Page 74

Felix

Surprisingly, Henny has been true to her word for the past two weeks since the break.

The plagiarism thing disappeared with a wishy-washy apology note. Those two-faced bullies snipe at her in class, but no gross or dangerous pranks have popped up while she’s been rehearsing. We all take turns escorting her around campus, and she’s begrudgingly allowed it. The second dead student and fourteen missing made it an easy sell.

It was like evil was on pause until the end of the year—until last night.

My tiger instincts knew better, but she didn’t want us watching the practices, so it didn’t spoil the show. The hanging Chad last night proved our princess isn’t safe, nor are the rest of the preds who attend this school. We have to amp up investigating this shit now—follow leads to connect the students who disappeared or track down more herbologists about the poison. The living room in the Tower is full of ‘mystery’ boards, so we’ve got our hands full tracing every minuscule detail to find a motive.

Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll get any further until we find out why this is happening now, and Renard agrees. No matter how we spin all the events on campus, they don’t have a common thread except they started once our intrepid bunny arrived. The killer doesn’t leave clues, and the gargoyle is still putting out discreet feelers regarding magic in our midst. But the danger is getting worse, and no one will bring in the SBI to get it under control.

I hate being unable to control shit.

Sighing, I fidget in my seat as we sip our illegal drinks in the fancy ass theater the Shirdals built as a monument to themselves. It’s easy to forget this talent show horseshit is an annual event because I never attend. Fitz usually suffers through it to support Chess, but he takes his payment in spades afterwards. Our two winged grouches are stuffed into seats as well, and I guarantee those fuckers haven’t come to this in the centuries they’ve been here. We’re here to keep our girl safe, so despite the likelihood of this being shitty as hell, we’re not going anywhere.

That’s some fucking personal growth on all our parts—go team.

I chuckle at my internal joke and Fitz arches a brow at me. “Something funny, broski?”

“Don’t call me that,” I mutter. “But yes. I was thinking about how much all five of us have changed over the past year—in a good way.”

Chess leans over my twin, giving me an amused smile. “Yet you haven’t asked Angel out yet and you’re the last one, Felix. Aren’t you worried she thinks you got coerced into this arrangement? She’s slowly gaining more and more confidence, but it seems fragile. The damage done to her in the past isn’t fully healed.”

Pondering that for a moment, I look at our rag-tag family. Fitz and Chess haven’t been with her together—yet—but they’re tighter than ever with one another and her. Aubrey and Ren seem to be cagier than normal, but they’ve found something to share with her as well. And she obviously adores them separately, despite all their ancient shifter quirks. I’m the only one who hasn’t taken the opportunity to get to know the princess better in a private setting—and I don’t just mean sex.

I’m falling behind because of fear and Khans don’t do that—especially rightful kings.

“You’re right,” I whisper as the lights finally dim. “I’ll ask her out after the show.”

The dragon looks at me in amusement, shaking his head. “Seems like a good time, tiger. You’ve got the flowers and everything. Glad you figured out where we were herding you.”

Blinking, I look down at the colorful bouquets of exotic flowers Renard assembled from his private garden. “This was a trap?”

“True story, bro. Jalepēno Jackass over there came up with the plan and we all contributed.” Fitz frowns as the spotlight hits the stage. “Now, hush, so we can support Chessie and my baby girl.”

I gape at him, shocked they shamelessly admitted conspiring against me—even my family! Did I really have my head that far up my ass? Scrubbing my hand over my face as an overture starts, I think about it and realize they’re probably right. I’m not just ‘taking it slow’ with Delores; I’m keeping her at arm’s length despite agreeing to this polycule.

That’s not fair to either of us, and tonight, I’m going to change it.

Of course, I’ll have to survive this nightmare first.

Chess’ hesitant description of last year’s show didn’t quite prepare me for the disaster masquerading as talent at this school. Mind, a few students had good singing skills, though not in the arts program, and a couple did a decent job on instruments. But the non- theater arts majors doing scenes or dance numbers with nothing more than rich kid egos have been excruciating.

Like the eyeball scarring bouncing of the princess’ enemy squad as they emulate a movie they clearly didn’t get the point of. So far they’ve butchered the music, fucked up basic dance, and are bounding out of their lingerie more than anything else. The fact that I can tell it’s so terrible means the tricolored badger directing has to be losing his fucking mind.

My eyes cut to the balcony Fitz and I combed over last night, making sure there wasn’t a shadowy presence lurking. Dolly finally admitted it after we grilled her about every second of the rehearsal, but she wasn’t happy about it. She’s been adamant we can’t see her piece until tonight, but the last practice this morning made us all uneasy.

“Don’t worry, Felix. I had security check on everyone who entered and close the doors for re-entry. We might have a problem if there’s a fire, but otherwise, no creepers should be able to get in,” Chess whispers.

“I still believe it should have been postponed after the body dropped.” My hands tighten around the program as I look around, trying to scout the audience and ignore the caterwauling on stage. “Henrietta caved to those idiot moms, and it puts everyone at risk.”

