Page 57

Renard

I don’t understand why they’re all so damn grumpy.

Well, except for Fitz. He’s easily as excited as me because he’s bouncing on his toes as the lovely Dolly comes out of the Tower. Everyone changed into their snow clothes and it worked exactly how I predicted—extremely obvious how much they all appreciate my choice of attire for our bunny.

I’ve decided I’m #TeamFitzandChess on this topic. Both of them seem absolutely certain this love quadrilateral will work and since Chess is never this adamant about anything, I believe it’s prudent to listen.

That’s also why I lobbied to get him the next ‘date’ with her. It’s time for those three to seal the deal and it will never happen if Chess doesn’t have ‘alone time’ with her. Someone as inexperienced as ma petite won’t feel comfortable with him and Fitz until our shy cheetah quits hiding from her.

My penchant for organized chaos will help everyone get on board or else.

This outing is definitely part of my plan—my friends seriously need playtime. While I had a decent childhood until I got exiled, they cast Flames out young and the Khans never got to be kids. I highly doubt Dolly was, either. A good, old-fashioned snowball fight is both fun and light, but competitive enough to interest all the alphas in the group.

I know; I’m a genius.

“What are we doing, Rennie?” The rabbit in question looks over at me with wide eyes and I feel that undeniable pull again.

Bending down, I scoop up a handful of snow and fashion it into a lumpy ball. “We’re going to play in the snow, ma petite . There’s enough to have a friendly snowball fight and we have an even amount of people.”

Fitz lets out a whoop of joy. “I fucking love it, Pouty Poet. I pick Chessie ‘cause he’s fast as hell.”

“That means I’m the other captain,” Felix growls as he gives his brother a dark smile. “And I pick Aubrey. Flying projectiles and all.”

Shit. Now it’s become a Twin Terror competition and the odds of someone getting their ass handed to them are exponentially higher.

“We pick Renard,” Chess pipes up. “No fair having two fliers.”

Dolly’s eyes narrow as she looks at each of us with obvious irritation. “I’m on Team Felix by default and don’t think I’ll forget being picked last, assholes.”

Oh, that’s much worse.

Felix watches her stomp over to us, murmuring something to her as she joins them. Her answering grin is vicious and yet again, I see the Drew in our girl as she turns back to rake her gaze over each one of my team members. It’s cold, calculating, and absolutely the stare of a predator sizing up its prey.

How does anyone think this girl isn’t one of us, regardless of her biology?

“We’re in deep trouble, my friend,” I murmur to Chess. “Dolly will go for the throat now that she feels underestimated, and you know how dragons love losing.”

Chess grimaces. “The past fifty game controllers tell me what he’ll do. And Felix and Fitz never pull punches when they go up against one another—stay light on your feet.”

“I may have misjudged the ‘fun’ aspect of this activity,” I mutter as Fitz comes over and gathers us into a huddle.

“Not at all, Rock Man. We’re gonna crush them like bugs and then I’ll kiss my girl’s boo-boos until they’re all better.”

I blink. “You’re going full force at Dolly? Are you crazy?”

He rolls his eyes and sighs. “How am I the only one who gets it? Look, you tools. Especially since she was picked last, we have to treat her like one of us—equal in every way except age. Otherwise, we’re going to piss her the fuck off and you losers will have no chance with her.”

This is going to be a nightmare.

Since we’re damn near alone on campus, Felix and Fitz agreed to expand the playing field to include from the Honeywell building to Shirdal. There are a lot of places to get pegged by a flying object in the open, but also a decent amount of places to build small arsenals as you run from section to section. The two of them even shook hands—as if either planned on playing fair.

If you believe that, I’ve got a couple of monuments in Europe to sell you.

“Chess, you’re the fastest runner, so you should be the one who distracts attention. We only get ten hits before we’re out and if you draw fire, Renard coming from high and me sneaking up from below will create a pincer move.”

Fitz is plotting this out like we’re in a war game, and I’d bet his twin is on the other side. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of the others since we split up, which is surprising. Our girl is wearing bright pink and Flames should be in the sky, but neither has appeared.

Our team has strategically placed armories of snowballs in a side corner of Shirdal, on the back area of Honeywell, facing the staff housing, and near my garden by the Tower. I made sure they weren’t completely obvious but easy enough to access that Chess could dart over to get more ammo if he needs it as he races around.

I can’t help wondering why the others don’t seem to be creating safe zones, though.

“Got it, Fitzy,” Chess says with a smile. He’s pulled his hair back in a little bun and looks ready to show off his major strength in front of the others.

The tiger winks at me, shifting to his animal, and I gape. He damn near blends in, though he has to be freezing. He is not a Siberian and this climate can’t make him feel good. But winning is clearly more important to a Khan than freezing his nuts off.

