Page 122 of Let Us Prey

“Just how many of you morons are chasing this bunny’s tail?” Z asks curiously as she looks around.

“All of us!” Fitz yells before turning back to Chess. “And you should have told me, baby.”

Before I can cut in, she shakes her head, “Then every single one of you dumbasses will be in my class on Wednesday. You obviously need the reminder of remedial level shifter sexuality if you failed to discuss the possibilities when top tier shifters fuck.”

I frown. “I’ve never been told anything about it being different because of our lineage…”

“And I need Cliffs Notes, babe. What can Chessie and I look up? I refuse to look stupid in front of a bunch of newbs in that class…”

“That’s because it almost never happens anymore, Raj. Most groups think it’s an extinct fairy tale,” Zhenga says smugly.

Aubreytilts his head, looking at her in interest. “People think what is extinct, Leonidas?”

“Fated mates!” she says with a gleeful wink. Saluting us, she turns and stalks off, leaving us with that bomb ticking in the middle of the room.

Absolutely fuck. my. life.

Complicated

Delores

If only Icould disappear off the face of the Earth, rather than come to this sex ed class…

Professor Zhenga focused the first half of today’s class on reviewing the information from Monday’s video.ThatI could handle; it’s pretty straightforward information.

Heather M. interjecting with ‘but that’s sex with a worthypred, right?’ after every fucking statement was harder to manage, but I kept my cool. She’s obviously a plant for someone and within a few weeks, she’s integrated herself in with my ex-besties without a hitch. I’m calling her Yellow because of her weird fetish for a certain fruit that she has zero fucks about sharing with everyone.

This is sex ed, not kink camp, you dumb fuck. Show a little restraint.

That’s what I want to say, but Yellow works her bullshit into every conversation as if she’s a seasoned practitioner. Even Professor Z has told her to shut up about shit she has no clue about, but she doesn’t listen. She keeps running her mouth and I’m honestly waiting to call her out on her lies in public. I catch our teacherlooking at her the same way I do and I wonder which one of us will break first.

I can’t tell if Zhenga is a rival or an ally, but she definitely has no patience for interruptions in her lectures. She told Yellow to ‘fuck off Regina’ at least three times before announcing her class would now have a points system. Every stupid question would earn a demerit on the board, and she would assign the person with the most demerits a cleaning task in the gym—starting with the men’s bathrooms.

That shut Yellow’s nasty ass up, praise Hera.

Now that the review is over, Zhenga has switched gears to mating in myths and legends. I’m confused because the syllabus she handed out last time said we wouldn’t get into myths and legends until we’d covered basic biology and behavior for all the major shifter types. It’s a pretty rapid switch, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s because of my conversation with her after class. She seemed disturbed when I described the situation, and although she promised to do some research, she certainly hasn’t reported back tomeabout it.

I raise my hand, intent on asking about the one eighty in the curriculum so I can figure out how to work ahead, when the door swings open and my jaw hits the floor. All five of my boyfriends are making their way to the back of myremedialsex ed classroom with irritated looks on their faces. As if my inexperience isn’t enough to make me insecure, they get to witness one of their exesteachme how fucking sex works!

I’d like to die here and now if it’s convenient, thanks.

Scrunching down into my seat, I tuck my legs under me and pull up the hood on Fitz’s stolen sweatshirt. I can’tactuallydisappear, but I can keep the heat on my face from being as noticeable. My eyes are trained on the front of the classroom, waiting for a smirking Zhenga to continue with the lecture.

“Now that our guests have arrived, I have a special film to share. I dug through old lecture materials until I found lesson plans and films referencing certain types of folklore. This one is extremely old, so giggle away at the outdated shit. It’s grainy and cheesy—the girls should also be prepared to be angry at the blatant misogyny. But in a pinch, this is the best I could do without being granted access to anyspecial archives.”

That dig was aimed right at my grumpy librarian, and I can hear his snort of irritation before I smell the smoke rings. I’m not sure whose side the lioness is on, but it’s clear she has absolutely no fear, and maybe no sense of self-preservation. My dragon willroasther if she isn’t careful, especially with the mood he’s been in lately.

“I expect to see all of you taking notes. They have banned the information in this film in the past—it’s rare to learn this at all since the Council took over. You may not get to see it again.”

Frowning, I wonder why the Council would give a shit about legends and mating practices. What could be in this damned movie that’s so scandalous? Maybe she’s being dramatic because she figured out I was talking about a Khan when I asked her my questions, and this is her way of making me feel dumb.

That has to be it.

Zhenga turns the lights out and drops onto the bean bag she prefers, whipping out her phone. I can’t complain, though. The benefit of her distraction is I can watch the guys out of the corner of my eye. What I see is giggle-worthy, but I don’t want to draw attention to myself, so I bite my lip to hold it in.

The aforementioned dragon is seated in a large armchair with a frown on his face that looks more thoughtful than grumpy. His phone is out, and I think he might be recording the sound of the video rather than playing around like my actual professor. Rennie is perched on the arm of his chair, his expression unusually stormy ashis tail flicks in sharp, angry beats. Fitz is sprawled on a beanbag next to Felix, focusing on the film more than I’d expect as his brother runs his fingers absently through his hair. It’s like Felix is comforting him, but I don’t know why. Chess is standing off to the side with his arms crossed as he leans against the wall, watching quietly.

Something is off with them, and I’d sure as hell like to know what it is.

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