Page 45

Delores

“Fitz!” I lay my hand on his other arm as he shakes the shivering weasel like he’s trying to make the loot drop. It’s hard to take him seriously in the short vinyl dress, but if anyone can look like they’re going to murder someone while wearing four-inch Leopartins, it’s definitely Fitz Khan. “Put him down,” I hiss. “Everyone is watching!”

His growl makes my thighs clench as he grinds out, “What the fuck do I care? He had his hands on you.”

Rufus is damned near ecstatic as he walks over with our drinks, with a wincing Cori close behind. Neither of them gets too close to my furious… boyfriend? Fuck, I still don’t know and now isn’t the time. We’re all going to get tossed out of this party if I don’t calm Fitz down quickly, and I have no idea how Lucille would react to that. She seemed pleased to learn I’ve been seen with one of the Khan brothers, but since she’s also a total psycho, I have no idea how pissed she’ll be if I get suspended.

“Fitz!” I hiss, tugging on his arm again. “If we get kicked out, I might get suspended, and then I’ll get in trouble with my parents!”

His head whips around, and the amber in his eyes fades. He drops the weasel in an unceremonious heap, holding his hands out for me with a sheepish grin. “Sorry, Baby Girl. What can I say? I can’t control the tiger around you.”

Squirming in place, I take his hands and let him tuck me into his side possessively. My irritation disappears like mist when he growls in my ear playfully and I giggle. “You can’t just attack people at a party!”

Rufus walks over and gives me an eye roll as he hands me my Dr. Pepper. “Oh, that’ll show him, Dollypop. Crack that whip.”

The big cat side-eyes my besties for a moment, then shrugs dismissively. “No one asked you, little gangster.” I glare at him and he mutters, “Thanks for keeping my girl company until we arrived.”

“Your girl, huh?” Cori says, her eyes full of reproach. “That’s her decision, Professor, and I don’t think anyone has asked her yet.”

My face turns bright red and I sputter into my cup, turning my glare on my meddling friends. Fitz looks confused, and I have no idea what I’m going to do about it. I sure as fuck don’t know how to bring this shit up without getting triggered. The last time I tried committing to someone, they chased me down and tried to eat me—and not in a good way.

What in the hell am I supposed to say to lock down Fitzgerald Khan, playboy extraordinaire?

“C’mon, Baby Girl. I heard about this awesome game people are playing, away from the noise. That’s really why I came over.” Fitz gives me a less-than-subtle grin, and I snort at his lack of finesse.

The idiot from history slunk away while we were having our ‘protective BFF vs. protective maybe-boyfriend’, standoff. I nod at Fitz, assuming the warning the smaller pred gave me was all he needed to say. “All right. I can go see this game for a few minutes, I guess, but then I have to come back and hang with my friends.”

“Go have fun with your temperamental suitor, girl. Coco and I are on the prowl for ourselves. I smell drunk athletes and have a hankering for beefsteak,” Rufus says, waving his hand with a wink. Cori laughs and takes his arm, her grin enough confirmation that they’ll be fine without me.

“I’m all yours, Fitz,” I say, feeling better than I have in a while. His eyes dance mischievously and he drags me off the dance floor, toward whatever naughty surprise awaits.

“It should be right this way.”

I nod as he leads me into the forest surrounding the training ring, smiling secretively to myself. The way Cori cut my dress allows my fluffy bunny tail to poke out, but the petticoats and dress hide it a little in the folds. It’s almost invisible in the darkness outside of the training ring, so none of the guys have noticed it yet. Luckily, Fitz has his arm around my shoulders, so my secret is still safe.

I’m kind of excited to see what they think .

It only took me an hour to even get it to pop out enough to peek out of the slit Cori created in the dress. Both of my friends were stoked that I managed a partial shift, and Rufus started taking bets on which one of the guys was going to lose their shit when they saw it. I don’t know why he thinks it will be such a big deal, but he’s dead certain it’s going to get me flipped over a goddamn table—possibly by all of my guys.

I will not lie; as exciting as it is, the idea of all of them is intimidating. I don’t know if I’m ready for sex with more than one person at a time. I’m struggling to keep asshat Todd’s memory out of my head when Fitz touches me.

