Page 39

Fitz

I want to go inside that damn auditorium and see what she’s doing, but Chess told me not to. Being stuck out here in the shadow of this dumbass eagle statue is making me antsy, but I’ll endure. If I didn’t know it would end up being a problem for my consort, I’d defile it because whichever Shirdal commissioned this piece of crap deserves the comeuppance.

As if eagles are worth something this grandiose in the pred world.

Baby Girl is in rehearsal until five thirty and my brother had the brilliant idea I should meet her afterward to give her some hand-to-hand lessons in the gym. I was all in until I figured out he meant actual self-defense, not the fun hand-to-hand.

He should do it himself, but I don’t think he trusts his tiger alone and sweaty with our girl.

Mores the pity for him, because I intend to have a fucking great time pinning her to the floor after she gets all violent with me. My cock’s hard just thinking about it, and it feels nothing like a punishment for either of us. Though, I’m more the light BDSM type compared to my control freak twin, so he’s probably misjudging my kinks again.

My eyes narrow as I realize yet again that I have no idea what those overgrown moths do for a good time. They don’t share a fucking thing and it’s not fair. But it seemed like Dolly got under their thick ass armor a little because she’s hiding something big they let her know about. Her fumbling over what she knows in the Tower didn’t fool anyone, least of all me.

I can smell liars, and she was fibbing.

Chess says we’ll find out eventually, and he’s probably right, but I want to know now, damn it!

Does the giant gecko wear frilly thongs? Is that obsidian asshole sporting a multi-headed, sentient dick?

Inquiring minds want to know, and I’m going to find out if it kills me.

I’d settle for knowing what the hell they eat besides the smattering of normal food they occasionally consume in front of us. I mean, we’re all preds—who cares if they eat roaches or cute kittens? We’d get over it; just quit hiding it.

Grumbling under my breath, I hop onto the statue, throwing a leg over it like I’m riding a giant bird that should have been the transport to Mordor in that long ass shit Renard made us watch.

The blond elf was a smokeshow, though, and so was the chick, so I guess all those hours weren’t totally wasted.

I lean back on my hands, propping myself until the bell rings. My smartwatch says it’s close and I only have to be patient a little longer. Not my strong suit, but the more of my baby girl I get, the more willing I am to do out of the ordinary shit to keep her happy and safe. She’s more addictive than the catnip pred-stasy I love so much and I’m helpless to her pull.

The doors finally swing open and I see her come out with her two odd friends in tow. They give her weird looks where it seems like they’re talking with only their eyebrows and I frown. Is there some fucking eyebrow language I need to learn to be hip? Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me? I’m definitely putting Chessie on that shit so I can learn.

“What the… Fitz!” she says in a loud, harsh whisper. “What are you doing riding the Shirdal eagle?”

Grinning, I lift one hand and wave it, rolling my hips like I’m riding a bucking bronco as I smirk. “Yeehaw, baby girl.”

The punk rock badger puts his hand to his chest like he’s going to faint and the colorful bear giggles like a madwoman as my girl scrambles up to tug on my sleeve. “Get down! You’ll get us all in trouble if any professor besides Chess sees you.”

“Highly doubtful,” I reply as I bare my canines. “There’s not a snake, whale, platypus, or bird who would dare attempt to challenge me. You’re rolling with the big guns, baby girl.”

She gives me a look full of exasperation and puts her hands on hips. It makes her breasts fill that button down, so I stop clowning to stare at that sight instead. After all, where Felix is an ass man, I’m a tit lover, so I can’t resist. That makes her gaze narrow more, and she reaches up, yanking on my arm.

“Come on, you perv. Dismount and tell me why you’re here before I end up in detention all night.”

That simply won’t do—I have plans, so many plans…

I hop down as instructed and sweep her off her feet, spinning us in a circle as I talk. “His Royal Crab Ass wants me to give you self-defense lessons starting tonight. He thinks he’s punishing me, but he’s wrong. You’re hot as fuck when you get bloodthirsty, baby girl.”

The bear clears her throat, doing another round of eyebrow gymnastics, then grabs the gaping punk next to her. “Well, we need to get to the cafeteria before the line gets too long. Have fun, Dolly!”

“But, but…” her friend sputters as he watches me pull my girl close.

“Now, Rufus!”

Once they leave, my girl gives me a sheepish smile. “Sorry. They’re the first friends I’ve ever had who really wanted to know what’s going on with me, and I guess I let them go on a bit.”

I shake my head. “Don’t apologize. I’ve seen who your old ‘friends’ were, Dolly. These seem to be infinitely better, especially since they have Chessie’s approval. You need to have normal shit in your life sometimes.”

Holy shit, I actually mean that. Bast wept, I want her to have fun with people who aren’t me!

That’s some fucking growth, right there. Chess will be proud of me—I deserve two blowjobs for that shit.

She smiles broadly, grabbing my hand and I’m surprised to find I don’t mind a bit. “Thanks, Fitz. That’s really sweet of you.”

Blinking, I formulate how to respond. Women don’t call me sweet and I don’t know how to take it. Words fail me, so I tug her out the door and down the steps to the green outside. She pops a pair of adorable sunglasses on and I pause for a second. “Wait. I should text Chess and let him know Felix gave me a mission. Otherwise, he’ll hold dinner and he hates when we’re late without calling.”

