Page 56

Aubrey

When I awoke to find the campus covered in snow, I sourly stomped to the sitting room with my coffee. My kind is more suited to hot weather, and winter chills make the Tower drafty. It occurred to me during my correspondence with several sister-school archivists in various climates that the cold might be just as difficult on Delores. Our girl isn’t an Arctic hare, and from what I’ve seen of her fur, it won’t be enough to keep her warm while she’s here during the break.

Plus, it’d be harder to get her naked if she’s…

Nope. That line of thought is off-limits for the moment.

It took a bit to rouse Rennie—he’s not a morning person in the slightest—but once he was coherent, he agreed, and was more than happy to fly into town with me to purchase a myriad of space heaters for the frequently used spaces in the Tower.

He also insisted on purchasing an extra desk with materials for homework, about twenty cases of Dr. Pepper, and other household junk I’ve always talked him out of before. This time his excuse was it will make Dolly feel welcome, so I simply watched indulgently. It was good to see him throwing things into a cart like a kid in a candy store, and the smile on his face made it impossible to grump about spending a fortune on silly, decorative bullshit.

That bunny has us all wrapped around her little finger, and I doubt she has the slightest clue.

Since her mother called to confirm she was staying at Apex for Yule, our girl has seemed a tad… pensive.

I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, because she’s hidden it well, but there’s something bothering her she doesn’t seem to want to talk about. I tried using her truth game, but all I got out of her was that those bitchy ex-friends of hers had dosed her with pred-stasy one night last spring, and she’s planning some brand of revenge with her new friends for the talent show in the spring.

“Flames, what else can we have delivered to the Tower? We’ve never really celebrated the holidays together before, and I want to make sure Dolly feels at home,” Renard says as he thoughtfully looks around the vast store.

I snort, arching a brow at him. “I’m fairly certain anything we do will make her happy, especially if it doesn’t resemble her parental home, Rennie. But I don’t disagree—she deserves to have a pleasant holiday.”

He wanders over to a nervous-looking tapir shifter, talking to him animatedly for a moment before returning. “I have plans.”

Uh-oh. I’ve somehow activated mother hen Rennie.

“You realize Dolly can’t… move in… anywhere, right? At least, not at the moment,” I say carefully, remembering the last time he had ‘plans’ was when he upgraded his nest to fit me. I know he enjoyed having her snooze with us, but I doubt we’re ready to go public to our entire group.

The gargoyle looks at me as if I’ve lost my marbles, scoffing. “Of course not. That is far too presumptuous. We’re going to look at winter gear while that gentleman’s staff makes arrangements for decorations to be delivered to the Tower, along with every pillow, blanket, and cushion they have in stock. Now, quit frowning and let’s go!”

Vengeful Ra, the Tower is going to resemble a magazine spread from Martha Stewart Living.

“Whatever you think, Rennie, but… take a breath, okay? We don’t want to crowd her; she’s just getting used to having all of us… around.” I give him a fond smile as he rolls his eyes and speeds off towards the clothing section. I can’t even imagine what the hell he has up his sleeve to look so unusually not -emo, but whatever it is, I’m in.

Two hours later, we land on the balcony to find the Captain barking orders at both his crew and several unfortunate delivery men. I give Rennie a pointed look and he shrugs, grinning broadly as he walks over to the raccoon pirates to chat.

It’s really fucking hard to be grumpy when he’s acting like this. Hmmph.

“Aubrey! The clothes are here, too!” he shouts. “I’m calling Dolly; you call the cats!”

I nod, shaking my head as I make my way to the steps. My companion has already pulled his phone out, tapping his foot as he waits for our girl to answer. Apparently, all it took to unleash his enthusiasm was a shopping trip? That feels like a piece of knowledge to tuck away for the next time he gets into a weird funk about that stupid flower.

Sighing, I stab at the screen of my phone as I enter the private quarters. Rennie will be down once he’s talked to Dolly and I’ll have to don the ridiculous snow get-up he picked. My only comfort is that he picked outfits for everyone, so I won’t be the only one dressed like a North Fox catalog model to go out and play in the snow.

He even bought fucking coal and carrots to make snow animals!

The sound of Fitz’s voice on the phone line jolts me out of my head. As usual, he doesn’t wait for me to speak, so I listen to him blather on for a few moments before finally deciding to bring the conversation back to why I called. “Fitz. Fitz. Fitz!”

“Whoa, spicy lizard, take a pill! What’s got your tail crimped?”

Counting to five, I wait until my fire simmers down and answer him, “Fitz, you need to bring Chess and Felix to the Tower immediately.”

“Is something wrong with my baby girl? Why isn’t she answering my texts?”

I wince as my ears ring, despite holding the phone away from my face. He’s as hopped up as Rennie today. Horus, save me. “Nothing is wrong, you idiot. We’re...” I pause and heft a sigh, knowing he’s going to whoop again. “... we’re having everyone over to… play in the snow.”

