Page 1 of Eat. Prey. Love.

Previously on In Prey We Trust…

At the end ofLet Us Prey, Apex Academy lay in ruins, Chess was unconscious, and Dolly’s group had successfully repelled a surprising magical invasion. AsIPWTbegins, Dolly is confined at her parents’ estate for the summer, guarded by unpleasant bodyguards while her parents gallivant across Europe. She’s been unable to see her boyfriends except through video chats, which has made everyone stir-crazy. Her days are a tedious cycle of training in martial arts with Fitz’s friend, working for Luc Growlvinchy, and trying not to lose her mind while being separated from her support system.

Things take a turn when Cori and Rufus call to reveal that Apex Academy will not reopen anytime soon, a fact Lucille and Bruno conveniently neglected to share. Initially panicking, Dolly is reassured when she learns her friends, boyfriends, and their motley crew of prey shifters will transfer with her to Capital Preparatory. Resigned to navigating an entirely new and treacherous social landscape, Dolly steels herself for the upcoming semester.

Meanwhile, Fitz, Felix, and Chess have been staying together during the summer, frequently video chatting with Dolly. Fitz, teetering on the edge of frustration, proposes they sneak into Capital Prep’s perimeter to visit Aubrey and Renard, who are preparing their new library home. The trio heads to the library and finds Renard and Aubrey missing from the main living area. Fitz stumbles upon them in a compromising position in their bedroom, inadvertently discovering their secret relationship. Awkwardly retreating, Fitz fidgets through a group video call with Dolly, who immediately senses something is amiss. She subtly calms Fitz, promising him a reward for keeping quiet until they reunite.

Dolly spends her last days at home training and enduring her bodyguards' harassment, eagerly anticipating her departure. One night, she awakens to Fitz sneaking into her room through her window. Overjoyed, they spend the night together, though no one else knows Fitz has arrived early. The next morning, Renard calls to inform Dolly that Raina and the Captain will escort her to school, citing the troubling disappearance of predator students during transit. After packing her car and saying goodbye to her dull summer routine, Dolly and Fitz join Raina and the Captain for the journey to Capital Prep.

Their convoy is ambushed en route by faceless magical attackers. Forced into a brutal fight, Dolly and her companions fend off the mysterious foes. Dolly gets an up-close encounter with the attackers, who seem to be targeting her specifically. Upon arrival at Capital Prep, the group learns Fitz had been secretly streaming the battle via spy feeds to Aubrey and the others. Despite the invasive nature of Fitz’s surveillance, Dolly dismisses their concerns, trusting his protective instincts.

Settling into her new surroundings, Dolly explores the dorms but quickly grows uneasy about living among other predators. The group devises a plan: Dolly will “fake” her presence in the dorm while moving into the library complex with Renard and Aubrey. Renard and Aubrey reveal the lavish accommodations they’ve prepared for her, complete with a room for her sandcat, Jinx. Overwhelmed, Dolly is delighted when the group officially welcomes her into their shared living space. That evening, Renard and Aubrey disclose their mating bond, which prompts celebrations and a sense of relief among their friends.

Dolly’s schedule is packed with new classes, Pred Games practices, and a maze of social politics. At her first Pred Games practice with Zhenga, Dolly encounters haughty competitors and quickly grows frustrated with the social dynamics. The guys remind her that engaging in campus activities will help garner allies against her adversaries, particularly the “Heathers”—a group of snobby mean girls.

During a shopping trip for textbooks, uniforms, and essentials, Dolly and her group meet three triplet Sphinx shifters, who clash with Aubrey in a brief altercation. The day’s adventures end with a stop at a sex shop, where the group lightens the mood with playful purchases. As the semester begins, Dolly adjusts to the reality that Apex has been destroyed, and many of her allies—including prey shifters—have transferred to Capital Prep for safety. The Captain and his crew establish a system to ensure Dolly is never alone, especially in dangerous areas like the underwater tunnel connecting the dorms to the main campus.

Dolly’s troubles intensify when she discovers Lucille embedded RFID chips in her body during doctor’s appointments. With Chess’s help, she removes the chips, and Renard cleverly distributes them among kitchen staff to confuse anyone tracking her. Suspicion falls on Carina Rockland, Dolly’s assigned counselor, whose nosy and inappropriate questions during sessions raise red flags. Aubrey uncovers disturbing information about Rockland, including her plans to write a book exploiting Dolly’s relationships. The group rallies to involve Rufus’s cousin Farley, a skilled badger lawyer, to counter Rockland’s schemes.

The semester’s social and academic pressures come to a head when Dolly’s roommate, Kinsley, is found dead in their dorm room. Evidence links Kinsley to the poisonings at Apex, but her death leaves critical questions unanswered. The discovery prompts Henrietta, Apex’s former headmistress, to grant Dolly official permission to move into the library, alleviating her dorm-related worries.

As Dolly navigates classes and Pred Games matches, she strengthens bonds with her boyfriends and befriends Raina’s eclectic group of prey escorts. She continues to face opposition from the Heathers, including escalating tensions during history class. Lucille’s meddling complicates matters further as she pressures Dolly to excel in Pred Games and maintain the Drew family’s reputation.

