Page 24 of Let Us Prey
“Of course I did!” he huffs, not-so-subtly attempting to wedge himself through the cracked door. “You think I’m gonna ignore your request to get in my pants?”
Opening the door just a little further, I snatch the pile he’s holding, ignoring his protests when I shut myself in for privacy. His black Apex sweatpants are baggy on me, so I tug the strings tight and roll the waist on my hips. The same goes for the white tee, which I have to knot it at my waist before covering myself with the giant zip hoodie. I’m not sure if the tennis shoes he brought will fit, but I plop onto a bench and give them a whirl, anyway.
I’ll be damned.
Bash and I have almost the same size feet. Mine are big as hell and Lucille always complained I was disproportionate. She was rumored to have considered trying to bind them when I was a child. I don’t know who stopped her, but luck has to go my way at least once in a blue moon, right? I leave the laces loose and tuck the sweats in, knowing I look like a reject from a Run DMC video, but, hey—at least I’m not naked. Grabbing my phone and near-empty gym bag, I walk over to the door and pull it open, coming nose to nose with my wolfy savior.
“Thank you, Bash. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here. I don’t think I’m ready for a naked walk to the dorms, even if itwouldshow whoever pulled this shit they can’t shame me.”
Bash’s hooded gaze sweeps over my baggy outfit, and a low growl rumbles in his chest, only this time, it has a different tone. “As tempting as it is to watch you take a naked stride of pride across campus, I do like seeing you in my clothes... "
My nose scrunches as I flush under his gaze, feeling my body heat as he watches me. I have to get out of here before I do something stupid. I’m standing in the gym, completely commando, with a professor’s clothes on, and I definitely need to go before someone notices how close we are.
Okay, Dolly, get a grip on yourself.
“I have to get to set design, but um... I’ll see you later?”
“You bet,” he chuckles, and despite his promise sounding a bit like a threat, I warm all the same. Once again, I’m surprised by how comfortable I am with an actual Romulus having me in their sights, but I’m not going to question it.
Before I round the corner, a wolfish whistle pierces the air, causing me to glance back over my shoulder. “What can I say?” he shrugs with faux innocence. “I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave.”
Rolling my eyes, I turn and head out of the Leo, toward whatever challenge awaits me next.
FIFTEEN
Lonely Girl
Delores
CLASS CANCELED
My jaw drops as I stare at the sign on the door to the backstage area. I risked having my ass and the secret tattoo I got over the summer flashed all over campus to make sure I didn’t miss seeing this Professor, and he fucking ditched!
Of all the bullshit…
I look around in frustration. My tardiness means Cori and Rufus are long gone, but I’ll have to stay to make certain whether the set design block—also taught by Professor Nicodemus—suffers the same fate. If I head back to my dorm, I’ll just have to haul cottontail back here again in… damn. Forty minutes. I’m really fucking late. I’ll need to remember next week that I can’t shower or change after Dance & Movement before I book it to the Shird.
Live and learn, I suppose. It’s not like I can’t dash some perfume on as I hop between buildings, but I hate thinking I’ll be stinky when I’m working around the adorably shy fox. He’s wary enough as it is; I don’t need to repel him with my stench, too.
Ugh.
What am I going to do? I can’t hang around in the hallway; it’s too exposed. I don’t think the Heathers would be caught dead in this building, and the Todd bros are too stupid to attack without instructions. Unfortunately, with what happened in the gym earlier, I can’t trust thatanyonein the student body, regardless of their year, isn’t working for my enemies. I’ll be a sitting...rabbit…everywhere I go.
I wrinkle my nose as I pull out my phone and look at the Apex app. The prey modifications the nurses helped me add show a lot of options if I want to sneak away without being seen. Since that’s not what I want at the moment, I have to find a place in the building to hole up in until I can confirm Professor Nicodemus is avoiding me like a bad case of the clap.
He won’t cancel class for the entire year, will he?
I tense as I hear footsteps approaching, waffling for only a second before I sprint down the hall toward the closest stairwell. Once I’m through the door, I hop onto the railing, sliding down in my borrowed joggers like a frat boy at a kegger. Three minutes and a few close calls with gravity later, I’m at the bottom adjusting my enormous boy-clothes wedgie.
Not the most graceful exit, but it’ll do in a pinch.
Scampering across the lobby, I ignore the gaudy Angry Bird statue in the center and slip into the brightly lit Shirdale Memorial Theater. There aren’t any students or professors in here, but there’s an enormous amount of space, at least ten hidden exits the nurses had me mark on my app, and a piano, which makes me smile. I can work on my songs while I wait and won’t need to worry about being trapped like a rat. It’s the best option, given the circumstances.
Plus, I haven’t had a lot of time to practice since I arrived. I’m not ready to share my compositions with my friends, and while I know Bash would listen, I don’t want him to feel obligated to praise me if I suck. Lucille was so critical of my music that I learned to keep this piece of my heart sheltered because, if it broke, I don’t know if I’d have survived it. I can’t imagine how bad it would hurt to have someone I’m coming to value tell me I’m terrible—or worse, pretend I’mnotjust to save my feelings.
If that happened, I’d have to enter the Predation Protection Program like a stool pigeon, so I could start an entirely new identity. I couldn’t bear having the one creative outlet I’ve used to combat my loneliness and depression become the thing that drives anyone else away.
My vision narrows as the bunny fights its way to the surface again, and I groan. I just don’t have the spoons to figure out what the hell it wants with me. I’m still coming to grips with being here at Apex with a campus full of enemies. Closing my eyes, I give in briefly, using the ingrained senses of my inner prey animal to listen, scent, and feel if there’s a presence in the theater I can’t see. When it passes muster, I push the bunny back in the box and head to the piano on stage.
