridiculous hipster glasses as she chats into the livestream, and I wait for Gold to turn her back to take the plate of pasta from her minion.

When she does, I leap to my feet and take off for the door, pushing through it like a freight train as I run towards the maze leading to the stairs. It was stupid of me not to map this out the first time, but there’s no time for that now. I hear a panicked voice from the open phone line, and I raise it to my ear as I race through the confusing halls. I can hear some sort of large preds behind me, but I don’t know if it’s Todd and his boys or some other schmucks the Heathers commandeered.

All I know is that I have to get out of here before they catch me.

“Dolly? Dolly? Is that you?!”

The voice echoing out of the line isn’t Fitz’s, and I realize I called Cori by mistake. My stomach knots, because not only do I not know if the cutesy polar bear is close enough to get here in time, she may not even be able to help me navigate this place at all.

“Cori! I called you… by mistake. But… I need… your help. Where… hide… in the Honeywell underground?” I gasp out, trying to talk while I run for my life.

Miraculously, she understands the situation immediately. “Keep running!” she shouts, encouragingly. “Last left before the stairs. Take two rights, head down another set of stairs, and keep going to the end of the hall. The infirmary will never let a bunch of assholes follow you in; trust me.”

With a sinking feeling in my gut, I realize I have to trust her. If I don’t, I’m pred-bait.

Here’s hoping my instincts about her and Rufus were good.