Page 20 of Let Us Prey
“Did I? Careless of me. I did caution you to keep to the middle.”
I seem to enjoy riling her up. Perhaps this is what my gargoyle friend means when he says he enjoys creating chaos.
Her glare is full of vengeance, and because I think she means it, I let her have her moment before I walk to the edge and leap to the west platform. She stays rooted to the spot, looking at the gap warily. I wait, pulling my DiePhone out of my pocket to check my email as she hems and haws over what is an exceedingly easy jump. After a few moments in silence, she walks over, peering at the darkness below.
“How am I supposed to follow you?” she shouts, putting her hands on her hips in indignation.
“Don’t be a simpleton. Jump,” I answer as I go back to checking my email. “You ARE a rabbit, are you not?”
“I… I... well, yes!”
Shrugging at her sputtering, I toss a few emails from Bash in the trash. He’s still demanding answers for loopholes against the Romulus decree, but it’s simply not high onmylist of priorities. “Rabbits can jump. Get over here so we can get to work.”
A frustrated screech echoes through the cavern, and I chuckle as I walk away, leaving her to ponder her predicament. The security installed on the outer lobby of my archives is infinitely more advanced than the elevator, but I have to protect the documents and books down here from thieves and grubby hands alike. I lean in, using the Erickson-branded biometrics to gain access, and step back as the airlock whooshes open.
She’s going to be shit out of luck once I’m inside, although I will probably need to add her face to the approved visitors list, which currently only includes me and Renard. I stop to listen for a moment and when I don’t hear the click of school issued heels, I sigh. Well, at least she’ll learnsomethingthis evening, even if it’s how to confront her own fear. I step into the small lobby and gather the gloves, tweezers, and various implements I’ll need to handle the texts I’m examining tonight.
The five books submitted for admission to the collection this month are from a family in Europe, and they claim them to be written around the time Apex and Bloodstone were founded. I don’t know yet if they’re originals or excellent forgeries, so I’ll have to read through them carefully in order to catch physical or lexical tells that would give away provenance.
I could explain this to a certain student aide if she’d pull up her big bunny panties and get over here.
Cursing under my breath, I try to avoid thinking about panties and focus on the first book. It’s a history of the Council, and the texture of the pages gives away the discrepancy with the copyright date. I set it aside, marking it as a forgery on my forms. The next book has severe water damage, and it cannot be in contact with the other collection items. Another mark on the sheet, and I pick up the third book. Maybe it’s better the scaredy rabbit isn’t here because this batch may be a total dud.
A History of the Honorable Academy of Apex Predatorshas the feel of a centuries old book, so I place it on the table carefully. The spine is fragile and the pages are faded in a manner consistent with the purported age. I’m about to start the first chapter when a loud crash against the outer doors startles me and I drop the tweezers.
“What in the name of Anubis are you doing?” I roar.
A snort follows another bang. “We have already established that your dragon bellow doesn’t scare me! If I’m supposed to learn something before the time is up, let me the hell in, you jerk!”
Well, I’ll be damned.
I stand, walking over to the internal keypad and punching in the code to get the doors to slide open. “I suppose you’ve earned entry… it took you a while.”
Delores stomps in, her uniform slightly askew from her efforts. “You were testing me on purpose; don’t even try to deny it. But don’t worry—I made the leap without a scratch and snooped around your stupid cave before coming here.”
“Miss Drew, your curiosity will get you in trouble if you are not cautious. Dragons do not take kindly to uninvited guests in their lair.”
Her lips curve. “That would apply only if that sad little bedroom that smells like detergent was actually your lair.”
I blink. No one has ever caught on before that I have a false lair set up like a red herring. How does this fucking girl get into the heads of shifters far older and wiser than her so easily? “I thought you didn’t know much about dragons.”
“I don’t. I just guessed. It’s super obvious you spend like zero time there, big guy. Not many dudes have rooms that smell that clean.” She bats her lashes, giving me a smirk. “So unless you want to reveal where you actually sleep, let’s talk about dusty old books.”
The fire in my belly sparks for a moment and I close my eyes, counting backwards from a hundred in Greek until I have it under control. “Fine. But stay away from my room—any room—and stop poking around, bite size. Deal?” I hold my breath, wondering if this is the moment of truth or truce.
“Deal.”
THIRTEEN
Ramble On
Cassius
“I’m tellin’ ya, there’s just something about this girl that makes me bloodthirsty… but because I wanna protect her, not just kill everyone who crosses her path. Although I’m still down to kill. Hey! Maybe we should start saying DTK—down to kill, ha! Anyway, so yesterday, she did this fucking adorable thing where shetwitchedher nose… ”
I loudly sigh, no longer bothering to hide my irritation. If I thought Bash had rambled on about Delores Drew over the summer, it was nothing compared to the diarrhea of the mouth we’ve all been subjected to since she arrived at Apex. At this point, I’m seriously considering stabbing out my fucking eardrums just for a moment of peace.
If he keeps this up, I’ll be the one who’s DTK.