Regardless, I’m really fucking proud that I pulled off a partial shift.

At the very least, I’d better get some praise.

My cheeks heat when I think of Felix’s last message to me on Predbook. ‘You did well, princess’ wouldn’t be that big of a deal to most people, but to me, it’s more than I usually get. From the grumpy taskmaster, it makes my skin tingle, and I can’t wait for him to see my shifting accomplishment. He’s been encouraging in class, in an intensely overbearing way, and I bet he’s going to be impressed.

“We’re almost there,” Fitz whispers in my ear and for a moment, I feel embarrassed that I was thinking about his brother while he’s sort of cuddling me. Is that a party foul or something? That’s not the right word, but hell if I know how to date five guys who are decades older than me.

There you go, grouping them all as ‘yours’ again, Dolly.

“What is this place?” I ask the tiger, deciding to get out of my head as I look around the thick foliage of the surrounding forest appraisingly. I’ve never ventured this far into the woods of Apex before, although I know there are some prey escape routes that run through this area.

“It’s not like the enchanted wizard forest in the movies, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Aubrey rumbles from behind us, surprising me with his appearance. I can’t even look at the dragon in that flashing unicorn headband without giggling, so I don’t answer.

Rufus’ source for accessories made for big guys was this amazing store called the Cubby Holer. We had a blast on a video chat with the owner as we ordered everything we needed to complete the costumes, especially the pieces for the growly librarian.

Fitz snorts and turns his head to give the dragon a nod of acknowledgment. “Nice one, Smoky. No, baby girl, it’s not full of trees that will beat you up and throw apples at you . It’s just… private.”

“Uh-huh,” I reply, practically hearing his suggestive eyebrow waggle as I peer into the darkness. My vision isn’t great in the dark—thanks, rabbit genes—but the guys seem to navigate okay. I don’t want to trip over a branch and make an ass out of myself before we get to what I’m suspecting is not a game. In fact, I’m pretty sure this is an invitation-only party, and I’ve been hornswoggled by the resident horndog.

The scent of cheetah precedes Chess as he sidles up on my other side. “You look lovely tonight, angel. I suppose I have you to thank for the fact that I’m traipsing through the forest in this historically accurate period dress? Excellent bead work, by the way—I’ll put in a good word with your professor.”

I giggle just as a shout echoes from the back of the group. “Ooh-la-la, Chess!” That was definitely Aubrey, and he’s snickering along with Renard as they bring up the rear. Chess flushes as red as his Moulin Rouge dress, then growls, which gets a snort from Fitz. I wrinkle my nose at the group antics.

Boys. They’re so fucking goofy, even when they’re like… older than the internet.

“Actually, you have Fitz to thank for being out here,” I counter. “He’s the one leading us on this Lord of the Flies- style hike. He swore there’s some sort of cool game out here, but I’m thinking he’s full of—oh my god!”

We hit a clearing, and right out in the open, slumped against an oddly shaped tree, is a dead body. I’m pretty sure it’s dead because it’s got blood all over—oh, shit. The blood might be makeup, because I just realized it’s the weasel who was trying to talk to me before Fitz lost the plot. He was dressed as a zombie, so maybe…

I shrug the tiger off and rush over to the collapsed predator, dropping to my knees so I can feel for a pulse in his neck. When I can’t find one and my fingers come back bloody, I realize the mess isn’t his costume, and this is not a prank.

“Holy fuck, Baby Girl! You have a fluffy tail!”

Of course, Fitz would notice that now.

There’s a loud growl from behind us and Felix comes stomping through in his shimmering gown, as if he’s expecting the killer to jump out at any moment. “You didn’t disappear after you hassled this kid out in the open, right?”

Hera help me. His wings are fluttering behind him as he walks over and the glittering shimmer of his dress is making it impossible to take him seriously.

His twin shakes his head. “Hell, no. I didn’t want anyone else sneaking up to mack on our girl!”

“Fitz, he’s trying to protect you. Everyone saw you threaten this kid tonight,” Renard says as he gazes at the treetops, inhaling deeply. His voice goes soft as he murmurs, “Something in this place feels familiar.”