“Well, not everyone…”

I arch a brow at the cheetah. “How safe are the preds on campus who aren’t here, since all the guards are here?”

“Shhh. You two will get us tossed out and I’ve been waiting to see what my baby girl has spent all her time perfecting,” Fitz growls softly. “If I had to sit through this silicone peep show, I want to see our girl in all her glory.”

He’s not wrong.

“She’s coming up soon,” Chess murmurs. “I’m grading while I watch, so I have to know.”

Letting out a deep breath, I watch the last bit of this never-ending nightmare, practically thanking the gods when it finally ends. There’s a smattering of applause and more than a little laughter as the Heathers prance off-stage with smug smiles. My eyes narrow as I watch the new one who claims to have transferred from Bloodstone. Fitz and I know it’s a lie; miscreants are sent there for life, not to return with a pardon.

This Mc Lachlan chick is yet another mystery I haven’t had time to explore. While her allegiance with the other bullies is annoying, she hasn’t proven dangerous—yet. We’ve got so many enemies and things to figure out on our boards that I’ve tabled her presence for the moment. When I have the patience to contact my father’s assistants, I’ll find out who the fuck she is and why she’s here.

Besides spying on Fitz and I.

The lights dim again and when the spotlight comes up, the curtains pull back on a set made to look like New York City in the mid-1800s. Chess beams when I give him a thumbs up—I’d recognize his work on the sets anywhere. They dressed all the students in costumes that make them look like newsboys, facing away from us in their knickers, suspenders, caps. I’m pretty sure I see the princess, but without her trademark hair giving it away, the lighting makes it hard.

Then the song starts and I scoot forward in my chair.

Holy leapfrogging Hermes!

I think I can pick out the better dancers as they leap, slide, spin, and stomp over the stage to the forceful music. Fuck if I know much about this shit, but I can tell by the look on the badger’s face—they’re doing well. As they get closer to the edge of the stage, I can make out her polar bear friend as well. She definitely seems to carry some of the harder singing parts and her dancing is pretty damn good.

At least, I thought so until the princess comes striding out into the middle of the stage. She drops a paper and launches into a spin move that lasts so long people shoot out of their seats to applaud. When the noise dies down, the other players crowd around her playfully. My heart stops when they move away and she’s gone.

What the hell, is there a trap…?

“Motherfucker, look at that!” Fitz says, pointing to a corner where our girl is standing cheekily. She winks when we look at her, then does a stupid amount of flips and gymnastics, landing just short of the edge of the stage. The crowd goes nuts again, and she does another run as three other girls join her in the feat. By the end, they’ve all landed in the middle again, dropped into a painful-looking split that makes my balls ache and the song is ending with a shout.

Aubrey is clapping so hard I think he’s going to break his hands and Fitz is literally bouncing on his seat like it’s a diving board. I give Chess a shocked look and he shrugs, mouthing, ‘Told you so’.

He most certainly did not.

The audience continues going fucking banana pants as the group gets up and takes a bow, looking happy and excited for the praise. Dolly is in the middle, holding hands with her bear friend, her face so bright that it makes my chest ache. I wish everyone could see her shining like this, especially her asshole parents, because they’d definitely see the woman my friends fell for.

After a few minutes, the Broadway crew exits the stage and then returns with the other performers. People are still applauding for the musical performance, but at least the others can bask in the clapping as well. The Heather girls are standing on the back half of the stage. They’re glaring daggers at the performers in the newsboy outfits that reveal absolutely nothing, but didn’t need to. Dolly’s group had talent and hard work to prop them up, not nip slips and thongs.

Jerking my head at Fitz and the others, I climb over the seats in front of us, pushing my way through the crowd until I reach the stage. Delores comes running up, her eyes full of pride, and she drops to her knees to greet us.

“How did I do, Sir?”

I have to stifle a groan, making my twin snort, but I hand her the flowers Ren brought with a broad smile. “You were amazing, Princess. You stole the show.”

“Hell yeah, she did! I want you to do all that crazy bendy shit in bed, baby girl. You’ve been holding out on me,” Fitz says, as he growls at her playfully. “No more hiding freaky-deaky shit.”

Her laugh makes me smile even more and I hold my hand out. “Do you have plans for an after-party or would you like to come home and have some takeout with us?”

“That doesn’t count as a date!” Renard sing-songs from behind me.

Asshole.

“I’ve spent weeks with these guys getting this down. Let’s order in and climb into the nest for a movie,” Dolly says with a smile. “Do I get to pick?”

“Absolutely, angel,” Chess says. “You deserve some serious pampering after that.”

“Goody!” she shouts as she jumps to her feet and runs over to tell her friends. When she returns, her grin is almost splitting her face. “I hope you're ready to watch Dirty Dancing because nobody puts this bunny in a corner anymore.”

Oh, fuck, what have we gotten ourselves into now?