In one of Dolly’s Pred Games matches, her opponent—a drug-enhanced canine shifter—nearly overwhelms her. Despite the unfair odds, Dolly’s determination and training secure her victory. The aftermath leaves her injured but bolstered by the unwavering support of her boyfriends. Fitz and Chess comfort her, and her triumph sparks viral attention.

The group’s investigations lead them to Apex’s ruins, where they uncover hidden vaults containing Fae artifacts and evidence of Council family conspiracies. Clues point to the Society, a shadowy group of predator families whose influence permeates the schools. Among the vaults, they find genetically modified flora and documentation implicating the Charles family in crossbreeding Fae plants to amass their fortune.

Back at Capital Prep, Dolly faces Rockland’s invasive scrutiny and discovers more troubling details about her plans. The group’s list of enemies grows, and they work tirelessly to protect Dolly and uncover the larger conspiracy. During a Halloween party in a graveyard, magical attackers orchestrate a chaotic assault, resulting in multiple student abductions. The event shakes the campus, prompting heightened security measures and further lockdowns.

Despite the escalating danger, the group continues their investigations, exploring hidden tunnels beneath Capital Prep. They discover additional vaults tied to predator families, including the MacLachlans, Kavarits, and Barringtons, each holding secrets that deepen the mystery. Among the findings are High Fae scrolls, which Renard reluctantly admits he can partially translate due to his childhood exposure to Fae culture.

The semester hurtles toward its conclusion with the Yule Ball looming. Lucille pressures Dolly to attend in perfect form, adding to the mounting tension. Fitz uncovers worrying chatter in online forums, and the group enlists a fox shifter to bolster campus security for the event. On the night of the Ball, Dolly and her friends make a grand entrance, drawing attention from the elite predator families. Lucille and Bruno attempt to provoke Dolly, but Aubrey intervenes, leveraging his mythical shifter status to silence them.

Chaos erupts when the Ball is attacked by magical invaders, including illusionists and Fae. Dolly and her group fight valiantly to protect the students, utilizing their unique abilities to fend off the attackers. Amid the battle, Renard confronts a taunting pixie illusionist who hints at a personal connection to him. A devastating magical blast incapacitates most attendees, leaving only Dolly, Aubrey, and Renard conscious. The trio’s resilience underscores Dolly’s growing power and her potential ties to the Fae.

Reeling from the attack, Dolly resolves to take the fight to the Fae and unravel the conspiracy threatening her world. With her loyal companions by her side, she prepares to confront the Society and their enigmatic motives, determined to protect her friends and uncover the truth behind the attacks.

Leaving on a JetPlane

Looking around nervously,I lick my lips while I fight the urge to jiggle my knee. I’m nervous as fuck; this is the first time I’ve ever flown—that I can remember, at least—in an airplane. Lucille and Bruno never took me on their in-country trips, much less overseas. It doesn’t matter that the guys are all familiar with this and have reassured me a million times.

When I fly with Aubrey, I know how his damn wings work and I canfeelhim.

This is a huge hunk of metal literally defying physics to rocket through the air in a controlled explosion—I don’t fuckinglike it and that’s that. Since I nixed flying on the Khan jet—for obvious reasons—Fitz figured out how to get us on a private jet that he and Rennie personally checked out before anything was loaded. Part of my fear wasn’t illogical; this is a fantastic place to fucking kill me because I’m trapped a bazillion feet above a goddamn ocean. It seemed like tempting fate to even consider it, but the deadline for arrival atAcademie des crocs et griffesdidn’t allow for a ship voyage.

Jinx hops up on my lap, batting the fingers digging into the joggers I borrowed from Fitz. I smile softly as I stroke my hand over her head. She’s getting bigger, though she’ll never be a large cat, and her attitude is twice as big as her physical size. “Hey, girl. This is pretty fancy, huh?”

“Top of the fucking line, Baby Girl. Only the best for you,” the tiger himself says as he swaggers across the luxurious cabin with his drink. His brows waggle as he grins. “Ask me how I did it.”

“Howyoudid it?” Renard grumps from his spot sprawled over a large chair. “I think that’s misleading.”

A loud huff comes from the couch and I look up to see Aubrey cleaning his glasses. “A distinct distortion of the truth for certain. You didn’t procure this flying tin can as much as ensure it wasn’t messed with. There’s a difference.”

“Bro, tell them not to be mean,” Fitz whines at Felix. His twin arches a brow before shaking his head to go back to reading the materials they were sent from the third school we’ve been at in two years. “Fine. Chessie, you tell them.”

Chess pokes his head out of the galley, looking at Fitz with a sigh. “Baby, you helped. Isn’t that enough? Our angel doesn’t care who did what, only that we took care of her. Right?”

His gaze lands on me and I nod, giving him the best grin I can manage. “That’s true. I’m just glad we didn’t have to trust any of our families or ride in a big cramped plane with a ton of otherpeople. My anxiety would have killed me before we got to France; I’m sure of it.”

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