Aubrey walks over to look at the body, sighing heavily. Rainbow-colored irises flick to my rear end briefly and he arches a brow, but says nothing more. I turn away as goosebumps crawl over my skin, pretending to look at the dead student in front of me as I try to figure out if I’m feeling a prey instinct or something else. A puff of smoke spirals through the air from over my shoulder before I hear him growl, “I’m going to check the view from above.”

One powerful jump later, the half-shifted dragon is flapping his wings and taking flight. I’ve never seen a seven-foot-tall lizard in a tutu and fishnets before, but I’m never going to forget this image until the day I die.

Renard watches him fly off, shaking his head. “Dragons are always so dramatic. Aubrey’s probably bitching about the paperwork being a nightmare.”

Felix grimaces, nodding at the gargoyle. “He’d be right. We’ll be up all night dealing with this mess.” His gaze finally lands on my tail, and he looks almost… wary. “That’s what we get for following something small and fluffy into the forest.” He awkwardly clears his throat and pointedly looks away.

I open my mouth to shoot back a retort when something sparkly catches my eye. Brushing off my knees as I stand, I walk over to where the moonlight is shining on something metallic on the ground beneath the leaf litter. It takes a second to kick off the brush, but once I do, I find a small plaque embedded in the ground.

“Guys! Come here!” I yell, way more excited than I should be, considering there’s an actual dead body a few feet away. Dropping to the ground again, I work to finish clearing the leaves and sticks off until it’s fully revealed. I hear them approaching and turn to face the group, grinning wildly. “Look at this! It’s a marker. Do you think it leads to a secret door? Maybe it’s how the killer escaped.”

Renard frowns, crouching beside me. His cape flutters out when he does, and it takes everything in me not to snort. “That’s the symbol for the secret prey tunnels.”

“I know! And the prey tunnels go all over campus, so it has to be how the murderer got away. We have to find the door… I mean, this kid doesn’t look like he’s been dead long, right?” I ask, as I trace my fingers over the design. The silence is deafening, and I turn to look at my guys, finding them staring at me in return. “What? Do I have something in my hair?”

“Uh, no, angel. You’re… awfully calm about finding a dead body, given that you’re… you know.” Chess trails off and I roll my eyes.

Why. Are. Men.

“Prey. You can say it; it’s not an insult,” I snipe back, irritated that they’re underestimating me because some kid I barely knew got killed. “It’s not the first dead body I’ve ever seen—even this close—and I’m sure it won’t be the last one I see at Apex.”

The tiger king gives me an amused look. “No, I suppose that’s true.”

The ground shakes a little as Aubrey lands behind them, smoke curling around his face. Oh, he’s all worked up about something. “I didn’t see anyone, but I stopped by the circle and asked Zhenga to call Henny, so we should have company soon. None of us have our phones because of our… attire.” His gaze turns to me and I grin, satisfied with my petty refusal to give them pockets in their dresses.

Welcome to my world, dudes.

“I think we should explore this door another time,” Renard murmurs as he moves to stand. He holds his hand out and I take it, moving out of the way so he can kick the brush back over the marker, clearly deciding we should keep its discovery to ourselves, at least for now.

After a minute, it hits me, and I squint at the spicy Dark Knight, pointing an accusing finger at him. “You’re only speaking in iambic pentameter. I knew you sounded weird!”

“For fuck’s sake, don’t encourage him,” Felix mutters, shaking his head at us.

“Sir, yes, Sir!” I say sarcastically, giving the tiger a salute. His eyes narrow, and I feel a sizzle of satisfaction zing up my spine at the thought of getting him riled up—and what that might mean for me.

“Baby Girl, quit trying to give him a woody,” Fitz snorts, throwing his arm around me. “We’re gonna have an audience soon.”

I tilt my head, listening intently, and realize he’s right. There’s definitely people coming—Headmistress Henrietta and some of the administration staff. Of course, I feel awful that a student is dead, but attacks like this are usually random, and I’m always watching my back.

Plus, maybe I now have others watching it, too.