“Ooh! What’s he making?”

Her expression is curious and hungry, so I make a note to have her over for dinner soon. Chess is a fucking amazeballs cook and Felix will just have to take the stick out of his ass long enough to sit across the table from her without flipping out.

“Some Asian beef thing. He experiments a lot because he’s addicted to cooking shows. Ask him about the Great British Bake Off at your own risk,” I reply with a chuckle. “It’s sort of our thing to get the others to watch human shit without being dicks. I find their lifestyle amusingly simple and everything they have to do to live without animal instincts fascinates Chess. The others act like we’re making them eat bugs.”

“I have to see that,” Delores murmurs, her eyes dancing. “I bet Aubrey is the worst. He gets so angry when things aren’t researched properly. The romance section in the library makes him lose it on the daily.”

I boop her nose after I shoot the text off, winking playfully. “You’d be right. Freya help us if there’s any fucking dragons in the show or movie—he rants for days on end.”

“Speaking of the sourpuss, I need to stop and leave him the files I put together on these old books he has me verifying. This one seems way older than the others and it has all these really familiar drawings I can’t place. It’s like I’ve seen these places and symbols, but I can’t access the memory.”

“Now you’re speaking my language, baby girl. Error 404, right?” I arch a brow as we head towards the library. It’s on the way to the gym anyway, plus I’ll get to fuck with the spicy lizard, so I’m totally game. “Maybe it’s something from when you were a kid?”

She snorts. “I doubt it. Lucille and Bruno weren’t around much when I was a kid, only Mattie. They were too busy with the Council and their flavors of the week to show me anything.”

As I expected, I hate her parents more every time she talks about them.

“Do you want to show me? I’m not a scholar like Emo Batman or Scaly Shakespeare, but Felix and I had to learn shit in order to take over. Not just fighting and ruthless shit, but actual history and politics—though he’s infinitely better at it than me.” I tilt my head, feeling nervous as I offer.

No one ever asks me about this kind of shit and I get why, but just because I’m a hyper, jokey motherfucker doesn’t mean I’m stupid.

Her eyes widen and she squeezes my hand excitedly. “Do you mind? I’d love to show you. I mean, every perspective helps and your viewpoint will be so different from Aubrey’s. We can use all the help we can get puzzling out why this makes both of us feel so edgy. It’s like the book has mojo or something.”

My heart grows five sizes like that green dude in the cartoon. My baby girl wants my opinion on book stuff and she thinks I can fucking help with something that isn’t beating the snot out of someone. This shit is why Delores Drew is goddamn special. It’s not that she’s different from others; it’s that her heart is enormous despite going through the massive amount of crap life has thrown at her.

I might rock the boyfriend stuff, but my baby girl puts us all to shame in the good person category.

As we approach the front door, I notice the sign flipped and sigh. “Dragon Master is off with the Rock Man. They locked up this place tight, babe.”

She reaches between her breasts and I’m distracted again until she pulls a key out of her bra. "Voila!”

I’ve never been jealous of a key before, but fuck it, here we are.

“You have a key? What the hell did you do, lick his sooty balls?” I snark in amazement.

Dolly rolls her eyes, huffing at me indignantly. “I most certainly did not. I am, however, pretty good at the tasks I’m assigned, so I’m allowed to come in to work when I want.”

That damn near floors me because El Fuego doesn’t let anyone in his stupid library without supervision.

“You must be fucking outstanding, baby girl. Now let’s get inside to see what you’ve got before he comes swooping in and toasts my ass for setting foot in here.”

Giggling, she guides me into the main area on the first floor, humming under her breath as she deftly avoids every obstacle in the dark. She really knows this place and I can see why the spiky tailed asshole is creaming his tweed over her. When my eyes adjust, I realize she’s leading us to a back corner out of the sight line of the open tables.

“What’s the story, morning glory? I can’t believe Aubrey is keeping something valuable back here, even if it is a delightful spot to get it on.” Squinting, I look at the shelves and laugh when I realize this is a non-fiction section on religious history—probably never used in the slightest.

My girl goes on her tiptoes, looking delicious in the short skirt as she does so, her fingers skating over books one by one like she’s looking for something. When she finds it, she yells in victory. “Ah-ha!”

I’m about to chastise her for drawing attention to us, but I’m too stunned to get words out when the fucking bookcase swings out like we’re in Clue. She grabs my hand and tugs me towards the darkness behind it with a mischievous grin.

“Come on, Fitz. We have to take the elevator thingy to get to the archives.”

What the actual fucking fuck?! The archives? The ones where sooty balls hides all his good shit?!

“I’m definitely not allowed in here, baby girl. Our dragon buddy barely lets me in the regular library because I might damage shit. I don’t know if?—”

She snorts. “Just do what I say, and I promise it will be fine. Can you be a good boy, Fitzy?”

Shit. Shit. Shit.

She used Chessie’s name for me and she said those words.

My cock is ready to tear out of my pants to get to her. I blink, licking my lips. Dolly bobs her brows, and I wonder where she learned that tidbit. Our girl is full of surprises today, and hell if I don’t want to see what they all are. “Uh, well, I probably could have until you said that.”

“Don’t worry. I’m going to love being your teacher,” she replies, her ass swaying as she leads me into the void and the shelf clicks shut.

Spitting my words back at me? Fuck, this girl is my goddamn queen.