Page 47 of Let Us Prey
“If you want me to pay you, I’m happy to. I can pull money out of the Prey-TM in Honeywell tomorrow... "
“Hush your mouth!” Cori comes back around to face me, her expression irritated. “We would never chargeyou—only the bobbleheaded morons. They have more money than sense, and it tickles us to get them to part with their parents’ coin, only to get in trouble for doing it.”
“I love me some drama,” Rufus coos. “It’s almost as much fun as fucking the uber-jocks with ‘I’m not gay’ complexes, alhough, lately, the field has been barren. Maybe you should tell us about your adventures in sausage-slapping, Dolly. Give the parched a sip.”
Oh, no.
I don’t… how am I supposed to talk with them about what Bash and Nico and I did together? I know they won’t be judgy, but I’ve never really done this kind of ‘girl talk’ before. Will they want… details? “Um… well… I don’t know if I should… ”
Cori bursts into laughter, covering her mouth with her hand. When she finally gets herself under control, she gives me a serious look. “We are avault,Dolly. Your secrets stay with us and vice versa. If you’re too nervous to talk about whatever…sandwichesyou’re dining on, we understand. But damn, girl. Your face is a dead giveaway.”
My eyes widen. It is? Oh, shit. What if someone ever tries to interrogate me? I cover my face with my hands, trying not to disturb them as they continue circling me with dye bowls and foil. “Guys, I have no experience with lying. I mean, I got away with little white lies occasionally, but Lucille can damned near smell deception, so I didn’t try it often. What if I need to lie to protect Bash and Nico? You’re going to have to teach me.”
“Did I hear sweet little Dolly ask us to corrupt her?” Rufus crows. “I have been waiting for this! Coco, we’re going to need a soundtrack for this. Please?”
Cori skips to the counter and pairs her phone with my Bluetooth speaker before clapping her hands. “Okay, Ru-Ru. Let the corruption begin.”
I blink as Taylor Swift blares out of the speaker, and Rufus waves his dye brush at me playfully.
Sweet Hermes, what in the hell did I just agree to?
TWENTY-EIGHT
Shout Out to My Ex
Delores
Professor Cassius’ eyes are on me the instant I appear at the freshwater lake for today’s Shifting Studies exercise. To be more specific, his searing gaze locks on my new rainbow sherbet hair with an intensity that makes my knees weak.
Not that I will ever admit to that.
Regardless, I’m still riding the wave of adrenaline from Rufus and Cori dyeing my hair last night, and I have no intention of letting my grumpy Professor ruin my vibe.
“I suppose you think this means I can’t call you Blondie anymore?” Cassius is suddenly in front of me, his enormous frame towering over me, doing all sorts of damage to my panties.
Good thing I double-bagged today.
“Why did you declare me under Romulus protection?” I fire back, beyond satisfied when he visibly flinches.
Cassius quickly regains his composure, shooting me a glare before turning away to address the class. “All right, weaklings. Our bunny here is clearly a unicorn.” He pauses to dismissively gesture at my new hair color. “She’s the only one who impressed me in the ring the other day. Of course, that little hissy fit was mostly fueled by uncontrollable rage and what I assume were lady hormones, but it was a good show.”
Lady hormones!
“Yeah, you’re still going to be hearing from my family lawyer about that!” Heather E. shrills, and I roll my eyes to see she’s now sporting an enormous neck brace. She can’t be too injured, as she’s here and also found the time to write a scathing op-ed for the school newspaper about an ‘unnamed professor’ playing favorites and putting Council heirs at risk. I assume her father advised hernotto call out a Romulus by name, but there were enough heavy-handed references in the article to leave little doubt who the guilty party was.
Why be direct when you can be publicly passive aggressive instead?
True to form, Cassius ignores the interruption. “Today we’re going to learn about half-shifts, which only alphas, powerful betas and Council heirs can truly master. So all of you who don’t fit that criteria get to watch this one from the cheap seats.”
An awkward few minutes follow where three-quarters of the class shuffle off to go sit on the grassy hill overlooking the playing field. The only shifters left are Todd and his fellow hyenas, a few wolves, various smaller preds, and the Heathers, who all strip down to tiny bikinis and wade into the lake.
I’m simultaneously disappointed and relieved to no longer be a Council heir. Of course, I want to learn every skill I can here at Apex while I’m still alive, to stay that way. But connecting with my bunny still feels foreign to me—not only because I was raised as a predator, but something feels…offabout her. I’d always been taught that prey were weak and inclined to freeze or flee, but that’s not howmybunny reacts. She gets uncontrollably angry andwantsto fight, and the few times I’ve let her dance over my skin, I can tell how incredibly strong she is.
I think I might be afraid of her.
“Where do you think you’re going, Miss Drew?” Professor Cassius barks as I head for the hill to watch. “You’ll be half-shifting today with the rest of the heirs.”
“I’m not sure if you got the memo, but I’ve been disowned by my family,” I mumble, wearily turning to face him. “So that kind of negates the wholeheirthing… ”