“I’ll go get some high ground,” I say with a chuckle. “Don’t get frostbite anywhere important, or Dolly will be very upset, Fitzgerald.”

“Me, too,” Chess scowls as he watches the tiger melt into the landscape without a word. “Zeus’ beard, he’s such an over competitive idiot sometimes.”

I nod and clap him on the shoulder. “Agreed. Now go show off for the girl and I’ll watch your back.”

The cheetah gives me a boyish grin and zips off with a speed that’s impressive, even in humanoid form. I’ll be damned; he really is like the damn Flash.

Looking around, I squint at the high areas. Flames will expect me to take to my Tower out of habit, so I can’t go there. But Shirdal has a very nice dome and a spot I can try to blend in with statuary. If I dive right, my speed will eclipse him because of wing structure. That’s where I need to be. It’s a lovely day for a climb, anyway.

From the top of the arts building, I have a perfect view of the large playing field. I can see movement zipping from zone to zone that I know is Chess—no one else is that fast. There’s something on the ground by Honeywell, but it’s hard to make out what. That might be Fitz covered in snow and blending like a guerrilla fighter, but I’m unsure.

A loud roar comes from the ground and I see Flames diving in from out of nowhere to pelt Chess with three snowballs that knock him off his feet. My eyes widen and I push off the building, heading into a dive that brings me close enough to grab him as I glide by.

“What the hell?” I growl at him as I carry us towards the far lake behind Honeywell.

“Frozen. Someone froze the snowballs,” he grunts as he works to catch his breath.

Oh, our girl is clever as hell. I guarantee that was her idea.

“Looks like Team Felix is playing dirty,” I chuckle when my feet touch the ground. “They’ve got a mastermind coaching behind the scenes.”

Chess wheezes a little and nods. “Hard as your ass, man. I’ve got seven left, but it’s going to take a few for me to get back to speed.”

I nod, looking around us for a ground assault. “I’ll need to find high ground again. Where do you think Fitz is?”

My answer is a stream of fire shooting into the air by the opposite lakeside. I don’t know if Fitz found my dragon or the opposite, but the burst of fire tells me something is afoot. Chess waves at me, letting me know to head in that direction while he recovers. I have to trust he’ll find cover somewhere nearby until then, so I do a quick run and take off to glide over the ground. I’m not very high, but I’ll be faster.

When I get to the shore behind my haven, I have to cover my mouth to stop the laughter. Fitz and Aubrey are in a standoff, just lobbing snowballs from small piles at one another over and over. Aubrey is covered in snow and his dragon is shimmering beneath his skin; I can feel it. Fitz is taking the hits from the ice balls like a champ, though I suspect he’ll have bruises for a few hours. His tiger is batting the projectiles with the aim of an elvish prince regardless, so if I don’t stop them, his chestnuts are definitely going to get roasted.

“Stop! You’re both out, obviously.” I smirk at them, giving the duo a wink as I take off on the wind over the lake before anyone can try to knock me out as well.

We still haven’t seen the Day-Glo bunny in her suit or Fitz’s cagey brother.

It makes my gargoyle rumble in suspicion.

“I know,” I murmur to myself. “It’s almost as though they’ve planned for the hotheads to take one another out. This plan is craftier than I expected and we’ve all made a grave error in underestimating the fluffy cottontail.”

Banking left off the water, I glide towards the staff housing. A sudden burst of rock hard snowballs bounce off my wings, throwing me completely off balance. The ground approaches fast and I tuck, then roll, so I don’t injure myself on impact. When I pull my wings in, there are five circular marks on the left one, clear as day.

What in the curve of Loki’s horns was that?

Felix’s head crests a defensive bank built of snow and he unleashes another rapid fire round of the damned things that flatten me immediately.

I blink as I look up at the sky, catching my breath. Chess was right; the damn things hurt like a bitch.

The tiger appears above me, smirking as he sing-songs, “Strike ten and you’re out, old man.”

I accept the hand he offers, glaring. “How did you manage the Gatling effect with snowballs?”

His rumble is low. “Trade secret, man.”

“I rigged a slingshot with multiple load capacity.”

The voice comes from behind us and I watch in awe as Delores struts into the middle of the field holding Chess by his collar. His face is red, though I doubt it’s from the cold. I watch her sit him down in front of Felix, noting she covered her suit in snow to camouflage it.

“Bras are good for more than keeping your boobs in place, Rennie,” she says with a giggle. “And men need to understand that female adversaries think totally differently than them. Luckily, Felix the Grump let me lead this one.”

Aubrey and Fitz stomp up, both grumbling about being taken out first, and my smile stretches. Even though Dolly got Chess, it was good for him to last almost as long as she and Felix. He needed that win, and I doubt he’s truly upset by being snared by our vicious little bunny.

She’s a force to be reckoned with and everyone at Apex should be on guard—Delores Drew is playing to win.