I’d like to immediately retract that statement and erase it from memory. I’ll never live it down.

The sound he makes is awfully close to that animal-wannabe Tarzan he made me watch a cartoon about, and I have to wait until he gets himself under control before I can bring the phone to my ear again.

“You assholes are brilliant! Our snow bunny in a snowsuit? I’m in like Flint, baby!” The line rustles as he puts a hand over the phone—incorrectly—and yells. “Chess! Bro! Baby Girl’s going to play with our balls… our snowballs, I mean.” He snickers like a teenager, and I roll my eyes.

Felix has the patience of a fucking saint, I swear to Bast.

“Fitz, I’m hanging up now. Rennie bought everyone's snow gear, and now I have to get dressed. Get your furry ass over here before our appetizer arrives.”

I don’t even wait for him to answer before I end the call and plop down in my chair. Two overly enthusiastic shifters in one day are a bit much for me, but before I can consider how to handle Renard and Fitz together, the gargoyle in question rushes through the door with bags draped over his arms.

“We had a lot of snow in the mountains,” he murmurs. “I used to play in it as a kid. That was before, of course, but...”

Well, shit. Now I feel like a fool. This is about sharing something with our girl—something that means something to him.

With that revelation, my irritation fades as quickly as my fire, and I walk over to take a couple of the bags out of his hands. “This was a wonderful idea, Rennie. Let’s get dressed before everyone arrives, and you can tell me about it later, yeah?”

His smile brightens, and he nods. “I’d like that. I’m feeling unusually talkative today.”

Knock me over with a fucking feather. Today really has knocked something loose.

I grab the big bag he holds out, leaning in to give him a matching grin as I do. “Then I’d be remiss not to take advantage of your good humor. Now, get dressed.”

“Always the cheater!”

Snorting, I head into the bathroom to figure out what in unholy hell he’s chosen for me to wear. Rennie has a wicked sense of humor and a taste for chaos, so I wouldn’t put it past him to pick out the most ridiculous shit possible when I wasn’t looking. I open the bag, pulling out a complete Underarmadillo compression set, socks, a sweatshirt, and gray sweatpants.

I really must keep him and Dolly out of the romance section of the goddamn library.

It could be worse, I suppose, and I have the feeling he’s outfitted us all like a buffet of cock outlines on display for our bunny’s benefit. Of course, that means bite size will turn bright pink and is likely to stay that way the entire day. The image makes my dick stiffen and I groan. She’s so fucking adorable when she gets all shy about innuendos, and it’s even hotter when she gets brave enough to snark back. Thankfully, it’s cold as hell outside—which should help keep everyone’s hormones under control for a while.

I’m not sure Dolly’s ready for her fluffy tail to be chased by apex predators.

Fuck knows, Rennie loves the thrill of the hunt.

Since that’s not an unappealing scenario, I take a minute to squeeze myself into the winter garb before looking in the mirror. The damned outfit fits perfectly, despite the style looking out of place on me.

Dragons aren’t meant for sportswear. It’s undignified.

“Flames, get out here!”

Smiling to myself, I walk into the room to find Rennie hopping around as he wiggles into his version of our ‘team uniform’. The basic elements match, but his sweatshirt is black, where mine is a bright emerald. His tail is whipping back and forth, and I give him a knowing smirk. He refuses to confirm the talisman he wears allows his clothing to shift with him, but I’m neither na?ve, nor stupid. Gargoyles have some sort of relationship with magic, and whatever it is must be forbidden to talk about.

But he is in a talkative mood…

“Look at the outfit I got for Dolly,” he says once he gets situated, and I pinch the bridge of my nose.

For fuck’s sake…

Rennie yanks a baby pink snowsuit with a fur-trimmed hood out of the bag, and I bark a laugh. I’m not sure what exactly flipped his switch with Dolly, but this form-fitting outfit makes it very clear where his brain is. My lips curve when I consider how our curvy rabbit will look in it—it’s an adorable visual, and I curse under my breath when I realize I don’t have a squishy in my jacket pocket.

Dropping Delores’ suit on the wide nest in the middle of his bedroom, he winks and reaches into a drawer, tossing me a sparkly unicorn. “I take it you like it, huh?”

I narrow my eyes at him, huffing, but I accept the stupidly cute toy and I shrug. “I’m sure it will look good on her.”

“Uh-huh,” he replies with a smug smirk. “I’m sure it will.”

“Fuck, Rennie, let’s go downstairs before they drag Dolly up to the top floor and ruin the Yule surprise the Captain’s working on.”

His eyes widen, and he grabs the other bags. “Yes! We have to keep them from seeing it before it’s ready. C’mon!”

Chuckling to myself, I follow my friend, closing the door behind us. I hope to hell that Dolly and the others are ready for manic Rennie.

It’s going to be a very interesting day.