“Fine,” the dragon huffs, rolling his eyes as he does the closest thing to a pout I’ve seen on him yet.
I wonder if he’s been taking lessons from Fitzy? No matter.
“Oh!”
Everyone turns to look at our mate and she gives Aubrey a positively evil grin. “You can stop being grumpy about the dusty old books because Chessie reminded Fitz and me that we can have sex on atrain. That’s a new one for the list and we have a long ass trip to the launch point for the gargoyle hunt. Isn’t that fabulous?”
Aubrey’s jaw drops, Felix groans, and I cover my chuckle as she bounces on the couch excitedly. Fitz just leans back, looking smug as he soaks in our reactions. When the dragon finally gets his shit together, he huffs a few smoke rings, then nods. He looks mollified as he grumbles, “Okay, that helps. Thanks, lunchable.”
“See? Itoldyou they’d be happy when you said that, Baby Girl. Old Briquette Balls is pretending to be mildly interested, but thenose knows, gentleman. Youalllike that plan, and we’ll rock the fucking car like it’s an earthquake when it happens.”
“For fuck’s sake, Fitz!” Felix growls as he shakes his head. “You have to cool down or we won’t get anything done. Stop acting like we’re fifteen again and it’s your first boner.”
Dolly rises, automatically sensing our need for soothing. She walks over to Felix and drops onto his lap, her hand cupping his face. “I know you’re worried about this because it might hurt Rennie, but we have to face our pasts to move on. You and Fitz will have to do the same with your father, I will with Lucille, and Aubrey may have to do it with his parents.”
“They said ‘okay’, by the way.” Renard’s casual interjection makes us all turn to look at the languid gargoyle in surprise, even Aubrey. “Well, to be precise,la famille royale?1 extended an invitation to visit their lands for myself and my ‘clutch’. I doubt they wrote the letter themselves, as it was very stilted and formal. That’s the work of some underling, I’m sure.”
I don’t believe hislaissez-faire?2 attitude for a second. “Ren, you don’t have to pretend like it didn’t hurt you. We’re youractual family; you can be pissed in front of us.”
The gargoyle sighs, not looking at me as he shrugs. “Chester,mon ami, I have spent centuries knowing that no one in my community wished to mend fences. Even though the ‘danger’ was gone when they supposedly killed and buried her, they chose to send me away and leave me in exile. I had no illusions that contacting them would fix this rift. I simply did so, because we need their connections to the magicals. If anyone knows where they have settled after the Veil closed, it is the gargoyle network.”
“That doesn’t mean their cold, pat response didn’t upset you,” Aubrey rumbles. “I expect much the same from my clash and it will hurt. I can’t avoid it, obviously, but knowing that tradition and punishment outweigh blood is never easy to swallow.”
My angel tilts her head as she looks at her other fully bonded mate. “AndI, like the big guy, can feel how it wounded you. So there’s no need to put on a mask in front of everyone. We are here for you, Rennie—no matter what. If your damn ex-family won’t share, we’ll fuck right off to the next thing.”
“We can’t leave without their information,ma petite.”
“Bet me. We will exit stage right with swift fury if they so much as give you the stink-eye when we arrive. I won’t put up with anyone abusing my mates. There’s nothing they could offer me to allow it.” Dolly crosses her arms over her chest and sticks her chin out. “And know this… all of you. If one fucking person lays a finger onanyof you, I will rip their head off and eat it, too, because that seems like the only effective way to get rid of people anymore.”
I blink, then the laughter takes me. Within a few moments, the others join in as our girl stubbornly holds her ground.
Looks like the gargoyles better mind their Ps and Qs or they’re going to be on the menu for a feral rabbit.
Let It Be
Delores
We spentthe rest of the night chatting about the trip. Chessie did his damndest to get Fitz and Rennie to behave, while Aubrey and Felix stubbornly set limits on every wild ass idea the two threw out. I, however, let them squabble affectionately so I could have a minor freak out about something I’ve never had to do before: pack for a ‘vacation’. Lucille and Bruno went off together, on their own, and with others, but I was always left at home with Mattie. While my friends and my men have taken me on dates or out to concerts, outside of packing up to come to the different schools, I don’t have a damn bit of knowledge about how this works.
At least, none that isn’t from books or movies.
By the next morning, I was on edge. I ate with the guys and we all split up to do various chores to prepare for our train ride—which seems a lot less sexy now. Don’t get me wrong—I’m still going to have a blast with that, but I’m stressing out over the logistics. I just have to figure out what the hell I’m doing or I won’t be able to relax enough to enjoy anything.
Sighing, I look at Jinx as my eyes coast over the shit strewn about my room. “I’m a bit of a mess, aren’t I?” The small mew makes me smile, and I pick up my sand cat to rub my nose against its cold one. “You’re going to stay with Auntie Clarice while I’m gone. She and her friends assured me you’ll be lavished with attention. But you have to be good, or Argyle will be grumpy. Got it?”
Raina arranged the short-term kitty care for me without being asked, and I was grateful as hell when she told me. I didn’t even consider it, which probably makes me a bad mama, but that’s also why I’m definitely not in the place to even consider babies. I haven’t had enough life experiences to be responsible for anyone but myself yet, and no matter what the guys tell me about how good I’d be… I have doubts. Not a single one of us had stable, consistent parenting that we could emulate. In fact, we all had shitty examples or none at all.
“But a kitty is enough for me, and you’re perfect,” I tell Jinx before placing her on the ground. “Besides, I have five damn men to keep in line—that’s more than a handful, even when they’re being docile.”
As she trots away to her tree, I rake my hands over my hair and blow out a long breath. I don’t want to admit that I feel a bit overwhelmed by trying to pack a suitcase. That’s ridiculous, right? I have blue magic. I’m a shifter. People are trying to kill me… but I’m crashing out over folding clothes. It feels silly as fuck, and even though I’m struggling, I can’t bring myself to tell anyone. My eyes drift over the piles of stuff again and the anxiety of fucking up fills my veins.
Damn it. Why can’t I be normal just once?
“Okay, Dolly,” I mutter as I drop on the bed with a huff. “Get it together. There has to be stuff online about this. You can use the Pred-Net, right? You can learn to do anything if you just look for tutorials.”
I unlock my screen, heading straight for SnootTube to find videos. As I scroll through the insane amount of titles, my stomach knots more and more. Not only is there a fuck ton of videos abouthowto pack, but also ones onwhatto pack, what travel accessories I need, and all the emergency crap I should be bringing. This might be worse than knowing diddly shit—now I’ve seen how much the worldthinksI should know about travel. At times like this, I want to travel back in time and murder both of my bio donors before classes even started at Apex.
“Bite size?” The quiet knock on the doorframe followed by Aubrey’s deep rumble makes my head snap up and my face heat with shame. He’s looking at the mess that was once my neat bedroom in surprise. “What is going on here?”
