Page 127 of Let Us Prey
Rather, how thedragonfeels—which, at the moment, is far too feral for her to witness.
The sound of the archive’s airlock opening interrupts my brooding, and I look up from my stacks of books on the table. “Ah. You’re awake.”
“As are you,” Renard says, arching his brow. “Might I inquire when the next time you plan on sleeping might be?”
Rolling my eyes, I go back to examining the book that came in for authentication this week. “Don’t be dramatic. I sleep fine in the spare room down here, if I’m too tired to remain upright.”
“Mmm. I suppose that’s why you look like a giant, stubbly wreck, huh?” The gargoyle drops into one of the chairs across from me, watching me through narrowed eyes.
“Pfft,” is the only reply he gets as I cross-reference another book for verification.
His heavy sigh is tinged with frustration, and he pauses before speaking again. “Aubrey, for the love of Aed, go get ready for your date with Dolly and stop being a grumpy old asshole! I’ve known you fifty times longer than anyone else, and if you don’t get your horned head out of your ass, you’ll be sorry later,mon ami.”
Here comes the French; I’ve got him going now.
The dragon inside of me rumbles to life as the fire in my belly ignites. Rennie’s lips curve and his eyes flash electric blue, instinctively responding to the challenge, but he doesn’t shift one of his languid limbs—yet. My oldest companion is aware that I can’t allow myself to possibly damage the precious books in my hoard—not again—so he’s keeping his own inner beast tightly leashed.
“I don’t like being told what to do,Monsieur Laveaux,” I snarl.
He’s the only one I trust to tangle with my temper this way.
Rennie rolls to his feet gracefully, strolling to the door and pressing his finger on the pad to open it. “I suppose that’s why I do it,Lord Draconis.” That said, he strides out of the archives, and leaps into the elevator space, climbing up the walls like the theatrical sod he is.
Son of a bitch. Way to ruin a perfectly good brood, Rennie.
* * *
After a nap,a shower, and a great deal of decidedly more playful sniping later, I’m dressed for my trip to town with Dolly. It’s a casual outing, so according to my in-house fashion guru, I shouldn’t wear a jacket. Fussing with the collar of the light-colored oxford, I take one last glance in the mirror. I’m not vain, but I feel very exposed. It has been a long time since I’ve done something like this, and I don’t want to fuck it up.
“You’ll be fine,” Renard calls from his cozy spot in the nest. “Stop overthinking it.”
As if stopping my brain is an option.
“If you say so,” I mutter and head back into the room. Pulling my phone out, I look at the time, realizing I need to go down and meet our girl. Her friends are dropping her off at the Admin building on their way to work on sets for the talent show, apparently. The way Delores lit up when she talked about the piece she’s performing was enough to make my heart squeeze, and if nothing else, seeing her so much happier than she was when she arrived at Apex is gratifying.
“Catch!”
I barely get my hand up in time to snatch the car keys as they come flying towards my face. The gargoyle grins at me, his expression full of faux innocence, and I roll my eyes at him. “Very funny. I’m headed out now.”
Trudging down the steps of the Tower, I consider how much things have changed since Christmas break. The tone on campus is hushed—as if everyone is waiting for the next student to disappear without a trace, and hoping it won’t be them. Henny has asked the professors to load students up with as much work as possible to keep them indoors studying, rather than sneaking around for parties and hook-ups. It’s marginally cut down on fresh kills, but the ‘gift’ left on the balcony of the Tower set off alarm bells, even in the main office.
If someone can sneak into Renard’s sanctuary to drop a body, despite all of his eyes and ears on campus, is anywhere safe?
The truth is so much worse. Despite Rennie’s aversion to technology, there’s a fully equipped alarm system with motion sensors that we usually activate when we’re out. After all, the two of us have more valuable artifacts than anyone else at Apex, and neither of us appreciates invasion of privacy. Unfortunately, we were in such a rush to find Delores that weforgotto turn it on when the campus serial killer invaded our home. Since that night, we made certain everyone in the group had the code to deactivate it, and even modified the system to be set remotely . None of us want to find our girl alone with a dead body ever again.
I arrive at the Admin building to find Renard’s stupidly sleek Aston Martin parked in front—proving he really does have the prey staff wrapped around his clawed little finger. I would have preferred we switch this roller skate out for one of his larger vehicles, but he stubbornly refused.
That mischievous streak of his is going to be the death of me, especially if he ever gets Dolly to play along.
“Aubrey!”
Turning my head, I see the bunny in question waving as she walks up to me with the badger and polar bear. Her friends look like Sid Vicious and Nikki Minaj as they stroll up with my beaming date. They wear their eccentricity like a badge of honor, and I believe their self-confidence has given Dolly permission to be herself, without judgment. I’d thank them, but the punky one is giving me a suspicious glare.
What in the name of Osiris did I do to him?
“Listen up, Prof,” he says as they reach the car. “We brought Dollybear here for your little jaunt to town, but she’d better come back unscathed.”
The polar bear bobs her curly head, rainbow hair flying as she points an accusatory finger. “Even when it’s consensual, you’re too old not to know how to take care of our girl. Don’t make us hunt you down.”
