Page 119 of Let Us Prey
Tilting my nose, I inhale deeply, recognizing the smells of the surrounding forest. Now that I’m in the dark, I can see a faint glimmer of stars winking through a gap near the ceiling. It's a new moon tonight, but I suspect the light from a full moon would have no trouble getting in.
“There’s another gap in here, leading outside and high enough for moonlight to get in,” I call out to Renard. “I had to elevate myself on the pedestal to see—”
Elevate… like “elevate your pain.”
What if “follow the light” meansmoonlight?
“Fuck!” I exclaim, amused when Renard immediately springs into action.
“Are you all right?! What’s happening?” he barks, his claws raking at the wall.
Aww… he cares, after all.
“I’m fine,” I laugh, jumping down from the pedestal and giving the groove one last assessing swipe before shifting back into my fox.
Nosing the matches through the gap before I follow, I brush off my dusty skin and pull on my clothes again.
“Well?” Renard is staring at me expectantly. “Any idea what the room was used for?”
Deciding to tease, I hum, tapping a finger against my lip as if deep in thought. “Hmm, I have a theory, but it’s going to take further research and getting the entire pack involved.”
Renard smiles knowingly. “Ah, so, I should plan on calling a family meeting in the Tower—one whereyouare given the chance to talk, for once.”
“If you can,” I chuckle, allowing him to lead us out, basking in my sense of purpose—anything to distract me from the growing rift with my pack of wolves that I don’t know how to fix.
SIXTY-THREE
What’s Up, Danger?
Delores
If I thought the fall semester was exhausting, I wasn’t prepared for spring atall. Whatever had the teachers in a frenzy during the winter exams has carried into the new semester via a flurry of time-consuming assignments requiring so much energy, I’m barely able to keep my eyes open at the end of the day.
I swear, they’re trying to keep students studying behind closed doors 24/7.
I don’t have a frame of reference, but Cori and Rufus seem to be equally worn out. I spend most weeknights buried in books with them, munching on takeout or to-go meals from the caf, while we guzzle caffeine like addicts to stay awake.
The theme of our dinner break tonight is all about venting our frustrations about being chained to our dorms like house-elves.
“What’s the point of having five fucking boyfriends if I’m not able to, you know,do shit with themon a regular basis?” I grumble, as I dip a crab rangoon in sauce.
Rufus snorts, smacking his thigh. “Oh, Coco, our girl is growing up! She’s complaining about not gettinglaidenough!”
The polar bear chortles in response, grabbing the container of vegetable lo mein. “Never mind that we’re not getting any, either. I barely had time to chat with a hot chica in the library before having to bail with the book I was looking for.”
“Oh, shit, Cori.Don’tget caught making out with someone there or I’llneverhear the end of it,” I groan. “The big guyhatespeople defiling his library.”
“Exceptyou, right, Dollypop?” Rufus gives me a smirk as he picks a meat skewer clean suggestively.
I shake my head, eyes wide. “Even me. No hanky-panky in the library proper is a rule.”
“Uh-huh. And what kind of hanky-panky is going onoutsidethe library proper?” Cori snatches the crab from me with a knowing look.
My face flushes. “Not much. I mean, I’ve slept with Bash, Nico, and Rennie. But the other two are still more hands-off than I’d like. I guess it takes time, but sometimes I wonder... "
My sex life is taking a massive hit from this academy lockdown.
“Girl, I applaud your demand for more dick. Too much isneverenough!” I shoot Rufus alookand he shrugs. “Maybe it’s the boredom talking. We’re all locked up like handmaidens, and you have at least three guys on active duty, so I have to live vicariously.”
